Chocolate Merlot Cupcakes & Maison Shiraz

Another family birthday and of course you need cupackes to celebrate!  I found this awesome recipe for Chocolate Merlot Cupcakes at life tastes like food (those are my attempt in the picture).  Not your usual chocolatey flavours but more of a winter spiced hot chocolate sort of flavour.

A great recipe if you ever decided to do some Wine & Cupcake pairings.
I think it would be a lot of fun pairing cupcakes and wine, how about a lemon chiffon cupcake with a Sav B.  Or a red velvet cupcake with a Pinotage or Pinot Noir.  Perhaps for the next birthday party!

We had a fantastic Maison Shiraz 2011 with our dinner.  Delicious berries and dark chocolate together with strong typically shiraz spices and white pepper.  I can understand why the signboard outside their tasting room says "SHIRAZ LOVERS STOP HERE".  The in-laws had an awesome tasting experience when they were last there and raved about the wines... we'll have to make a stop there sometime soon!


MAISON ESTATE
Franschhoek Main Road, R45
Tel: +27 21 876 2116
Open Sundays

 

Wine with dinner - Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc

We had a few "Cupcake & Cocktail" evenings which were just an excuse for the girls to get together.  Having said this we actually managed to make some pretty impressive cocktails and as you can see, all kinds of creative talent came out in the cupcake decorating!

This wine was brought by one of the girls thinking the name was spot on, but we didn't actually get around to pairing it with one of the cupcakes it was rather enjoyed on another night of girls watching "So you think you can dance". 

My wine notes...

WINE:  Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc
VINTAGE:  2011
PRODUCER:  Cupcake Vineyards, California, USA
REGION & COUNTRY: Marlborough Valley, New Zealand
GRAPE VARIETY:  Sauvignon Blanc
PLACE TASTED:  A friend's house while watching So you think you can Dance with the girls.

APPEARANCE:  A fresh yellow hue, enhanced somewhat by the yellow border on the label.
NOSE:  Fruity, like citrus fruits, your oranges and lemons.
TASTE:  Very crisp and almost creamy, like a lemon chiffon cake.  It would go excellently with a victoria sponge. 
FINISH:  A lovely smooth finish, not tart at all, quite light actually.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: A delicious, excellent Sauvignon Blanc.
OVERALL VALUE:  4 out of 5

Perhaps a lemon chiffon cupcake or a victoria sponge with peaches would go well with this Sav Blanc. 

See one of my previous posts for more information about Cupcake Vineyards - Wine with dinner Cupcake Red Velvet.

Wine with dinner - Cupcake Red Velvet

For those times when a delicious bottle of wine is bestowed upon us, or we find a gem at a local store and make an effort to cook a complimenting dinner, I've added some short post of times spent and notes made in my 'little black book of wine tasting'.  The layout here is the same as that of my Little Black Book, short and simple so more time can be spent enjoying the company you are with.

I spent time living in the Caribbean where you can find the odd South African wine and the more expensive European wines, but the USA and South American wines are much more reasonable (having to not travel as far) and have a wider selection of wines available in the local stores.  So, some of these notes may include foreign wines.

My wine notes below...

WINE:  Cupcake Red Velvet
PRICE:  $14 (KYD)
REGION & COUNTRY:  California, USA
GRAPE VARIETY:  Blend - Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah.
RECOMMENDED BY:  Ourselves after perusing the shelves and seeing their unique name and branding.
PLACE BOUGHT:  Big Daddy's
PLACE TASTED:  At Home.  On the beach watching the sunset before enjoying some homemade chicken pie.  I may have thrown a splash of wine into the sauce of the pie for some added flavour - delicious!

APPEARANCE: A dark hue, a very full reddish purple colour.
NOSE: Rich and fruity with a hint of coffee
TASTE:  Quite similar to a Pinotage with the berry flavours and chocolate mocha finish
FINISH:  Smooth.  Very nice!
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Definitely one of the better USA wines we have tasted.  I would definitely like to try it again together with a big slice of home made Red Velvet Cake.
OVERALL VALUE: 4 out 5

There is actually a great range of Cupcake wines.  The farm and vineyards are in California where a number of the wines are created.  The winemaker does however travel the world collaborating with other winemakers in Argentina, Australia, France and Italy to name a few, to develop wines.  The Merlot for example comes from Australia's Barossa Valley region and the Riesling from Mosel Valley, Germany. 

I think it would be awesome to have a wine and cupcake pairing evening with a number of these wines for tasting.  There are a whole host of cupcake flavours you could play with from chocolate and mocha to berries and citrus - yum yum yum!