Over the course of a week, my wife and I drink a bunch o’wine – almost always with food. Since I’ve always been fascinated by wine at the table with food, I thought it would be fun to recap not only the wines we’ve been drinking, but also how they pair (or don’t pair) with the foods at our table.  Includes my picks for  Wine of the Week; and Food and Wine Pairing of the Week for the week ended March 15, 2015.

Prévoteau-Perrier Champagne Brut Grande Réserve – Retail $29
Golden yellow color with appealing hazelnut, yeast, baked bread, peach, and citrus aromas and a fine bead. On the palate it approaches full-bodied and is well structured with a soft mousse and clean peach, apple, tangerine flavors with a bit of minerality. Lingering finish! This is great value at $28! Very Good to Outstanding; 89-91 pts

2012 La Crema Pinot Noir Cold Coast Vineyards Sonoma Coast – Retail $29
Medium ruby color with red berry, and low-key cola, earth and spice aromas. On the palate its medium-bodied and fruit forward with easy black cherry, cola and spice flavors. Good quaffer Very good; 86-88 pts

2013 Tercero Mourvedre Rosé – Retail $20
Consistent with prior reviews – Pale salmon color with appealing red fruit, wet stone, and citrus peel aromas with a hint of earthiness. On the palate it’s dry, and fresh and medium-bodied with mouth filling strawberry, watermelon, hints of red currant, subtle spice, and citrus flavors and a nice touch of minerality. 100 % Mourvedre. Lingering finish. Very Good to Outstanding; 89-91 pts

2005 Famille Perrin / Perrin & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Sinards – Retail $20
Carmine color with alluring tobacco, garrigue, Herbs de Provence, baking spice and red fruit aromas. On the palate it’s light bodied and fresh with a supple texture and black cherry, raspberry, and spice flavors underscored with an appealing minerality and chalky tannins. Lingering finish. Very Good to Outstanding; 89-91 pts

Wine of the Week     

A friend asked me what is my one favorite wine was last week. That’s a bit like asking me what’s my favorite flavor of ice cream. There are many.  Perhaps I can boil it down to a “Top 5”.  But if pressed hard and I HAD to pick just one, my answer would be….

Champagne!

The Prévoteau-Perrier Champagne Brut Grande Réserve is a very good Champagne.  And the price is right at under $30.  I will be buying more, if I can find it.

My Wine of the Week is the 2005 Perrin & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Sinards. It’s a wine I purchased at my favorite wine store K&L Wine Merchants almost 5 years ago.  I got a good deal on it too!  It retails for around $30, and I got it for $20!  It’s a classic Châteauneuf-du-Pape (“CdP”) blend of (predominately) Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre from one of the region’s leading producers, the Perrin family (and a majority partner in Tablas Creek Vineyards). It’s a blend of purchased grapes as well as declassified portions from the rather large Beaucastel vineyard. It’s a delicious, and food friendly CDP!

The weather was gorgeous in California last weekend.  About 80 degrees and sunny.  So we busted out the Weber and barbecued some Filipino style chicken and pork ribs. The BBQ and Tercero Mourvedre Rosé were my Food and Wine Pairing of the Week. What I love about the Tercero Rosé is that it’s shows more body than most Roses. It’s a perennial favorite and it makes a great partner at the table with heartier fare like BBQ!

What was your Wine of the Week?  Any killer Food and Wine pairings?

Follow my reviews on Vivino 

Martin Redmond is a Financial Executive by day, and a certified wine geek with latent foodie tendencies the rest of the time. In addition to the wine lifestyle and food he enjoys family, fitness and traveling. He likes to get thoughts of wine off his mind by sharing experiences on his ENOFYLZ Wine blog, which features wine reviews, wine country travel, and wine and food pairings.

Follow me on Twitter @martindredmond for all things wine, and since I’m a wino, with latent foodie tendencies, you’ll also find food and wine pairings, and food related stuff! Become a fan and join ENOFYLZ Wine Blog on Facebook. Cheers! This article is original to ENOFYLZ Wine Blog.com. Copyright 2015 ENOFYLZ Wine Blog. All rights reserved.