Wine Review Monday

"Is it sweet or fruity?" is the question someone asked me this weekend at a wine tasting. The red wine we were tasting was definitely a dry wine, but his question warranted more of an explanation rather than just a simple answer.

With the exception of the experienced "wineaux" wine tasters, when we taste a new wine many of us sometimes confuse its sweet fruity flavors with a level of sweetness and do not realize that it's the fruitiness we're tasting. When we do figure out the difference between sweet or fruity it can be hard to explain it without going into the details from grape growing and picking right through the wine-making process.

Simply put, during the wine's fermentation the natural sugar in the grapes is converted into alcohol (ferment the wine to dryness) and the wine then becomes more fruit forward. The fruity wine suggests to our palate the wine is sweet, though it's really the fruit flavors we taste in the wine.

If you would like to taste the difference between a sweet wine and a fruity wine, you can have fun with your friends by having a taste test. You can do this at home or at a restaurant, though you might have more fun doing this at home.

• Choose a Sauvignon Blanc and a dry Riesling for this taste test. Start with the Sauvignon Blanc which has tropical and/or citrus flavors which you might think tastes "sweet".
  
  
• Now taste a Riesling. Rieslings are well balanced wines that are made with more residual sugar than Sauvignon Blanc. You should notice the difference in the level of sweetness in the Riesling which you might say is very "sweet".
  
  
• Taste the Sauvignon Blanc again. Notice that the wine is not really sweet but what you really taste is the delicious tropical fruits with a hint of the citrus.

When you do the tasting, cleanse your palate after tasting each wine. Take a couple of bites of a plain cracker and wash it down with plain water that is not too cold. If the water is iced and too cold it will numb your palate so you will not be able to really taste the actual flavors in next few sips of wine.


Salute!
Winelady Cooks

Sugar Donut Muffin Assortment

For me, I love nothing better than an easy to prepare recipe. And there it was, the Sugar Donut Muffin.

Lauren at CoffeeMuffins posted her version of the sugar donut muffin recipe from CinnamonSpice.

Lauren's photo was terrific. It made me want to have one so I just had to make them right away.

Without hesitation, I gathered together all the ingredients and pulled out my favorite mini muffin pan. I'd rather make my muffins mini size because it's easier to control our over-indulging.

CinnamonSpice suggested there can be many ways to embellish this wonderful treat. So of course, since I was already baking and making my usual mess in the kitchen, I decided to use everything I could find in my pantry. I didn't use the nuts and coconut because my family wouldn't eat them and I didn't want to have the delicious little donut muffin bites feel left out.

I used chocolate and colored candy sprinkles, cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar, sugar glazed and just plain decadent chocolate covered muffins.

Even my grandsons loved them. They especially enjoyed the colored candy and chocolate sprinkle covered muffins and they are hard to please when it comes to cake and muffins. My daughter devoured the decadent chocolate muffins.

I had to share this recipe with my sister, the "cook" (though she's not much of a baker). She was intrigued by my enthusiasm for the sugar donut muffins and was eager to add her 2 cents -- a 'jelly' donut muffin, and while we're at it, why not a peanut butter and jelly donut muffin.

I'll wait for her to put these two varieties together and make the mess in her kitchen. I'll pass on her results, if she ever does decide to bake.

For me, I will be making these wonderful sugar donut muffins on a regular basis. I started calling them my mini muffin bites. I was eating them in two bites as I was decorating them. Well, I had to make sure they tasted good before I passed them around -- no?

I never did eat dinner that night.


Mangia!
Winelady Cooks

Wine Review Monday

PB&J and Champagne, "are you sure?" my daughters asked me.

We needed a diversion since spring has sprung but I'm not quite ready. The deck is under a pile of old fall leaves and the BBQ is under cover not yet ready to be fired up.

I convinced my daughters to sit back, relax and play along with me Friday night. It was fun and it brought back memories of their childhood when I gave them PB&J sandwiches for supper, of course without the champagne.

Also listed are a couple of other all-time favorite fast foods with a pairing you might enjoy.

Mac 'n Cheese and Sparkling Wine
My all time favorite comfort food is Mac 'n Cheese. You will need something that will stand up to the creaminess of the cheese in this yummy dish. The fizziness and effervescence helps to cleanse the palate from the richness of the creamy cheese. This is a bit of a bold pairing. Choose a sparkler that is a bit more rich and complex. A Blanc de Noirs sparkling wine is made from red grapes which gives the wine a richer and more complexity that will be worth trying.

Pepperoni Pizza and Chianti
The favorite and ultimate fast food, Pizza. For this fast food meal the obvious choice is a young, fruity Chianti which has enough acidity to cut through the pepperoni and cheese. Save the aged, reserve Chianti for another meal.


Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches and Champagne . . . ???!!!
For those crazy days or weekends when there is just no time to think about food and all you can pull together is PB&J why not open a bottle of bubbly. On those occasional hectic days, way back then, when the extra-curricular activities ran into overtime, I made PB&J sandwiches with sides of healthy snack foods and chocolate milk chasers.

For our grown up version this Friday night we added caramel popcorn as a side to our PB&J. This pairing calls for something refreshing and a bit sweet. Try a demi-sec Champagne, or for a more economical choice, a sparkling wine. The bubbles make it easier for the sticky peanut butter to melt away from the roof of your mouth. The lightly sweet wine works with the jelly and caramel popcorn.

Sometimes it's fun to bend the rules and, with food and wine, there are only two things that can happen.
1. You will have fun and enjoy the wine. OR
2. You will not. But you will not know unless you try.

Just have fun and Taste Wine and Enjoy!



Salute!
Winelady Cooks

Thank You Foodbuzz + Kellogg's All-Bran!

Thanks to the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program I was able to Opt-in for the Kellogg's All Bran cereals. Today I received my package which couldn't have come at a better time.

I've been traveling to Florida quite a bit the last seven months to help my dad while he was recuperating after his heart attack.

Though he is doing extremely well and he's been able to resume his normal activities, this event gave us a jolt. We realized how important a heart-healthy diet is for all of us, both young and old. Well, we all know that but for some reason we don't always follow the rules.

Eating from the land is one of the ways to get our recommended daily requirement of fruits and vegetables. We can start by eating fresh fruits and vegetables, and we'll be contributing to helping the environment as well.

And then there is the all important fiber. Since we began to help our dad with his new heart healthy diet, my sister and I have been trying to improve our family diets as well. We've been working hard to be sure we include high fiber foods into our diets every day.

Thanks to Kellogg's All Bran it will be easier than ever to get enough fiber into our diets every day. Eating All Bran for breakfast with fresh fruit and berries is a no brainer. Variety is the spice of life, and this breakfast has variety written all over it that it will be hard to skip this important meal.

I also am also up to the challenge to include All Bran in my recipes. It will be a snap to keep up with a heart healthy diet.


Mangia!
Winelady Cooks

Wine Review Monday

Mateus and "do you remember when?"

I can't remember the last time I had Mateus wine. Well, this weekend I was at a birthday celebration and there was a bottle of Mateus on the table.

Remember drinking Mateus in the 1970's? It was quite popular and it was the wine we most often drank back then when we had company. I remember drinking the rosé wine which was sweet and it was easy drinking.

The '70's era was a simpler time and a simpler life. Not everyone went to a private or ivy league college, and it was well before any one even thought about becoming an expert in "their field" -- you know what I mean? This was a time when most everyone drank Mateus, loved the taste, and drank it with everything or with nothing.

This was also the time when interest in wine started increasing and the trend toward wine making began to grow. Since I'm from New York, here is a tidbit of information -- in 1973 the first grape vines were planted on a potato farm in the Long Island town of Cutchogue. Today Long Island, New York is the third largest wine growing region in America. Talk about a growing trend . . .

Mateus White Wine

In the here and now, Mateus has risen to the occasion with a crisp, light and fruity white wine which is what we were drinking this weekend. It is lower in alcohol than most white wines making it a very easy drinking wine. There is just a touch of fizziness which made it fun to drink and was quite refreshing. I thought the wine had just a tiny hint of sweetness (definitely not like the white zinfandel variety).

This can be a nice addition to your house wine for the summer. With its crisp acidity and fizziness it can be a good pairing with many foods as well as fresh fruits.

Mateus Rosé Wines

Mateus is also known for their rosé wines and is branded as the rosé wine specialist. Look for the Mateus Rosé, Tempranillo Rosé, Shiraz Rosé, and Sparkling Brut Rosé. The Rosés have won several awards in their categories in 2008 and 2009.

The Sparkling Brut Rosé is a pale pink color with fine bubbles. It has slight floral aromas along with notes of apple, pear, raspberry and toast.

Mateus Shiraz Rosé is the driest of the rosé wines and has fresh red berry aromas.

Mateus has reinvented itself and produces fresh and young wines that are very appealing and easy to drink for today's contemporary lifestyles.

Mateus wines should always be served well chilled. Drink these young fresh wines as an apéritif, or with spicy dishes, grilled fish or light white meats and chicken; and also with fresh summer berries for dessert.


Salute!
Winelady Cooks

Wine Review Monday

Chianti and Limoncello with our family dinner couldn't be better.

We were in the mood for nostalgia this year so my sister and I decided to make a dinner we had many times as children though we cut back on the volume and made only two courses.

For starters we made Pizza Rustica which is Easter meat pie, and steamed, stuffed artichokes with Limoncello from our grandmother's recipes.

Our Lasagna with meat sauce, or gravy as we call it in our family, took center stage this year. We made the lasagna in our own style and it turned out delicious.

We paired our meal with a Chianti Classico Reserve that was perfect with the meat pie and the lasagna.

With our desserts and espresso we served Limoncello. Remembering our mother and aunt making this liqueur when we were growing up brought back some fond memories for us so we decided it should be included in this nostalgic day we were creating.

Of course we didn't have time to make our own liqueur but that didn't stop us.

We used the Limoncello in our steamed artichokes earlier, but as an after dinner liqueur it was quite different.

The simplicity of Limoncello is what makes it special. Its fresh lemon aroma and tangy flavor has just the right amount of sweetness. We made lots of shaved ice and scooped it into our glasses then poured the Limoncello over it. It was the "wow" to our desserts.

Delicious and refreshing, the Limoncello made our dessert shine this holiday and was the perfect ending to a family gathering of fun and wonderful memories.


Salute!
Winelady Cooks