WBW #66: Your Tenderest Two-Some, Dessert & Wine

Argyle Brut Rosé (2007)
Argyle Winery
52% Pinot Meunier | 48% Pinot Noir
Dundee Hills, OR

So today is Wine Blogging Wednesday #66 which is being hosted by Jennifer Hamilton, The Domestic Goddess. Combining two of my favorite things, Jennifer has joined WBW with Sugar-High Friday for today's challenge. We were asked to come up with a dessert and wine pairing.

Desserts can sometimes be difficult to pair with wines, and I think many of us first just jump to sweeter wines. Rule of thumb there is to make sure your wine is as sweet of not sweeter than your dessert, otherwise it'll taste sour. Also keep in mind tangy/tart flavors vs. savory/milky ones in your desserts. Based on that (is it apple pie or chocolate mousse?) you'll want to pay attention to the wine's acidity.

Since I tend to gravitate towards more acidic wines, and away from overly-chocolate'd (I know, there's not supposed to be such a thing... just think, more chocolate for you!) desserts my thoughts got a little bubbly. Lucky for us, Argyle is less than 30 minutes from here!

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WBW #65: Snow Day Wines - Bodegas El Nido 2003 Clio Jumilla

Clio (2003)
Bodegas El Nido
Monastrell 70% | Cabernet Sauvignon 30%
Jumilla DO, Spain

This month's Wine Blogging Wednesday topic (No. 65) hosted by Michelle Lentz was choosing a wine that you'd enjoy drinking during a full out precipitous attack of the white stuff. Thankfully, since moving to Oregon I've only had to "endure" the snow once, while I know back in Ohio and most of the Midwest in general they got pretty much slammed. Thanks Lake Erie!

That said, I think I had a pretty good idea as to what kind of wine I was in need of - big body, dried fruits, and a warmer level of alcohol. My first choice? Port of course - and I think a lot of people turned there at first. But then something shiny caught my attention. A bottle from El Nido (The Nest) winery in Spain. The pearlescent label was really familiar, and it turns out I sampled another of their wines in my Spanish Wine course last year.

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WBW #60 - I have Zinned... and it felt so good

Old Vine Zinfandel (2006)
Sineann
Zinfandel
Columbia Valley

This month for Wine Blogging Wednesday, the fifth anniversary of the project, we've been "burdened" with the task of drinking Zinfandel. Seeing as this is one of my favorite varieties, I really didn't anticipate any issue. The only problem was choosing what bottle yummy California Zin to choose - then the clouds opened, and it all became clear. Not California... but Oregon Zin!

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gee... saké?

g saké - joy (NV)
SakéOne
Milled rice
American

Taking part in my very first Wine Blogging Wednesday, our theme this week is saké! (Original announcement) While I've had a couple different sakés here and there, and been told a multitude of different things regarding their serving temperatures, I'm by no means at all knowledgeable. So if you're a saké virgin, then this will hopefully be somewhat enlightening ... if you're a saké master, then you'll be sure to let me know if I've spoken incorrectly.

My choice for the evening was a bottle of American saké, made by SakéOne in Oregon which claims to be the only "American-owned" saké brewery. A brewery might make you think, "Wait ... that's not the place you make wine!" and you'd be right - saké is not technically wine. It is a Japanese alcoholic beverage made via the fermentation of rice. It is however commonly referred to as "rice wine" here in the States.

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