Lindemans - Pinot Noir (2008 - bin 99)

I've had a few aged wines but this is by far the best one.  Which is awesome cuz it only cost $7.  Down a point for using a cork though.  Usually the Oceania wines use a screw top which is more reliable and convenient.

This wine has mild to medium tannins depending on your taste, no noticeable alcohol flavor, and is primarily dry (with a hint of sweetness).  For me this is a nice foundation, and on top of that there's a moderate dark fruit taste, with a strong but still mellow rusty/spicy finish.

Excellent value for the money.

I'd give it 5/4 but I don't go that high, and I'm a little biased because of the price.

4/4 stars.

you can easily see the rust red color indicating that the wine has been aged

pan fried steak experiments

After some 6 or 8 iterations I've finally come to a pan fried steak + pan sauce recipe I'm happy with.  The original recipe overcooked my steak if it wasn't a NY strip so I had to adjust a lot of things.

tl;dr i'm frying the steak in ghee to sear and do most of the cooking, then bundling it in tinfoil and letting it finish while I make the pan sauce.  No oven is required.

I haven't tried to cook a steak since I started being a bit more serious about cooking, so this was a good learning experience for me... some takeaways that may seem like common sense, but that were new to me:

1) NY strip cooks longer since it's always cut thicker, every recipe must be adjusted accordingly

2) the stovetop is MORE than sufficient to get a blazing hot pan and sear your steak, and still have it be blue after resting.  especially if your pan gets as hot as my beloved cast iron pan, you'll have to back the heat down according to the thickness of your steak so it has time to cook

3) pan sauce doesn't really require any drippings to make, it's more about the crust that's developed in the pan.  just let that steak hold onto the drippings in the foil, or pour it over your food separately

4) only very little force is required to keep your steak from contracting after flipping, leaving the spatula to sit on top for 30 seconds should do the trick

5) when marinating season the crap out of it, whatever you use use a lot of it.  don't add salt until you're ready to cook, though (obviously to prevent the steak from drying out).  if marinating at the last minute you can lightly score with a fork to help get the seasoning in, but I've gotten better results by simply planning ahead of time and doing anywhere from a half to full day marinade.

6) when letting the steak warm to room temperature it really means room temperature, not close to it.  if you want a medium rare steak and you start with a still slightly chilled steak, you'll get rare or less.  not the worst thing since you can fix it, but still annoying.  just get it right the first time

7) a pan fried steak will cook a little bit unevenly due to not being uniform in shape.  giving it a spin or 2, as well as spooning hot oil over the top should be enough to keep it mostly even.

8) pan sauce for steak is WAY BETTER with dark beer than it is with wine, I can't wait to share that part of the recipe.  i also did it with dark soy sauce instead of worchestershire, so i think i've developed a unique flavor

9) pan sauce should be a little bit watery so it can be easily absorbed by the steak.  a thick sauce looks nice, but transmits flavor less well.  along these lines, pressing the sauce through an oil filter will also make it easier to consume for the same reason.

10) a whole steak is like 850 calories.  there's no reason to serve a whole steak with a portion of starch since it's filling enough on it's own.  only serve with starch if you're doing a half steak, even if it's a smaller one.


here's some of my better results below...

just pulled this ribeye out of the foil


rare ribeye with some of that amazing pan sauce :)
you can actually see some of the sauce being absorbed by the meat on the left piece



medium NY strip, this was before i decided to make pan sauce

Berne - Impatience (2016)

This was a blush wine, which I believe simply means it's a mixture of white and red wines.

Frankly it sucked, tannins were noticeable, alcohol was noticeable, and any of the good flavors were too mild and muddled to properly come through.  It was a $20 bottle too.  I don't know what the deal was with this stuff.

Maybe they should have had some more patience making this stuff, it's only been 1 year after all.

0/4

Bartenura - Moscato (2015)

I haven't had this style before.  It's sweet with a strong and noticeable savory accent.  To me it tastes like sweet white grapes, mixture of virgin olive/avacado oil.

The taste is a perfect 4/4, which is unusual for me for a sweet wine.

The problem with this wine is that it's only 5% ABV, and it's an average priced wine too.  I wouldn't normally buy this since that's really a poor value.  Good for parties with people who don't usually drink maybe.  I was kindly gifted this wine but unfortunately I won't let that affect my score.

3/4 overall

Menage a Trois - California Red Wine (2015)

This is another blend from MAT.  This blend is primarily cab, but of course more aggressively blended than their wine labeled as cab.  A very good wine still, and I think of it as a just slightly sweeter, slightly more complex version of their cabernet blend.

I think the labels for this wine, and for their "Midnight" wine should be switched, as this one is noticeably darker in flavor.

4/4

Truscott - Old Vine Zinfandel (2008)

This was an excellent wine, I just don't know if it was worth the cost.

Easily drinkable with mild tannins and mild alcohol flavor.  Dark fruit flavors with a couple of complex hints you don't usually get with cheap wine.

However the overall flavorfulness does leave a little to be desired.  I got to experience some unique flavors in this wine, but it lacks so many others... not sure

3.5/4 overall

4/4 ignoring the cost

3/4 counting the cost

Casilerro del Diablo Malbec / Prophecy Pinot Noir / Founders Breakfast Stout

Casillero del Diablo - Malbec (2015)

Complex and easily drinkable Malbec.  I liken this variety to shyraz if you're not familiar with it.

4/4

Prophecy - Pinot Noir (2015)

Complex and easily drinkable Pinot Noir.  Taste was nearly identical to the one I reviewed from Kim Crawford earlier, which is high praise.

4/4

Founders - Breakfast Stout

The name is not really clear about what it really is.  This is a strong oatmeal stout, that's had a variety of chocolates and coffees thrown in for depth.  It's primarily a strong oatmeal stout, and these accents add depth to an otherwise fairly simple style.

Malty, creamy, with a hint of chocolate and coffee.

4/4

Bohae - Black Raspberry Wine

If you like blackberries and you're cool with sweet wine this is probably good for you.  Sweet and tastes just like blackberry jam, noticeable alcohol flavor.  No tannins or anything like that, Asian wines don't seem to have those, instead they've got the alcohol taste (preferable for me actually).

3/4

Menage a Trois - Cabernet Sauvignon (2015)

This is a good cab at a good price.  Tannins are well balanced and the flavor is complex.  It's a bit more aggressively blended than some others I've seen, but skillfully so.  No complaints here.

No special tasting notes for this guy, just a good cab at a good price.

4/4

Menage a Trois - Midnight (2014)

I don't usually buy wines advertised as blended (most are blended slightly regardless).  However this one was on sale and "dark red wine blend" sounds right up my alley, so I tried it out.

This is a good wine.  It's merlot based so it's easily palatable for most people, but thanks to a very noticeable dosage of cab as well as other strong reds, this is both smooth and complex in flavor.

My only criticism is that it's TOO merlot based, with a name like "MIDNIGHT" I was really expecting something a little darker.  This company does have other wines that fill that void though, under other names.

3/4

Pinetti - Zinfandel (2015)

Extremely strong tannins, completely overwhelms all other flavors.  I did use an aerator, let it sit some time, and serve at room temperature.  I also tried chilling it a bit to see if it shifted the flavor profile, which as expected, did not work.  (usually the colder the wine the more intense the tannins are in my experience).

There is some deep earthy flavors that are interesting, so I won't give it a 0/4.

1/4

Hey, at least it was on sale for $5.  I did have a zin from cali and I think it was similar, but with more flavor.  This may not be my style, so if you like this style, maybe you can take my review with a grain of salt.