Torrontes and Apple Pie

There are two main factors for getting apple pie right, the first is the pastry. This needs to be the right consistency not too short, enough to hold it together when cream is added and just the right amount of sweetness. The second is the apples, these need to be selected so they give just the right amount of tartness and sweetness, cooked for the right amount of time to ensure there is no crunch in that first awaited bite.
But after tonight maybe there should be a third, that being the selection of wine you choose to enhance the experience. I have in the past, found it difficult to find and enjoy a good white wine, as I have said on many occasions. The taste has not always impressed me and often reminded me of drunken females drinking in sweaty bars, although I would occasionally take part in drinking such wine I could only handle a glass or two before the taste became too much. However tonight has been a revelation in itself as I have not only enjoyed a surprisingly good bottle of white wine but it was cheap too. It was Vinomaker that planted the seed, and Thud who found the wine and made the pie. The grape is Torrontes and is produced from one of my favourite countries of wine, Argentina. This bottle happened to be Norton’s Torrontes and its flavour was as subtle as I would have designed a white wine to be, its colour, nose and alcohol matched its character in that it was pleasant from the pouring to the finish, that was not evasive but inviting and could be experienced at any time of the year but I guess at best in the evening sun on a deck in Napa (no wonder this is Vinomakers favourite). I had tasted some nice Pinot Grigio over the summer but I was so impressed by this wine that its effect as left me wanting to buy a bottle to keep in the fridge in the strange event we may have guests or more so we have a heat wave. Great wine, great pie and even better company, all we need now is the weather and we have a cracking recipe.

Wine, Brandy and an Open Fire.

It’s been some time and some wine since I last posted on here but I suppose a post for the New Year is in need. Last night I spent a rather enjoyable time with Family OTW, where we ate great food and drank very good wine. Thud, Lord Roby and I had tucked into two fantastic bottles of wine, one new world and the other old. And what a difference, I refer to Vinogirl and Vinsanity as she very recently met the producer of one of these very fine wines and through just reading her blog my mouth began to water at the thought of opening a bottle of the Smith Wooton Cab Franc. A bottle that I’m sure is a very hard wine to come by over here, so much so that Thud had brought this back from the Napa Valley and with it Napa Valley in a bottle. We spent some time Thud and I comparing it to the Cab Franc of Chateau Liles, and although Chateau Liles being an extremely good Cab Franc with its rustic feel the Smith Wooton just snatched it. With its precision and refined levels of taste you get a history and a stiff upper lip. Which would I prefer? Well you would think the Smith Wooten with the elegance and smooth lines but I’m not over sure. There is a lot to be said for the rustic and edginess of the Chateau Liles Cab Franc.
The second wine of the evening was a long awaited sample of the Chateau Chasse Spleen from Bordeaux; this was completely different to what I had just sampled and needed time to reset the buds. There came age with this wine and you got that in the nose, It gave the impression of experience and maturity over the Smith Wooton, you could say that it stood there with its Top Hat and Tails compared to the more preppy style of the Napa Valley. I got Roast Dinners and open fires compare to the mountain sunset and Californian sun, a complex wine but in a way that feeds your interest and begs you drink on until the bottle is empty. We ended our evening in a way that seemed highly appropriate, with a Cognac and not just any. It had to be the type that would follow such class and sophistication and in true Thud style he supplied the very best, Hine Antique XO.
Overall the evening was a success from scouse pie to the wine babble, drinking two fantastic wines to bring the New Year in gave me the spirit to want to try more, and the Cognac? Well that just opened a whole new taste.