Hi friends!  Remember when I told you about a darling little wine my girlfriend picked up at Sakonnet Winery?  Well, my other darling friend Nina (who you remember from our fantastic organic wine tasting), has recently gotten involved with FarmCoast New England and her adventures lead her right back to this Little Compton hot spot!  FarmCoast is a really cool group that promotes that best of coastal villages and farmlands in the southern New England area.  They are affiliated with a couple of wineries, Sakonnet and Westport.  We all love our imports, but buying wine locally is especially cool: it supports local agriculture in your area and no matter where you live, there are likely wineries nearby.  It is also a great way to support local economy and reduces carbon footprint since it doesn’t have to travel across the globe to get from the vine to your mouth.  :)  But enough of this talk, want to hear about their wonderful wines?  Thought you might…

Vidal Blanc 2009

The most famous of the Sakonnet wines, and with good reason.  First of all, you all know how I LOVE me a good lesser-known varietal.  This French hybrid grape stands up to the harsh Rhode Island winters (aw, I almost feel badly for describing anything Rhode Island as harsh.  It is not the cutest little state ever?  There, there, Rhode Island, never you fear, your big bad neighbors to the north will protect you from encroaching Yankee fans…) and produces a wine that is full of citrusy, tropical fruits, coconut, melon and banana.  YUM.

 

Cabernet Franc Rose 2008

Who does NOT enjoy a nice rose in the summer, I mean really?  This dry rose is light bodied with a pretty strawberry color.  The nose is marked by a delicious cinnamon that is noticeable but not so overpowering that you think you’re drinking eggnog.  Nice spice on the palate with raspberry and cranberry notes.  Trust me folks, you are going to like this one…

 

Wouldn’t a weekend tasting trip to Sakonnet be just the perfect New England summer mini break?  I think so, so get on down there and check it out!

 

(photos via Sakonnet Wine)

How do YOU like to celebrate your best friends birthday?

I, for one, like to invite myself over to her apartment so that she can cook me a lovely dinner and serve me amazing wine while lounging on her beautiful new guest couch, naturally!  Geeze, when I put it that way I sound like a kind of horrible friend…  But the meal was wonderful without my help and I am very excited to tell you about it!  So, on the actual day of my friends birthday she and her hubs traveled to the Sakonnet Winery in Little Compton, RI.  They had a wonderful time sampling wine and stayed at an adorable little guest house nearby.  I am so proud of my girl, she totally went outside her comfort zone and tried some Chardonnay’s during her tasting!  She has always had a strong aversion to the “oakiness” of Chardonnay despite my insistence that not ALL Chards are that “oaky,” but at the request of the wine manager at the vineyard she tried their award-winning “No-oak” Chard.  (It’s funny how if feel that I can use made-up words and justify their non-existence by simply putting them in quotes, interesting habit…)  She was skeptical, but in the end she loved it!  She loved it so much that she bought some extra bottles and served it with the tremendous pasta bake she prepared for us.  Roasted veggies, whole wheat penne, smoked mozzarella, fontina, yuuuuum…  It’s a Giada recipe, you should totally check it out…  Anyway, the pairing was perfect!  The crisp, non-oakiness of the Chard paired really well with the smoky flavors of the cheese and roasted veggies.  And the lightness of the wine was great with the whole wheat pasta, it kind of cleansed the palate with each sip and eliminated that sticky sensation you can sometimes get from wheat pastas or breads.  All in all, I give my lady an A++.  I sincerely hope you invite us over again soon, perhaps after the wedding so I can really indulge…  :)  So try the recipe and check out Sakonnet Winery!  In a town with a name like “Little Compton,” how could you really go wrong?

(photos via here and here)