Have you heard the word on the street? We have started a thangy thang over here at Vinously Speaking Wine Shop … we are now pairing foods with our wines for our Free Wine Tasting Saturdays! Woooot! Woooot!

I am a MEGA foodie, like Anthony Bourdain of San Antonio kind of foodie (minus the whole television crew following me around bit … sigh … one day) I lurve food, I got the ‘tude, and I’m always in the mood :). Naturally I thought it was only obvious that I needed to add that element to the wine tastings here at le shop du vin. Not to mention, who doesn’t want to learn how to pair delicious foods with fabulous wines?

‘I despise the magic of food and wine pairing.’ – said No One, Ever.

So with that, we launched our Saturday Wine & Food Pairing a month ago with “Wine & Cheese” and then we followed that up with “Wine & BBQ Sauce” the next Saturday! But not just any BBQ … it was MONZ BONZ BBQ!!! Mmmmm! My dad can beat your dad’s BBQ any day of the week, blindfolded, with one hand tied behind his back! Boooya! No joke, his BBQ is mouthwatering, finger-licking, fall-off-the-bone, bbq-gasmic! His BBQ is so good he had to start a private BBQ catering business on the side of his day job to keep up with all the requests!

Now that I have you mouthwatering, let’s look at a few fun photos from the event that a good friend of mine took with her fancy-pants camera, which totally made me feel that much closer to being the Anthony Bourdain of San Antonio :)

Wine & BBQ Pairing at Vinously Speaking Wine Shop featuring Monz Bonz BBQby my Dad, Ramon Barretto

“WINE is what makes the BBQ sauce better” – Me … “Nooo, BBQ SAUCE makes the wine better!” – Dad

Look at me Ma! I’m a big girl! I can pour wine all by myself!

Obviously I am too slow of a pourer for my dad … zzzzzzz

Arrrrrrrrr! Zinzilla is coming at’cha!

Wine & BBQ Pairing at Vinously Speaking Wine Shop featuring Monz Bonz BBQ

Ain’t the line up of Wine & BBQ sauce pretty! Enough to make any true vinous southerner shed a tear of joy!

Wine & BBQ Pairing at Vinously Speaking Wine Shop featuring Monz Bonz BBQ

So how’d it all work out? Well Monz Bonz BBQ made a PHENOMENAL juicy, tender, fall-apart bristket for the occasion. Then I went to the local grocery store, HEB and picked out 6 BBQ sauces for the 6 wines I picked out. We placed six dollops of BBQ sauce on each plate as you can see above and just to be extra southern we added a heap of mashed potatoes for a palate cleanser! Below are all the wines and their matching BBQ sauces.

2010 A Portela Mencia (Spain) w/ Honey Chipotle BBQ

The Mencia grape is a neat varietal from Spain that is similar to what the love child of Pinot Noir & Cabernet Franc would be. This wine had earthy notes, graphite, Asian spices, black spices and light dark fruit aromas. I decided to find a BBQ sauce with ‘something ‘earthy’ and Chipotle fit the bill! Earthy chile with earthy wine! The sweetness from the honey helped round out the wine too.

2010 Barco de Piedra Tempranillo (Spain) w/ Hickory Brown Sugar BBQ

The next wine was a Tempranillo, an early ripening varietal. ‘Temprano’ in Spanish means ‘early’, hence the grape name. This wine had a delicious aromas cedar, spice, violets, red and blue berries. I decided to play of the cedar aromas and the closest BBQ sauce I found was Hickory & Brown Sugar. The hickory flavors paired great with the cedar and spice aromas, while the red fruit and violet aromas were highlighted by the element of sweetness from the brown sugar.

2010 La Cartuja Garnacha Blend (Spain) w/ Carolina Style BBQ Sauce

This wine was a blend of 50% Garnacha, 30% Mazuelo, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Syrah. With all the mix going on, and the aromas of red berries, dried herbs, and mineral notes I decided a light BBQ sauce with a bit of a “zippy, sweet and sour” would be great so that it wouldn’t drown out the wine and at the same time elevate the aromas on the wine. . HEB, the local grocery chain here in San Antonio, had a line of 4 HEB BBQ sauces and Carolina style was one of them. Carolina-based BBQ sauce has mustard in it, which was just the “zip & sweet and sour” I was looking for. Mustard is hard  to pair with but it was a light part of the sauce so it actually acted in a way that elevated the aromas and flavors of the wine, just like I wanted it to. This was one of my ‘going out on a limb’ pairings, but it worked out amazingly! It was probably my most favorite one!

2009 M5 Monastrell (Spain) w/ Texas Style BBQ

The next wine was from the Monastrell varietal and it was packin’ some major blueberry, blackberry, cedar and pepper notes. This one was a no-brainer for me to pair with … Texas style BBQ sauce! Texas BBQ sauces are more heavy on the black pepper than other styles and the black pepper notes on both made for a “POP” of a pairing! Yeeehaw!

2011 Diego Murillo Malbec (Argentina) w/ Memphis Style BBQ Sauce

The wine that followed started out as a different than in the picture above. It was the 2011 Alma de los Andes Malbec, but that lil sucker was so gosh darn good that it sold out before we were a third of the way into the tasting! I even had two customers fight over the last bottle of it!

Fighting over the last bottle of Alma de los Andes Malbec

Not to worry though, I had another Malbec to fill in :) While they were both unique in their own rights, both Malbecs had the aromas of dark red fruit, spice, mint, and chocolate. Because Malbecs are usually more of a robust wine, but still having great acidity to them. Now here in the south we like to say “tangy” for things that are acidic and the Memphis style BBQ sauce was both robust and “tangy”! It was a great complement to the robust and acidic Malbecs we tasted!

2009 Zinzilla Zinfandel (California) w/ Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce

The last wine, which has the most awesome of labels!, was a red Zinfandel. This was a nice juicy, fruity Zin (though not the intense fruit bomb that other Zins can be) with aromas of raspberry, dark berries, chocolate, pepper, and spice. I knew I wanted an intense, spicy, yet sweet BBQ sauce that would be able to ‘boot scootin boogie’ with the jammy elements of a Zinfandel, and Kansas City was the big daddy of the sauces! Whew! Talk about intense!

To sum it up, when pairing wine and BBQ sauce, I recommend finding what aromas/flavors are in your wine of choice and then seek out a BBQ sauce that can match as many of those aromas.

Hope you enjoyed! The event was such a great success! Monz Bonz BBQ was AMAZEBALLS as usual! Everyone raved about the pairings and thought it was a unique and fun idea for a food and wine pairing! Not to mention we had a huge representation from the male population … but that is what happens when you mention Monz Bonz BBQ brisket ;) And next time you need De-freakin-licious BBQ catering, send my dad a message on his MONZ BONZ BBQ Facebook Page! 

See you next blog post for “Vinously Speaking Wine Shop’s Saturday Pairing #3: Wine & Herbs! And we’ll see you this Saturday at the wine shop for our “Wine & Pasta Sauce” Pairing :)

by Vinously Speaking aka The Ceci Sipper

I think a wine blogger can be considered “a spoiled wine blogger” when they receive an email to attend a ‘press luncheon’ to taste some wines. I also suppose a wine blogger is considered “a REALLY spoiled wine blogger” when you are invited to a ‘press lunch’ to taste delicious wines, at a hot-spot restaurant, with many of the local wine buying/press celebs, with a chef flown in from Argentina making the food pairing, and the daughter of a well-known Argentinian winemaking family conducting the tasting.

All that being said, I do believe last week I was a REALLY spoiled wine blogger! Maybe even REALLY x2.

Definitely REALLY x2 :) The wine press luncheon was put on by Winesellers Ltd., a wine importing company based out of Illinois, to showcase Santa Julia wines. Santa Julia wines are a brand of wines produced by Familia Zuccardi, one of Argentina’s largest family owned wineries and a leading exporter of Argentine wines.

The press luncheon was held here in San Antonio at Silo Elevated Cuisine (1604). The cuisine is both elevated and … elevated, literally (you have to ride the elevator to the main dining area). Once the elevator doors opened, I was welcomed by a few of the Winesellers Ltd folks who informed me that I was the first to arrive. “As you are the first to arrive, you can have some one-on-one time with Julia Zuccardi,” I was told.

So there I was, chillin’ with Julia … the daughter of the famous Zuccardi Family winery, small chattin’ it up – no big deal.

Me: “So have you been in the US long?”
Julia: “No, I’ve just arrived and spent a couple days in Houston.”
Me: “So, you have a line of wines named after you? Pretty Cool.”
Julia: “Yes, my father named this brand of wines for me when I was young.”

Me [to myself]: Hmm … not sure where to go from here, she has a freakin’ line of wines named after her. Should I humor her and tell her how I have a one-vine vineyard in Chateau My-Backyardeaux that my dad planted for me? Nah, don’t start off that funny because then you have nowhere to go after that.

Thinking back to it … I should have!

So after chatting with Julia Zuccardi for a bit, a few other people started showing up … the wine buyer for the major grocery chain here in Texas (HEB), our local Emmy award-winning journalist Tanji Patton … you can imagine how I am starting to feel a bit out of my league here, lol. Whatever …  you have to think big to be big right?

As we carried on with the ‘meet and greets’ the first wine of the tasting was poured for us …

the Santa Julia Brut Rosé NV (NonVintage) 100% Pinot Noir. My first sip of this sparkling wine was delightful! It was bubbling with fresh red fruit and floral aromas, with delicate bubbles and beautifully balanced! As I was sipping on it, I imagined it being passed around as an aperitif at a fancy Thanksgiving feast or at a holiday party. I was thinking it was going to be priced at around $25 retail, but when I went to verify the suggested retail price (SRP) of it in our press packs, I thought there was a misprint … $13 ?!? Wow! This is one of those wines to have as your secret weapon for holiday parties ~ gotta make yo guests think you servin’ ‘spensive bubbly :) To pair with the Santa Julia Brut Rosé, Silo Restaurant prepared their Chicken Fried Oysters with Sautéed Spinach, Applewood Smoked Bacon, Tart Apples & Whole Grain Mustard Hollandaise 11!

They were delectable! Mmmm! Love me some oysters!

So ‘meet and greet’ time was over and we all made our way to our seats …

What a chic set up no? And let me tell you, these press packets were one of the best I have ever received! Whoever decided what went in those packets, needs to write a guest post for this blog on “How to Put Together a Stellar Press Packet” so others out there can learn from you :)

While we were waiting to for food to be served, Chef Ana Rodriguez Armisen, the Sous-Chef of Casa del Visitante (the Zuccardi Family’s restaurant in Mendoza, Argentina), who was touring with Julia Zuccardi, came out to and prepared Argentinean Chimichurri for us, which the Argentineans use to spead over meats that are grilled on the Asado aka bbq grill.

And boy was this chimichurri delicious!

As we were seated, the white wines were poured for us. We began with the 2011 Santa Julia Organica Chardonnay. Within the brand Santa Julia is a line of wines known as Santa Julia Organica, which are available in Chardonnay, Malbec, Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon. These wines come from certified organic vineyards. The 2011 Santa Julia Organica Chardonnay was simply a treasure. For those of you who are not fans of buttery, oakey Chardonnays, this one is for you.  Aged in stainless steel tanks, this Chardonnay was crisp and lively, with aromas of tropical fruits, citrus, apple, pear and honey. And the gorgeous taste lingers for quite some time. (A characteristic true of all the wines I tasted that afternoon). To pair with this wine, Silo prepared their Jumbo Lump Crabcakes with Fire Roasted Corn-Jalapeno Tartar Sauce. Oooooh Perfection! And the pairing was spot on! This wine is also a great with seafood, cream-based pastas, and soft cheeses. And the price on this wine, $11 SRP. Ya, you’re reading that right.

Next we were treated to the 2010 Santa Julia [+] Torrontes, Argentina’s signature white grape and one of my personal favorites. It was a gorgeous blend of floral, spice and herb and various citrus aromas. The [+], aka plus, is the title is another “name” for a line of wines under the Santa Julia Brand. These [+] wines are a line that are bottled in lighter weight glass to lower C)2 emissions.This line is was created to be symbolic of the Santa Julia commitment to the people that work for them, maintaining healthy and sustainable vineyards, energy and resource conservation, and winery, and the preservation of the environment.   This wine was paired with a delicious and inventive salad prepared by Chef Ana – fresh green salad with mustard shoots, carob’s bread croutons, grapefruit segments, and cured flounder drizzled with grapefruit juice and manzanilla olive oil dressing. Ohhh! So Gooood! The cured flounder was amazing and the salad married well with the Torrontes, which is $10 SRP. BTW, the Zuccardi family also produces vintage olive oils! Julia’s younger brother is the one who heads that up.

Next up was another of the [+] line, the 2010 Santa Julia [+] Malbec paired with Silo’s Pan Roasted Five Spice Duck Breast & Confit Leg on Almond & Apricot Couscous, Sautéed Haricot Vert, and Blackberry Cider Sauce. I can only quote “The Most Interesting Guy in the World” at this moment by saying, “I don’t always eat duck, but when I do, I prefer Silo’d Five Spice Duck!” And paired up with the hypnotic aromas of figs, plums, and blackberries, vanilla and coffee on the Malbec [+] at $10 SRP … Wunderbar!

Now to prove how much of an appetite I have for a gal, while others at my table were wimping out, I tore into the next course. And when I say tore, I mean ripped into this tender lamb loin with gusto! Chef Ana, will you please come and live with me so you make me this dish all the time! The lamb loin was cooked to perfection, aka between medium and medium-rare, with a crispy potato cake sauteed in Zuccardi Frantoio Olive Oil, then drizzled with a Malbec reduction sauce, and a warming salsa criolla! Ay Caramba!! The only thing that made this lamb more perfect was the wine that was paired with it, the 2010 Santa Julia Organica Cabernet Sauvignon, $11 SRP. Adding to the oral flavor tango that was happening in my mouth were the aromas of violet, cassis, black cherries, and black and sweet pepper of this wine! Yummo!

And just to show off how delicious this lamb loin was with other Santa Julia red wines, we were then poured the 2009 Santa Julia Reserva Malbec and the 2009 Santa Julia Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon … both gorgeous with the lamb! At $12 SRP fpr both, its hard to believe that you can drink ‘Reserva’ quality wines at an ‘everyday drinking’ wine price.

The 2009 Santa Julia Reserva Malbec was complex, structured, and had a long finish. The aromas were of dark fruits like figs, plums, and blackberries, hinted with coffee, vanilla, tobacco, and chocolate! Perfecto! I could’ve been fooled into thinking this wine was valued at minimum $25.

The 2009 Santa Julia Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon was spectacular too! It had the delicious red fruit notes of Cabernet Sauvignons, hints of earthy tones and bell pepper, and kisses of vanilla, leather, paprika and black pepper. Really a delicious, delicious wine. I just couldn’t wrap my head around how awesome these wines were and how much a steal they areat $12 SRP.

And just when your stomach was hoping that  just wine was being served in place of a dessert, Silo presents us with a Toasted Coconut Mousse pie and Chef Ana made us Creamy Chocolate with Zuccardi Arauco Olive Oil, Zuccardi Malamado Sauce and chopped caramelized pistachios. [Must make room in stomach, ahhh!]

The wine that was paired with both desserts was the 2009 Santa Julia Tardio, $13 SRP. This late harvest wine had delicate yet powerful aromas of over-mature fruits, honey, dried fruits, orange skins and roses. The slight sweetness was washed away with gorgeous acidity, leaving you palate ready for more! Mmmmm!

After the last plates were cleared away, there was no denying, The Ceci Sipper was officially THE Happy Camper!

I was simply amazed at the incredible quality of these wines and the insanely affordable prices they run for. How have  value buys like this missed my ear? I highly recommend you go out and buy a case of these wines, they deserve a large section in your wine rack.

Another aspect of Santa Julia wines that I found to be very honorable and respectable, is the care they put into the people that work for them. Julia was telling us that they do not believe in hiring seasonal employees. Instead they cross train their staff to provide them permanent jobs, they also provide them with a cultural center, a book/video library, sporting facility, free classes and programs in literacy, foreign language, math, music, cooking, and healthcare!! They provide their staff with fitness and wellness programs at no charge, free computer science programs to the staff’s children, and assist their staff’s families in buying personal computers! How phenomenal is that!!?? All the more reason I will be buying these wines on a regular basis, and you should too!

Thank you so much to Julia Zuccardi and Chef Ana for that delightful and insightful lunch at Silo’s, you ladies were charming and fun, I hope to meet you again, but this time in Argentina! And lastly, thank you to Winesellers Ltd. on a job well done with the press lunch, bravo!

P.S. I was so blown away with these wines at the luncheon that when I found out they were putting on wine pairing dinner that evening at Max’s Wine Dive here in San Antonio, I called ASAP to make reservations and was able to taste these wines again, with other delicious food pairings prepared by Chef Ana. And I brought 6 other friends with me. News of good wine travels fast in my circle :) I hope Julia and Chef Ana were impressed with my vinous devotion to Santa Julia wines, because it certainly ain’t ending there. Spread the word that Santa Julia is muy, muy sabroso!!

Bonjour! Comment vas-tu?

Vous parlez francais, n’est-ce pas?

Don’t worry, I am not THAT mean to write a post in french … although I know a few readers out there who would enjoy that. One day french speaking readers, one day – but not today. But offend not my french readership … I did you proud! Vinously Speaking marked a momentous moment by having its debut “Social Wine Education” event on Bastille Day! :) And it was a HUGE success!

* It is never a true French fete without a french mustache :P

As you may have read, we held this event at a restaurant here in San Antonio called Firewater Grille last Thursday July 14th aka Bastille Day, the french national holiday. We had 25 ‘wine’derful guests come out, sip on some fabulous vinos, nosh on some delightful food pairings, learn a bit about wine, and listen to the artistic melodies of an acoustic guitar player. And to make sure we recapped this evening just right, we even made a little welcome video for your viewing pleasure.

Well aren’t we just the cutest lil’ wine drinkers ever? :P

As guests arrived they were greeted with a welcoming wine, the 2009 Alamo Torrontes from Mendoza, Argentina. In case you didn’t watch the video above or missed the ending, most of our wines that evening weren’t exactly French, but to keep to the theme, we figured out a way for them to have a ‘French connection’. So with the Torrontes, its French connection is that it has similar varietal characteristics to the french grape Viognier of being one of the more aromatic and perfumed white grape varietals.

Once our guests were ‘wine’d up , we handed them their educational portion of the evening, a fun little information packet on Bastille Day, a bit about French wine, and information on the wines being tasted that evening. If you weren’t able to attend our debut “Social Wine Education” event, never to worry, here is a copy of the information packet for your reading/learning enjoyment.

Vinously Speaking Wine Blog’s Social Wine Education #1 – Bastille Day

How cool is that?!
I know, I know … we rock!

Hope you enjoy this little document we created and if you are feeling jealous, go out and by yourself those bottles of wine and see how you enjoy them. Can you pick up the aromas and flavors we listed on there?

Now that the educational aspect of evening was taken care of, then came the social part. All of our attendees were mingling and enjoying the sauna-like heat we call “summer” here in San Antonio, sipping on the rest of the wines and noshing on the delicious food pairings …

… but to really kick the ‘social’ part into overdrive I decided pictures with the french mustache were a must! It was way too much fun, lol.

I know you French readers out there are thinking … “Zhat is not troo, we do not have ze mustaches like zhis?” …  but to that I say … “Just humor us, s’il vous plait :)”

French stereotypes and mustaches aside, the evening was an enormous success! A big thank you to Firewater Grille for hosting us and providing a great venue, wine, food, and service for the evening. We hope to see you for Social Wine Education #2 on Thursday August 11th at Max’s Wine Dive in The Quarry here in San Antonio. And if you are too far away to make it, we will of course post a recap here :)

I sure am!

And if the wines were as delicious and exotic as they were last week, you should be going too! Last week Joe Saglimbeni welcomed the lovely Felicia Gonzales of Serendipity Wine Imports here in San Antonio. She was featuring wines from Argentina and Uruguay! I don’t know about you, but I don’t get to taste wines from Uruguay very often, so this was a real treat!

I really enjoyed the line up, but of the ones we tasted these four made the cut to go home with my parents and I:

The 2010 Gouguenheim Torrontes from the Valle Escondido in Mendoza, Argentina. This was definitely a “sip on the patio on a hot summer day” wine. Lots of beautiful floral and light citrus aromas, you can also throw in a hint of grass and gorgeous acidity. Craving lemonade, try this wine instead! :) And last week, we took this bad boy home for $9.74!

I was even more impressed with the 2010 Bouza Albarino from Montevideo, Uruguay. FYI, the Albarino grape used to make this wine is most famously grown in it Galician home of Rias Baixas in Spain, but is grown exclusively by Bouza Bodega in Uruguay! This wine danced with aromas of lemon zest and almonds, it had hints of herbs and white flowers, and even a bit of a green apple scent to it. This was a great wine and certainly worth the price of $17.24.

The last wine that made the cut was another wine from Bouza Bodega in Montevideo, Uruguay, the 2008 Tannat. The Tannat grape originates from France, but really has found a home and great expression in the terroirs of Uruguay. This is definitely a steak kind of wine with its manly tannins and deep red color, aromas of dark fruits like ripe plums and blackberries, and hints of vanilla and a kiss of barnyard. A great value at $14.99.

So I look forward to seeing you tonight from 5-8:30pm at Joe Saglimbeni’s Fine Wine & Spirits Shop … so get off the computer and back to work so you can finish in time to head out to the tasting!