Crème Fraiche & Milbrandt Riesling

Crème Fraiche

Yes, we’re pretty late to the party. We make our own garlic Aioli by grinding fresh garlic cloves in a mortar. We use fresh herbs instead of dried whenever possible. We cook just about everything from scratch. But we never bothered to make Crème Fraiche.

Crème Fraiche is a French matured cream, but not at all like our U.S. sour cream. We’ve never found it in our semi-rural grocery stores, but we’ve read for years how “easy” it is to make. Even Julia Child has a recipe. The typical recipe calls for a cup of cream and a tablespoon or two of buttermilk. But who in the world has buttermilk in the fridge anymore, especially when it comes in quart cartons? Yet a few weeks ago we found a tiny half-pint carton of buttermilk, and decided to try this creation.

We mixed (without measuring, as usual) the cream and buttermilk and let it stand overnight until it actually did develop a nice, thick creamy consistency. It had a wonderful bite yet a smooth creaminess that sour cream just doesn’t have.

Since then, we’ve mixed it with Dijon mustard for a salad dressing; we’ve added honey and vanilla for a topping for fresh wild raspberries (not that the raspberries really needed anything); and we’ve mixed a bit of it with a leftover tomato-artichoke-olive sofrito to go on top of red potatoes steamed with fresh rosemary.

We’re hooked. Our most recent meal using Crème Fraiche was as the potato topping mentioned above, and for that dinner we also had halibut sautéed in butter and herbs accompanied by a crisp Washington state Riesling, reviewed below.


Milbrandt Riesling 2006 – Washington

When we bought this, we had no way of knowing if it were dry or sweet. Many Rieslings will note a style on the label (and we wish all wineries would), but without that information it’s hard to know whether to open a bottle of Riesling as an afternoon sipper or as a dinner wine. We took a wild guess, and were right with this one.

The nose is mild, with a bit of apple and herbs. The tastes are a nice medley of crab apple, apple, mild herbs, maybe a little grassy or leafy. It finishes crisply, with some mild but nice acidity. Surprisingly for a Riesling, it was still fine as it warmed in the glass on an 87-degree evening. It developed more depth and complexity, without losing that distinctive Riesling character.

The best part is the price – only $6.50 when we found it. At that price, it’s a House/Yes wine for sure (depending on availability).

Wines of the Year

We thought we’d jump on the end-of-year bandwagon, and offer our top new wines we enjoyed this year.

Grgich Hills Fume Blanc 2006

Cathedral Ridge Riesling 2007

d.A. (Domaines Astruc) Shiraz/Viogner 2006

Columbia Crest Vineyard 10 Rose 2007

Cathedral Ridge 2007 Riesling – Oregon

Cathedral Ridge is a medium-sized winery in Hood River, Oregon. It has a modern tasting room and a good selection of wines to taste at no charge. This is simply a wonderful wine. Floral notes and roses on the nose. Tastes like a fresh honeydew melon. It’s a subtle, almost sensuous wine. The finish lingers and then softly fades away. Yes (House if it were widely available at retail.) $15

Snoqualmie Riesling 2006 – Washington

Lots of nice floral nuances on the nose. Tastes of honey, with some definite sweetness and a touch (not enough) of acid. A tangerine and pineapple aftertaste. Ken Maybe, Francesca Yes. $8

Columbia Winery Cellarmaster’s Riesling 2006 – Washington

Just as there are two Stag’s Leaps in California, there are two Columbias in Washington. Columbia Winery is less well-known than Columbia Crest, but produces some very nice wines. This Riesling has a wonderful honey and mildly floral nose, and the tastes are honey, pear, and melon. This is frankly sweet (not overly so), yet without quite enough acidity to balance the sweetness. It’s almost more of a dessert wine. Still, a Yes wine. Probably about $15.

Vin du Lac of Chelan “Les Amis” Riesling/Muskat 2005 – Washington

This is a 67% Riesling and 33% Muskat blend. It has a wonderful floral nose of honeysuckle and tangerine. The tastes are soft and creamy (not in an “oaky” sense), but with just enough acid for balance. We’re tasting pansies, honeysuckle, honey, lemon (that little acidity), and a hint of melon. A new House wine for us. This goes to show that you can’t judge a winery by one wine – we didn’t much care for the Vin du Lac Chelan “Grisant” Pinot Gris (we gave that wine a Maybe/No), but this Riesling/Muskat is great. And cheaper. $11 on sale, usually about $17-18

Chateau St. Michelle Riesling Eroica 2006 – Washington

This is the product of a joint venture between Washington’s Chateau St. Michelle and Germany’s Dr. Loosen wineries. This particular bottle showed to us what a difference a vintage can make. We hadn’t had this wine in a couple of years, but had previously thought of it almost as Tokaji-like, with a wonderful balance of sweetness and acid. Now, however, this time around we’re less impressed. The wine starts with a floral, citrus, and honey nose, and the tastes come on as kiwi, honey, grapefruit, and pineapple. It’s probably that grapefruit tinge that takes it down several notches from our previous memories of other vintages. Yes (if future tastings reveal more of the “older” style), or Maybe (if they are like this bottle). About $25

Covey Run Dry Riesling 2005 – Washington

This is a pleasant wine, but without a great deal of character. Floral and tangerine/orange scents in the glass, with some mild tangerine flavors. Dry, but little discernable acidity. A “good enough” wine, but there are many other affordable Rieslings with more “oomph” to them. Maybe. $8.

Columbia Crest Riesling 2006 – Washington

Very similar to the Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling previously reviewed. Nose of apple, peaches, and apricots. Tastes of citrus, peach, apricot, and a little white pepper. A little sweeter and a little less acid than the Ste. Michelle. Yes (not quite to “House” standards). $6 on sale.

“Go With Anything” Wines

Are there wines that can truly go with anything? Within reason, we think it’s possible. The wine would be white or rose (pink, blush, whatever you want to call them), have some acidity, and just the barest touch of sweetness. These wines won’t necessarily be the “best” with certain foods, but we think they can go with anything – steaks, burgers, asparagus, artichokes, salads, fish, shellfish, even some cheeses. (To us, that may actually be the toughest “go-with-anything” challenge. We think most cheese needs a completely dry wine, but try some of our following ideas and see what you think.) So, our choices for wines that you could take to a dinner where you don’t know what’s being served, or wines to have on hand just in case you can’t think of what to open with a particular meal.

• Beringer White Zinfandel
• Cristalino Rose Brut Cava
• Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling

If you can’t find (or don’t like) these particular wines, look for something similar – any Spanish Cava, a dry-ish Rose, a not-too-sweet Riesling. You might also experiment with Gewurztraminer, Chenin Blanc, or maybe even a light-weight Pinot Grigio.

Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling 2006 – Washington

This starts with a nose of apple, peaches, and apricots. The tastes come on with citrus, peach, apricot, and a little white pepper. The barest hint of sweetness, nice mild acidity. Yum. A new House wine for us. $6 on sale (usually about $9).

[Update: As previously mentioned, if we find a wine rated elsewhere, we will note those ratings – but only after we write our reviews. This received an 86 from Wine Spectator.]

Covey Run Late Harvest Riesling 2005 – Washington

Honey, sweet (4% residual sugar), some pear notes. Not enough acid to balance the sweetness, for us. This would be good for those folks who simply like pleasant sweet wines. A No for us. Probably about $10.

Clean Slate Riesling & Wontons & Cherries Jubilee

On July 25, 2007
WINE
Clean Slate Riesling 2006 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany)
We first found Clean Slate in Vermont nearly a year ago, but hadn’t seen it since. This wonderful and wonderfully affordable German Riesling has a grassy, grapefruit nose, with tastes of lemon and orange. It has that classic European balance of minerals and acid to go with the delicate fruit flavors. A House wine. $9.

DINNER
Wednesday Night Dinners
The recipe pick was for a dessert (unusual for us), Cherries Jubilee Crepes. We made some simple veggie wontons as a first course, and the dessert was really the meal for us.