Labor Day Challenge

As sad as it may be, Labor Day marks the"official" end of summer although the heat was certainly on this past weekend! My wife and I have a tradition of hosting a musical evening in our back garden celebrating a love of food, music, wine and friends. The challenge for me as the designated wine shopper was to make the evening interesting and fun! With about 30 guests confirmed I took a trip to our local wine merchant in Woodland Hills (www.whwc.com). I discussed my quest with owner, Paul, and we decided to think a little outside the box, or should I say bottle! I am typically a California wine guy, but also know that there are lots of quality wines being produced around the globe and the prices are fantastic! We talked about the menu, more on that later, and also noted that at 6:00pm when the event was scheduled to begin, the weather here in Calabasas would be hot. I told Paul that I would love to experiment with wines in the $10 and under range. Here's what we came up with:


Rose:
Chateau Grande Cassagne 2008
Costieres De- Nimes









Sauvignon Blanc:
Pomelo 2008
Lake County, California







Chardonnay:
Vera Monte 2007, Reserva
Casablanca, Chile

Meritage:
Stephen Vincent 2007, Crimson
Central Coast, California





Malbec:
Colores Del Sol, 2008 Reserva
Mendoza, Argentina










Cabernet Sauvignon:
Pascual Toso 2006
Mendoza, Argentina






As our guests got into the wines I searched their faces for responses and to my delight the approval rating was overwhelming! Although they did not recognize the labels, their curiosity took over as I explained the "outside the box" premise for the barbeque. When some of our friends discovered the prices they were astonished! One took to the Stephen Vincent which is a blend of 71% Syrah and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the Central Coast, a really deep, dark crimson color with lots of black fruit in the nose. The Pomelo Lake County Sauvignon Blanc is named after the giant citrus fruit native to Malaysia and ancestor to the grapefruit, so it has lots of citrus and pineapple aroma that lingers. My favorite of the evening was the Chateau Grane Cassagne as it was a perfect compliment to the warm weather and tasty appetizers with deep juicy colors and aromas.
These delicious wines and the wonderful music made for a perfect evening!

Menu:
Hors D'ouevres provided by guests -
Baked Brie
Assorted Hummus & Olive platter with pita chips
Brie with fig sauce
Deviled eggs

Main course -
Classic Ceasar salad
Roasted vegetable orzo salad (Barefoot Contessa)
Marinated grilled lemon chicken breast (Cooks magazine)
Marinated flank steak

Desserts - provided by guests
Blueberry pie
Peach cobbler
assorted cookies
fresh fruit and ice cream
Carrot cake