Warm Summer, Cool Wines

Last night I gathered a few people together at the house for a little cookout. The afternoon was cool and breezy, one of the benefits of coastal living but since it was summer I decided to provide some nice dry and off-dry whites to go with the slightly spicy appetizers (a shrimp skewer where the shrimp was marinated in a nice little concoction that included cayenne pepper and habanero chile) and shirmp quesadillas with colby jack cheese). On the menu were Alex's Red Barn 2006 Viognier and Leoness 2006 Riesling both from Temecula and Kalyra 2007 Pinot Grigio from Santa Ynez. All three were yummy and a great compliment to the food. The Red Barn Viognier was crisp with wonderful balance of fruit, acid and alcohol that left the mouth feeling fresh and clean, a testament to how they make their wines. The Leonesse Riesling was fresh, full of apricot and peach (the color even had a hint to peach coloring in it) delivered to both the nose and palate. These two wineries are my favorites in Temecula and both delivered on their promises for the meal. The Kalyra Pinot Grigio was delicious as well, bright and clean with nice fruit and mouth feel that made the consumers quite happy.

After a while I decided that it wasn't fair for whites to get all the attention so I broke out a bottle of Fess Parker 2006 Pinot Noir American Tradition Reserve showing lovely red color matching the cherry and plum fruits it promised and delivered with just a touch of earthiness I enjoy in my Pinot Noir and just continued to show me how good Dan'l Boone is at winemaking (or at hiring the right people to produce consistently excellent wine).

At meal time I offered my guests the Château Petit Bocq 2005 which I reviewed before and paired wonderfully with the marinated beef that my beau grilled for us.

A Gem In Temecula (Repost from my other site)

Mr. Beau has been showing an interest in wines so a few weeks back we took a little trip up the 15 to Temecula. In earlier posts you read of my trip with Elbert and some of the places we visited. On this trip I thought I would do two things: introduce Mr. Beau to more wines and find perhaps another place where I could get local wines that I would not be afraid of offering to my friends. As luck would have it I hit the jackpot on both with our first stop, Leonesse Cellars. In fact, I liked it so much I joined their wine club. After a couple of samplings together (a good representative Pinot Grigio, stainless-steel fermented so you get the melon and light green apple notes and their not overly oaked Chardonnay showing some traits of malolactic fermentation) I turned Mr. Beau loose on the whites (his palate tended towards the sweeter white Merlot and their rather good Riesling with very nice fresh fruit aromas) while I went off into red land. Their Melange de Reves is a nice medium bodied Rhone blend of Syrah, Cinsault, and Grenache with good berry tastes and just a hint of smokiness. Their 2004 Syrah is a good representation of a smooth Syrah, almost seductive with layers of black fruit, pepper, and a hit of smokiness. A big surprise was their Zinfandel which, given the current trend of overly alcoholed concotions was very smooth with good blackberry, pepper, and hints of clove with soft tannins. To top it off we had a fantastic lunch at their recently opened Block 5 restaurant. I really do recommend spending the extra time there sipping wine in the outdoor environment and enjoying their wonderfully prepared food.

So, Temecula is showing promise. I look forward to seeing how the area develops over time.