Chateau Montelena is one of those epic Californian houses, best known for helping to put Napa Valley on the world wine map when they beat four top Burgundian Chardonnays in a 1976 blind tastings with their 73 Chardonnay. Check out Bottle Shock. Great wine film. There's a scene where all the young Montelena interns are trying to win some money for some reason on their vintage-deduction prowess. I like that Six Feet Under guy, but I think he makes a better undertaker. I applaud his enthusiastic mouth-work, but I'm not buying his show. It must be a great skill to have though - to be able to dazzle with your varietal knowledge on the spot like that, with so much adrenaline churning about the roadhouse. Things could have got ugly. I want Matt Damon to make Good Will Hunting Part 2, but this time he's a sommelier - asking everyone at a wine tasting how they like his apples. By the way, don't steal my script ideas. Speaking adrenaline pumps, I've got to get back to my souffle. I'm matching a dry zinfandel with a chocolate one of those.
Basic Chocolate Souffle (very, very basic...)
I pulled this recipe directly from an excellent food blog called Real Epicurean. So there's really no point in copying it out here - http://www.realepicurean.com/2009/05/easy-chocolate-souffle-recipe/
The souffles turned out well in terms of flavour and texture, but didn't rise up above the lip of my monstrous ramekins. A 4 ounce ramekin is what you'll need for that effect.
Pairing Notes for the 2007 Chateau Montelena Zin...
The wine was quite good. On the nose there was a sunburnt, dusty red berry quality, which was predominant. On the palate, there was less fruit than I've come to expect from a Cali zinfandel. Dry, yet balanced. Integrated. I felt a there was a rhubarb pie thing going on with a little Asiatic spice on the finish. Perhaps some dried fruit - currents and juniper berries. I liked it. Was I blown away with respect to the all important quality-price ratio? Not quite. It was clean and quite the well made wine, but not spectacular.
Insofar as the match is concerned, I probably won't be doing it again. The logic behind the match was suspect. I admit to having suspect ideas on occasion. Bitter or high cocoa chocolate can under some circumstances match well with rich, low tannin reds - according to some people (they tend to sell chocolate online.) But when you're mixing high quantities of sugar, you probably shouldn't be playing with dry reds. There was nothing awful about the pairing. But it just didn't have any of that magic spiralling our flavour between the wine and food that leads to, well, surprised intoxication. Who doesn't like surprises? In fact, I pushed the wine aside to save for later - never a good sign. I suppose I just really wanted zinfandel and also wanted to try my hand at the most basic of souffles. Separately, both were solid. Together, no fireworks. I was self-interested tonight and therefore failed.
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