WELCOME BACK TO THE K & J SESSIONS! It's been a long hiatus indeed--our schedule has changed--and the two of us no longer have our beloved Monday nights in the office. Why we didn't think to get together OUTSIDE of work to drink before now is beyond us. Now that we have a clue, you can only benefit and be amused by our reunification.

TONIGHT'S WINES (yes, plural!):

2007 Helfrich Gewurztraminer

and

2008 Darby & Joan Cabernet Sauvignon

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K: Hey J! Welcome to my house. Now we can really swear and screw around and giggle while we're drinking wine.

J: Thank god I only live about a block away. I may have to walk home.

K: Thanks for bringing snacks, too. No one ever brings food to my house. They just assume i'm going to feed everyone. I mean, I always do--but the thought was nice. We're going to start with the white.

J: Of course. If you're going to taste wine properly, whites should always come first. You'll dilute your palate if you try to go red to white. Standard Gewurztraminer scents here--reminds me of a tropical island. Guava, mango, papaya...

K: I get that too. Exotic. It smells like it's going to be sweet. I get creamy lychee nuts and...here comes my one weird scent...baby powder.

FIRST SIP

J: It's really tangy. This is a hard nut to crack, though. Probably why I failed on the whites in the blind wine tasting last week.

K: I was terrible at the reds at the blind tasting, which is a crushing blow for me. I enjoy the tip of the tongue tingle with this wine, there is definate acidity, but nothing that overwhelms the rest of the flavors.

J: I'm still working on said flavors.

K: I'm getting the spicy/sweet at mid-palate. Plus a little grapefruit.

J: The finish is buttery, almost like an oaky chardonnay. There's a hard candy element to it as well. Life Savers...pineapple Life Savers.

K: Spicy grapefruit candied pineapple.

J: With a little sugar coating in there. It's not tremendously sweet, but the sweetness is there, if only momentary. It's definately not dry. I understand that Rieslings and Gewurztraminers are akin to one another, but I don't find this much difficulty in pinning down flavors in a Riesling.

K: Well, I can see how the lines could be blurred. Gewurztraminer and Riesling come from a region of France that's a cultural combo of French and German. Even the names of the villages in Alsace are a Franco-German jumble.

J: Unique to this region is the fact that they print the grape varietal on the label. The rest of France feels that you should automatically know the makeup when the region is mentioned. I'm not that familiar with French wines for this very reason, and I think this is what intimidates other people about these wines. I miss Elodie!

K: We used to have a lovely assistant manager who was French. This was a big help--but it also meant we didn't have to learn anything at all about French wines--all we had to do was yell for her help when someone wanted a Burgundy.

J: Alsace is known primarily for its whites, even though it produces Pinot Noir. Ever heard of Alsatian Pinot Noir? Of course not. Because they're not that notable...not that i've ever had one.

K: My most favorite fact about Gewurztraminer is that "Gewurz" means 'spicy' in German. This is one of those little factoids I enjoy sharing with customers. It makes me sound so much more informed than I am. I think "wine conniseur" is a hard status to attain. There's always more to learn, so I appreciate every little piece of information.

J: So here comes the food recommendations--

K: Our favorite part.

J: I'd say this goes well with the pita bread and hummus we're eating. Only, a plain hummus would be better. And I support the notion that Gewurz goes with Asian food. I get that entirely.

K: Kung Pao Chicken! (for you, Britto). In all seriousness, i'd also say any sort of fruity custard. I had some amazing barbequed salmon with grilled pineapple the other night, and this would be a fantastic pairing for the barbeque/citrus flavors.

J: If you're less adventurous, i'd say this would be nice with any kind of creamy cheese; like a brie or Delice de Bourgogne.

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Our Alsatian Gewurztraminer is $13.99, and considering the best Gewurz in the world is from Alsace, that's quite a bargain!

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WINE #2: 2008 DARBY & JOAN CABERNET

J: Okay--so there are dual purpose scents to this one. Unswirled in the glass there are scents of wet wood and jam. Once the wine has been swished around a bit, I get more meaty fish scents, like salmon.

K: I will second the wet wood. Also blueberry and mullberry. When I swirl the glass, I get laundry dried in fresh air. Fish and laundry are not at all a match.

J: Proof that one nose differs from another.

K: Proof also that we don't always agree.

J: Now that it's been open for a while, I'm starting to get black licorice and bread dough...and then back to the fish. This scent is going to turn people off until they see the label.

K: We sold four bottles of this wine today. People--women especially--love a pretty label. If you are trying to decide between two bottles, the prettier label will always win. Let's move on to the flavors.

FIRST SIP

J: If this was a blind tasting, I would be thrown off. It doesn't really taste like a Cab. More Petit Sirah with a tinge of Merlot. It tastes like a blend.

K: These are the sweetest tannins i've ever had. Sweet tobacco, sweet tar, and sweet black licorice. Don't get me wrong, this is NOT a sweet wine.

J: A little bit of mineral-graphite as well. It doesn't make any sense that it's 15% abv. There isn't a thing about it that tastes alcoholic. The scents don't even give it away. And i'm not just saying that because I'm semi-drunk.

K: You mentioned something at your very first sip that you were picking up on sour cherries. That is a lot of what I'm picking up on the finish. It's like old-school cheesecake with the sour cream and cherries on top.

J: Like the Cherith Valley Spirited Cherries we have at Benz. Self promotion!

K: To me, a Cab isn't this easy to drink. A Cab is something to mull over, to contemplate. This wine is light-bodied. I'm sure we could easily finish this bottle, but that would render both of us non-functional tomorrow.

J: My favorite Cab is so velvety smooth and oaky, and this doesn't seem to have any relation to that at all. This is, however, a good gateway red. Someone who is somewhat new to red--

K: But not McManis Cab new to red, though.

J: You have to tell our readers what you mean by that.

K: All right. McManis Cab isn't a serious Cabernet Sauvignon. This isn't me being a wine snob. It's a simple wine, has a bit of residual sugar--so it's not this big, bad overwhelming Cab. But it does at least taste like a Cab. It serves its purpose as an intro wine into big reds, but it shouldn't be something you stick to.

J: I think the Darby & Joan is a weeknight wine. However, if you want a true Cab, this isn't an adequate representation.

K: Matt and I have been talking a lot lately about Beef Bourguignon and Beef Deburgo--and though I could see this pairing with beef, I don't think this wine could stand up to anything gourmet.

J: Simple dinners, maybe. Pizza, spaghetti with meat sauce. Something with a little bit of spice.

K: Chili. A mildly spicy salsa.

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Underwhelmed, but approving--our red is from Austrailia, and goes for $8.99! Ladies, you will love the label...

2008 Goulart Classico Malbec

WELCOME BACK TO THE K & J SESSIONS! Happy MLK Day! We are back in the office on this foggy night, ready to dive into another red. We've come to the conclusion that we haven't once reviewed a Malbec, shocking as it were. Considering it's a popular grape and we have many opinions, we've cracked open a relatively new-to-the-store Malbec.

TONIGHT'S WINE: 2008 GOULART CLASSICO MALBEC

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K: So...I think I have a sinus infection, so i'm going to have to work harder to get scents out of this. Or maybe i'll pick up completely unassociated scents and flavors.

J: It's like playing kickball with a cast on, I suppose. You can probably still play, but not very well.

K: We were eating that Vosges Bacon Caramel Toffee earlier--which was great--but when I blew my nose, all I could smell was bacon.

J: I am getting that paper scent, what did we call it--corrugated cardboard?

K: Yeah, like when you are breaking down wine boxes and there's that paper and wood smell.

J: Yes. And flowery. The requisite crushed violets.

FIRST SIP

J: Sweet and spicy.

K: It's candied up front--remember Brach's pick-a-mix candy? The sour balls? That's what it's like. Candied and sweet and sour.

J: Mid-palate is velvety and viscous, but then smacks you with every kind of spice, a bit of tannin, and then becomes smooth.

K: I agree with the sucker punch of spice. It's nutmeg, cinnamon and black pepper all together. I can also agree with the reviews we read where they suggested black tea--that's more on the finsh.

J: Blackberries and raspberries too, kind of bridging the candy in the front with the spice in the middle. I like this. It doesn't seem as dry as a Malbec usually seems to me. I almost avoided them in the past because I felt the dryness was too much.

K: Bordeaux blends benefit from the tannin in Malbec--I suppose it adds more complexity. I always thought Malbec was brought from Argentina to France, but it's the other way around. The grape made it to Argentina before the phylloxera epidemic, so it's THE original strain of the grape.

J: The replanting of Malbec in France is a clone because they were all wiped out by blight and frost in the 1850's. Which is probably why the truest and most popular Malbec is from Argentina, versus those in France and the US. I think people wouldn't be all that into 100% Malbec from the US. It just seems odd.

K: I know there are a few American Malbecs, but you don't see them too often. There are only 7,000 acres of Malbec in the United States. US growers use them the same way the French do--for Bordeaux blends; Meritage and Claret.

J: But we only have 14% of the Malbec produced in the world. There are 50,000 acres of Malbec planted in Argentina. I think they've cornered the market. That, and your average Malbec is going to be significantly cheaper than a French Bordeaux or Cahors (like we blogged about on September 29th of last year. you should check that out. it was a good wine).

K: Okay, I put you on hold with the food pairings before--actually, I didn't. I totally indulged you and we were distracted for ten minutes talking about food. But NOW is the time we can actually talk about what food this goes with.

J: Because I recently made beef stroganoff that called for Cab in the recipe, I think this would be a better replacement--or to drink with it. Which leads me to think steak and mashed potatoes with a cream gravy would be so tasty with this Malbec.

K: I'm going to second you on the cooking element. I'd say this would make excellent coq au vin. I also think this would partner so well with barbeque. Ribs and pulled pork. With sweet potato french fries. But you have to pile the ribs on the sweet potato fries so they get a little sauce on them.

J: Yes. YES. And probably calzones with spicy sausage.

K: Oh, sweet Jesus. A spicy sausage calzone from Zoey's in Marion! I haven't had a calzone from Zoey's in so long.

J: A match made in heaven.

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Our Argentinian Malbec is less than $12! Stop in and get some!

2006 Medalla Real Santa Rita Cabernet Sauvignon

WELCOME BACK TO THE K & J SESSIONS! We're back--as promised--to review the wine we wished we had last week. It would be nice to say that all wine is good wine because it's still wine, but that reasoning doesn't work in this case. Not every bottle can be the Mas Belles eau Les Coteaux:

http://kandjsessions.blogspot.com/2009/08/2005-mas-belles-eau-les-coteaux.html.

Which we're out of. For obvious reasons.

THIS WEEK'S WINE: 2006 MEDALLA REAL SANTA RITA CABERNET SAUVIGNON

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K: I'm in a much better mood tonight. Just the scent of that cork is enough.

J: I am SO SORRY...I started without you. I couldn't help it.

K: Blasphemy! Fine, go ahead--at least give me your impression of the scents before I get to taste it.

J: This is going to sound weird, but it smells like smoky oak campfire in a pine forest.

K: Not weird at all. I think it smells like the inside of a cedar chest. And fresh spices; like the woody part of a sprig of rosemary. Actually, an Asian food sweetness jumps out too--like a sweet soy.

J: I'm not getting any berries at all.

K: Nope.

FIRST SIP (or, at least K's first sip)

K: It actively tastes like the inside of the cedar chest, too. Don't get me wrong--this is a good thing. It makes my mouth water so much, I can't nail anything else down at the moment.

J: It's just every kind of wood. Still no berries. It is velvety in a completely different way--it's the texture AND the scent of it. Like dusty, luxurious fabric. Think of finding a velveteen Christmas dress from when you were little--

K: In a cedar chest!

J: That's it exactly!

K: Lots of exclamation points tonight. I also get a little graphite on the finish--and now, two glasses in--a tiny bit of blueberry added to that. Despite our little girl party dress reference, I think this wine is very masculine.

J: There's lots of juicy acidity in it, but I think it works so well with the smoky oak and cedar. It's like a handsome man in an overcoat and cashmere scarf.

K: It's a Don Draper of a wine. It's suave and seductive upfront, but as the wine opens up, there are untold nuances and layers and flavors coming out. Even now, it's still changing--the oak has become a little sweet, the tannin is softer.

J: I would drink this wine with some sort of nutty cheese. Actually Spanish cheese--and more specifically, Manchego. And a hot baguette.

K: Or the Murcia al Vino--the "drunken goat" cheese. It's goat cheese that has been soaked in red wine. It's so unbelievably good.

J: You mentioned "Asian" scents, would you pair this with Asian food?

K: Yup. Noodles. Teriyaki steak. Damn near anything off the menu at Sushi House. Which seems contradictory, because I like white with Japanese food--Pinot Blanc, Gewurztraminer, off-dry Riesling.

J: So this is an all-around recommendation from us. I understand why this was #57 on the Wine Spectator top wines of 2009.

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Our Wine Spectator AND K&J recommended Chilean Cabernet is under $20...come pick up a bottle before everyone else figures out how good it is.

2007 Cellier Val Durance Cotes du Luberon

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE K&J SESSIONS! Our new year's resolution is to drink more wine. Okay, we drink a ton of wine, we just haven't kept up with writing about it. But we're here, ready to drink, and hope the red we've chosen will warm us against the sub-zero temps outside. The Benz building is all cinder block and concrete--we do not have the luxury of carpeting as an insulator. This is a fantastic place to be during the heat of the summer, but right about now we have our red wines to keep us warm. Onward!

TONIGHT'S WINE: 2007 CELLIER VAL DURANCE CUVEE PRESTIGE COTES DU LUBERON

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K: Happy New Year, J!

J: Ditto, Miz K.

K: I hate to start off the new blog of the new year bitching about something--but I'm kind of bummed that one of the wines in the running for tonight was a ranked Wine Spectator top 100 wine of 2009.

J: Yeah, it was ranked #57 with a score of 91.

K: Eh, what does Robert Parker know, anyway?

J:...we'll save it for next week.

K: Of course. There's so much wine we need to get to.

J: And it keeps coming in daily. It's really not a terrible problem to have, you know.

K: So let's talk about the scents. J?

J: I may be a little rusty. I have been drinking wine recently, but not really evaluating. I'm thinking a little toast? Raspberries?

K: I get the jammy raspberry. I also get a little graphite. There's a scent here that seems like an undertone to a perfume.

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FIRST SIP

J: This is going to be a problem child.

K: It has potential upfront--very berry--

J: But then it changes right away. Lots of tannin suddenly, lots of black pepper.

K: And then it's gone. This wine is a tease.

J: It's complicated for sure. I thought the heat of the pepper would burn off the longer it's open.

K: I don't know if i like it. I mean, I'm certainly not going to dump it out--i am here for the rest of the bottle--but it's working me over. I think the Grenache is what jumps out in front, it's what's juicy and fruity. It would be a great wine if that could hold on and develop into something else. But the sharp turn into black pepper and a blast--albeit temporary--of dryness just isn't winning me over.

J: The body of the wine reminds me of a Pinot Noir. It's like Grenache meets Petite Sirah.

K: I don't think there's any Petite Sirah in it, is there?

J: No, but if you clashed the two together, this is what i would expect it to be. It's just an average table wine. So, the big question is: would you recommend this to someone?

K: That's the million dollar question. It seems like we're not giving out enough information on this wine, but that's all there is to it, kids. It's simple and frustrating. I know you're supposed to drink a Cotes du Luberon young, so it's not like time and patience will make it better. It has softened a *tiny* bit, but it's been open for an hour and a half--who wants to wait that long for wine to be ready? Ugh.

J: I would recommend it to someone, but i would enforce that it needs all that time to become more round and soft. So it's a wine for people with patience.

K: I am exasperated.

J: (laughing) So no from you, huh?

K: It's not a terrible wine. Like you said, it's just table wine. I also don't have a point of refrence, as I've never had a Cotes du Luberon before. I guess I just don't have the patience for it. The last glass and a half I enjoyed. And if I had a medium-well steak, I'd be more okay with it.

J: With a pan sauce. Oooh.

K: Add some good earthy mushrooms to that pan sauce.

J: Why do we even have a wine blog if we just end up talking about food?