Bordeaux inspired November's Gulp Tasting...yum!

Before I begin the recap of another fantastic Gulp Gathering, on behalf of all of us who enjoy the hospitality of Sally and BX Beer Depot, I want to extend our condolences to her.  We are so sorry Sally for your loss.  We know how much you loved your brother and we send you love and prayers during this time.

Thanksgiving:

click here for all the pictures from this event

I so look forward to our Gulp Gatherings.  It is my favorite Sunday of the month!  No matter whether we gather at Andy's, Coreen's or BX Beerdepot I know I am going to spend the afternoon sharing good wine, great food and interesting wine stuff with a fun and eclectic crew of people.  Since this is the November Recap then I get to give thanks for everyone in Gulp! Here are the Gulpers who joined us this month:



Thank you Jim Brogan, Kelly Schultz, Tracy Cottle Mariana, Eric Richman, Eddi Ramos-Zahina, John Zahina Ramos, Tammy Page, Kristina Parker, Adriel Wright, Joyce Grant, Jim Page, Barry Imhoff, Deb Knepp, Pam Schuster, Pat, Ashleigh, Mike, Roni and of course Coreen Gottschalk and LeBeau Kpadenou.

Onto the the pairings!

One would think that given this is the month of November Coreen would go with traditional and present us with  Thanksgiving or harvest type pairings but not our Coreen.  She is traditionally unconventional so this month she and Lebeau treated us to Bordeaux inspired wines from around the world.  Thank you Coreen!
(A note from our resident wine geek, LeBeau:  Bordeaux inspired wines are often blends.  To be Bordeaux inspired it must contain varietals from that region.  Varietals of the Bordeaux region include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc).  At the end of this recap check out our resident geek as he explains what makes a wine more expensive than another.

The First Course:  Coreen put together the only homage to the harvest with this Ham and Pear crostini with goat cheese.  It was honey ham and the pears had been sauteed in a balsamic vinaigrette.  Oh yeah it was yummy!
They paired it with Berringer Knight's Valley  Blanc 2009 from California.  This pale yellow wine made up of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon smelled of unripe pineapple, and cedar.  The taste was citrusy and green and mineral.  It wasn't until I took a bite of the crostini that I tasted the buttery notes that Jim mentioned right up front. Barry said "It's kind of soury.  Quite a tang.  Sweet but not too sweet." The tangy goat cheese and marinated pears really brought out the best in this wine.  It mellowed the sour notes and bumped up the butter. This was a very nice pairing and at $16.00 or so a bottle, this is a very nice wine.

The Second Course:  This pairing combined New Zealond's Esk Valley Gimblet Gravels a blend of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot 2007 with beefy meatballs in a red wine gravy with lovely hints of sweet onion.  This $16.00 medium body wine was full of cherry and chocolate with a good long finish.  Pat said it reminded her of a cherry cordial candy.  Don't let the description fool you, this is not a "sweet" wine.  LeBeau said it was what most people in the know would call, "jammy."  I want it that jammy every time.  The meatballs were savory good and the wine sauce played beautifully with the Esky.  My favorite part was sopping up the sauce with leftover bread from the crostini.  As my mom would say this was larrupin' good.

The Third Course:  I loved Coreen's
mushroom and potato bake.  The potatoes were baked in a delicious light tomato sauce and layered with fontina cheese.  I really liked the potatoes in this dish.  They were well cooked and yet still had a bite to them and the fontina cheese brought it all together.   Add the Erasmo Vina La Reserva from Chile with its Cab, Cab Franc and Merlot blend and you have a match made in Gulp!  It was really delicious.  The Erasmo was a pretty garnet color.  The nose was floral with lovely scents of raspberry and  dark cherry with just a hint of smoke.  The taste was very fruit forward with pepper and acidity on the back of the mouth.  It met with the acid in the tomatoes and mellowed right out into jammy goodness.  The other cool thing about this 2007 wine was it came gift wrapped!  The white paper wrapping with the Erasmo logo in red wine print is really festive.  The price is for a special event too, a little more than the typical Gulper budget at around $22-25 a bottle.

The Fourth Course:  This one was voted the best of the day, pretty much...by EVERYONE.  These two things were meant to be together like coffee and cream, bread and butter, and Sundays and Gulps.
Coreen created a spicy Korean Beef over rice that was an absolute meaty, smoky, spicy taste treat.  I love that she used London Broil for the meat cut.  It stays tender and juicy when seared unlike a round or flank steak.  She and LeBeau paired it with an Italian Rosso Trentino Vicariati Quatro.  This Cab, Cab Franc and Merlot blend is dark purple in color.  The nose is surpisingly fruity for an Old World wine, right behind the fruit is smoke.  The first tastes that hit the tongue were plum, blackberry quickly followed by toast, and chocolate.  Barry called it "Smooothhhh."  The group gave it a solid two thumbs up!  Since I have mentioned the prices on the other bottles I will include it for this one as well, round about $20.00.

The Fifth Course:  This dessert course was a little different from the rest since it wasn't paired with a wine.  The reason for that is in the title of said dessert:  Port soaked Cherry Brownies.  OMG People!!!  Those were some very happy cherries and my mouth was filled with chocolaty, porty joy!  It was an over-the-top finish to a fantastic Gulp Day!  In case someone would want to add a pairing to this lovely brownie try the Esky Valley or the Rossi, they would be delicious.  Since we were at Beer Depot and I am always going overboard I got a Kasteel Rouge Cheery Ale that was awesome!

Now as I promised earlier my first video featuring Lebeau discussing wine making techniques.  (I think this is adorable).

There you have it my friends, the November GulpGathering.  I can't wait to see you in December.
p.s......the Sonoma trip is coming together in September.  Fri will be winery tours.  Sat. will be for a brewery tour.
Also,  keep April 22, Earth Day, open for an exciting event.  More info coming soon!