Camelot Charonnday

2009
Santa Rosa, CA

Wow. Ok. This wine was very good. It reminded me very much of one of my all-time favorite chardonnays: Sonoma-Cutrer. That said, it is 1/3 of the price! I consider this the best buy of the year so far.

Today was very warm. I am not used to jumping into summer from a mild winter. We had no real winter, and we are apparently headed for no spring either. We are going right into warm, hot weather. Our usual temps for March are low 30's. Today it was 80 degrees +. I was in the mood for a chilled white with my moroccan chicken recipe given to me yesterday by my friend Cheryl. I am not a chicken leg person, however, this recipe cooks the chicken so well it falls off of the bone. The flavor is insanely good with healthy spices like turmeric, ginger and cinnamon.

Camelot has an awesome slight minerality, creamy vanilla with pear flavor. Highly enjoyable. I can't get over the price for the flavor. It was good on its own and with the chicken, cauliflower, asparagus, and spinach.

I highly recommend it.

Recipe for Moroccan Braised Chicken:

Ingredients
- 4 T olive oil
- 6 whole chicken legs (drumsticks & thighs attached, skin removed)
- coarse salt & ground pepper
- 1 lrg. onion, halved & thinly sliced
- 1 t. Turmeric
- 1 t. ground Ginger
- 1/2 t. Cinnamon
- 1-1/2 c lrg. pitted prunes (dried plums)

1. In a lrg. (5 qt.) heavy pot, heat 2 T olive oil over medium-high. Generously salt & pepper chicken. Place 3 chicken legs in pot & cook, turning once, until browned, about 10 minutes total. Transfer browned chicken to a plate. Repeat with the remaining chicken and oil.

2. Add onion and 1/4 c water to pot. Cook, stirring to loosen browned bits in pot. Add turmeric, ginger & cinnamon and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion has softened, about 5 minutes. Return chicken to pot. Add 2 c. water and half of prunes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat & partially cover. Simmer until chicken is cooked through and very tender, about 45 - 50 minutes - stir throughout from time to time while sipping on a glass of wine. :)

3. Transfer chicken to a platter & cover tightly to keep warm, or place on warming burner. Add remaining prunes to pot & raise heat to high. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes more. Divide chicken among plates and top with sauce.


Well I've been here before
Sat on a floor in a grey grey mood
Where I stay up all night
And all that I write is a grey grey tune

So pray for me child, just for a while
That I might break out yeah
Pray for me child
Even a smile would do for now

'Cause I'm all alone again
Crawling back home again
Stuck by the phone again

Have I still got you to be my open door
Have I still got you to be my sandy shore
Have I still got you to cross my bridge in this storm
Have I still got you to keep me warm

If I squeeze my grape then I drink my wine
'Cause if I squeeze my grape and I drink my wine
'cause nothing is lost, it's just frozen in frost,
And it's opening time, there's no-one in line

Damien Rice, Grey Room


8.0 out of 10
13.5 alc. by vol.
$6.99!!! / 750 ml. bottle (Go For It)

Kendall Jackson Chardonnay 2009

Vintner's Reserve
Santa Rosa, California
2009

My friend and I FINALLY walked our almost-5- mile power walk last night. It's been a really long time. It felt good and I was surprised that I handled it so well. I wasn't too breathless! Afterward we had a glass of vino. Hey! It was Saturday night after all and we haven't been together in awhile, and she's had some stuff happen to her recently, and my eldest was on a pseudo date up the road picking apples. We deserved a glass of wine that we'd worked off ahead of time! :)

She is a fan of "Big House". I don't believe I've ever reviewed it, and I won't tonight. She told me it was more sweet, with a Riesling-like flavor. She gave me a choice of the Big House White or her other standby: Crane Lake Merlot. She is a HUGE fan of the Sonoma-Cutrer that I love and, especially, Conundrum - we like this best. However, for an every day wine, she likes the Big House and Crane Lake. So, I chose the white due to being hot and desiring a cold glass verses a warm one. It was enjoyable but I kept thinking about what I was going to buy on the way home.

I decided to pick up one of my own old standbys to accompany dinner: Kendall Jackson Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay. However, it is the 2009 vintage. I decided to form dinner around it and made fettuccine alfredo with grilled chicken, fresh parsley and organic peas. It was a nice, pleasing match. After the Big House, the KJ was awesome. I personally enjoy oak flavor and it was oak-heavy with vanilla and wonderful minerality. I don't believe I have reviewed the 2009 before. I love the 2008. This was just as good, though there was a bit of an "after taste" upon drinking alone. However, the after taste went away with the fettuccine and it went away again tonight with tofu and curry and brown rice and sweet potatoes. It was in a different league than the Big House white, though I did enjoy the Big House following our walk. The Big House is only $8.99 and the KJ is $14.99. but they are very different.

I long to just write. And this isn't the forum I prefer. But I will continue to write here for now until I find my true dream writing niche. So I share my thoughts from the weekend:

My grandmother's husband's health is failing. He is in his 90's and it is to be expected. But they've only had about 4 full married years together. However, they have been great years, and they were very fortunate that they had those few perfect years together. They spent time in their "main" home in CT, their "winter" home in Barbados, and their "summer" home in Maine (Squirrel Island). Up until very recently, they were driving themselves to JFK and around NYC and to Maine. He is a wonderful man. He has made my grandmother very happy, and I have an affection for him that I can't explain - as though he was always meant to be there, but wasn't until recently.

I visited with them yesterday and things are not well for him - the doctors believe he has 6 to 7 weeks left here on earth. He is in my prayers every night. My grandmother is having a hard time. She is very devoted to him and will not leave his side even if it is at her own well being's expense. By that I mean that she is not so steady anymore on her feet and she is getting him up and showered and dressed every morning. I am humbled by their love. And I am sad that their life together may be coming to an end. They have been such an inspiration to my friends and colleagues as they met and fell in love and married in their late 80's. I am praying my grandmother can make it through the next few weeks and survive the loss of her second husband as she did her first. She is my last living grandparent and I am filled with emotions as I witness yet again another loss halfway through my life, and the second loss of love for her. They have been so happy together.

As they struggle with this impending change to their love and life together, my own eldest daughter is beginning her future. She likes someone. This made my grandmother so happy for a moment as she dreamed about being "Sweet 16" and liking someone for the first time. Life changes so fast. It goes through its cycles and we ebb and flow with each wave. I love my family and my memories and I miss the past and sometimes fear the future and then again I will embrace change when I feel brave and I think everything is going to be okay, but then I worry that maybe it won't and I am resigned to just take each day as it comes.

For now, I am happy for my daughter as I reflect on my own life's journey, while remembering that of my grandmother. One is coming to an end, one is just beginning, and the other remains in the middle. And, as I look at my beautiful girl, I still see that beautiful baby from just 16 years ago and can't believe how quickly time has flown.


I am a Duffy fan as much as I am Adele. They both take me back to the past in their current music styles. This is a song I love:


I'm scared to face another day
'Cause the fear in me just won't go away
In an instant you were gone and now I'm scared

DUFFY, I'm Scared


8.25 out of 10
13.5% alc. by vol.
$14.99 / 750 ml. bottle

Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay

2008
Sonoma, CA

This is one of my stand-by favorites. I am surprised that the ratings aren't higher than they are. Wine Spectator only gives this an 87, Wine Enthusiast, however, gives this a 91. I, being a Chardonnay FREAK, agree with WE. The minerality and creaminess of this Chardonnay are capable of transforming me to a more enjoyable place, if only temporarily.

Last weekend, following weeks of end-of-year stress (8th grade graduation, confirmation, dance, town tornado, death of my grandmother) I looked for solace and peace overlooking the ocean at my MIL's summer place. However, my middle child fell off the see-saw on the beach playground and broke her arm in less than 24 hours of being there and the weekend turned into a bust financially, stress-wise, and everything inbetween. Resigned to all I can't control, I went out and splurged on one of my favorite Chardonnay stand-bys: the Sonoma-Cutrer 2008 Chardonnay. I went back to the cottage, sat on the deck in the late afternoon sun overlooking Fisher's Island Sound, and opened my Keith Richards book and sipped for all of 30 minutes before something else needed my attention. But it was a blissful 30 minutes.

My grandmother is forever on my mind. I realize my last post was hardly a budget wine (and this one isn't particularly ""budget" either)- it was the day she died and I turned to my uncle's gifts for a wee bit of solace in remembrance of a truly lovely lady. Her memorial service and burial is next week and I am to speak. I am feeling nervous and sad and anxious and am beginning to doubt my capabilities. As usual. I miss her terribly, and the way of life she provided me. I feel I am blindly wandering through my life lately. Time goes by too fast. Friends who were, disappear. Loved ones move on. I am still searching . . . for what I don't know.




Did I say that I need you?
Did I say that I want you?
Oh, if I didn't I'm a fool you see
No one knows this more than me
As I come clean

Nothing you would take
Everything you gave
Hold me 'till I die
Meet you on the other side

Pearl Jam, Just Breathe

8.25 out of 10
$24 / 750 ml. bottle