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N.V. Sara Bee Moscato, 2010 Terrenal Chardonnay, Sushi and Cholent
This past week I wanted to continue drinking through the Trader Joe kosher wines that we have been talking about these past few posts. I tasted the Sara Bee at home in combination with Sushi and the next day with Cholent. I also had the chance to taste the 2010 Terrenal Chardonnay at the synagogue that was served at a kiddush. I truly enjoyed pairing the Sara Bee Moscato with sushi. Sushi can be very spicy with extra wasabi, and the Moscato cut right through it all, which was quite nice. The Moscato had a fuller feeling in the mouth than the Blue Bottle Bartenura Moscato, which I tasted this past weekend at a synagogue kiddush, and it was a letdown in comparison to the Sara Bee Moscato that I had tasted at home.
The 2010 Terrenal Chardonnay has been increased from $3.99 to $4.99. Also, the wine is not as full and concentrated as the Prosecco or the Moscato that we have tasted so far from the Trader Joe lineup. The Terrenal was light and fruity without much structure. A simple white that is highly fruity.
The other fact I wanted to drive home about the Moscato is what I say at the end of the wine note. It is a wine that is very effervescent, with a nice acid core, and a fuller wine. It reminds me greatly of the Baron Herzog Late Harvest Chenin Blanc, but with far more bubbles, of course, but less complexity/roundness.
N.V. Sara Bee Moscato ((Italy, Puglia) – Score: B++
The nose on this effervescent light gold colored wine starts off with a powerful hit of honey and a touch of yeast. After a small bit of time, the wine explodes with summer and tropical fruits, peach, apricot, mango, pear, lychee, and papaya. This wine has a wonderful effervescence and fruity nose. The mouth on this medium plus bodied wine is lovely with nice effervescence, sweet honey, papaya, lychee, and pear. The mid palate is balanced nicely with acid and light toast, and effervescence. The finish is long and tasty with papaya, honey, and caramel, with the honey and caramel lingering long on the palate.
This is a more balanced, fuller, effervescent wine than the usual kosher blue bottle Bartenura Moscato. Nothing against the Bartenura Moscato, but it does not compare and it is at least double to triple the price of this wonderful wine. Get a bottle or two and try it out. The Sara Bee Moscato is available at Trader Joe. Finally, as usual my score NEVER includes the price. This wine is scored what it is scored solely on its merit – irrelevant to its price, availability, or its kosher status
2010 Terrenal Chardonnay (Chile, Central Valley, Curico Valley) – Score: B
The nose on this dark straw colored wine is hopping with kiwi, apple, lychee, pineapple, lemon, and tropical fruit. The mouth on this medium bodied wine has apple, lychee, pineapple, and lemon. The mid palate just flows off the mouth with little to no complexity or concentration with balanced acid. The finish is medium long with lemon, apple, lychee, and a drop of spice. This is truly a nice plain wine with nothing that grabs you, but an OK qauffer. Just a simple wine with little WOW factor.
Sushi and Four Gates Chardonnay
This past Friday night saw us enjoying a lovely meal of Ahi Tuna sushi rolls. Normally, I reach for Sauvignon Blanc when enjoying sushi, but this time, we had some 2000 Four Gates Chardonnay in the fridge, so we enjoyed that all the same. The Ahi tuna was really quite nice, and I finally learned that refrigerating the sushi rice, pretty much kills it. By accident this time we left the rice out of the fridge, but cool still, over night. The sushi rice was far more malleable (then when we refrigerate it over night), and the rolls came out much better the next day, and we are here still to tell you about it. I guess what I need to do, is find a way to keep it cool overnight, but not too cool.
Anyway, the Ahi Tuna (which was of course refrigerated), was wonderful. It was rich and flavorful, which is always the case since we started buying it at Whole Foods.
The wine notes follow below:
2000 Four Gates Chardonnay – Score: A-
This bottle can be hit or miss, and this one was quite nice. Very much like the old days with this wine. Tons of fruit on the nose – peach, apricots, and some custard. The body is full and oaky – but not velvety, which is fine with me. The acid and fruit balance very well into a long and satisfying finish.
Hagafen Sauvignon Blanc
Well this past week was a quiet one around the house. We decided that a nice light and fresh meal was in order after all those heavy meals these past few weeks. We decided on sushi. We have spoken about sushi a few times on this blog. Sushi is one of those meals that is always fun yet hard to match with wine. We love tuna – so we had inverted cucumbers and avocado Ahi tuna rolls. There is nothing like fresh sushi. It has the crisp flavors of the cold fish, cucumbers, and avocado. We almost always make inverted rolls. Personally, I like to have the rice flavor on my tongue first and it looks so much prettier than normal rolls. They are a bit more work – but well worth it.
When you say crisp and clean, Sauvignon Blanc comes to mind (along with some Viognier). Sauvignon Blanc has recently become a new target for Parkerization. Parkerization is a bit extreme a term, but it does have a bit of truth to it. More and more wines are fat, chewy, oaky, and overly fruity. The true flavors of green and terroir are ignored and the single focused palate of Robert Parker, his likes and dislikes are thrown onto the poor winemakers. If he flags a wine high (based upon his palate profile) then it sells, a low score means it may well go into the ethanol heap. A bit extreme of course, but still very true.
So recently, I have been seeing fat and oaky Sauvignon Blancs – that have not impressed me as much as the clean lined Sauvignon Blancs. Sauvignon Blanc is all about clean lines, crisp acidity, elemental fruit (not the cloying kind), and green flavors. The famous cat pee of Australian Sauvignon Blancs are a demonstration of the country’s terroir and is one that is accepted within the overall community because of its truth to the wine.
So when picking the next Sauvignon Blanc for my Sushi – I reached for the Hagafen Sauvignon Blanc 2006. It is the favorite kosher Sauvignon Blanc on my table and amongst our friends. The Goose Bay Sauvignon Blanc is nice, and the Yatir Sauvignon Blanc may well be the best one out there, but the Hagafen has the crazy grapefruit flavors that blow me away.
This bottle was a bit weird to be honest. When I opened it – it had some bubbles, which was weird. Also, the nose was dominated by yeast – until the bubbles subsided (some twenty or so minutes later). Yeast of course is the main proponent and ingredient for fermentation. My guess is that the wine in my bottle had not completed fermentation and was doing so in the bottle. This is not the first time, that wine I buy completes fermentation in the bottle, but I am surprised that a wine that is almost assuredly cold filtered would have allowed yeast to get through into the bottle. Still, white wine has been known to ferment the last of its sugar – without external persuasion. A higher score would have been in order had the bottle been still.
Hagafen Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2006 – Score A-
The nose on this straw colored wine was initially filled with yeast and yeast alone. After the bubbles in the glass subsided and the intense yeast profile subsided, the nose was delightful and as expected, filled with citrus, peach, grapefruit, and a hint of wood. The mouth on this wine started with yeast (even after the bubbles left the building) and a bit of fruit. The middle was packed with grapefruit, melon, and peach. The finish was long and satisfying and was packed with acidity that almost puckers your mouth along with just a hint of wood. A very nice attempt.
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