My dinner nightmare. A flawed wine is served but an Arizona wine comes to the rescue.

Risotto, one of life's simple, yet wonderfully delicious pleasures.  As you well know I adore risotto, so much so that I really don't mind all the time it takes to stir, and stir and stir this gooey Italian delight.  And what can be better than a Pinot Noir and risotto right?  Well, this is where my risotto story takes a disastrous turn.

What can be worse than making a meal you love, paired with a wine you highly enjoy and when you sit down ready to dive in, you gulp down a mouth full of vinegar!  Yes, the stupid wine went bad.  A wine I know to be a fantastic Pinot Noir, and one I purchased solely for this meal, was nothing more than a glorified salad dressing additive.  It has been a long, long time since I have poured a spoiled wine, but nothing is worse than doing so after making a beautiful yet time consuming risotto!  Ugh!  

Next we tried the LuLu B. Chardonnay I had leftover from cooking with, and yes this was actually a good chardonnay, but it did nothing for the meal.   As you can imagine I was getting very depressed at this point.  Very quickly my beloved meal turned into a wine nightmare.  Just when I was about to throw in the towel, or my apron,  I remembered my lovely Sand-Reckoner Rose`.  It was an Arizona wine to the rescue moment.

I whipped out some new wine glasses, and poured my adored rose`, and perfection was made!  Honestly, I don't think this wine can be bad with anything.  The pairing was divine.  Magic Pairing! The earthy mushrooms and the wine married so well.   Since the rose` is barrel aged for a time, it added a wonderful level of complexity and depth to every bit and sip.  

So three wines later, and Rob at Sand-Reckoner once again showed just how superb wine is made and how excellently it pairs with a variety of foods.  This dish was really, really, good too just on it's own, but with the wine it became a five star meal.  The only sad news, my wine fridge is now devoid of that lovely rose`.  Tragic news actually.  Thankfully the 2011 was recently bottled, now I just have to get my hands on some!

Here is the link to the recipe along with information on the wines.  And the Clos Du Val Pinot Noir is an excellent wine.  I just unfortunately bought a flawed bottle.  If you do ever purchase a flawed wine you can take it back to the store and either get a refund or a new bottle.  Any reputable store will do this, no questions asked, just make sure you bring back the bottle with any leftover wine.  Many times you do not even need the original receipt just the bottle.

Menu:

Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms and Mascarpone cheese served with a simple side salad.

Wine:

Lulu B Chardonnay from California (2009) with the salad and used in the dish.  Again this is a lightly oaked Chardonnay, with a brightness that is often lacking in most Chardonnays due to heavy overused oak.  It would be nice as a cocktail wine but it is also food and wallet friendly.  A Cobb salad would be an excellent partner here. $8 at Total Wine.

Clos Du Val from Napa Valley (2006) tried to drink it with the meal!  Like I said above this wine is an excellent Pinot with a lush and silky chocolate cherry cola flavor.  An excellent California Pinot at this price point.  It is pricey but so worth it, I like to find it on sale which makes it a terrific bargain at $20.  Purchased at Cost Plus/World Market

Sand-Reckoner Rose Cochise County Arizona (2010) such an incredible wine.  I seriously cannot gush enough about this wine.  I love it!  But this vintage is sold out, so look for the 2011 to soon be available and once I taste it I will let you know how it compares.  Sells for $22 at the winery.

Thank you and enjoy!  Cheers!

For more on Sand-Reckoner Vineyards please check out the following link:
http://www.wineabit.net/2011/08/sand-reckoner-vineyards-true-diamond-in.html

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