Studio of Good Living Blog

End of Summer Cocktails

under: What's In My Glass

Doesn’t this look lovely?  It’s the perfect antidote to the end of summer blues.  Think of it as a simple variation on white Sangria. All you need is some inexpensive white wine, club soda, some ripe fruit and fresh herbs.  We used a sweet, ripe white nectarine here and we played around with flavoring the wine with different herbs sprigs from our herb garden.  I particularly liked the tarragon-nectarine combination but you should find out what you like best.  The fruit was delicious to eat at the end of the glass.  *If the white wine that you are using is very acidic you can sweeten up this drink and balance the flavors by adding a sugar cube to the bottom of the glass.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Club Soda
Ice
Herbs, such as rosemary, tarragon or basil.
An inexpensive, nondescript white wine.
Sugar Cubes (optional)
Sliced fruit or berries

Place the fruit, herbs and sugar cube (if using) at the bottom of the glass.  Add ice, white wine and a splash of club soda for a little bit of fizz. Sit down, relax and enjoy!  Repeat as necessary!

What’s In My Glass Tonight: 2007 Craggy Range ‘Kidnapper’s Vineyard’ Chardonnay, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

under: What's In My Glass

I love a good chardonnay.  It’s such a likeable wine!  Especially when it’s not too oaky, has good acidity and moderate alcohol levels.  The 2007 Craggy Range ‘Kidnapper’s Vineyard’ really fits the bill.  And it’s under $20/bottle.

Campervan cookin'

Craggy Range is a very special winery located in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.  Hawkes Bay wines are typically fly under the radar in the United States.  However, the best wines are really wonderful.  It is by far my favorite wine region in New Zealand.. Craggy Range makes some of the best wines in Hawkes Bay.   They are incredibly passionate about the wines that they produce.

I was first exposed to Craggy Range about 7 years ago when I tasted (and was impressed by) their Bordeaux Style blend ‘Sophia’.  A year later my boyfriend (now husband) and I found ourselves on a plane to New Zealand with the purpose to check out the land from whence hobbits came (or at least where the movies were filmed) and to taste some wine.  We rented a campervan outside of the Auckland airport, and away we went.  The campervan was a little shaky, to say the least, the maximum speed was 40 miles per hour, and that was going downhill in a stiff breeze.  Pete proposed halfway through our trip so New Zealand remains a special place for the two of us.

The growing wine stash

Aside from being madly in love we were really impressed by the wines of New Zealand.  We hand carried a total of 3 cases home. (We were very lucky that we could bring liquids on board the plane and our luggage was heavy.  Very heavy.)  We did have an appointment to visit Craggy Range Winery and we were incredibly impressed by the technology, architecture and setting of the vineyard.  Steve Smith, Master of Wine showed us around the winery personally and when he heard that we were traveling and sleeping in a campervan offered to put us up in one of Craggy Ranges’ guesthouses for the night.  It was an unexpected and generous offer, one that I haven’t forgotten.  So I am very happy to declare the 2007 chardonnay delicious and delightful. It received 91 points from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, so I’m not the only one that thinks so.

Serve this Chardonnay lightly chilled with chicken or white firm fleshed fish.  It was particularly lovely with Braised Chicken Thighs with Calvados, sautéed apples and cream.

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1998 La Clusiere

under: What's In My Glass

We did it!  We survived the first Christmas of the first grandchild on each side of the family.  Peace reigned, gifts were opened and exclaimed over, our baby was adorable and good natured.

sogl 010We were feeling pretty good about life last night and on a whim, Pete and I opened up one of our ‘good’ bottles of wine. There are wines, and then there are wines. Everyone I know that works in the wine industry or collects has a wine that haunts them—it’s the wine that fascinates you and remains imbedded in your memory like a lost love or a one of a kind experience that you will never forget.   For me, it was a 1989 Chateau Tayac Bordeaux Superior that I had at the Escoffier Restaurant at the Culinary Institute of America while I was a student there.  It was the first wine that I actually ‘got’.  Finally I understood what all the fuss was about.  It was the moment when all the talk about nose, length and finish all made sense because this wine had it all. My husband’s wine was the legendary 1961 Latour—his Dad bought the wine when it was first released and sat on it for over 30 years.

Those wines that have it all are a rarity—but last night, we lucked out.  This wine may not have been perfect for you, but it was perfect for us.  It was amazing—It was the 1998 La Clusiere from St. Emilion.  It’s all merlot—usually I don’t care for merlot but this was something truly outstanding.  We decanted it and the perfume was wafting out of the decanter like a genie in the bottle.  It had notes of dried black cherries, dried mushrooms, a touch of smoke and vanilla from the new oak barrels. Not only were the tannins seamlessly integrated into the wine but it had heft and rounded mouthfeel from the sweet ripe fruit.  It was like drinking silk.  Sooo good (insert eye roll here).  And what did we pair with this fabulous wine, you may ask?  It was great with our Christmas leftovers—that was the plan all along. I had braised a Veal Leg with Wild Mushrooms in a traditional French cream sauce.  I love Bordeaux with mushrooms.  It is one of my favorite wine and food pairings. (The recipe is from Daniel Boulud’s ‘Braise’ if you are interested.)  As we finished the wine we also sampled some cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery.  At $100+ a bottle, I don’t expect to repeat this particular wine experience anytime soon but it was great while it lasted…..What are some of your wine memories?

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