Drink The Good Wine: Gamble Family Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2009

GAMBLE FAMILY VINEYARDS SAUVIGNON BLANC 2009

One of my “Make Someday Happen” initiatives is to “Drink The Good Wine”. What is that you say? Well, let me explain. Have you ever bought or received as a gift a nice bottle of wine and said to yourself “I’m going to save this for a special occasion someday” or something similar which ultimately means “I’m going to put off enjoying this great wine until someday worthwhile which may never come, I’ll forget I even have it, the wine will end up turning to vinegar and be so bad I wouldn’t even use it for cooking”? That’s a mouthful, but you’ve said that before, right? Yes? Please tell me I’m not alone. I have a full wine cooler of wines that have been (ignored) saved for a “special occasion” and guess what? We just don’t have that many “special occasions”. Maybe you do, but for me it’s a few birthdays, an anniversary, New Year’s Eve, umm …thinking… what else?… I think you get my point. If we only drank the nice wine when we have a “special occasion” we would drink very little good wine and what good is having all this great wine if it’s not going to be consumed and enjoyed? Now you may say “Christina, isn’t wine meant to be aged?” and Smarty Pants you would be right, some of it is but let’s be honest here, most of us are not storing wine because we are aging it, we are storing it because we are procrastinating. End of story. We are members of the Procrastination of Pleasure Club and if you don’t know what that is, then read this. Another crazy idea we must get rid of is thinking we can’t drink the good wine with simple foods like pizza, popcorn, a burger or whatever you whipped up for dinner at the last minute. Yes, I have been guilty of saying “That’s an expensive bottle, let’s wait to drink it with a nice filet” but now I say “no more!” Either I go to the store and buy a nice filet to make tonight or that nice Cabernet is being paired with some takeout pizza. Every day we are alive is a special occasion!

Whether it’s your birthday or a Monday, celebrate it with family and friends and a good bottle of wine!”

This year, I resolved that I would do all the things I am always saying I would do “someday”. That is my #MakeSomedayHappen mission at goEpicurista.com and drinking the good wine is one of the 9 things I am doing to Make Someday Happen. I figured I would share with you the good wine that I am drinking and maybe, hopefully, it will inspire you to drink your good wine too! This is where the Gamble Family Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2009 comes in.

What is a good wine? The answer has nothing to do with price and everything to do with your own taste. Two nights ago we opened a bottle of Gamble Family Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2009 from Yountville, Napa Valley. I’m fairly certain I received it as a gift and sadly I don’t remember from who. That’s just not right! I always like to raise my glass to the person who gives me a bottle of wine and now all I can say is: “Cheers to you, dear friend. Whomever you are! You have good taste!” I certainly don’t remember when I got this bottle but it was probably over 3 years ago as this wine was released in September of 2010. This precious wine has been patiently waiting all this time for a “special occasion”. It was Wednesday night, as special a day as any – let’s call it the Hump Day Celebration shall we?

The Gamble Family Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2009 is not a wine meant to be aged for too long, maybe no more than 3 years so I felt lucky to open it when I did because it was probably at it’s peak or close to it. It didn’t have as much of that fresh vibrant fruit you expect from a recently released crisp Sauvignon Blanc but I could tell it was a high quality wine because after this many years it was so easy to drink and still had a nice body, complexity and depth of flavors. What’s complexity in a wine? If you ask a Sommelier they may tell you something different and undoubtedly much smarter sounding, but for me it’s when each time you take a sip you discover new flavors that go well together. First it was a bit of grapefruit, then some nutty vanilla, then I got some minerality and then guava and fig. Each sip, it kept going and going which is exciting when you drink a wine, especially when you’ve never had it before and don’t know what you’re going to get after years of saving it. It was a nice surprise! The acidity was also in check – not too tart that you wince and pucker and not too soft that you are left wondering what the heck you’re drinking. The hints of oak gave it a nice creamy mouth-feel and the floral tropical fruit on the nose made you want to pick up the glass and swirl it each time you took a sip. Swirl, Sip, Bite, Swirl, Sip Bite…It was refreshing! The notes of lemon-lime citrus fruit, the soft minerality and creaminess complemented the flounder I served it with very nicely. After each sip I wanted a bite of food and then another sip which for me is what a good wine should be. It leaves me wanting more to drink, more to eat, repeat and repeat.

The baked flounder was seasoned with Italian Seasonings, fresh garlic, lime juice, olive oil and topped with artichokes and onions. The flavors were vibrant because of the fresh garlic and lime juice, maybe even a bit on the acidic side as I may have put a little too much lime juice in addition to the artichoke’s juice but it tasted great and the wine really helped complement without overpowering. As a side dish I made a simple Caesar salad and the creaminess of the dressing was also a nice combination with the wine.

Perfect for sipping!

We had some wine leftover, which rarely happens in my house, so we finished it last night while sitting in the yard and then with a Black Bean Chipotle Burger. The wine was delicious even on the second night, although I recommend finishing it the first night as white wines, unless properly re-corked, don’t do as well the following day.

Perfect for pairing!

The Gamble Family has been in Napa Valley since 1916. Tom Gamble, is the third generation of farmers but first member of his family to make wine yet he considers himself a farmer first. He believes just as much in the land as his family’s legacy. He only produces small quantities and does not take putting his name on the bottle lightly. I like that. The wine shows the attention being paid to the land and converting the fruit it produces to a beautiful juice for us to enjoy. They say “good wine begins on the vine” so the organic Sauvignon Blanc grapes used in this wine must have been very good indeed.

Tom Gamble circa 1965 on the label

I definitely recommend the Gamble Family Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2009 wine both to sip on its own as well as served with food. It retails for $30-$40/bottle and 2400 cases were produced. It received a score of 86 by Wine Enthusiast if you like to follow scores. I don’t particularly look at scores but you can go ahead. If you want to use scores to help you find good wines, do so. Just make sure you drink those good wines! Make any day a celebration!

Good Food, Good Wine and Good Company makes for a special occasion!

On the back label of the bottle it reads “We hope you will enjoy this wine over several hours with good food and those you love”

Isn’t that what a special occasion is all about?

goEpicurista

For more information on Gamble Family Vineyards and their wines visit Gamble Family Vineyards

Comments

Camesha says
03/26/2014 at 12:26 am

Love this post. This is my favorite line “Every day we are alive is a special occasion!”

Now, I feel the need to have a glass…of the good stuff!

- Christina Thomas says
  03/26/2014 at 2:26 pm
  
  Camesha thanks for the love! Now go open that nice bottle of wine. Life is good as long as we choose to look at it that way right? Please let me know what bottle you opened, I love to hear about new wines I may need to try. Cheers to you!