Ecco Domani Wine Review

The girls and I needed a little R&R the other night. Ended up with two bottles of wine (Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio, 2010 & Berringer Pinot Grigio). Although the Berringer was a complete disappointment, the Ecco Domani Was worthy of not only a second taste, but a wine review. 

As I am by no means a wine Sommelier, nor an expect in vinticulture, or just vino in general, so therefore the wine review below was 'borrowed' from eccodomani.com. No copywrite infringement intended.

http://www.eccodomani.com/italian-wine/pinot-grigio.asp

Ecco Domani 2010 Pinot


 GrigioGrapes for our wine come from the Northeastern "Tre Venezie" region of Italy, where the Pinot Grigio grape has been cultivated for more than a century. The Pinot Grigio grape is genetically related to Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc, and is easily subject to color mutation. The skin color of the grapes can range from a bluish gray to a delicate pink, depending on the clone and the geographic zone. In fact, the word “Grigio” means gray in Italian, although the juice is drawn off the skins before they impart a tint to the wine.

Description
After a cold winter and spring, May and June 2010 saw some hot weather, allowing the vines to catch up on a somewhat slow start. A good level of moisture in the soil made for some excellent growing conditions, resulting in yields that came in about average but with promising fruit. Harvest began about 8-9 days later than the previous year. Some areas saw rain during harvest period, but this was intermittent. Most of the vintage came through with good acidity and sugar content. In the final analysis, hot days combined with cool nights resulted in an excellent vintage.

Viticulture Notes
The Tre Venezie is made up of three smaller growing regions: Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia. With a climate known for “cool nights and warm days,” conditions in the Tre Venezie are conducive to exceptional grape maturation. Ecco Domani meticulously combines the inherent strengths of the fruit from each of these premier regions to create full-flavored wines with superb colors and wonderful aromas, backed by fine levels of intensity.

Winemaking Notes
The juice was fermented at 18ºC three weeks in temperature-controlled tanks. After settling, the wine was cold stabilized, filtered and bottled under sterile conditions, avoiding malolactic fermentation and preserving the fruit characteristics of the wine. The wine was aged two months on light lees to preserve freshness.

Tasting Notes
This wine has a clear, straw yellow color, with light golden reflections. A low concentration of surmaturo grapes gives the wine tropical fruit notes that make this unique vintage truly exotic, with apple and pineapple aromas and flavors. The wine is light bodied, with a pleasantly soft palate and a long finish.

Finished Wine
Varietal Content: 88.5% Pinot Grigio, 11.5% Chardonnay
Varietal Origin: Delle Venezie
Alcohol Level: 12.49%
Residual Sugar: 0.35g/100ml
Titratability Acidicity: 0.57g/100ml
pH: 3.41

Espresso-Tini #2

Espresso-Tini

Shot of Espresso

1/2 oz Three Olives Chocolate Vodka

1/2 oz Godiva Dark Chocolate Liqueur

1/4 oz Amaretto

1/4 oz Kahlua

Dash of Bailey's

Shake all ingredients with ice. Rime the glass with shaved chocolate. Strain cocktail and top with Bailey's, whip cream, and cocoa powder. 

Espresso-tini # 1

Espresso-Tini


2 1/2 oz Vanilla Vodka
1 oz Godiva Cappucino Liqueur
2 oz Fresh, Chilled espresso

Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker fillwed with ice and shake well. Serve in a frozen martini glass.

Line the rim of the glass with cinnamon, cocoa, or chocolate powder. 

Four Ways to Drink Corono

Been experimenting/reasearching interesting ways to consume Corona, and have been insanely amazed by how many interesting variations there are.

Here's the top four i've discovered.





The Traditionalist:

12 oz Bottle of Corona
Lime or Lemond Wedge  
Salt

Take a traditional chilled bottle of Corona, and add fresh lime juice. The best way to achieve your desired result is to insert a lime wedge into the neck of the Corona bottle, place your thumb over the top, and flip the bottle upside down (very carefully) so the lime wedge floats to the bottom, which allows the lime to give the most flavor. Lemons also have a similar affect.

Note: try salting the lime or lemon before placing it in the beer to add an even more intense flavor.



Corona Sour

12 oz Bottle of Corona Lager
3 0z Sweet and Sour Mix
1 lime wege

Take a chilled bottle of corona, and fill a chilled pilsner glass 1/3 of the way with Sweet and Sour Mix (Margarita mix works as well). Fill the remainder with chilled Corona.

Serve Pilsner glass with a salted rim, and garnish with a lime wedge.






Beergarita

1 oz Gold Tequila
1 oz Triple Sec
1 oz Lime Juice
12 oz Bottle of Corona Lager



Mix all ingredients (except for the beer) in a blender with ice. Pour into a large pilsner glass (or pint glass), then add chilled Corona on top. Salt the rim of the glass and garnish with a lime wedge.







Michelada

12 oz Mexican Lager (dark is better)
1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lime juice
1-2 dashes of hot sace (such as cholula, tapatio, or tabasco)
1 Dash of soy sauce
1 Dash of worchestshire sauce


In a Pilsner Glass or Pint Glass: Salt the rim of the glass, and fill halfway with ice. Add lime juice, and other ingredients (sans the beer) into the glass while mixing with a bar spoon. Lastly top off the mixture with beer. Garnish with a wedge of lime and serve immedietly.

All those wonderful things that make beer into a COCKTAIL!!!!!

Essenital Bourbon Cocktails: Manhattan

The Manhattan

3/4 oz. Sweet Vermout

2 1/2 oz Bourbon Whiskey

1 Dash Angostura Bitters

1 Marashino Cherry

Combine the vermouth, bourbon whiskey, and bitters with 2 - 3 ice cubes in a mixing glass. Stir gently, don't bruise the spirits and cloud the drink. Place the cherry in a chilled cocktail glass and strain the whiskey mixture over the cherry. Rub the cut edge of the orange peel over the rim of the glass and twist it over the drink to release the oils but don't drop it in. 

Lavender Mimosa's and a Fathers Day Suprise

Per usual, mid June rolled around this year and I still had no idea what to do for Fathers Day. Not that this is a new issue....every year, despite a good two decades of practice, I spend two or three days in a panic over what to get my father. I hate being repetitive. OR obvious, hence all the panicking.

This year though, an interesting idea sparked in my mind, brought on by an old memory and a fairly common garden plant.

Lavender. Or as I chose for my fathers day gift, lavender simple syrup. My fathers always had a love of Mimosas. And before you roll your eyes too much at the idea of a grown man drinking sparkling wine and orange juice out of a champagne flute, keep in mind that champagne is a classic drink and my father, despite some of his shortcomings, has always been a classy man. Over the years, as we would head out on weekends to get lunch or dinner together, he was always on the quest for the pefect mimosa. And about six years back, he found it at a local eatery known as Caseys Caffe. The caffe itself I have very little to say about, but the mimosas  are another story.

Casey's caffe is one of the only places that i've seen do Lavender mimosas. Lavender you say? As in the plant, the garden plant? The one people use in perfume, and bathsalts, and in sachets under pillows and in your underwear drawer? Yep. That would be the one. Despite what a lot of people think, lavender is not simply a fantastic fragrance. It also offers a very unique taste to many food dishes. Take for example, lavender tiramisu.....a unique twist on a classic dessert by far. Lavender often mixes well with chocolate but is also known to mix well  with lemon, honey, and vanilla flavors as well. In this case, the lavender mimosas are an interesting balance of sweet, bubbly and a spicy-herbal taste that really jazzes things up. The champagne offers a crisp and fruity flavor which is enhanced by the somewhat sweet taste of the lavender.

For father's day, I decided to replicate my Dad's favorite drink by ordering Lavender syrup from a company called Monin Syrups. I had the whole thing planned out to a tee. Dinner out, followed by Mimosas while we sat and smoked cigars together. Yes, a woman who smokes cigars.....hell will freeze over and penguins will learn to fly shortly after I complete this blog post. But anyway, back to what I was saying.....My game plan was simple, a nice Dinner withDrinks afterwards. Not too complicated. Lots of room for improvisation. But seriously, imagine my suprise when Amazon sent me an email letting me know it would take an additional week for my syrup to arrive. However 'if I wanted to upgrade to super saver shipping for an additional $93' I could get my syrup on time. Seriously? $93 freakin bucks? I dont think so. Amazon can dam well suck it.

Obviously with that set back, I didnt have too many options for coming up with a new Fathers day suprise last minute. So instead I went with the simple approach: Dinner as planned, with drinks in the resturaunt bar instead. And a cute little card that promised lavender mimosas in the near future. All in all the evening was great, with wonderful food, some quality company, and great drinks. Dad was happy. And I was perfectly content with the alternative.

To cut myself off before I continue with my long winded dialogue about Father's Day Traditions, and Amazons crappy shipping policy, I'm going to go ahead with the long awaited Lavender Mimosa Recipe.

The Simplistic Version

1oz. Lavender Syrup
3/4 of a glass of champagne or Prosecco

Pour lavender syrup into the bottom of a champagne flute. Fill the remainder of the glass with champagne or sparkling wine of choice. Garnish with a sprig of fresh lavender.



The Red Carpet Version



Ingredients:

• 1 Bottle of Sparking extra dry wine, chilled½ Cup Ultimat Vodka
• ¾ cup of green grapes, halved
• 11/2 cups white grape juice, chilled
• 2 tablespoons elderflower cordial
• 2 tablespoons of fresh lavender sprigs for garnish

*Serves 8 people

Borrowed From: http://heidiklum.aol.com/category/lifestyle/red-carpet-cocktails/

Happy Hour and the Inevitable Call For Shots

Its Five in the bloody morning, and for whatever reason I can't sleep.

So.....here's a blog post about shots.

Liquid Cocaine 

 1/2 oz. 151 Proof Rum

1/2 oz. Jagermeister

1/2 oz. Rumple Minze

Chill liquor. Shake over ice and strain into a chilled shot glass.

Scoobie Snack 

1/3 oz. Midori Melon Liqueur

1/3 oz. Vodka

1/3 oz. Half n' Half (or Milk)

Pour over ice and strain into a shot glass.

*Note - The vodka can be switched out for  1/3 oz. of Malibu  Rum to give the shot an even sweeter and more tropical flavor instead.

Kamikaze

1/2 oz. Vodka

1/2 oz. Triple Sec (or Cointreau Orange Liqueur)

1/2 oz. Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice (A dash of sweet and sour mix works too)

Shake over ice and serve into a large shot glass. Garnish with Lime wedge.

*Note - Muddling fresh limes in the bottom of the shaker instead of using freshly squeezed limes adds less intensity to the drink, but still gives the perfect amount of flavor.





Blow Job

3/4 oz. Bailey's Irish Cream
3/4 oz.  Kahlua
Whipped Cream

Combine Bailey's Irish Cream and Kahlua in a chilled shot glass. Top off with whipped cream.





Sex On the Beach

1/2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Midori
1/2 oz. Chambord Raspberry Liqueur
1/4 oz. Pineapple Juice

Shake ingredients with ice, and pour into a shot glass.









Orgasm

1/3 oz. Amaretto
1/3 oz. Bailey's Irish Cream
1/3 oz. Kahlua

Layer in order (kahlua at the bottom) in a shot glass.

Jolly Rancher

1/4 oz. Amaretto

1/4 oz. Melon Liqueur

1/4 oz. Grenadine

1/4 oz. Sprite

Mix Amaretto, Melon Liqueur, and Grenadine. Top with sprite. Serve in a shot glass. 

*there are more than 8 different recipes for Jolly Rancher shots/ shooters.