Paired Up: Cabernet Sauvignon and Chunky Chicken Chili

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

The Wine

2007 Januik Cabernet Sauvignon

We got this bottle of Januik Cabernet Sauvignon back in April during our visit to the winery. It's been laying in our wine rack since then, just waiting for the right moment. We chose it for this meal because, well, why not? We really just wanted to drink a Cab; this Cab was lying there. Yes, sometimes it really is that simple! It decanted for an hour or so before we tasted it.

The Food

Hunter stayed out of the ki... wait, no. This was Hunter's creation. In the chef's words:

Paired Up: Red Blend and Mushroom Lasagna

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

The Wine

2008 SuLei Cellars Beet Red

We picked this bottle up at the winery during 2011 Spring Release Weekend in Walla Walla. It was our second visit to SuLei Cellars, having been lured in the year before by an adorable little puppy. The wines were our reward for following our hearts, and the following year's releases were so good that we bought a bottle of each. The Beet Red is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Malbec, and 20% Cabernet Franc. We expected some full flavors for this meal, and wanted a wine that would complement the earthiness of mushrooms. This wine stuck out as one that had that dirty goodness, its name is Beet Red after all, so we popped it open and decanted it for a couple hours before tasting. It was a bit tight on opening, so the airing out was a definite plus.

The Food

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

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:

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:

Sampling the Goods: Alexandria Nicole Cellars and Novelty Hill • Januik Winery

In our Sampling the Goods posts, we describe the vineyards, wineries and tasting rooms we visit and our experiences therein.

Plans were made to head up to Mt. Vernon to visit some friends and enjoy the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival on Saturday, April 9. Having caught the very tail end of it last year, we thought going early might be better. Well, with the cold spring we've had out here in the Puget Sound area, there weren't many tulips to be seen. Luckily, the Tulip Festival website has an excellent map showing which fields are blooming (not many on that day), so we skipped the flowers. But we couldn't just clean the house during the day - plans were made! So, we made a quick stop in Woodinville on our way up north. It's on the way. We swear.

Alexandria Nicole Cellars

We went to Alexandria Nicole because we hadn't been there and because we wanted to stay away from the Walla Walla wineries that we'll be visiting in a few weeks for Spring Release. In addition, they were recently named 2011 Washington Winery of the Year by Wine Press Northwest, so we thought we should see what the hype was about.

Paired Up: Sangiovese and a Smorgasbord

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

The Wine

2008 Yellow Hawk Cellar Sangiovese (Columbia Valley)

On the final day of our first trip to Walla Walla, we stopped in at Yellow Hawk Cellars. Sadly, that would be our one and only visit as they have since closed up shop. At that visit, though, the wines were good and the prices were great, so we grabbed a couple bottles. When we got home, the 2007 Sangiovese became an early favorite of the trip of ours, and we bought several more bottles at Metropolitan Market. It was also one of the first wines that sent us out looking for online wine reviews and wine blogs. Washington Wine Report has selected a couple of the older vintages of this wine as recommended Thanksgiving wines, and we have generally found that Sangiovese is a food-friendly wine that goes with most anything. We put that to the test here.

This bottle was bought shortly before Thanksgiving last year and has been in the wine rack in our living room since then. It decanted for as long as it took us to heat everything up, so about 15-20 minutes. That was sufficient for this wine, and popping and pouring probably wouldn't be bad either.

The Food

After working out, we needed something quick, and we needed to use up leftovers. So, we put together this smorgasbord!

Paired Up: Syrah and Pasta with Meat Sauce

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

The Wine

2007 Va Piano Syrah (Columbia Valley)

During our first trip out to Walla Walla wine country, we were pretty much blank slates on what kind of wine we liked. We knew that we didn't like white. We were wrong there. We also had an inkling that we didn't like Syrah. We could not have been more wrong on that. This 2007 Syrah from Va Piano Vineyards was the one that really grabbed us and shook the Syrah hesitance right out of us. We picked up this bottle on that trip and stored it for a few months in our storage unit until we got the wine fridge up and running, where it rested until we popped it open for this meal. We decanted it for a good hour or so before tasting, and that seemed to work pretty well

The Food

This is one of Hunter's specialties, so he took the lead while Katy helped out with the cutting. In the chef's words:

Pasta is the staple of many a young man with a high metabolism and limited cooking skills. Back when that described me, I was a master of spaghetti and the Prego jar. Eventually, I learned my way around the kitchen a bit more and came to make a pretty decent chili. I realized that the Cincinnati-style chili of my youth wasn't too different from spaghetti with meat sauce, so one day I set out to make pasta sauce from scratch. Or at least pretty close to scratch.