04/13/07 New Favorite

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran, and as most of you know, my new favorite wine is usually the wine that is in my glass at the time. I mean why waste your time drinking wine that you aren't thoroughly enjoying? At a recent dinner party, our host served rack of lamb and instructed everyone to bring Rhone varietals to accompany the meal. One of my friends is in love with the grape Mourvedre and she brought one of her favorites. The wine was a 2004 Small Berry Mouvedre made by Cline Cellars. When I tasted it - It was clear as to why my friend was such a fan. The tannins were soft and pleasant and the herbaceous undertones and warm berry fruit was enticing. It was my favorite with the rack of lamb. According to the information on the bottle the Contra Costa County vineyard, where the grapes are grown, is nine acres of century old vines just yards from the San Joaquin River. At that same dinner we had a 2003 Morrison Lane wine from Walla Walla Washington, playfully call thirty three and a third, which signifies the proportions of the blend of Rhone varietals  you got it, one third Syrah  one third Cunoise  one third Viognier. What a quaffable wine it was. I especially enjoyed it with the lamb and seared fois gras, the acids were perfect with the richness of the duck liver. If you have trouble finding these wines just go to the web and google Cline Cellars or Morrison Lane and you can track them down. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.