Friday Nights IN: Winter Comfort with Friends or Family

Times are tough.

My parents didn't have a lot of spare cash when I was growing up, but they had a tradition that I think has a place in today's economic climate: Friday Nights IN. Every Friday, Mom and Dad lit candles, made a special dinner, uncorked some wine and enjoyed a quiet moment at the end of the week. I don't remember eating out when I was a kid, but I do remember these Friday night rituals.

Today I'm starting a new feature on Good Wine Under $20 that gives you a food and wine pairing for tomorrow night--or some Friday night in the future. Some suggestions will be for romantic dinners for two. Others will be for solo dining on nights when you convince your partner to cover basketball/ballet/etc. and get some precious time to yourself. Others will be for meals large enough to invite a few friends over, or to have a special meal with your kids.

This week I'm advocating a meal of Syrah and Macaroni and Cheese. It's perfect winter comfort food.

The Recipe: My favorite mac and cheese is from Food & Wine and has two kinds of cheese and buttery crumbs on top. I got this recipe from fellow wine blogger John at Brim to the Dregs, and he suggested (and I concur) that using whole milk makes for a plenty rich dish. The recipe makes 6 generous servings. Combine it with a salad and perhaps some fruit or sorbet for dessert and you have yourself a meal worthy of company.

The Wine: Syrah is made for mac and cheese. I recommend looking for one with good acidity to cut through the richness of the meal, like the excellent QPR 2005 Matchbook Syrah from Crew Wines (sample; available for $13-$17). The vintage pictured is 2004, but we had the 2005. The wine had delicious, mouthwatering aromas of blackberry touched with green pepper and herbs (thanks to the 11% Cabernet Sauvignon blended in). Flavors of cherry, pomegranate, and cranberry have a lot of lift and brightness and the wine has a very spicy aftertaste. This is an unusually complex example of Syrah for this price point, and will please you and any friends or family you invite to stop on by for dinner.

You don't have to go out to a fancy meal to enjoy a well-earned Friday night treat. Why not start a tradition of Friday Nights IN? When the economy revives, you may find this is one cost-cutting measure that sticks.

Waving Goodbye to 2008

Since we're waving goodbye to 2008, and I'm a historically minded wine blogger, I decided to dip into CellarTracker! and see what it told me about my year in wine. (photo /wave by striatic)

I tasted more than 400 wines this year, and was pleased to discover that my average cost for a bottle was $15.17--up only .86 since last year. The most valuable wine I drank was a 2003 Vincent Girardin Echezeaux. Mercifully, it was a gift. Even better, it was AMAZING. In the same seven day period that I sipped my Echezeaux, I also had my least expensive bottle of wine: the NV Zonin Primo Amore Juliet. At under $5, it was a pleasant, bubbly treat. That juxtaposition of a fabulous Burgundy and a fun, frothy wine somehow captures exactly what GWU$20 is all about.

I bought wine all over the place this year, but I was happy to see that my favorite wine retailer (no surprise here, really) was my local online wine retailer, domaine547. This was followed by my favorite local wine store, Pasadena's Chronicle Wine Cellar. Rounding out my top three--and a departure from previous spending habits--was direct purchases from wineries. In retrospect, I feel good about my decisions to support local businesses and wineries. In a touch-and-go economy, it's all the more important.

Finally, I looked at what it was that I drank in 2008. I was astonished to see that I tasted more Chardonnay than any other wine. CHARDONNAY? I'm not even aware that I'm all that excited about Chardonnay, but I guess the proof is in the numbers. I'm drinking it without even realizing it! Pinot Noir came in #2, followed by Sauvignon Blanc (I really would have thought that was #1), White Blends, and finally (my weakness) Red Rhone Blends.

Have you taken time to review your 2008 wine habits? Tune in tomorrow for my 2009 wine resolutions.

Recession-Proof White Wines

This time of year, people are looking for bargains to help them get through the holidays with a little spare cash in their pockets. Now, more than ever, most of us are cutting corners given the tough economy.

Today I've got three recommendations for recession-proof white wines that will leave some extra change in your pocket without leaving you feeling deprived. Each one is widely available, and each one retails for under $10 in most markets.

My first recommendation is the excellent QPR 2007 Robert Mondavi Riesling Private Selection. Made from Monterey County fruit, this is a fresh, off-dry Riesling. Aromas of apple, litchi, and honey are the preamble for flavors that include apple, lime zest, and peach. It has a long, juicy aftertaste and more complexity than many domestic Rieslings at this price point. And, best of all, it's not too sweet so it will go nicely with Asian cuisine. (I received this wine as a sample. Suggested retail price is $10, and you will find it selling for between $7 and $14 at retailers throughout the country. Please note: this wine used to be called "Johannisburg Riesling," and you may still see it advertised as such.)

My second recommendation is the very good QPR 2007 Mandolin Chardonnay. Inexpensive Chardonnays are often too sweet and have a clumsy use of oak. This wine is more sophisticated than most at this price point, with buttered pear and apple aromas. These are echoed in the flavors, with a bit of vanilla and oak in the aftertaste. This wine is nicely balanced, and is as good with food as without. (I received this wine as a sample. Suggested retail price is $10.)

Finally, everyone needs some sparkle over the holidays. The excellent QPR NV Freixenet Cava Cordon Negro Brut fills the bill perfectly. This sparkler is nutty, frothy, and citrusy. Unlike some inexpensive sparklers, there is not a harsh or unpleasant note to mar your experience. Definitely a bargain, and it's good enough that you don't have to mix it with orange juice to enjoy it. It will be perfect with appetizers or just sipping with friends before a holiday dinner or party. (I received this wine as a sample. Average retail price is under $10, and you can find it at most retailers for between $7 and $15)

I wish pinching pennies always tasted this good.

Tax Windfall? Go Wine Shopping

I was in the first wave of tax payers to get a tax rebate this year, although I'm sure Uncle Sam would prefer you to use the phrase "economic stimulus payment." Why? Because the government wants you to spend your check--not use it for savings or to pay off credit cards (which is what I'm going to do). (image from klewtv.com)

So if you're a wine lover, what should you do? If you are looking to help out the economy by spending your check in the wonderful world of retail, here are some ways to do so while feeding your wine habit, too.

If your rebate is $600, then why not buy yourself a 30-50 bottle wine fridge? These are great for kitchens, small apartments, and small wine collections. Yes, you will fill it all too soon, but with warm weather on the way this would be a nice little treat for you and your wine. Drinking cellar temperature reds in summer is one of life's great pleasures, since the wines warm up slowly in the heat.

If your rebate is $500, then why not invest in some 2005 Bordeaux including some Sauternes, and plan to open them in the next 5-10 years? I'd look for bottles that cost between $25 and $50 and buy 6 bottles of red and 6 bottles of Sauternes. These are likely to increase in value (although, like any investment there's no guarantees), so take care of them and store them carefully.

If your rebate is $400, consider joining a wine club and pay in advance for the whole year. If you love Pinot Noir, Pinotage, and Chardonnay, take a look at the Fort Ross Vineyard Collector Club which sends you 3 bottles 4 times a year, with shipments varying from $80-$110 plus shipping and taxes. If you love Rhone varieties, then maybe the Tablas Creek Vinsiders is for you, with 2 shipments of 6 bottles a year, for $150-$190 per shipment plus shipping and taxes. If you like wines with a sense of adventure, join the Twisted Few, Twisted Oak's wine club. They send you 2 bottles every other month, and mix them up with whites and reds and whatever else the gang feels like putting in there. All of these club memberships come with discounts on wine and shipping throughout the year, so you will not only get a great selection of wine over the year, you'll have a chance to rebuy at a lower price when you discover a new favorite.

If your rebate is $300, why not buy a small thermo-electric counter-top wine fridge and a few bottles of white and red to put into it? You can find these little units on sale for under $150, which leaves you with another $150 to buy some reds or whites to put into it. One blogger, Monkuwino of One Wine Per Week, scored an Emerson unit that holds 8 bottles last year for $59. Looking for tips on which wines to cellar? Food and Wine Magazine had a great list of suggested wines in January, including 2004 Ribero del Duero wines (cellar 3-10 years), 2005 Grand Cru Chablis (cellar 7-10 years), and 2004 Barolo (cellar for 15 years and more).

When you get a windfall, it's nice to get something that you'll not only enjoy now, but enjoy throughout the next 12 months. If you pick one of these options, you will be investing in your wine enjoyment in the short and long term, and giving a little boost to the economy as well.

Or you can do the really prudent thing: pay off your wine bills from last month that are still sitting on your credit card!

Airline Wine in the Friendly Skies

Recently, over on Winecast, Tim Elliott began a very interesting discussion of airplane wine. In it, he wondered why it is so awful, and why someone like Cameron Hughes doesn't jump on the opportunity to get some of his wine into more airplane galleys. (wine stopper with plane by Herogear)

I just flew a transatlantic United Airlines flight, and this topic was much on my mind--especially as I'd been upgraded to business class in exchange for a zillion miles. As always, I sit in international business and wonder how I will ever survive my next coach journey because it really is SO much better. And yes, the wine is better too. Is if $4000 better, however? I don't think so.

When I got handed the menu, the first thing I looked at was the extensive wine selection picked for United by Doug Frost. Who is Doug Frost? One of the few to hold both a Master of Wine and a Master Sommelier distinction, it turns out. And his picks were really not bad, and they went well with the food. What was terrible was the temperature at which the wines were served (whites way too warm, and reds even warmer) and the itty bitty shot glasses on stems that passed as wine glasses. I had First Class in my sights, and can report that they got better glasses--but not much better.

And the wines in First Class didn't actually look better, either. They were getting Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc--we were getting a choice between the 2005 St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc and the 2005 Karst Kallstadter Kobnert Riesling Kabinett Trocken (I picked the second and had it been a tad cooler it would have been a very refreshing choice to accompany the curried chicken and rice that I had for dinner). I honestly couldn't read the red wine labels in First Class, but one looked like a Bordeaux and the other like a California red. Back in Biz, we had a choice between the 2005 Delas Freres Cotes du Rhone Saint-Esprit (which was really very good) and the 2004 Trapiche Oak Cask Cabernet Sauvignon. And they served NV Drappier Carte d'Or Brut Champagne and Sandeman Founders Reserve Port, too.

I returned in steerage--um, coach--rather than business class, and the wine was absolutely positively undrinkable. It was also unrecognizable. I'd never heard of any of them before, and as you know I do drink wine fairly regularly! My advice is stick to water if you're flying economy. It's better for you anyway. And if you're in business, remember that the wine they're serving you costs around $10 a bottle--nice, but not $4000 nice. Save your money and spend the $4000 on a nice wine refrigerator and $1000 worth of wine to put in it.