Friday Nights In: Soup and Sauvignon Blanc for One (or More)

Friday Nights IN is a regular feature at GWU$20 that's intended to trim a few dollars from your entertaining budget by replacing a meal out with a meal in. Some suggestions are dinners for four, six, eight, or even ten. Some are for romantic dinners for two. And some suggestions are perfect for when you need time to yourself!

This week, how about putting some soup on the stove and chilling down a zesty Sauvignon Blanc to go with it? The pairing I suggest below makes an elegant, far-from-ordinary pot of warming soup that is perfect if your plans include sitting alone in front of the TV watching The Daily Show on TiVO. Because it's a pot of soup, it will feed as many as six. If you're on your own, make the whole pot anyway. You can have it for lunch over the weekend which gives you one less thing to do.

The Recipe: We loved this hearty fennel and zucchini soup with its slices of sausage and crunchy, cheesey Gouda croutons on top. If you are a vegetarian, it would be quite simple to omit the sausage and substitute vegetable stock. It has a gloriously green color (as long as you don't brown the onions--be careful!) that will remind you in the dead of winter that spring really will come back one day. The flavors are rich and nutty, and though the soup doesn't call for any cream its texture is luscious.

The Wine: For a wine that is as spring-like as the soup, try the 2008 Veramonte Reserva Sauvignon Blanc from Chile. This is a new release, and should be available near you for between $8 and $12. Like previous vintages, this is a reliably excellent QPR pick. A bit less intense than last year's vintage, the 2008 had aromas of gooseberry and pink grapefruit. The flavors pick up a richer note of crushed pineapple, which makes for a juicy wine with a mouthwatering aftertaste that will go well with the hearty but green soup described above.

Full Disclosure: I received this wine as a sample.

Long Winter Nights? A Chilean Red Could Be the Answer

After daylight savings ends, my thoughts turn increasingly to red wine. Once I set the clocks back, it gets dark faster than I expect. I start cooking dinner. The heat comes on. I wonder "is there a red wine in the house?"

And then there are the winter foods that start sounding just perfect right about now: beef stew, chicken chile, and soups made with late fall vegetables.

If this sounds like you right now, I've got a red that will knock your socks off and have you praising the wine gods. It's from Chile, which (like Argentina) produces some excellent value wines. This one is no exception, and it's made by Veramonte, the winery that also makes exceptionally good value Sauvignon Blancs.

The 2005 Veramonte Primus represents the best of what Chile has to offer to people seeking great value and great taste. This excellent QPR red wine drinks like a wine that's two or three times the cost. It's big, bold,a n balanced. Made from a mixture of 51% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 17% Carmenere, the first thing that will strike you if you get your own bottle is the beautiful, dark plum color. Then you will be bowled over by heady aromas of plum, blackberry, spice, and plum blossom. I loved the way that the promise of the aromas was delivered in the flavors, which echoed the smells beautifully--although the plummy notes did take center stage. The wine had rich, satiny texture that seemed more opulent than a wine with an under $20 pricetag deserved--but I'm certainly not complaining. Well-integrated tannins and a taste that reminded me of the spicy smell of my mom's cedar chest rounded out this nicely made, well-balanced wine. It's drinking very well now, but if you find some for a good price I think you might want to buy a couple of bottles and put them away for drinking between now and the end of 2009.

I received my bottle as a sample, but you should be able to find bottles of this wine all over the US for between $14 and $26. And they bottled some in 375 ml bottles, as well, which are retailing for $7-$14.

Enjoy the change in seasons. Get some red wine, snuggle with the one you love, and catch up on your movies and TV now that the election is over. Long winter nights can be a good thing, after all.

Wines to Watch for in 2008: 2007 Chilean Sauvignon Blancs

With the declining power of the dollar, many are braced for imported wine prices to rise. Still, there are good values out there, and in 2008 my tip for you it to keep your eye of for 2007 Chilean sauvignon blancs. The January 2008 Food and Wine Magazine will give you this same tip. Why? the 2007 vintage was an excellent one, and produced wines with crisp acidity and lush fruit.

I certainly found just this flavor profile in the 2007 Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc Reserva that I received recently as a sample from the winery. It was an interesting wine to drink for someone who is relatively new to the Chilean wine scene and more familiar with California and New Zealand bottlings of this grape variety. If you haven't had much Chilean sauvignon blanc either, here's how to think about this wine: it's poised perfectly between the New Zealand and California styles. It was pale, almost translucent in color and had aromas of freshly mown hay, honeydew melon, and lemon blossom. It tasted like spring in a glass, with its flavors of melon, grass, and spring flowers--which was a welcome experience on a chilly winter evening. The price? The suggested retail is $11.99, but it's available online for around $10, and I would recommend you keep your eyes peeled for it in your local Costco, where you might find it for around $8. At any of these prices, it's excellent QPR given its freshness, fruitiness, and lively flavors.

If you find New Zealand sauvignon blancs to tart, and California sauvignon blancs too sweet, you may find that Chilean sauvignon blancs are just right--from a taste standpoint, and a budget standpoint. They're definitely wines to watch out for when you're in the shop.

Good Pinot Noir Under $20 Found South of the Equator

After Pinot Days this summer, I was afraid I'd never find another good pinot noir under $20. Then I found the Navarro Pinot Noir that's in my Thanksgiving picks for this year, and now I'm happy to report another find: the 2006 Veramonte Pinot Noir Reserva. I received this as a sample from the winery, but you can get your own bottle for around $15 from most merchants.

The grapes for the 2006 Veramonte Pinot Noir Reserva come from south of the equator, in the Casablanca Valley of Chile. The wine is made from 100% pinot noir grapes that see eleven months in 100% French oak. The result is a wine that is bright cherry from the moment it's poured through the aromas and flavors. As you drank the wine and it opened up the cherry flavors got richer and blacker. Cool notes of green tea and mint entered into the wine as you swallowed it, and there was a nice, juicy finish with herbal and spice elements. Even though the richness was noticeable in this wine, there was still a silkiness of texture that I associate with pinot noir. Excellent QPR.

We had this wine with a stir fry made of sliced pork tenderloin, wild mushrooms, and Asian spices. This was a lovely match for the wine, and the silkiness of the mushrooms paired very nicely with its texture. The bright cherry flavors were a nice counterpoint to the ginger and garlic, and the green tea notes in the wine lent a cool, Asian influence.

Veramonte hired Paul Hobbs to serve as the consulting winemaker for their pinot and chardonnay. Hobbs has his own label here in the US, and you can read about his harvest experience from this fall over at Wine Spectator. Hobbs introduced some of his favorite wine-making techniques into Veramonte's bottlings, like wild-yeast fermentation. The 2006 is a new release, so keep your eyes out for it in the store, because it's not going to sit on the shelves for long given its quality and its price. And if you see it while you're out shopping for your Thanksgiving wine, grab it. It will be perfect with most Turkey Day feasts.