Monday, February 23, 2009

Diva Dinner Dates Pt. 4: Kuzak's Wine Flights

Now, what Diva Dinner Date would be complete without divalicious wines? This Saturday, Kuzak went all out, pulling some nice wines from his cellar. We drank four different wines, and they all paired beautifully with the food.

Franck Bonville 2002 Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs

Kuzak chose this bottle to jump start the evening. Nothing gets a party started like a crisp, delicious bottle of champagne! Something about popping the cork and sipping the bubbly makes it feel like the party has officially commenced. This is one of our favorite champagnes. It's a terrific bargain. We purchased our bottle from K&L wine merchants, a wine store with a great selection of champagnes. They have a location in Los Angeles, or you can order online from them. This wine has a lovely crisp, clean, earthy taste that reminds me of a chablis. Great nose and fruit on the tongue. It paired beautifully with the light flavors of DD's Yellowtail Tuna and White Bean Salad.

Mibal Ribera del Duero Seleccion

As Kuzak put it at dinner, "some Spanish dude made this wine in his garage." We all laughed politely at his joke, causing him to add. "No, I mean literally, it was made in a garage." He went on to tell us he read about it on one of the wine blogs he frequents and figured he'd toss caution to the proverbial wind, or wine in this case, and give it a shot. Well, all joking aside, it could have been made in a gas station restroom for all I care because it was delicious! Made from 100% tempranillo, this wine had great flavors of blackberry, raspberry and nice tannins. Paired with DD's Seafood Paella, it stood up fantastically to the flavorful food! I highly recommend trying to track a bottle of this down. Robert Parker has recently rated these wines 90-93 points.

Copain 2006 Thompson Syrah

You'll hear me blog about Copain often. This is one of Kuzak and my favorite California wineries. I'm so in love with their syrah, I want to marry it! Winemaker Wells Guthrie seems to find the best grapes from the best vineyards from which to make his syrahs and pinot noirs. This is a bold wine with flavors of blackberry, leather and chocolate, and holds up magnificently to bold food. The 2006s drink great even at their young age. Kuzak's on their mailing list and we buy cases direct from Copain. If you crack a bottle of Copain, it will pull a disappearing act on you, vanishing from your glass before you're ready to say goodbye.

Castelnau de Suduiraut 2001 Sauternes

Ask anyone who knows me, and they'll tell you I'm an avid enthusiast of dessert wines, and of all the ones in the world, Sauternes are my favs! Wonderfully sweet and peppery, full of honey and apple flavors, they're the perfect way to end any great meal. 2001 was a great year for Sauternes, and this wine is no exception, exhibiting all the classic flavors and pairing well with DD's Macaroons. If you've never tried a Sauternes, give yourself a treat and pick one up, or order one next time you're out to dinner. I promise you'll be a convert in no time!

No comments:

Post a Comment