:: The Zen Gourmand ::

The Zen Gourmand series of cooking demonstrations and tutored tastings continued on Saturday January 12th with an authentic Swiss Cheese Fondue and a tasting of three appropriate whites. Traditional convention pairs cheese fondue with wines such as Fendant, Riesling, Veltliner, Gewürtz and Pinot Gris. I chose a Peller Estates Signature Series Pinot Gris 2006 ¹⁾, a Hillebrand Artist Series 2006 Gewürztraminer ²⁾ and the Peller Estates French Cross Dry White Vidal ³⁾ which I often use a my standard white cooking wine.

The evening got under way by cracking a bottle of Ice Cuvée (see Linzer Torte post) to get everybody in the swing. It didn’t take long for the cheeses to make an appearance for sampling as well. This included Gruyere, Emmental, Appenzeller and some pretty potent Vacherin.

While the participants were still sampling cheeses I set out to pour the wines for a blind tasting (bottles carefully wrapped in aluminum foil and at proper service temperature).

Palates cleared with bread and water, the tasting proceeded and the results were not unexpected with the Pinot Gris the winner while the Gewürtz was a bit of a disappointment barely nudging out the FX Dry.

Once the fondue was prepared (using the FX Dry as the wine component) the participants had an opportunity to evaluate the wines once more on the basis of how well they paired with the fondu.

The consensus was again in favour of the Pinot Gris with the others sharing second place.

The fondue itself was a hit and the participants were polite enough not to lick the pot at the end :)

You can download the recipe here.

Winemaker’s notes:

¹⁾ Hint of copper colour with a fresh, aromatic nose of peach, melon, orange and banana with just a hint of white pepper spice. A medium-bodied wine with a soft, opulent mouth-feel and flavours of honeydew melon, pear and peach. A summer-fresh finish with flavours of green apple, lemon and pear

²⁾ Intense floral aromas and lychee notes make this classically styled Gewürztraminer easy to identify. The palate is weighty with great floral notes and a hint of honeydew.

³⁾ Pale yellow straw; Cooked pear and yellow apple aroma. Off-dry with soft round fruit flavours and light tropical fruit notes. Easy drinking wine.

Saturday Nov. 17th saw another successful evening of cooking demonstrations and a tutored tasting of sparkling wines with the Zen Gourmand.

The evening started out with the wine tasting. The three sparkling wines tasted were the Peller Estates Cuvée Niagara Brut ¹⁾, Trius Brut VQA ²⁾ and the Peller Estates Signature Series Ice Cuvée VQA ³⁾. The latter one being the clear winner.

The Linzer torte was a great hit as well. I had one made up beforehand using black currant (cassis) jam which is what the earliest recorded recipes were calling for. For the actual demonstration I used the more conventionally used raspberry jam. When the demo torte was ready to eat (a bit warm still), the consensus voted for the raspberry version. Personally, I prefer the more sophisticated and a bit tarter taste of the black currant version. If you are interested in trying your hand at one of these fabulous creations, you can download the recipe here.

Enjoy!

¹⁾ Peller Estates Cuvée Niagara Brut:  A medium-bodied sparkling wine exhibits tiny bubbles with apple, citrus and floral aromas. On the pallet echo juicy green apples and pear followed by a refreshing citrus finish.

²⁾  Trius Brut VQA : A medium-bodied sparkling wine offering pretty lively mousse, refreshing acidity and follows through with citrus, apple and yeasty notes.

³⁾ Peller Estates Signature Series Ice Cuvée VQA: A brilliant yellow/straw coloured sparkling wine exhibiting aromas of apricot and ripe apple with hints of honey and yeast. These are followed by tropical fruits on the palate and a refreshing sweet grapefruit finish.

Last weekend I opened a bottle of Jacob’s Creek Reserve Shiraz – 2004 to accompany a few racks of barbecued ribs.
I found this Shiraz to be quite a suitable match.

The official notes on this wine (as per Jacob’s Creek) are:

Bouquet:
“The wine shows concentrated juicy cherry and blackberry fruit, with fragrant spice and black pepper notes, slight mint, complimented by subtle mocha / coffee oak and toasty cedar
oak notes.”

Palate: “The wine displays intense blackberry and cherry with lively black pepper notes. It is full bodied with strong palate presence. It demonstrates soft silkiness and firm tannin backbone. Expressive Smokey cedar oak characters
compliments a wine with great length of flavour, with complex notes of blackberry and spice. The 2004 Jacob’s
Creek Reserve Shiraz owes its complexity to the integration of
moderate to warm climate ripe blackberry lusciousness with stylish cool climate black pepper and spice
characters. The enticing nature of the generous yet approachable fruit flavours ensure that the wine can be
enjoyed by those who choose to drink it now; however it has sufficient depth of flavour and density of structure to evolve further over the next 10 years if cellared carefully. ”

Well said.

On my own, I additionally found dark plums on the nose rather than juicy cherry and on the palate I found it be of medium acidity with medium rather than firm tannins. This Shiraz is full bodied and very smooth.
Overall I gave it a 4 (out of 5). It would likely improve with a bit of cellaring.

Unfortunately the LCBO appears to have delisted it at this time.
If you reside south of the border you can order it from www.Wines.com

VINTAGES 661249 | 500 mL bottle

Price: $ 33.95
Wine, Fortified Wine, Dessert/Fruit/Miscellaneous Wine
15.0% Alcohol/Vol.

Sugar Content : 21

Made in: Tuscany, Italy
By: Marchesi De Frescobaldi

LCBO 18499 | 375 mL bottle

Price: $ 19.05
Wine, Still Table Wine, White Still Table Wine
12.8% Alcohol/Vol.

Sugar Content : 17
This is a VQA wine

Made in: Ontario, Canada
By: NIAGARA VINTNERS INC.

Tasting Note – LCBO
“Medium deep yellow gold colour; aromas and flavours of apricot and white peache, with pineapple/citrus notes; sweet, medium bodied, rich, yet well balanced by acidity on the finish; good length.”

Tasting Note – WINECURRENT (Vic Harradine)
“A stunning wine. It was picked at 34 Brix, a hair under the regulation for ice wine. This helps explain the generous 12.8% alcohol. The aromatic nose is honeyed and beguiling. This medium to full-bodied dazzler offers caramel, toffee, raisins with desiccated nectarine and peach. Great balance and a lengthy luxurious finish make this tasting a special experience. The price to quality ratio is tipped heavily in your favour. Sip on its own, well chilled, with your best friend.”

Serving Suggestion
Fruit cake or flan and trifle.

VINTAGES 27177 | 500 mL bottle

Price: $ 34.95
Wine, Still Table Wine, White Still Table Wine
12.0% Alcohol/Vol.

Sugar Content : 15

Made in: Hungary, Hungary
By: Compagnie Medocaine Des Grands Crus

Tasting Note – UNKN
“A lovely dark golden colour. Attractive honeyed spice on the nose and palate, along with ripe stone fruits.”

Tasting Note – WINEWRITING
“2001 (potentially very good; cool and rainy, lots of botrytis Tokaji Aszú 4 Puttonyos (8.5 TA, 110 RS) – quite complex honey melon and spice, more mushroom v exotic fat fruit; citrus peel intensity vS creamy raisins, quite developed and oxidised with acidity more in the background, forward and drinking nicely now.”