Fabulous white sangria!

I’m in a wine dinner group that meets monthly. The host picks the theme and makes the main course and each guest couple signs up for a different course, along the same theme. Sometimes it’s based on one kind of wine, but usually it’s geographic.

Everyone in the group loves to cook and does it well so we have some stellar dinners. Recently it was our turn to host, and I picked Spain as our wine region.

Once again, every single course was exceptional. In fact, over the next few weeks, I’m going to share several of the recipes we enjoyed.

Our first course appetizer was served with white sangria made by Commercial Appeal Food Editor, Jennifer Biggs. It was, with no competition, the best white sangria I’ve ever had (and with my age and travels, I’ve had a few). And it looked absolutely beautiful in the clear glass pitcher, with berries on the bottom, citrus slices and fresh mint.

The secret ingredient was one we all had a little trouble identifying: fresh tarragon. Who would have thought? It was subtle but made all the difference in the flavor. Don’t be tempted to leave it out.

You can make your infused lemonade ahead of time and chill all the components to be assembled when you’re ready to serve it. Have an iced tea spoon ready so you can scoop out a blackberry or two for each glass, pour, and enjoy!

JENNIFER’S WHITE SANGRIA

16 oz good lemonade (see note)

1 handful fresh mint

1/2 handful fresh tarragon

1 750ml bottle dry white wine

8 oz. grapefruit soda (see note)

1 cup Cointreau or triple sec

Fruit:

1 orange, sliced

1 lemon, sliced

1 lime, sliced

Blackberries or other berries

Handful of mint sprigs for garnish

Bring the lemonade to a boil and add the mint and tarragon. Remove from the heat and allow to infuse at least 15 minutes. Discard the herbs and allow the syrup to cool. Put the wine in a pitcher, then add the herbed lemonade, grapefruit soda and Cointreau. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

To serve, place fruit, berries and mint garnish in the serving pitcher, add ice, and pour in the sangria. Add more grapefruit soda or Sprite if you want a bit of fizz. Makes 8 to 10 five-ounce servings.

NOTE: Jennifer used a bottled not-from-concentrate lemonade available in the juice section of the supermarket. For the grapefruit soda she used Ting, available from the Winchester Road Farmers Market, or in the international aisle of some supermarkets. Fresca or Squirt would also work, but would be less sharp.

Grilling weather is coming, take a look at this!

One of the blogs I like to follow is Benito's Wine Review. Although the emphasis is on wine, he also ventures into the culinary world.  This week he talked about making a compound butter with reduced red wine that looked so good I had to take the last of a bottle of good red and do it myself.  Above you see a steak with the end result of the wine butter making.  Benito gives step by step instructions (with amusing but very useful warnings). And when he talks about the way it melts onto and into the steak.... Oh, and he said the dog in the background is his faithful 12-year old mutt Wolfgang.  He's getting a
little senile, Ben says, but the smell of steak still brings him to the table!  Give it a try if you have the last of a bottle of almost any red wine and your friends will flock to your table too!

Wrong wine?

In a recent post, Fredric Koeppel, author of the informative and entertaining blog "Bigger than Your Head," cited a time when he was sure that he'd been brought a wine different from the one he'd ordered.

Now we have to start by saying that Fredric has a much better wine palate than I have. But I do have a few favorite wines that show up often on wine lists, so I can order knowing what I'm going to get.

I was recently in a well-known upscale Memphis restaurant. I ordered one of my old faithfuls. When I got it I was pretty sure it was not what I'd ordered. I asked and the served assured me that I'd gotten what I ordered.

I thought perhaps there was a odd bottle involved. But still, I ordered a less expensive glass of the same grape variety for my second glass. Hmm...it was MOST definitely the same as the one for which we'd been charged $2 more.

I didn't try to argue. Next time at that particular restaurant (if we do) we will ask to see the wine poured from the bottle!

The world's most expensive champagne?

The world's most expensive champagne, popping the records at 4,166 euros (around $6600.00) for a personalised bottle of bubbly, were sold in March, targeting a "super-rich" global elite. There were only 100 cases available and they apparently went fast.

Each case purchaser was brought to Epernay, in the Champagne region of France, for a private meeting with the cellar master, Hervé Deschamps, where they stayed in Perrier-Jouet's chateau for the visit.

Hmm...$6600 a bottle comes out to $1100 a glass. Maybe it's just my cheapskate mentality, but it sounds like more of a vanity than a pleasure!

Summer white wines!

I was brousing in Fredric Koeppel's wine blog and found his list of favorite white wines for summer. I can't wait to go to my corner wine shop to see which ones are available in Memphis!

A Toast to Tennessee Wine Festival

If you're not on a barbecue team next weekend, and are looking for a reason for a road trip, you might be interested in this wine and food festival at Nashville Shores. With award winning Tennessee wineries offering a sampling of their finest wines, this festival promises to be most interesting. I might add that I am in a wine tasting group that tried a few Tennessee wines a few years back with less than felicitous results, but I understand that we've come a long way since then!

More than just a showcase for the wine, this event offers gourmet food and fine artisans. After you've tasted and determined your favorites, you are invited to treat yourself to wine by the bottle.

There will be live music, and for the truly interested consumer, there is a series of seminars.

Check the festival website for more information.

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