December 2024 & January 2025 Delectable Reviews
My Delectable reviews are an interesting chronicle of sorts on our travels and leisure time. Looking back, December was really fun.
Fort Ross Vineyard which has been featured before on this site, is an excellent producer. I was fortunate to get a good deal on a WTSO.com offer way below their winery direct pricing for several bottles, including Chenin Blanc and a couple of tiers of their Pinot Noir. This is their higher tier blend from estate fruit.
Recommended Pairing: United Airlines complimentary Savory Snack Mix
Count me in as a fan of canned wine in the right setting. The much lower weight compared to glass bottles makes a ton of sense on airline flights to save fuel costs and reduce carbon footprint plus the ease of recycling make it a no-brainer. Ser Winery is artisanal producer founded by Nicole Walsh. Congratulations to her for being selected for United Airlines's economy cabin wine offerings.
Recommended Pairing: Bungalow Chicken Amritsari
We found this Chardonnay on the wine list for Bungalow in The East Village / Alphabet City region of New York City. I love a restaurant that offers elevated Indian cuisine with a great wine list.
My wife's cousin and his wife brought this bottle over to our AirBnB in Hoboken - yes, Burgundy pricing is getting a bit ridiculous these days but there's still accessible wines available from the region, especially at the village or regional level.
Recommended Pairing: NY-style pepperoni pizza
I'd say the secret is out that Trader Joe's offers some excellent wines values. We actually brought this one in our wine carrier luggage from Houston to NYC. By the way, I love BYOB pizzerias.
In a previous post I warned about 2020 Napa wines - here is another one where I got lucky, receiving this wine as a gift from friends in Houston that we dragged to the City on our end-of-year vacation. Quality wine producers will make great wine even in difficult years – indeed, the name of this wine alludes to the 2017 Napa wildfires that devastated parts of the region.
The holidays often means gifts so I tend to get some nice bottles like this when we host friends and neighbors in our home.
I was fortunate to receive this wine as a Secret Santa gift from a wine group that I'm active in. The winery has gone defunct so this was a wonderful and rare gift which was clearly stored in great conditions to age so gracefully.
Drinking this quite delicious Chablis only reveals what an excellent value the legendary Costco Kirkland Signature Chablis Premier Cru represents.
Recommended Pairing: Any richer tomato sauce pasta dish
Another quite excellent KS value – I have been on the lookout for this one at my local Houston warehouses and will be buying at least 3 bottles if not more so I can see how they develop with age.
Recommended Pairing: Jamie Oliver Roast Duck
A wine like this can illustrate the many facets and style of Pinot Noir with this one trending on the savory-elegant spectrum.
Recommended Pairing: Extra Crispy, Extra Cheesy Smash Burgers
Another wine purchased from Costco – great QPR.
Recommended Pairing: A nice steak cooked at home
I've read about this wine in wine magazine reviews so I couldn't pass up the chance to order it at a customer dinner event for work as it was actually priced within budget.
I thought this Champagne was slightly disappointing with a lower QPR as the KS-branded wines set the standard for value near this price point.