Wine Review: Viognier

A couple of nights ago, I made our favorite broccoli stuffed chicken. I decided we needed wine with it, so I chilled our bottle of Maryhill Viognier wine (2008). We picked it up at Christmas and it has been just waiting for us to drink. Now, I have to wait until next time we are in Washington to get a bottle of this liquid gold (not too many places sell Maryhill around here...sad, I know).

This was a great bottle of wine. Ryan doesn't usually like sweet, or white wines. He tends to like the Pinot Gris, or Sauvignon Blanc if he does drink white. This was a nice crisp white wine. Not too dry, not too sweet. In our opinion, it went wonderfully with the broccoli chicken, and then last nights pork and veggies.

Overall, this is a new favorite wine for us. Can't wait to have another glass!

Cheers!

Sage Pork Chops

Last night for dinner I made Martha Stewards Sage Pork Chops, they were delicious!!I used a Pinot Gris (or a Pinot Blanc) for the white wine and it worked well (it was the only white I had that wasn't too sweet-like a Riesling or Gewurztraminer). We had a glass of wine and a side of rice to go with it. We both really liked this meal. I would have liked to try the Parmesan Rice that Martha has, but I didn't have the recipe. Brown rice worked fine with some of the sauce drizzled on top. YUMMY!

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/sage-pork-chops?autonomy_kw=Sage%20Pork%20Chops&rsc=header_1

Ingredients
* 4 boneless pork loin chops (6 ounces each)
* Coarse salt and ground pepper
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 1 medium shallot, minced
* 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage or 1/4 teaspoon dried
* 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
* 1/2 cup dry white wine

Directions
1. Season pork generously with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat oil and butter over medium; add pork. Cook until browned and opaque throughout, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, and cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm.
2. Make sauce: Add shallot to skillet; cook over medium, stirring until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add sage, thyme, and wine. Simmer until sauce is reduced to about 1/3 cup, 2 to 3 minutes; stir in any accumulated juices from plate with meat. Transfer chops to plates, drizzle with sauce, and serve with Parmesan Rice.

Wine...tastes even better with some air

We recently went wine tasting and discovered the coolest new wine gadget. An Aerator. It adds air to the wine, so it's basically decanting it, but instantly. I wasn't a believer until at the winery we were given a taste of a red wine before it went through the aerator, and then after. The difference was incredible. So, I decided I was going to get this for Ryan for his birthday. But they had just released the same thing, only engineered for white wines. I had to get both!! So I did. We tried it last night. It was amazing the difference in both the reds and the whites. These are the greatest wine accessory, besides a cork screw!! I would recommend the investment in one of these to any avid wine drinker.

A good glass of Wine

For our honeymoon we spent a week in Napa and Sonoma Valley. We got to try some of the best wines and see some of the greatest Vineyards. We learned a ton about wine. Not only the technical things but we prefer to drink as well. Ryan learned to appreciate a good white, even a rose. I definitely found some reds that I enjoy. One of our favorite vineyards, and now favorite wines, is Sterling (http://www.sterlingvineyards.com). They have an amazing Cabernet Sauvignon. We also learned about wine decanting. I didn't know much about this process, and well, it's one of those things I am still learning. But Ryan will swear by it. He believes the reds are much better tasting and smelling after sitting in our decanter (his favorite "toy").

Here is an article I found:
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-wineair6-2009may06,0,5231460.story?page=1

Garlic, Lemon and Rosemary, Riesling=great combo!

Tonight for dinner I made Rachel Ray's "Garlic Roast Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon" and it was yummy!! I added a side of brown rice with the leftover "juices" on top. I made some oven roasted lemon pepper Asparagus (I covered the aspargus in EVOO and some lemon juice with pepper and roasted it until it was dark green and tender). We topped it off with Chateau St. Michelle Riesling...our favorite white wine. It was a great combination.

Here is Rachel's recipe: (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/garlic-roast-chicken-with-rosemary-and-lemon-recipe/index.html)

Ingredients

* 2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
* 6 cloves garlic, crushed
* 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves stripped from stems
* 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it
* 1 lemon, zested and juiced
* 1 tablespoon grill seasoning blend (recommended: Montreal Seasoning) or, coarse salt and black pepper
* 1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Arrange chicken in a baking dish, 9 by 13-inch. Add garlic, rosemary, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon zest and grill seasoning or salt and pepper to the dish. Toss and coat the chicken with all ingredients, then place in oven. Roast 20 minutes. Add wine and lemon juice to the dish and combine with pan juices. Return to oven and turn oven off. Let stand 5 minutes longer then remove chicken from the oven. Place baking dish on trivet and serve, spooning pan juices over the chicken pieces.