On the weekend of January 8th, we had a Friday night party, with my nephews from Chicago and from around the Bay Area, and Benyamin Cantz.  The meal started with a wicked cool soup that we made for the first time and then followed it with a roast, some meat sauce, brown rice, roasted vegetables, and fresh salad.  The soup recipe is below, and is from a recipe book – fittingly called – Soup!  We laughed about the soup book, because my Sister is the owner of Source Books, and we bantered around about how much time she would have spent on just the picture on the front of the book, which of course is a bowl of soup!  After the soup, we made some roasted vegetables (sweet potatoes, beets, rutabagas, parsnip).  The vegetables were so good because we roasted them until they released their water and started to crystallize the sugars – which makes them extra yummy!  They went along nicely with the roasted shoulder meat, which was braised with peas and carrots, and a bunch of wine – recipe can be found here.  The meat sauce was a lot like this one, without trying to make meatballs out of it.  They were all paired with a lovely brown rice pilaf and a fresh green salad.

Rice & White Bean Soup Recipe

9 oz of white beans

Olive Oil

Onions

Garlic

Diced Carrots

Diced Zucchini

Diced Red peppers

Cubed Soy Sausage

Thyme

Bay Leaf

Chicken or vegetable stock

Half a cup of brown rice

Place the beans in water over night and then drain and rinse a few times the next day.  Sauté the onions and sausage until browned.  Add in the garlic, and once browned nicely, throw in the diced zucchini, carrots, and peppers.  Wait for the vegetables to give off their liquid and then add in the herbs and vegetable stock.  Wait for the soup to boil and throw in the washed and rinsed beans.  Lower the heat to simmer and stir the soup every so often until the beans are softening (about an hour).  Then throw in the rice, and whatever other seasoning (salt, pepper, etc.) to taste, and wait another 30 or so minutes.

The wine we chose to pair with this food was partly from Four Gates Winery and partly from our cellar.  One wine from my cellar was a massive and huge dud, while the other one was OK.  Both of the wines from Four Gates (one of which is still unreleased), were quite nice indeed.

The wine notes follow below:

2006 Cantina Gabriele Sangiovese – Score: B+

The nose on this dark ruby colored wine is rich with loamy notes, black cherry is ever evident, some violet, and a bit of plum. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is mouth coating with integrated tannins, plum, and concentrated cherry flavors. The mid palate is balanced with integrated tannins and acid. The finish is long with loamy soil, a hint of floral notes, and a ton of cloying tart cherries at the very end. The tart cherries throw off the finish and ruin the wine, which is a shame, because of the rest of the package.

2006 Hevron Heights Mount Hevron Red – Score: C-

This bottle was either really wrong or it is flawed at birth. The bottle had way too much volatile acidity, which messed up an already not so great wine. The nose on this vibrant garnet – purple colored wine is over the top with Volatile Acidity, cherry, plum, and coffee. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is flush with cranberry, plum, and eucalyptus. The rest of the flavor profile is cherry and coffee and not much more than that because of the VA.

2006 Four Gates Merlot M.S.C. – Score: A

When we last tasted this wine it was a bit redder.  Now the wine has turned black (as has its younger brother the 2006 Merlot La Rochelle), and it is a crazy joy to drink and share with your friends and family.  The interesting thing is that, while there are some red characteristics to this wine, the black ones clearly stand out.  Who knows, it may well go back to its red past, which was still one wonderful wine as well.

The nose on this purple to black colored wine is screaming with rich oak, cassis, blackberry, plum, raspberry, tobacco, chocolate, and licorice.  The mouth of this full bodied wine is full of raspberry, cassis, plum, and blackberry.  The mouth’s tannins are slowly integrating and creating a lovely mouth coating experience that fills out the already full wine’s body, and the layers of fruit accentuate the palate with nice oak notes.  The mid palate is balanced with acid, chocolate, nice tannins, and spicy oak.  The finish is long and rich with red fruit, more spicy oak, licorice, and chocolate.  The wine is a massive black Merlot that is layered, complex, and screaming with black fruit and extracted flavors.

2006 Four Gates (Yet Undisclosed Name) - Score: A-

The nose on this royal purple to black colored wine is filled with raspberry, plum, floral notes, kirsch cherry, oak, and spice.  The mouth on this full bodied wine is hopping with raspberry, plum, and cherry.  The mouth comes at you layer after layer on a plush mouth with mouth coating tannins.  The mid palate is balanced with acid, integrating tannins, and coffee.  The finish is long with red fruit, vanilla, lovely tannins, coffee, and a hint of leather.