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Tag Archives: Trader Joes

A Twist on a Classic

Posted on August 23, 2012 by lilliebette

Happy Thursday. I hope all of my super cool readers are doing well. I know the end of summer looms on the horizon. For some of you it is exciting and for others maybe not so much. Either way, I hope you are coming to peace with the coming fall.

To help you find that inner happiness, I came up with a lovely pairing. It is not revolutionary, but it’s good wine and intriguing candy. Full disclaimer: all the wines for the next 6 postings or so will be classier wines. I snagged a great Groupon for a wine store in downtown DC. I recommend Groupon for finding wine deals. Sometimes they are not actually deals, but when they are you can get a decent haul. I even got one of those fancy bags with different slots for wine…for you know, all those instances where I need to buy a bunch of wine at once (come to think of it, I could use that bad boy to recycle a lot of my bottles!) For some of my readers, this wine may not seem so top-shelf. But for a lowly 23-year old, these wines are absolute treats. I have even enforced a one-glass at a time rule so they don’t dwindle away. Let’s see how long that lasts.

Our candy is an interesting one. It was too intriguing to pass up and of course it came from Trader Joe’s. They are chocolate raspberry sticks. If you read that and have no idea what I am talking about, you are in good company. When Sam and I saw them it was an instant ‘yes.’ I thought the touch of raspberry and the thin chocolate shell could play well with the chardonnay.

The Wine: Cinnabar, 2010

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Starry Eyed

I loved the cap to this wine so I have to share it. It’s adorable, while staying classy. It has a wonderful whimsy to it.

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It’s a blurry photo because this cap excited me that much

The Candy: Trader Joe’s Chocolate Raspberry (Jelly) Sticks

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I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly….stick

The Dream: 

This candy combined two different types of candy–chocolate and jelly-gummy candy. Gummy candies are difficult to pair, so the chocolate edge and the substantial amount of jelly in the middle offered a promising treat. The flavor range was not too big, which made the pairing easier to manage. Chocolate and raspberry are classics, but this candy has a twist to make it interesting. Chardonnay can usually hold its own against sweetness. It can be very potent and since I knew I had a high quality wine, I felt confident. But I sort of always feel confident, so that’s neither here nor there.

ImageThe Reality: 

A sip of this wine is an onslaught of flavor with notes of tart green apples and ripe pears. It is extremely dry and pungent, which for me is what a Chardonnay should be. It’s refreshing and you savor each sip to extract the play between tart and crisp. The color is a deep yellow, like the skin of a ripe lemon. I enjoyed this wine over several days and it felt like luxury. This wine would be wonderful to share with some close friends on a late August evening.

The candy is intriguing. They are indeed jelly sticks surrounded by chocolate. No doubt about that. The milk chocolate is typical but the gummy center is far squishier than I expected. The raspberry is not overly sweet but rather sour. Your lips pucker a bit and the amount of filling washes away the chocolate from the tongue. It really is tasty. I suggest freezing them as well.

Together, these two make a nice pairing. The wine does not go sour after the sweet treat and both are strong flavor wise individually. But I don’t think either one enhances the other. They are both good and they taste well together, but there are no fireworks. The raspberry leaves that slight tart kick that lingers lightly for no more than a second with the chardonnay. An interesting surprise.

I recommend this pairing overall. The jelly sticks are fun, but mostly because the are called jelly sticks. The wine is simply mouth watering. You can’t lose when you are consuming these two, and truly, what else can you ask for?

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Sticky Summer

Posted on May 23, 2012 by lilliebette

June will be here soon, so I might as well face it: it’s summer time. Not “it’s so hot out and it’s spring” but actually summer. I have tried to deny it and put it off. To be honest, the DC Metro area is a bit brutal heat wise. So facing my full summer in DC is a daunting task. I might as well embrace and face it with rink in hand.

As some of you may recall, I promised to pair Cava, a sparkling Spanish wine. I could not find the brand I was looking for nor the wine itself so I decided on a bordeaux rosé. It’s chilled, pink, playful and sweet. It could not be more perfect for summer. (But your time is coming Cava….)

I knew finding a worthy pairing would be a challenge. So I decided to up my chances by buying a pack of Trader Joe’s saltwater taffy that included multiple flavors. I used to love watching the taffy puller at my town’s local fair (and eating the taffy). My mom always buys some for my brother every year…but I need to find out how to get in on that deal. I could not eat it for years because of my braces, and anyway…I digress. The pack did not come with a guide though, so picking apart which was sour-apple and which was strawberry-banana proved challenging. I think I did alright though and this was a fun, successful pairing.

The Wine: le Rosé do Mouton Cadet. Bourdeaux Rosé 2010.

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Stop it you’re making me blush……

The Candy: Trader Joe’s Saltwater Taffy

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Don’t let anyone tell you Trader Joe’s is a health-foods store…

The Dream: I knew the rosé would be sweet and light. I needed some candy with weight to it physically. It could not be something quickly chewed otherwise I would go through the glass of wine super fast. Although it was a sweet wine, I couldn’t go bitter to counterbalance. The wine still has a zing to it and choosing a bitter licorice would be too confusing flavor wise. At first I thought a citrus-flavored candy would be my best bet. The taffy won though because of the variety and unpaired status on this blog. Also, taffy is sweet but not overly so, since it’s so much work to eat. I also just had a good feeling. And I was standing too long in the aisle of the bustling Trader Joe’s and had to pick.

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The wine-glass cameo is to congratulate the Smith Class 2012 for your graduation. Rock on.

The Reality: 

The wine is mostly tangy, which surprises me. It certainly has a sweetness, but there is an overall bitterness (some stronge tannins up in this wine for certain). Concerns me slightly, but it’s cool and refreshing so I have high hopes. 

Let’s go through the flavor of taffy and their corresponding pairing:

Sour Apple–I don’t know why they called it sour. It’s mostly sweet with a slight introduction of sour in the beginning. It goes well with the wine, though the wine’s flavor is downplayed a bit after. They go well together though, since they both offer conflicting flavors.

Watermelon–Like most things watermelon flavored, it tastes nothing like watermelon. It’s hyper sweet, yet weirdly refreshing. The sip of wine after is bitter and sharp. Not a good pairing. 

Red licorice–I will be honest, I could not wrap my head around a taffy that tasted like red licorice. It tastes like red licorice, but is a taffy. It’s fine when you bring fruit into a taffy flavor, but a candy? It was like eating red licorice but feeling like something went horrible wrong in the process. I barely tasted anything notable in the wine, mostly because my head was still spinning.

Strawberry banana–It tasted like banana bread with a warm, strawberry flavor. It truly did taste like a baked good and made me feel warm. The wine is rather sweet after, with just a kick of tanginess. A very excellent pairing.

Cherry–This was terrible. It was an extremely sour candy and the wine tasted bitter after. Not good at all.

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This was fun since every piece of candy brought a different taste experience. I highly recommend grabbing a bottle of this stuff and buying a mixed bag of taffy (hopefully from a loud, overpriced fair vendor). 

My next pairing may be delayed since I’m going out of town this weekend. The weekend is usually when I do a pairing, but I’ll try to make up some lost time. Until then, chill your glasses and enjoy the start of summer. 

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The American Way (zu bisou bisou)

Posted on March 31, 2012 by lilliebette

If last Sunday was not already a day of rest, it would have been declared a holiday. Everyone referred to March 25th as “Mad Men” Day and the world was silent and still for the two-hour premier.

Ok that’s not the case, but it was still a big deal. Such a big deal, in fact, that it received its own themed Uncorked, Unwrapped post. I am sure everyone thought I would do a Hunger Games post, but I am not that predictable (also, it really does not seem appropriate….so I do not volunteer). Although Katniss does get totally drunk in the next book….so there is some potential. 

But I digress. Let’s start this party. 

The Wine: Entrada, Malbec (2011)

Malbec

You bet that is Don Draper sweeping that lady off her feet

The Candy: Trader Joe’s Brandy Beans

Trader Drunk

Fact: I was carded for these

The Dream:

I’ll admit–I did not know how to approach this one. I was at a loss in every which way. I don’t think we really see Don get hammered on wine that often…or really anyone for that matter. In fact, all the liquor in those little glasses is usually brownish in color. Maybe wine is had at dinner, but that’s like water to those men. I mean, they drink martinis for lunch.

To find a candy, I looked at all their accounts at Sterling Cooper Draper Price and did not see anything like Mars Bars and there really isn’t any 50s/60s era candy…is there? After asking the boyfriend, he suggested liquor filled chocolates. Now, liquor-filled chocolates seem so innocent (kind of like the 50s amirite?) but are actually quite potent. They’ll make you a bit tipsy if you don’t take them seriously. I figured this would be the ideal treat for ole’ Don. But wine…I had no idea. I just chose the Malbec that came with the Groupon wine deal I had. I did put some thought into it, but only to the point where I knew a red would be better than a white.

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The Reality:

I took one sip of this wine and thought, this is not what a Malbec should taste like. My second thought was, how the hell did I get to this point where I know that? What the hell is my life?

Entrada is not a brand I would recommend. It is a bit too sharp and tangy, which is fine, but not a Malbec attribute. It goes down alright, but it did not have that velvety feel and rich flavor I associate with a great Malbec. If you want to try this brand, open it, pour it, and let it air for about 10 minutes. It starts to get its flavor and matures a bit. 

The brandy flavor in the chocolate shell alone is astounding. The minute it touched my tongue, I knew this would be intense. Cracking its chocolate shell releases a flow of sweet, rich brandy chocolate. I imagine a dense chocolate cake witha  brandy glaze would taste like these babies. Don would certainly approve, because the taste of liquor is very prominent. 

Surprisingly, the wine made an ok performance paired with these puppies. It cleared the palate before the brandy deluge. It contrasted the candy perfectly, since it did not have the heaviness of a Malbec. It aslo was not sweet, which the chocolates certainly were. Overal, this pairing did ok. These chocolates I would recommend, but I do not give a vote of confidence to this wine. If it is a bargain, then go for it, but in terms of Malbec…I give it a hardy “meh.”

We will be redoing mint next week due to some inspiration from this blog who recommended pairing a port with Thin Mint. Check out the other pairings with Girl Scout cookies. A true genius. 

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