You Expected Exactly What for Your 5 Bucks?

Would you pay $5 for a glass of Two Buck Chuck (aka Two Buck Junk)? Southwest Airlines isn’t exactly pouring TBC, but has switched its wine service to Coastal Ridge Chardonnay and Merlot, both made by the same Bronco Wine Company that makes Trader Joe’s TBC.

We’re pretty sure that Coastal Ridge wines don’t exactly come from the same giant vat as TBC, but they still taste like industrial, sterilized White Wine and Red Wine. But hey, your sense of taste is dulled in an airplane, anyway, right?

Rhubarb Apricot Chutney & Chardonnay

It’s spring, and rhubarb is busting out in the garden. We’ve been trying to find other uses for the tart plant than simply in the ubiquitous Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. So we created a chutney.

Last night, we had this chutney with quinoa, a piece of rockfish, and a mixture of roasted garlic, pearl onions, and shallots. We paired the meal with a Barnard Griffin Chardonnay.

WINE
Barnard Griffin Chardonnay 2007 – Washington
Still another winner from Barnard Griffin. Nose is distinctly of apples, with floral notes, violets, mints, herbs. The taste has a nice medley of crisp green apple, lemon, a hint of earthiness, maybe even eucalyptus? Does it make any sense to say it’s light but has a little weight? Just enough acid keeps it from being dense and overly creamy. Yes. $10 on sale, usually $14.

CHUTNEY RECIPE

• Cut rhubarb stalks (the leaves are not edible) into 1/2-inch pieces, making about 2 cups
• Coarsely chop about 1/2 cup onion
• Quarter dried apricots to make about 1 cup
• Put about 1/2 cup vinegar and maybe 1/4 cup sugar in a saucepan
• Add all the onion and half the rhubarb (this portion of rhubarb will cook down to almost a paste)
• Add spices of choice – we used a home-made Garam Masala (Indian spice mixture), but ginger, cinnamon, or such would be good
• After about 10 minutes of cooking, add the apricots
• When the apricots soften (maybe another 10 minutes more), add the other cup of rhubarb (you might need to add a bit more vinegar if chutney looks too dry)
• Cook until the second round of rhubarb begins to soften, but stop cooking while the pieces are still whole
• Chill immediately

Monkey Bay Chardonnay 2004 – New Zealand

We generally think of New Zealand as specializing in Sauvignon Blanc. We enjoyed the Monkey Bay Sauvignon a lot, so when we saw this Chardonnay, we thought we’d try it without knowing anything about it.
It has some wonderful, deep aromas – vanilla, honey, and ripe apples. The tastes are of apple (both crisp green apple, and fuller ripe red apples), with a bit of an herbal/spicy note – maybe rosemary? It’s a bit woody and creamy, but has some crispness to cut through those notes. Yes. $10 on sale, usually about $14.

Matanzas Creek Chardonnay 2006 – California

It’s two-for-two on the whites we brought back from Matanzas Creek Winery, outside Glen Ellen, in Sonoma County, California. This has a nose of tropical fruit, papaya, pineapple, and – oddly but nicely – an earthiness. It’s a moderately creamy style, but without excessive heaviness too often found in California Chards. Some honey notes, and the Chardonnay character shows well though some mild oak. Yes. About $15.

Concannon Chardonnay 2006 – California

First we gushed about the Concannon Petite Sirah. Then it was their Pinot Noir. Now, we’re impressed with this first white of theirs we’ve tried. Nose of lemons and pansies. Tastes of chantrelles, jasmine, and lemon curd. Crisp, with little or no obvious oak. Great balance, with a little honey (taste, not sweetness) on the aftertaste. House/Yes. $8 on sale, usually $9.50

Cambria Chardonnay Unwooded 2006 – California

This opens with a great floral, herbal, and almost perfumy nose. Tastes are of green apples and a little grassiness. It’s bright and crisp, with nice acidity. This shows what chardonnay can be like when the sometimes massive overdoses of oak are left out. Yes. (We don’t remember the price, but most of Cambria’s mailing-list wines are in the $20-25 range.)

Three Chimneys Restaurant Review, Isle of Skye, Scotland

We’re not ones to usually post restaurant reviews on this blog, but we recently had a dinner that was so far over the top that we thought we’d share our experience.

On the Isle of Skye, Scotland, is a totally out-of-the-way restaurant that embraces local ingredients and offers a multi-course dining experience such as what one might find at famous Michelin-starred restaurants in New York, Napa, or Paris.

Dinner at The Three Chimneys restaurant can be either a traditional three-course meal, or the spectacular Seven Courses of Skye. We had the seven-course dinner (which with appetizer, cheese, and dessert turned out to be more like 9 or 10 courses), and would suggest that if you’ve traveled that far for a meal you might as well go with the best.

Not on the list of the seven courses is an amuse bouche (appetizer) of the day. This was followed by....

Loch Dunvegan Langoustines with Tattie Scones & Glendale Organic Mesclun

Colbost Crab risotto with Shellfish Essence and Truckle Wafer

A Selection of Broadford Cold & Hot-Smoked Fish with Croft Quail Eggs

Sconser King Scallop with Hazelnut Crust, Pickled Winkles, Split Pea & Ham Hough Purry, Claret Jus

Three Loch Harport Oysters with Cucumber & Mint Jelly, Homemade Crème Fraiche, Smoked Herring Roe

Roast Glenhinnisdal Lamb Loin with Kidney, Heart, Liver & Hairst Bree

Highland Cheeses with Our Oatcakes

Three Chimneys Hot Marmalade Pudding Soufflé with Drambuie Syrup & Mealie Ice Cream

When we were there, this menu was £65 per person – an astounding bargain. We started the meal with a half bottle of Domain Seguin Pouilly Fume 2006 (Sauvignon Blanc)

and continued with a premier cru white Burgundy as our main wine – a Marie & Marc Vincent Santenay Beaurepaire 2003 (Chardonnay). Both wines were excellent, and good matches for the primarily seafood menu.

The wait staff are young and reasonably knowledgeable, and asked each diner if there was any part of the seven courses that they couldn’t eat, as a substitution or two was available. Francesca declined the lamb course, and thus had another fish offering.

Pan-Fried Mallaig Hake & Razor Fish with Root Vegetable Dauphinoise, Puy Lentils,
Cumin Cauliflower, Orbost Herb & Garlic Salsa

Overall, we’d say it was one of the best meals of our lives.

You'll definitely need reservations very far in advance at the Three Chimneys Restaurant.

Chateau St. Michelle Chardonnay – Washington

To show how even less-expensive wines can change between vintage years, here are our observations of the 2005 and 2006 versions of this wine. We tasted these wines separately (several months apart), and wrote the second review without referring to our notes regarding the previous vintage.

2005: Nose of citrus and baked apple. The taste has a “little” everything – a little citrus, a little butter, a little oak. It’s too “white wine” without any good, distinctive flavor or character. Maybe/No. $10 on sale, usually about $14.

2006: Nose of apples and tangerine. Tastes of apple and a surprising amount of “buttery oak” for an inexpensive Washington Chard. There’s also a bit of spice going on in the flavors. A Yes for Francesca; Maybe for Ken (probably because of the oak). Same price as the 2005.

Cambria Chardonnay Santa Maria Valley 2006 – California

Nose of ripe apples. Tastes definitely along the California profile, but some earthy notes. Nutty, crab apple. Some nice acidity, but not the minerals of a French Chard. And definitely some of that California buttery oak, but not overwhelming. Limited production, you probably won’t find it at retail (but available to the mailing list and on the website). Yes. $22

Oyster Alfredo & Chardonnay

WINE
Ridge Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay 2004 – California
This dark straw yellow wine opens with a nose of honeysuckle and baked apple. The wine is a big, creamy, rich, smooth California style. Tastes of burnt honey and oak, along with thick butterscotch. Interestingly, this tasted very little like the 2002 Santa Cruz Mountains Home Ranch Chardonnay we reviewed awhile back. This had none of the minerals and earth of the earlier vintage. As much as we love Ridge wines, because of the heavy style of this 2004, we’d give it a Maybe. About $35.

DINNER
Oyster Alfredo
We used tortellini, but any large, chunky pasta (rigatoni, thick fettucini) would do. (As one of our Italian food gurus said, “thick sauce, thick pasta; thin sauce, thin pasta.”)

• Sauté oysters in butter and thyme; remove from pan (save pan juices)
• Optionally, you can also sauté quartered mushrooms and thick-chopped onions, either with the oysters or separately
• Cut large oysters into about quarters; if small, use whole
• Mix a jar of commercial Alfredo sauce, some dry white wine, thyme, sage, the butter and liquid from the oyster pan, and a tiny splash of Tobasco or similar hot sauce
• Add the oysters to the sauce, and pour over pasta

Cambria Chardonnay 2004 – California

A pleasant nose of floral scents and honeysuckle. This tastes deep, rich, with honey and tropical fruit notes. There’s obviously some vanilla and oak notes, too. This is a rich California style, but without being overpowering – “industrial strength,” as a friend says of certain California Chards. Cambria also has an excellent website and a nice mailing list program for its smaller-production wines. Yes (House if it were a few bucks cheaper). $18 on sale (usually about $25).

Quick Bouillabaisse & Chardonnay

DINNER
After watching a very old episode of Julia Child’s old TV show, The French Chef, we had a craving for a simple bouillabaisse. Thus, our Bouillabaisse for Two Recipe.

• About 3 cups fish stock, clam juice, or whatever’s on hand (we had some frozen shrimp-shell stock) in a saucepan
• Separately, sauté a leek, some sliced onions, and crushed garlic in olive oil (we used fennel oil) until soft
• Add some kind of sliced tomatoes (we used grape tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise) and simmer until the tomatoes just begin to soften
• Add vegetables to stock pan, and add a half cup of white wine
• Season with saffron, thyme, white pepper, and salt
• Let this simmer for 15-20 minutes to blend the flavors
• About 5 minutes before serving, add fish or shellfish (we used a few shrimp, and a couple of small Dover Sole filets)
• Serve in large bowls, accompanied by warmed buttered bread

WINE
Domaine Talmard Macon-Chardonnay 2006 – France
The nose starts off almost like a Sauvignon Blanc – crisp apples and grassiness. The tastes come on wonderfully with green apples, some buttery oak, and a hit of citrus/grapefruit on the mid palate. It has a nice, “unusual” lingering finish for a cheap white wine. We tend to like cheap French whites more than cheap French reds. The label gives a nod to Americans (actually listing Chardonnay as the grape, rather than having to know that most Macons are Chards), and the taste is another of those 50/50 French/American styles. Yes. $10

Columbia Crest Semillon/Chardonnay 2002 - Washington

Columbia Crest Semillon/Chardonnay 2002 Columbia Valley (Washington)
This has some pear on the nose, and is a buttery, creamy blend. Just not distinguished enough. A Maybe for Francesca, a No for Ken. $4. (At that price, though, it’s certainly worth a sample in case your tastes aren’t the same as ours, as we generally like Columbia Crest wines.)

Pahlmeyer Chardonnay, Ridge Chardonnay, Kenwood Pinot Noir Rose & Scallop Salad

On July 27, 2007
WINE
“Jason” (Pahlmeyer) Chardonnay 2004 Napa Valley (California)
Ridge Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay Home Ranch 2002 (California)
Kenwood Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Rose 2005 (California)

We had dinner at friends, who are also wine lovers. Leah (with Perry’s help, of course) made seared scallop salad. Perry supplied a Pahlmeyer Chardonnay, from one of the “cult” Napa wineries. This was a big (although not as big as the “regular” Pahlmeyer Chard – Jason is the second label from the winery) California Chard, full of oak, buttery tastes, baked apple. Very well integrated. A Yes as a Special Occasion wine. Pahlmeyer wines are generally only available to the mailing list and at some restaurants. Jason has a wider distribution and is available at some retailers. $30-40.

We brought a Ridge Chardonnay – one of the few whites that Ridge makes. (Interesting that both we and our friends felt that a Chard would work well with scallops.) The Ridge had a nose of mushrooms and earth, and tastes of mushrooms, some dark pear/apple fruit, and a nice layer of minerals. As with all Ridge wines, this seems very well integrated. Yes as a Special Occasion wine. About $30 when we purchased it.

The Kenwood was a nice sipper with appetizers. Just plain pleasant. A Yes wine. Price unknown.

DINNER
Bruschetta appetizer, with seared scallop salad. Dessert of Haagen Dazs ice cream (lazy we were).

Ryan Patrick Chardonnay & Leftovers

On July 3, 2007
WINE
Ryan Patrick Vineyards Naked Chardonnay 2006 Columbia Valley (Washington)
Nice. Tastes of ripe apples, has some weight and mouthfeel, and a tiny hint of buttery-ness, but none of the “toasty oak” writers love to mention. We really prefer unoaked Chards, and enjoy the fruit flavors of the grape. This is a Yes. Price unknown (probably ~$10).

DINNER
Leftover quiche. Side salad. Nothing special to mention.