Thursday, October 27, 2011

Coyote Yummy

With summer coming to an end, I am backing away from my use of boxed wines and trying to find some new bottled wines to try.  On a recent trip to Total Wine, one of their displays caught my eye.  The display was for Coyote Creek wines and each bottle was a dirt cheap $6.99.  As you know, I love a good bargain so I picked up a couple bottles to try.
Coyote Creek Winery is in Santa Rosa, CA.  Technically it is part of Adler Fels Winery which also produces Coastline, Kitchen Sink and Leaping Lizard…all favorites of mine.  Once I knew that, I figured the Coyote Creek wines had to be decent, at the very least.

The bottle I opened was the 2010 Chardonnay.  This wine is a blend of 95% chardonnay grapes and 5% mixed white varietals.  It had the aroma of citrus and fall fruits.  I detected pear and citrus in the taste.  It had a bit of a mineral tone with a buttery ending.  I really liked it.  I had hubby try it and he agreed that it was good and he isn’t a huge white wine fan with chardonnay being his least favorite.  We did drink it alone but Coyote Creek suggests paring it with fresh tomato and cucumber salad, risotto with mushrooms and parmesan cheese and roasted chicken and vegetables.  I make risotto quite often so I think I will definitely buy another bottle to accompany it the next time I make it.

The second variety I opened was the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon.  This wine of comprised of 76% cabernet sauvignon grapes, 8% Rubired, 7% ruby cabernet and 9% mixed red varietals.  I immediately noticed the aroma of dark berries with a hint of herbs.  The taste was full-bodied with hints of berries and plums.  I also detected and undertone of rosemary.  We drank it with a simple pasta and turkey meatballs and it paired very well.  Coyote Creek recommends pairing it with pasta with spicy tomato and black olive sauce, beef tenderloin and potatoes au gratin and slow cooked lamb shank.  I had just mentioned to hubby that I haven’t made pasta puttanesca in a while and I think this wine would go beautifully with it.

With everyone’s budgets being a little tight these days, I think these two budget wines are staples to have in your wine rack.  It’s always great to find good wines that won’t break the bank and these definitely fit the bill.

1 comment:

Mrs. One Day said...

These are such great tips! I never know which inexpensive wines are good and which aren't. There are so many to choose from, I get lost.

Thanks!