Orecchiette with Ricotta and Spinach + Anime Pinot Grigio

Since wine and food are two of my favorite things, I decided to do a new weekly feature posting a recipe and a wine to pair with it. We'll see how long I can keep this up :-) This week it's Orecchiette with Ricotta and Spinach, a perfect summer dish since it's quick to prepare (about 30 minutes) and not too heavy, and what better wine to serve with an Italian meal than a nice, light Pinot Grigio.

You will need:
1 pound orecchiette pasta
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 cups spinach leaves
salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup part skim ricotta cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop the pasta in and cook for 12 to 14 minutes, until al dente.

Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add the spinach, salt, pepper and nutmeg and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, just until the spinach begins to wilt. Remove from heat and place the spinach mixture in a large bowl with the ricotta cheese.

Drain the pasta and immediately add to spinach/ricotta mixture. Enjoy with a nice chilled glass of Anime Pinot Grigio :-)

July 19, 2005

Last night we focused on Shiraz and Syrah, and both wines were winners! Lisa presented the wines again and we started out with Ca'na Syrah from Costa Contra County in California. Notes of licorice, kirsch & sweet berries prevailed on the nose, while the palate offered chocolate covered cherries and spice. It was juicy, smooth & delicious! Regularly priced at $40, the Diva price was $36.

Next up was E&E Shiraz Black Pepper from the Barossa Valley in Australia. Barossa Shiraz are known for their big fruits and this one was no slouch in that department. Wine Spectator rated this gem a whopping 93 points stating "Firm; dark & peppery in flavor, with dense plum, currant & floral aromas & flavors playing themselves out through a long, generous finish". Lisa had brought a dish of chicken andouille in a Hoppin' John sauce to serve as an accompaniment to this shiraz and it was awesome how well it paired! The spiciness of the sausage was smoothed out by the shiraz and both were delicious. This wine regularly retails for $87 and the Divas were able to purchase it last night for $80.

We had an unexpected bonus wine, thanks to a distributor dropping by just before the Divas' meeting and left us Treana Red Blend to try. (Thanks, Macey & Eric!) This lovely wine is from the Central Coast of California and is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot & Syrah. Wine Spectator & Wine Enthusiast rated the previous vintage 89 & 88 respectively. It was even one of our previous Premium Wine of the Quarter! It retails for $38, but the current vintage will be making a slight increase in price.

Next month's meeting is August 16th at Blue Bamboo across the street. I can't wait for that meeting. Dennis creates some excellent dishes! See you all then!

New Meeting Place Starting in August!

Ladies, I am excited to announce that starting with next month's meeting, we'll be holding all meetings at Blue Bamboo, a terrific Asian Inspired Cuisine restaurant located conveniently across the street from our store! If you haven't already dined there, you owe it to yourself to go. Tom and I went after work one evening and were instantly hooked and have been back several times. Read Tom's review for our newsletter here. Blue Bamboo review.

We'll hold our meetings in their comfy lounge area in back (until our group grows too big to do so) and enjoy their wonderful appetizers as we taste our wines. His prices are unbeatable and the staff is great! We'll discuss all the particulars at this month's meeting here at the store. See you next week!

Just What Makes a Premium Wine "Premium"?

(Reprinted from a previous newsletter. Thanks, Tom! xoxox)

While you're here you may want to ask, as several people already have, "just what is a premium wine, anyhow?" It's a fair question, and one that I won't promise to answer fully. But I will give it a shot, so here goes.

The most obvious answer it that "premium" means the same as "expensive", as in "I paid a premium price for this bottle of wine." In most, if not all, cases that would be correct. Premium wines are expensive. Whether or not you can establish a price point at which a wine can fairly be called "premium" may depend on your reference point.

If your normal bottle is under $10 (and there's nothing wrong with that!) then a $20 bottle is a premium bottle. If your normal bottle is $30, you might not consider it a "premium" wine until the price gets over $100.

Part of the appeal of high-end wines is the mystique. Buy a bottle of a 500-case production wine from Napa, especially if you had to get on a waiting list and "bend" Florida's shipping laws to obtain it, and you might think yourself a member of a pretty exclusive club. If you are buying Bordeaux futures for wine that you won't even see for another year or two, you probably are in a pretty exclusive club (and we need to talk!)

Many times I've heard a wine afficionado say with much glee something along the lines of "I have the only three bottles of this in the state!" Clearly, the lack of availability of a wine adds to its image, and to its "premium" status. By the way, I never mind hearing a customer say this. If I helped them obtain those three bottles, I've made a friend. If not, maybe they will share!

But exclusivity, too, is only part of the story. There are a number of wines that are hard to come by, and that are also very expensive, that are really not rare at all. Let's look at Opus One, that fabled wine that's the result of a collaberation between Robert Mondavi and the late Baron Phillipe de Rothschild.

First, at over $160 a bottle, you'd expect that not only would the wine be fantastic, but that it would be hard to find. The 2000 vintage got 89 points from Wine Spectator, respectable, but not world-class. And as for availability, how many bottles would you like?

Total production was over 20,000 cases, which is why it can be found in supermarkets and even warehouse clubs. Yet we still have people come in the store and ask if we have it. The distribution channel limits the number of bottles that any one outlet can obtain, using obscure logic that only their accountants and the winery's marketing people can fully understand.

Is it a premium wine? Of course. It has something that it would take a major PR campaign to create: reputation. It has something else, too: history. Previous vintages scored higher (in some cases much higher) and 2000 was a weak vintage for many California reds (2001 is coming in much better if you are collecting.)

It may be reputation more than anything that turns an ordinary (or extraordinary) wine into a "premium" wine. Sometimes that's the result of history, sometimes it's the result of marketing. I'd tend to value the former more than the latter, but just because a wine is heavily marketed doesn't mean it's not a great wine.

If a winery (or winemaker) creates superb wines, year after year, the reputation of a new wine is easier to establish. It doesn't hurt if Robert Parker or James Laube give it a great review, too.

For many, if not most, wines that are considered "premium" the final measure is ageworthiness: how will this wine age, and hopefully improve, when carefully cellared. This is important for serious collectors who have temperature- and humidity-controlled cellars and buy hundreds or thousands of bottles. Some of these collectors view their wine as an investment that will increase in value over time. For that to happen, the quality (and reputation) of the wine must go up over time, that is, the wine must age well.

For most of us, if we purchase premium wines at all, we do it for a special occasion. That may be for gift giving, for a special meal, or to commemorate a birthday or anniversary.

What we expect is a wine that is memorable, one that is worthy of the occasion. Price was less of a consideration than for our everyday wine, because the occasion was special. The wine should lend it's mystique to the occasion, and the joy of sharing the special bottle should be enhanced by the quality of the wine and the knowledge that you are experiencing the excellence of a "premium" wine.