four blind wines
four blind wines
see how they taste...
(keep humming to the tune of 3 blind mice)
I'm in the last 2 weeks of my level 2 International Sommelier Guild class and tonight we had our blind tasting portion of our final exam. Walking into class tonight we were greeted by 4 glasses and two sheets of paper.
Looking at the glasses I breathed a major sigh of relief. I was pretty darn sure about one of them on sight alone. Tasting it would confirm my initial thought. The rest of the tasting was pretty straight forward... 2 reds and 2 whites. The wines were basically spot on hallmarks of what they should be.
That said, in a move classic for me, I totally over thought the last wine and screwed it up. Hopefully I wrote a decent tasting note for it and can still get most of the points.
The only thing left in class is the exam...
Monday, January 24, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Wine Review
Monday is wine class night, however class was called off due to the snowy/icy weather. Feeling the need for some wine I ventured to my trusty wine rack. In looking at the options I went for a 2006 Ridge Geyserville. This wine is a blend of 70% Zinfandel (just under the 75% minimum to call it that varietal), 18% Carignane, 10% Petit Syrah and 2% Mataro grapes.
In absolutely non-technical terms this wine rocks! As in go to your wine shop and buy some, and stick it on the shelf for the next few years. The label tells me that I'm drinking it a bit too early, but it tastes so very good. If it is this good now, I can't wait to see what it will be like in a few years.
Getting to the technical stuff...
On the nose there are great fruit elements (deep red cherries and dark berries) with hints of earthy leathers and vague overtones of baking spices (nutmeg, spice, clove.)
In tasting the wines I found all those elements I smelled showed up and blended into one elegant expression. The tannins balance the alcohol and acidity of the wine, and lend a great structure to the wine. This wine lingers on the palate in a pleasing way enticing you to drink more of it.
All in all... I like Ridge to begin with, and I really liked this wine. I might have to go out and pick up a few more bottles to let them rest for a few years.
Cheers!
In absolutely non-technical terms this wine rocks! As in go to your wine shop and buy some, and stick it on the shelf for the next few years. The label tells me that I'm drinking it a bit too early, but it tastes so very good. If it is this good now, I can't wait to see what it will be like in a few years.
Getting to the technical stuff...
On the nose there are great fruit elements (deep red cherries and dark berries) with hints of earthy leathers and vague overtones of baking spices (nutmeg, spice, clove.)
In tasting the wines I found all those elements I smelled showed up and blended into one elegant expression. The tannins balance the alcohol and acidity of the wine, and lend a great structure to the wine. This wine lingers on the palate in a pleasing way enticing you to drink more of it.
All in all... I like Ridge to begin with, and I really liked this wine. I might have to go out and pick up a few more bottles to let them rest for a few years.
Cheers!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Cold Weather = Chili Weather
With rumors of snow tomorrow and a free evening after work I took a quick spin through the grocery store, where I might have been the only person not buying bread and/or milk, for a few things to whip up a batch of chili. Growing up chili always appeared when the weather turned chilly, so the weather today had me craving some!
The ingredients are straightforward and already in most kitchens, all I had to buy tonight was the ground beef and the diced tomatoes.
The first step is to dice the onion and mince the garlic. I usually say that precision in knife cuts matters, heck I even did a whole blog post on it, chili is one of the exceptions to that rule. While you're getting the onions and garlic down to a reasonable size it is a great time to put your pot on the stove and get the butter melting!
Once the butter is melted and sizzling toss the onions into the pot and let them go from this...
To this...
The process of sweating the onions and garlic to get them soft with very little color on them takes about 10 minutes, and requires very little effort. I use the time to measure and blend the spices.
With the spices blended and the onion mix cooked add the ground beef and spices. If you are not a huge fan of ground beef it is possible to whip this recipe up with ground turkey or chicken.
Let the onions, beef and spices cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Then add the tomatoes. I find that the petite diced are the easiest to work with, but you can use chopped, diced, crushed or whole tomatoes. I find that folding the tomatoes in and putting the lid on the pot for a good 30 minutes gets the best results.
I might open the pot once or twice to stir the mix and check that the seasoning tastes right. Once those 30 minutes are up the chili is done and ready to eat... but there is nothing wrong with leaving it on the stove over low heat until you are ready to eat. The longer it cooks the more the flavors develop.
When you are ready to eat it add your favorite toppers (cheese, sour cream and chives), find the right beverage (I opted for beer), and dig in!
The ingredients are straightforward and already in most kitchens, all I had to buy tonight was the ground beef and the diced tomatoes.
The first step is to dice the onion and mince the garlic. I usually say that precision in knife cuts matters, heck I even did a whole blog post on it, chili is one of the exceptions to that rule. While you're getting the onions and garlic down to a reasonable size it is a great time to put your pot on the stove and get the butter melting!
Once the butter is melted and sizzling toss the onions into the pot and let them go from this...
The process of sweating the onions and garlic to get them soft with very little color on them takes about 10 minutes, and requires very little effort. I use the time to measure and blend the spices.
With the spices blended and the onion mix cooked add the ground beef and spices. If you are not a huge fan of ground beef it is possible to whip this recipe up with ground turkey or chicken.
Let the onions, beef and spices cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Then add the tomatoes. I find that the petite diced are the easiest to work with, but you can use chopped, diced, crushed or whole tomatoes. I find that folding the tomatoes in and putting the lid on the pot for a good 30 minutes gets the best results.
I might open the pot once or twice to stir the mix and check that the seasoning tastes right. Once those 30 minutes are up the chili is done and ready to eat... but there is nothing wrong with leaving it on the stove over low heat until you are ready to eat. The longer it cooks the more the flavors develop.
When you are ready to eat it add your favorite toppers (cheese, sour cream and chives), find the right beverage (I opted for beer), and dig in!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
New Year... Same Blog
As the new year begins I have decided to come back to the Cocktail Hour Chef Blog! (please cue noise makers, trumpets, and confetti.) For 2011 I hope to have more posts with actual recipes (and hopefully photographs), lots of wine information, segments on my favorite kitchen tools and other surprises along the way.
Kicking this off lets talk about knives...
They are one of the basic tools of the kitchen and there are about as many variations on them as there are people on the face of the earth. When I arrived at culinary school one of the first things I got was a large blue bag and a box of knives. Sitting in a large circle our class identified the knives, talked about what they did and then put them into the blue bags. The knives we got that day were pretty decent German knives. They cut, they chopped, the sliced students who were not paying attention. While I liked these knives I didn't love them. I had a kinda sorta old Henckels knife (I'm pretty sure I bought it at Target after college) that I really think worked better. If nothing else I liked how it felt in my hand more than the school knives did. Still, at school I used the knives the school gave us and kept my old trusty knife at home.
Since graduating I've had time to try out other knives. I've tried a few brands some German, some Japanese, and a single brand from Switzerland. What I found in all of this is that I adore German knives and just not at all fond of the Japanese ones. As for the Swiss knives, they're fun and I like them, but they don't have all the products that I need.
Christmas rolled around and while I'd fallen in lust with one knife I knew that while it was stunningly beautiful and cut like a dream it wasn't sensible to ask for it. A few days after Christmas I once again found my self in Sur La Table playing with knives. This time I looked at a slightly different one and it came home with me.
The knife I ended up getting (Zwilling Henckels Twin Profection) has been up to every task I've put before it in the past few days. A head of cauliflower... nothing to it, carrots... like a sharp knife through hot butter, raw potatoes... easy. This is a knife that wants to cut what ever ends up under the blade.
On that note... I'm off to whip up dinner!
Cheers
Kicking this off lets talk about knives...
They are one of the basic tools of the kitchen and there are about as many variations on them as there are people on the face of the earth. When I arrived at culinary school one of the first things I got was a large blue bag and a box of knives. Sitting in a large circle our class identified the knives, talked about what they did and then put them into the blue bags. The knives we got that day were pretty decent German knives. They cut, they chopped, the sliced students who were not paying attention. While I liked these knives I didn't love them. I had a kinda sorta old Henckels knife (I'm pretty sure I bought it at Target after college) that I really think worked better. If nothing else I liked how it felt in my hand more than the school knives did. Still, at school I used the knives the school gave us and kept my old trusty knife at home.
Since graduating I've had time to try out other knives. I've tried a few brands some German, some Japanese, and a single brand from Switzerland. What I found in all of this is that I adore German knives and just not at all fond of the Japanese ones. As for the Swiss knives, they're fun and I like them, but they don't have all the products that I need.
Christmas rolled around and while I'd fallen in lust with one knife I knew that while it was stunningly beautiful and cut like a dream it wasn't sensible to ask for it. A few days after Christmas I once again found my self in Sur La Table playing with knives. This time I looked at a slightly different one and it came home with me.
The knife I ended up getting (Zwilling Henckels Twin Profection) has been up to every task I've put before it in the past few days. A head of cauliflower... nothing to it, carrots... like a sharp knife through hot butter, raw potatoes... easy. This is a knife that wants to cut what ever ends up under the blade.
On that note... I'm off to whip up dinner!
Cheers
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