We had fun shooting this one. The natural thought on Valentines day is to come up with a wine that you can sip by the fireplace with your valentine, perhaps while enjoying something sweet. That in mind, we chose a couple of desert wines that fit the bill: We opened a little bottle of Late Harvest ‘Arroyo Seco’ Viognier from our friends at Salamandre Wine Cellars in Santa Cruz as well as the ‘Charisma’ dessert wine from Tobin James in Paso Robles. Both were sweet and paired nicely with everything I had laid out in my impromptu Valentine’s Day spread: a Starbucks chocolate bar, Almond Roca, stinky cheese, sweet cheese, walnuts, two kinds of apples and a little pear. I particularly enjoyed the Viognier; I enjoy it as a refreshing, floral aperitif wine when it’s NOT late-harvest, and it turns out it makes an exquisite dessert wine… loads of honey… and it’s pretty cool to look at too- I had a nice golden hue emanating from my chilled glass.

In addition to the sticky wines, I popped a couple of bottles o’ bubbly open which also paired nicely with my V-day plate. I enjoy a glass of pink bubbles, and I’ve been loving every Cremant de Bourgogne that’s been poured into my glass, so I chose a bottle of Louis Bouillot Cremant de Bourgogne Rosé “Perle d’Aurore” for this Valentine’s extravaganza. Just because, I added a second sparkling bottle, this one from the Loire: the De Chanceny Cremant de Loire Rosé. Oh and by the way, both of these sparklers were fresh & tasty and neither topped the $14 mark.

Let’s be honest… you can open whatever you like on V-day. Hell, go crazy and open up a bottle of Peppermint Schnapps if you like, I won’t judge you. If you’re looking for a good read on pairing wine with a variety of desserts, check out this great article at TheNibble.com. While you’re at it, they’ve got one on pairing wine with chocolate.

Again, please watch the webisode for all the play-by-play. By the way, if you like that shiny heart-shaped bottle holder pictured at the beginning of the post, you can pick one up for your very own at www.ocupationgifts.com.

We had some time to kill in Napa, and one of our favorite Napa wineries has always been St. Supéry. So we decided to stop and taste…

It’s a beautiful property, with the old Victorian home on your right as you walk to the tasting room. My very first Napa tasting trip started with a visit at St. Supéry. I’ll never forget it; in addition to it being the beginning of my career in wine-drinking, it was the first time I had a good Sauvignon Blanc, and I just remember how I walked away with the intense flavors of grapefruit in my mouth. I was a permanent Sauvignon Blanc fan after that and also a permanent St. Supéry fan.

Like that first tasting trip, this last Saturday was a warm day in the Napa valley and after the drive back up to Rutherford, we were ready for a cool tasting room. We weren’t there to shoot a webisode… just to have some of their fantastic wine.

Jeff, myself and WE team member Adrian descended on the tasting bar in our WineExpedition T-shirts, looking rather snazzy if I do say so myself. We were thirsty and feeling a bit rowdy, but we were no match for Laurie at the tasting room bar, and she quickly filled our glasses and kept us in check.

There are so many good wines at St. Supéry;  their Cabernet is great as is their red blend  Élu and their white blend Virtú.  Jeff is a big fan of their Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

I was warm, so I kinda hung with the white wines.  One of my favorite Sauvignon Blanc’s on the planet is St. Supéry’s exclusive Dollarhide Ranch Sauvignon Blanc.   As always, it did not disappoint:  aromas of grapefruit and apricots were followed by a mouthful of grapefruit with a nice mineral undertone.  A zesty yet refined Sauv Blanc.

I also had a taste of the Semillon.  This is a trippy wine… It’s thick on your tongue.. creamy and textured; the nose is peachy and the palate is chewy/creamy/citrusy.  A lot going on and I enjoyed it…

They say their Moscato ‘…is like summer in a glass…’ and I have to agree with that statement.  The nose has notes of peaches and apricots, and as soon as it hit my mouth I was hit with flavors of apricots and a tad of orange peel. It’s sweet, but at the same time it’s light and refreshing.  I brought a bottle home- I think my wife might like this one.  A great wine for a hot day.

After all the light/white/foofy wines, I had to have one red before we left.  The obvious choice was the Dollarhide Cabernet Sauvignon.    This is a big, bad cab.  Hearty aromas of dark berries and plums with hints of oak lead into a mouthful of blackberries and currants with layers of oak, chocolate and coffee.  It’s a mouthful and it finishes with some good tannins.  This one’s a keeper for sure, and it was a good way to finish up the tasting.

We waved goodbye to Laurie and hit the road; more adventures lay ahead…

I’m not sure if it sounds more like an ice-cream sundae or a Vegas casino, but in this case it’s a cocktail made with a black currant desert wine or liqueur with a healthy splash of bubbly. Could be interesting…

My friend Sam from New York had sent me the dessert wine from one of her favorite upstate New York wineries, so I thought I’d give it a whirl. I figured the cocktail might even be an option that my wife would enjoy.

Clinton Vineyards is located in the Hudson Valley, midway between New York City and Albany. It’s a 15 acre property run by Phyllis and Ben Feder, and they specialize in producing white wine and champagnes, made in the classic French methode champenoise.

I’m not always big on dessert wines, but Sam loves it so I was looking forward to tasting it.

The Clinton Vineyards’ Cassis wine is made from black currants, and you can’t help but smell the strong aromas of currants as you pour it.  There are also smoky notes of blackberry and brandy on the nose.  The palate makes you pucker up a bit.. it’s tart and full of wild berries.  A fine after dinner or dessert choice, and definitely a unique one.  I actually enjoyed it.   I’m told that its the only black currant wine made in the United States to win gold medals and “Best of Class” at the Los Angeles International Wine Competition.

Now that I had tasted the wine on it’s own, I decided to get a little crazy and try the Kir Royal.

I poured about a third of a glass of the Cassis, and then gently poured the remainder of the glass with some inexpensive Spanish bubbly, the Canals & Nubiola Cava Brut.   This is a simple, pleasant sparkling wine: clean and crisp with subtle, tart citrus flavors.

Mixed together, the two made a fine, refreshing summer cocktail; tasted sort of like a wild cherry soda.  It was a good way to cool off (it’s been hot in LA this week), and even my wife enjoyed it.

Now I’ve heard of desert wine, but this takes it to a whole ‘nother level…

Mercer’s WIne Ice Cream makes a line of  wine to ‘uncork your tastebuds’, in flavors like Ala Port, Cherry Merlot, Chocolate Cabernet, Peach White Zinfandel, Red Raspberry Chardonnay and Royal White Riesling.  Now mind you, you won’t be buying any Mercer’s from the Ice Cream Man driving through your neighborhood.  These delightful deserts contain 5% alcohol, so you better bring your ID when picking up a pint.  According to their website, it’s available at Whole Foods in New York City.  Beyond that, it appears that you can order some at TheIceCreamCellar.com.

Another Wine Ice Cream maker I found is Glace de Vino.  They boast flavors like Strawberry Cream Chardonnay, Chocolate Amaretto Cream Sherry, Raspberry Merlot Cheesecake and Chocolate Cabernet Sauvignon.  According to their website, if you happen to live near a Hannaford market or an Express Mart in New York state, a Kings Market in New Jersey or a Sweetbay supermarket in Florida, you can pick up a quart or two.

Better make mine a double scoop… hold the sprinkles.

Thanks to the folks at DelishyourDish.com for the story.

]]> http://www.wineexpedition.com/random/ill-have-a-scoop-of-merlot/feed/ 0 http://www.wineexpedition.com/dessert-wine/sticky-saturday/ http://www.wineexpedition.com/dessert-wine/sticky-saturday/#comments Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:20:55 +0000 Neil http://www.wineexpedition.com/?p=1469

Our good friend Steve Greer over at K&L Wine Merchants in Hollywood promised there would be lots of stickies at the wine tasting this past Saturday and he didn’t disappoint. Despite the fact that dessert wine is not my favorite, I tried ‘em all and got my feet wet.. er.. got my feet.. sticky.

There were some wild ones.. a 10 year old Port, ice wines from Washington state and Austria, a rare Palo Cortado Sherry, Muscats, a Sauternes and another port from Australia of all places.  I really enjoyed the Muscats and the Palo Cortado, and while we didn’t have any deserts to pair with the wines, the K&L staff was kind enough to provide some tasty blue cheese, which worked pretty well with many of the wines.

Not only did we taste, but we shot some video- look for the webisodes in the upcoming weeks.  Before the tasting was over, our camera operators got in on the tasting fun.  I only hope they didn’t get any stickies on the cameras as that would probably void the warranty.

The Complete List:

Lustau Palo Cortado “Peninsula”
Muscat a Petits Grain
Domaine L’Ermitage “Le Muscat”
2007 Muscat de Beaumes de Venise
Domaine de La Pigeade
Pacific Rim “Vin de Glaciere” Riesling
Heiss Eiswein Blaufrankisch/Cabernet Sauvignon
2006 Doisy-Védrines, Sauternes
1993 Hilltop-Neszmély Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos
Graham Six Grapes
2006 Banyuls La Tour Vieille “Vendanges”
Yalumba Museum Release Antique Tawny
1998 Rivesaltes Ambré Domaine Fontanel
Dow 10-year-old Tawny Port