While gnocchi does not receive as much attention as other pastas, potato gnocchi has become popular and frequently appears on restaurant menus. In fact, in the past year, I have enjoyed delicious gnocchi both in Italy and here in Seattle. Since we Wine Peeps enjoy Italian food very much, I decided to prepare a challenging wine pairing meal using gnocchi drizzled with sautéed leeks and truffle oil as our entrée. It was a simple, but very enjoyable, meal that included the gnocchi and a caprese salad.

Once again, I referred to my favorite book, What to Drink with What You Eat, and decided to try a Rosé and Chianti with this meal. We selected the 2012 Robert Ramsay Rosé from Washington State and the 2009 Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva from Italy. Both wines were excellent, but the unanimous choice as the best pairing was the Rosé.

What would you pair with this meal?  And, as always, we welcome your suggestions for future challenging pairings.

Bon Appétit!

2012 Robert Ramsay Rosé (Columbia Valley, Washington): 45% Grenache, 45% Cinsault, and 10% Viognier. Medium pinkish salmon color. Very aromatic with raspberry, strawberry, and watermelon on both the nose and palate. Dry and light to medium-bodied with crisp acidity. Well-balanced with a very long, refreshing finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $18; Available elsewhere, $16 to $18

2009 Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva (Chianti Classico DOCG, Italy): Deep, dark red. Very aromatic with black cherry and earth on both the nose and palate. Medium-bodied with lively acidity and smooth tannins. Well-balanced with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: K & L Wine Merchants (California), $17.99; Available elsewhere, $17 to $25

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? If so, you might want to try the 2011 Rodney Strong Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma County in California.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$20
• Must be widely available

Rodney Strong founded Rodney Strong Vineyards, located in Healdsburg, California, in 1959. Current owner Tom Klein and the Klein family purchased the winery in 1989. Head winemaker Rick Sayre has been with the winery since 1979. Rodney Strong sustainably farms thirteen estate vineyards in Sonoma County.

Rodney Strong consistently offers a lineup of good quality wines that deliver serious bang for your buck in their Sonoma County line, which is available nationally.

“A deep, saturated color leads to lifted aromas of blackberry, cocoa and herby black-currant, which is followed by a rich, layered mouthfeel, loaded with juicy black cherry, cedar, and crème de cassis. This wine is also elegantly structured with fresh acidity and ripe, mature tannins. Enjoy this vibrant Cabernet Sauvignon now and over the next several years.” –Winemaker Rick Sayre

2011 Rodney Strong Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon (Sonoma County, California): Deep, dark red in color. Aromatic with red and black fruit, leather, and a touch of black pepper on both the nose and palate. Medium-bodied with lively acidity, smooth tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $20; Available elsewhere, $12 to $20

Washington Syrah compares favorably with the best in the world. Washington Syrah generally falls somewhere in between the jammy Shiraz of Australia and the more austere Syrah of the northern Rhone. It generally has good acidity and tannins. The common denominators of our favorite Syrahs from Washington have been deep, dark purple color and luscious black fruits, with hints of green bell peppers, black pepper, and spice.

The 2007 vintage was one of the best vintages in the history of Washington State. We featured 2007 Washington Syrah in a couple of our wine tasting dinners several years ago when those wines were recently released. Now that wines from the 2007 vintage have some bottle age on them, we decided to revisit some of those Washington Syrahs in our wine tasting dinner last Friday. It was another fabulous evening of great wines, the company of wonderful friends, and LaGayle’s (Mom’s) excellent food. All six wines paired extremely well with our dinner of tomato basil soup, ensalada mixta salad, grilled beef tenderloin steak, Swiss chard with caramelized onions, roasted rosemary tri-colored potatoes, and topped off with eclair cake garnished with whipped topping and raspberries for dessert.

Wines from Grand Rêve Vintners (now known as Force Majeure Vineyards), Rasa Vineyards, and Kerloo Cellars came out on top in this stellar lineup. Really, you can’t go wrong with any of these wines. Washington State produces fabulous Syrah, and the winemakers who made these six wines are among the state’s best. At seven years old, these wines are all drinking beautifully and should have a number of good years left.

From 1st to last in the group consensus rankings:

2007 Grand Rêve Collaboration Series III (Ciel du Cheval Vineyard, Red Mountain, Washington): 100% Syrah. Winemaker Mark McNeilly of Mark Ryan Winery. Dark, dense red. Very aromatic with earth, herbs, blackberry, and licorice on the nose. Red and black fruit, licorice, and earth come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with crisp acidity and medium to high tannins. Well-balanced and smooth with a very long finish.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $45; Available elsewhere, $60 to $95

2007 Rasa Vineyards Principia Reserve Syrah (Walla Walla Valley, Washington): 100% Syrah. Dark, dense red. Gorgeous nose with a lot going on aromatically. Blackberry, black plum, clove, pepper, smoked meat, and pencil lead fill both the nose and palate. Full-bodied with crisp acidity and high yet silky tannins. Well-balanced with good complexity and a long, lingering finish.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $85

2007 Kerloo Cellars Les Collines Syrah (Walla Walla Valley, Washington): Deep, dark red. Beautiful nose with aromas of blackberry, black cherry, and spice. More blackberry and black cherry as well as leather and smoked meat come through on the palate. Full-bodied with crisp acidity and medium to high tannins. Well-balanced and smooth with a very long finish.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to Buy: Winery, $29

2007 Fielding Hills Syrah (Riverbend Vineyard, Wahluke Slope, Washington): Dark, dense purple. Very aromatic with blackberry, black cherry, mocha, and floral notes on both the nose and palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity and medium to high tannins. Well-balanced and smooth with a very long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $40; Available elsewhere, $38 to $42

2007 Corliss Estates Syrah (Columbia Valley, Washington): Dark, dense purple. Nice nose with earth and black fruit aromas. More earth and black fruit as well as smoked meat come through on the palate. Full-bodied with lively acidity and high tannins. Well-balanced with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 2 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $55; Available elsewhere, $60

2007 Sequel Syrah [Long Shadows] (Columbia Valley, Washington): Dark, dense purple. Nose is a bit tight at first, then black fruit and smoky aromas come through. Black fruit, black pepper, and spice dominate the palate. Medium to full-bodied and crisp with medium to high tannins. Well-balanced with a long, lingering finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $45; Available elsewhere, $44

Kim Crawford Wines, located in New Zealand, was founded in 1996 by owner/winemaker Kim Crawford and his wife Erica. In the beginning, Kim Crawford Wines was one of New Zealand’s first “virtual wineries.” They sourced their grapes from growers across New Zealand, made the wine at other wineries, and managed their sales and marketing from their home in Auckland. In 1998, they began exporting some of their wine to the United States, Canada, and Australia. The Crawfords opened a cellar door (tasting room) facility in Te Awanga in Hawke’s Bay in 1999. Then they opened a state of the art winery and purchased vineyard land in Marlborough in early 2000. Kim Crawford Wines is now part of Constellation Brands.

Since we visited New Zealand in 2005, we have followed Kim Crawford Wines closely. Recently, we had the opportunity to taste their 2013 Sauvignon Blanc in a blind samples tasting. It is outstanding and delivers serious bang for your buck.

Regular readers know that we are big fans of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, the country’s flagship wine. And Kim Crawford Wines makes one of our favorite New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. It’s crisp acidity and refreshing grapefruit flavors are especially pleasing to our palates. The most amazing thing about Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc is its remarkable consistency from vintage to vintage. And, speaking of vintage, the 2013 vintage has been hailed as New Zealand’s “Vintage of a Lifetime.”

Constellation New Zealand’s Chief Winemaker, Darryl Woolley, who has over 30 years of experience making wine in the Marlborough region called the 2013 growing season “exemplary”. In addition to being New Zealand’s driest growing season in about 70 years, the 2013 vintage also benefitted from the sunniest first three months of the year since 1930.

“We’ve had a perfect mix of warm, but not hot, days and cool nights. Rain fell at the right part of the growing cycle and, more importantly, did not fall during the critical period leading up to harvest. This resulted in a medium sized crop of exceptionally high quality grapes.” –Darryl Woolley, Constellation New Zealand’s Chief Winemaker

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc is widely available in the United States and is an excellent choice for the warm spring and summer months.

2013 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough, New Zealand): Pale, greenish straw yellow. Very aromatic with grapefruit, lime, and fresh cut grass on the nose. More grapefruit, lime, and a touch of pineapple come through on the palate. Dry and medium-bodied with racy acidity. Well-balanced and refreshing with an extremely long, lingering finish.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to Buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $17.99; Available elsewhere, $11 to $19

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? Many of our readers have said this is something they would like, so here is this week’s selection, the 2012 Columbia Crest H3 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Horse Heaven Hills of Washington State.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$20
• Must be widely available

Columbia Crest, located in Paterson, Washington, has been one of our favorite sources of value wines for many years. In 2011, Juan Munoz Oca took over as head winemaker from Ray Einberger. Einberger had been at the helm since 2002 when he took the reins from Doug Gore who had been the winemaker since Columbia Crest was founded in 1983. The Columbia Crest winemaking team has produced more 90+ scoring bottles of wine than any other winery in the world. For those of us who live in Washington State, it is nice to have such a consistent, affordable producer in our own backyard.

H3, an abbreviation for Horse Heaven Hills, is one of the tiers in the Columbia Crest portfolio and showcases the region in which their winery is located. All of the fruit used to produce H3 wines come from the Horse Heaven Hills AVA.

“This bold Cabernet opens with flavors of black cherries and blackberries with a touch of currants and vanilla, complemented by earth and mineral notes. Deep berry flavors lead to a soft tannin cocoa finish.” –Winemaker Juan Munoz Oca

2012 Columbia Crest H3 Cabernet Sauvignon (Horse Heaven Hills, Washington): 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, and 2% Syrah. Deep, dark purplish red. Aromatic with black cherry, blackberry, and leather on both the nose and palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity, smooth tannins, and a very long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to Buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $15; Available elsewhere, $11 to $15

Brancott Estate, located in Blenheim, New Zealand, was founded in 1934. Originally known as Montana Wines, Brancott Estate got its current name from Brancott Vineyard, which is its original Marlborough vineyard and home. In 1973, Brancott Vineyard was the site of the first Sauvignon Blanc plantings in Marlborough. Chief winemaker Patrick Materman joined Brancott Estate in 1990. Brancott is a founding member of New Zealand’s original sustainable winegrowing initiative established in 1995. We had the pleasure to visit the winery when we were in New Zealand in 2005.

This spring, Brancott Estate introduced a new lighter wine range called Flight Song, which includes a Sauvignon Blanc and a Pinot Grigio. These wines are produced using grapes harvested earlier in the season when their sugar levels are naturally lower. This leads to a wine that is 20 percent lighter in calories than a typical wine of the same variety.

“There are a number of ways to reduce the calories in wine but not all of these processes are natural and many of them affect the flavor of the wine. With Brancott Estate Flight Song, we use a natural winemaking approach to create a wine that is 20 percent lighter in calories. By doing this, we retain all of the distinctive Marlborough flavors that people expect from Brancott Estate,” says Patrick Materman, Brancott Estate Chief Winemaker

Recently, we had the opportunity to taste the 2013 Flight Song Sauvignon Blanc and the 2013 Flight Song Pinot Grigio in a blind samples tasting. Both wines are good and are perfect sippers for the warm weather ahead. The Flight Song range is now available nationwide in the United States.

2013 Brancott Estate Flight Song Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough, New Zealand): Pale straw yellow. Aromatic with grapefruit, lime, and orange blossoms on both the nose and palate. Dry and light-bodied with very crisp acidity and a long, refreshing finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $14.99; Available elsewhere, $11 to $16

2013 Brancott Estate Flight Song Pinot Grigio (Marlborough, New Zealand): Very pale straw yellow. Nice nose with honeysuckle and citrus aromas. Lemon, lime, and floral notes come through on the palate. Dry and light-bodied with lively acidity and a medium finish.
Quality: 3 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 2 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $14.99; Available elsewhere, $11 to $16

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? If so, you might want to check out the 2013 Robert Mondavi Private Selection Riesling from the Central Coast of California.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$20
• Must be widely available

Robert Mondavi was a winemaking legend and Napa Valley pioneer. Mondavi played an integral role in putting United States wine on the map worldwide. He founded his namesake winery in 1966, which was the first major winery in the Napa Valley of California after Prohibition. His goal was to produce wines that would stand up against the best wines in the world. Robert Mondavi Private Selection was founded in 1994 by Robert Mondavi to showcase California’s best Central Coast vineyards. Today, winemaker Rick Boyer produces eleven different wines under the Private Selection label including this Riesling.

“Our 2013 Riesling was produced exclusively from grapes grown in Monterey County in California’s Central Coast American Viticultural Area, a region renowned for its cool climate. An especially aromatic rendition of the noble Riesling varietal, it exudes warm, ripe peach, jasmine, fresh citrone, and Florabunda rose perfumes. Strong acidity keeps the wine crisp and refreshing. A slight sweetness makes it the perfect accompaniment to spicy Thai, Spanish, or Indian cuisine.” –Rick Boyer, Winemaker

2013 Robert Mondavi Private Selection Riesling (Central Coast, California): 100% Riesling. Pale, greenish straw yellow in color. Aromatic with peach and floral notes on the nose. More peach, dried apricot, and floral notes come through on the palate. Off-dry and light to medium-bodied with crisp acidity and a long, refreshing finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to Buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $11; Available elsewhere, $7 to 9

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? If so, you might want to check out the 2011 Dry Creek Vineyard Heritage Vines Zinfandel from Sonoma County in California.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$20
• Must be widely available

Dry Creek Vineyard, founded in 1972 by David Stare, is located in the heart of Dry Creek Valley just outside of Healdsburg, California. Producers of a number of very good wines, Dry Creek Vineyard is a self-proclaimed “Zinfandel Specialist” and offers eight different bottlings. This particular wine was first released in 1997 as Heritage Clone Zinfandel. Using old vine budwood grafted into a new vineyard, the Heritage bottling is a young vine Zin with distinctive old vine characteristics. Today, Dry Creek Vineyard is run by David’s daughter Kim Stare Wallace and her husband Don.

“The 2011 Heritage Vines Zinfandel presents a wonderful profile of blueberry, red currants, and silky structure that speak to the cool 2011 vintage. The moderate alcohol nature of this Zin provides smooth tannin and structure, making the palate very well balanced.” –Tim Bell, Winemaker

2011 Dry Creek Vineyard Heritage Vines Zinfandel (Sonoma County, California): 84% Zinfandel and 16% Petite Sirah. Deep, purplish red in color. Aromatic with blackberry, black cherry, plum, and spice on both the nose and palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity, medium tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to Buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $19; Available elsewhere, $13 to $19

As we enter the Easter season, the colorful little Peeps marshmallow confections are always popular. And, it has been fun for us at Wine Peeps to use the little treats as our “unofficial” mascot.

Since we are always trying to come up with fun ideas for our challenging wine pairings, we decided that it was time to do a pairing with Peeps. Obviously, these confections are not the ideal dessert, but we had a great time selecting the wines and trying the pairings.

A general food and wine pairing guideline is “sweet with sweet”. In most cases, you want the wine to be at least as sweet as the food. When you sip a sweet wine with a sweet dessert, the sweetness level actually goes down and all of the flavors come together.

We decided to go with two wines that had some sweetness but were different so we selected one sparkling wine, the NV Michelle Extra Dry Sparkling Wine, and one still wine, the 2012 Ste. Chapelle Special Harvest Riesling. The unanimous choice as the best pairing with the Peeps was the Extra Dry Sparkling Wine. It exhibited a subtle sweetness and crisp acidity that complemented the sweetness of the Peeps and provided great balance in the pairing. The Riesling was a bit too sweet and syrupy and lacked the acidity needed to balance out the sweetness so the combination was overwhelming.

What would you have paired with the Peeps?  And, as always, we welcome your suggestions for future challenging wine pairings.

Bon Appétit!

NV Michelle Extra Dry Sparkling Wine (Columbia Valley, Washington): 63% Chardonnay, 19% Pinot Noir, and 18% Pinot Gris. Small, fast bead of bubbles. Pale to medium yellow in color. Aromatic with white peach, pear, nuts, and floral notes on both the nose and palate. Off-dry and light to medium-bodied with crisp acidity and a long finish. Residual Sugar: 2.18%
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $14; Available elsewhere, $9 to $17

2012 Ste. Chapelle Special Harvest Riesling (Snake River Valley, Idaho): Medium golden yellow. Nice nose with candied apple, honey, and apricot aromas and flavors. Sweet and light to medium-bodied with lively acidity and a long finish. Residual Sugar: 7.5%
Quality: 3 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $12; Available elsewhere, $11 to $13