Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Paired Up: Merlot/Cabernet Franc Blend and Chipotle Steak

In our Paired Up posts, we review a wine and the food we wisely (or foolishly) paired it with. 

The Wine

2007 Fjellene Cellars The North Col Blend


We picked this bottle up at the winery during Spring Release Weekend in Walla Walla. Our wine group had not been to Fjellene and wanted to check it out this time around. We all came away very impressed by the array of smooth, fruity wines on offer. We have found that we are suckers for Merlot-Cabernet Franc blends, so we grabbed a bottle of this 50-50 mix. Having had success with this type of blend paired with steak before, we selected this one to partner with a different style of steak. It was on our rack for a few weeks before we tabbed it for this meal. It decanted while the meal was prepared - so, not very long - but didn't show any tightness on the nose.

The Food

Hunter stayed out of the kitchen once again. In Katy's words:


Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Paired Up: Red Blend and BBQ Pizza

In our Paired Up posts, we review a wine and the food we wisely (or foolishly) paired it with. 

The Wine

2007 Zerba Cellars Wild Z (Walla Walla Valley)


We did a different spin on the pizza/wine pairing this time in that the pizza was homemade and the toppings were different. Since our last red blend with pizza pairing was such a rousing success, we figured there was no need to mess with that aspect this time.We wanted something that was new but a bit familiar and we wanted to keep the price around the $20. We have been out to Zerba Cellars, yet had not had a bottle of this wine - perfect! Familiar yet new, just like this pairing!

Wild Z is a blend of mainly Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, with a splash of Cabernet Franc. We bought this one at Metropolitan Market and gave it about a half hour in the decanter before we were ready to taste. We didn't notice the nose being tight at all, so that seemed to be enough time.

The Food

Hunter helped on this one by staying out of the way. In Katy's words: