VinoDuo is Lisa & Gary. Engaged in Sonoma. Honeymooned in Napa. Vacationed in
Temecula (CA), Woodinville (WA), and other off the beaten path wine regions. We’ve married our love of wine with our passion for travel, visiting lesser-known wine regions throughout the United
States. We’ve got strong opinions about the pros and cons of each wine region and this is our forum for airing and sharing them.
Newport Wine & Food Festival '11
The Food
This year we skipped the all-star chefs tent and indulged in the plentiful tastings from some of southern New England’s top chefs. From Rhode Island’s hottest (and most expensive — $800/night!) new resort, The Ocean House in Watch Hill, we enjoyed a light-as-air vanilla bean mousse with mango salsa.
The Surf and Turf popovers from David Burke Prime (at Foxwoods) were standouts, as was the Heirloom Tomato Soup from the Spiced Pear at the Chanler. The dark chocolate bites from Chocolate Springs Café (Lenox, MA) were the ideal complement to Graham’s 20 Year Tawny Port, conveniently located at the adjacent table.
The Wine
And while we never turn down free food, the Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival is, for us, all about the wine (we can’t speak for the folks lining up at the Stella Artois beer tent or the Cutty Sark table.) Every year, we discover a couple of gems among the wasteland of wineries bringing not-ready-to-drink wines at outrageous prices seeking Robert Parker labeling or the never-ready-to-drink “people pleasing” wines, priced low and factory-made. VinoDuo was on the lookout for well-made, well-priced wines with character that are ready (or on the cusp) to drink and pair nicely with Gary’s cooking.
| Wine | Retail Price | Why? |
| Merry Edwards 2008 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir (Sonoma) | $42 | We fell in love with all of Merry Edwards’ Pinot Noirs (delightfully presented by her husband and partner Ken Coopersmith), but Lisa was particularly taken by this lower-priced multi-vineyard blend. Inky color and rich flavor were very un-Pinot but mighty tasty |
| Merry Edwards 2009 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir | $42 | Lisa flipped over the next vintage of Russian River Valley four- vineyard blend. While it’s not ready for drinking yet, it shows enormous promise. |
| Merry Edwards 2008 Meredith Estate Russian River Pinot Noir | $57 | A single-vineyard Pinot. Fullness of fruit, velvety and great balance…ready now or can lay down. |
| Merry Edwards 2008 Klopp Ranch Pinot Noir | $57 | Gary’s favorite has delicious fruit, mineral and silkiness throughout. Single vineyard from Ted Klopp’s 30-year-old vines. |
| Ladera 2007 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa) | $70+ | We imagined the best steaks we’ve had with this as a perfect match. Will cellar well, but the price is a bit steep. |
| Meteor Vineyard 2008 Perseid Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa) | $150+ | 100% Cab from a single vineyard with three different clones. This will be a showstopper in a few years; not ready now but clearly worth the gamble. Price point is well beyond our reach but… |
| Torbreck 2007 The Steading (Barossa Valley, Australia) | $35 | Perfection in a bottle! This GSM (Grenache, Shiraz, Mataro) is among the best we”ve tasted. Silky tannins and supple/subtle dark berry flavors make this a perfect wine for just about all foods! A must-buy. |
| Rubro Vendemmia 2004 Colli Martani Sangiovese (Umbria, Italy) | $25 | Great balance of fruit, tannin and acid to make this a perfect wine to have at any dinner table, especially with pasta. Can also age a bit, but ready to drink now. Just delicious! |
Wine, unlike other beverages, actually complements food and food complements wine. Your most sensitive taste sensor is the tongue. It is made up of thousands of tiny taste buds that are shaped like a mushroom, a stem with a cap that overhangs on top. As you eat, your taste buds trap food between the stem and the cap, blotting out the bud's ability to taste. Your taste buds get overloaded and thus, the food seems to lose its flavor. Wine's naturally high acidity cleanses those taste buds better than anything else. Wines referred to as "food wines" tend to have a higher acidity, making them too tart to drink on their own. That acidity cleanses the palate and prepares it to accept the next bite of food.
Reply to this