6 Great Red Wines Under $50 That Make Tasty Gifts Any Time of Year

Looking for great red wine options but have a budget between $30 and $50? You can’t go wrong with these 6 releases that will leave you and your fellow wine tasters giddy for more, and your wallet not feeling empty.

Herzog Variations Be-Leaf 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles

The 2019 Herzog Cab is not only Kosher, it’s also certified organic and made with no added sulfites. It’s a lighter Cab, which suits many tastes for a less robust red.

Drink it any time of day, and definitely not just for the holidays

Find it Here

 

Avaline Red Wine

Celebrity wines are getting better and better, probably because the celebrities who make them now are actual Wine lovers who want to drink their own vintages. Avaline comes from a partnership between Cameron Diaz and Katherine Power

The red wine is a blend of Grenache and Syrah. Made with handpicked organic grapes from Europe, and is vegan friendly, with no added artificial ingredients or sugars.

We love the taste!

Find it Here

 

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San Simeon Vineyards 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles

The 2017 San Simeon Cab benefited from a long growing season, with the vineyards situated on California’s Central Coast in the Paso Robles appellation of San Luis Obispo County. Aged in Oak Barrels, and mixed with a bit of Petit Verdot, this Cabernet is robust yet velvety. We consider it like comfort food in the form of wine.

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Alder Springs Vineyard, 2013 Kinesis

Alder Springs Vineyard, 2013 Syrah

Alder Springs has been making wine for about 30 years, since Stu Bewley bought a former 6,000 acre cattle operation in northern Mendocino County and started growing grapes instead.

If you love deep reds, you’ll find both their 2013 Kinesis and 2013 Syrah attractive additions to your tasting palate. The Kinesis is a blend of 49% Grenache 32% Counoise 19% Mourvédre. A choice that goes well with meats and smoked foods, but it is also quite versatile whatever the dish. The Syrah is made from 100% Syrah at an elevation of 2600 feet, and contains tantalizing notes of leather and dark fruits.

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San Simeon 2017 Pinot Noir Monterey

This Monterey Pinot Noir is a blend of grapes sourced from the Riboli Family farms estate vineyards in Monterey and the Loma Vista and Sarmento Vineyards. Well-priced and well structured, any Pinot lover would find this a fun tasting experience.

Find it Here.

 

TasteTV Gift Guide: 3 Gourmet Spice Sets You Will Love

Happiness is the spice of life is a truism. What is also true is that spice is a source of happiness. Especially when cooking and eating your meals. If you want to give someone an ongoing source of happiness, giving them (or yourself), a few great spice sets will never steer you wrong.

Without a well stocked spice collection, the home chef is like a painter with just one color. Sounds rather bland, doesn’t it?

Fortunately, we’ve taken a look at several, and here are some of our favorites: SpiceWalla, Nielsen-Massey, and Mola Foods.

SpiceWalla 18 Pack Kitchen Essentials Spice & Seasonings Pack

This kit has everything an experienced or novice home chef could want for most meals, hence the name “essential.” Eighteen different tins contain a variety of spices and seasonings, each packaged in a nice container that looks good on its own or in your spice rack.

The kit includes: Cumin Seed – Kashmiri Chilli Powder – Granulated Garlic -Granulated Onion – Dark Chilli Powder – Ground Yellow Mustard – Crushed Red Pepper – Smoked Paprika – Green Cardamom Powder – Cinnamon Powder – Cloves – Ground Turmeric – Coriander Seed – Mediterranean Oregano – Rosemary – Herbs de Provence – Fennel Seed – Ground Ginger.

What also makes it a great gift is that it will take quite a while for someone to get through all of these ingredients, and each time they use them they will think of you.

Find it Here

Nielsen Massey Extracts: Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract, Almond Extract, Peppermint Extract

Nielsen-Massey has long been the industry standard for high quality Pure Vanilla Extract. This is impressive, considering the competition from the artificial vanilla ‘flavoring’ brands, plus the amount of time and effort it takes to grow a real vanilla plant to fruit. Vanilla comes from an orchid vine, and the flowers produce seed pods from which the vanilla beans and essence are extracted. Anyone who has ever tried to grow orchids know that it is a labor and time intensive enterprise that gives us this fantastic taste.

Nielsen-Massey puts the same care into their other extracts, including one for Pure Almond and another for Pure Peppermint. Used together, you can imagine the feast of cookies and cakes that you can bring to the table!

Find them Here.

Mola Foods, Culture in a Bottle

Mola Foods has a range of spice blends, and each is inspired by a particular culture or region of the World. Founded by Jeannette Bryant, her spices are vegan friendly and vibrant.

One thing you will find once you start using any of these spice blends is that it doesn’t really matter what it was originally intended to elicit. It could say Indian, it could say Ethiopian, it could say Spicy or General. You are going to use it on EVERYTHING. Eggs, steak, chicken, vegetables, stews, fish… The list goes on, because it turns out that they are not just fresh, they are also extremely versatile. The basic ingredients of garlic power, onion powder, salt, perhaps some turmeric, etc., can be used as a general seasoning, and they are used in exactly that way.

Prepare for heavy duty usage and happiness.

Find it Here.

LUXURY HOLIDAY RECIPE: Juicy Duck Breast in Red Wine Sauce

In some parts of the world duck is a regular dish, especially among people who hunt it. But if you’re not a hunter or don’t live in those areas then duck might be a little bit more uncommon on your table. We recently have been testing recipes with Maple Leaf Farms duck breast, which is well known for some of the highest quality duck selections in the United States. Not to mention being a fairly upscale red meat option, the duck meat itself is quite lean and tasty.

 

 

When you cook duck breast for the first few times it’s best not to be too fancy, especially when you have the savory natural flavors already inherent in this type of poultry. We prefer to start off with a simple salt, pepper, garlic powder and skillet or oven recipe.

For example, using a sharp knife you score crosswise the fatty side of the duck. Then salt, pepper, and lightly powder both sides, and place the fatty side face down in a hot skillet with a small amount of California olive oil for about 10 minutes while the fat is rendering. Flip over and cook the other side for another 5 to 10 minutes on medium high. Alternatively, you could heat your oven to 425° and put the uncooked breast in for 10 minutes, then flip it to cook for another 10 minutes. It’s important to let your breast rest after you remove it from the skillet or oven so that it can re-absorb some of those juices and remain tender.

After you remove the duck from the skillet or pan, put the skillet back on the stove and heat to medium high and add a large splash of red wine, which you can use to create a red wine reduction sauce. You want to make sure that you use a spoon to scrape up the bits of fat and duck in the skillet and mix them into the sauce reduction. You also want to make sure the sauce has thickened and all of the alcohol in the wine has evaporated before using.

This sauce is perfect for the duck breast as it adds additional moisture and flavor, plus is a perfect complement to this dish.

It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it’s not going to be boring and plain.

Maple Leaf Farms
www.MapleLeafFarms.com

 

About Maple Leaf Farms
Maple Leaf Farms, Inc. is North America’s leading producer of quality duck products, supplying retail and food service markets throughout the world with innovative, value-added foods. Founded in 1958, Maple Leaf Farms is a fourth-generation family-owned company.

LUXURY HOLIDAY RECIPE: A Tender Rack of Aussie Lamb

Sometimes you can overdo the recipe for a great piece of meat, especially one that is as delicious as a cut of Aussie lamb. That is why this TasteTV Kitchen‘s recipe only relies on a handful of ingredients and prep.

Although we are huge fans of American lamb, we cannot walk away from a tasty source like Australia. Australia is known for many culinary treats, and one of them is great lamb. Aussie grass fed beef and lamb is  healthier than some other sources and types of meats, and is very time efficient to cook, often reducing meal prep time by 30%.

Australia ranchers also have made a large effort to be more sustainable. In a study over the last 30 years, Aussie ranchers have:

  • Reduced their water use by over 65%
  • Reduced their animals’ greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 14%

It doesn’t make the meat taste better, but it definitely helps satisfy your soul.

Easy Rack of Lamb

Ingredients

  • 1 Rack of Lamb
  • 3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons of kosher or sea salt
  • 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon of Oregano (dried or fresh)
  • 1 teaspoon of  Rosemary or Thyme (dried or fresh)
  • Pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Combine the olive oil with salt pepper, garlic powder, and herbs in a bowl. Mix well.
  2. Score the fatty side of the rack of lamb in a cross-hatch formation  with a sharp knife
  3. Using a spoon or brush, spread the olive oil mixture over both sides of the meat evenly and allow to marinate for 15 minutes to an hour
  4. Heat oven to 450°
  5. Place rack of lamb with fatty side up on a baking tray covered with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Roast for 30 minutes
  6. Remove from oven, allowed to rest for 10 minutes. Slice and serve

 

Interested in finding out more about Aussie Lamb? Find more information here.

@aussiebeeflamb

Underwood Nouveau’s version of Beaujolais Nouveau now in Bottles & Cans

If you are a fan of not just tasting the Nouveau Beaujolais, but also of going to all of the celebrations around it, then you might have a quieter time this year. But that does not mean you can’t try something new and fun.

Union Wine Co. has recently released their vision of Nouveau Beaujolais in bottles and cans. It is called “Underwood Nouveau.”

The label design tells you a lot of what you need to know about the concept. It is influenced by the French school of Art Nouveau, which honors the elegant natural lines and curves found in plants and animals. Underwood Nouveau uses the peacock’s specifically, which one can say also adds a bit of luxury to the packaging and experience.

One thing to remember about Nouveau Beaujolais is the word “Nouveau.” This means “new,” and in the case of Nouveau Beaujolais it also means ‘brand new.’ As in ‘young.’ This wine is young and not usually aged for very long. Underwood has gone one step further and created their version to be super fresh. As they explain, “our Nouveau takes just over a month — from pick to sip.” The resulting wine is light, fruity and vibrant with 13% ABV.

Union Wine also explains about their choice of grapes. “Our Underwood Nouveau is a riff on a Beaujolais Nouveau, which is traditionally made from Gamay grapes (also called, Gamay noir à Jus blanc grape) in the Beaujolais region of France. Always looking for an Oregon angle, we decided to use our Pinot Noir grapes in the Underwood Nouveau for a fresh take on our traditional Pinot noir. The Gamay grape is actually a cousin of the Pinot Noir grape and flourishes in very similar climates.”

Interested in trying it for a Nouveau celebration? Find out more here for cans or here for bottles.

#PINKIESDOWN