Chateau Grande Cassagne

[mrdutton]

This 13.5% alcohol content juice comes from a Chateau located near the village of St. Gille on the edge of the Rhone Valley.

Black fruit and some spice on the nose and the palate along with a hint of cherry on the tongue. I am getting some earthy barnyard flavor also - seems to be a hint of leather. Enough acid to cause a slight pucker and a smooth tannic finish.

This tastey 2002 appelation Costieres de Nimes was bottled at the Chateau and imported by Robert Kacher. The wine sells at Total Wine for $9.99 per bottle (case discount not included).

I am sipping on this juice as I write this. It is going to go very nicely tonight with my dinner. Grilled Black Angus Beef hamburger with a bun made from a grilled portabella mushroom covered with a sauce of blue cheese and butter. And of course, the always present heart of romaine and grape tomato salad with a home made vinaigrette.

[This message has been edited by mrdutton (edited 03-13-2004).]

[winoweenie]

What a great idea there MisserD. Portablella buns. Gonna do this hummer tonite@! WW.

[mrdutton]

The cheese and the wine did not fully agree wth each other, there was a bit of a conflict. The cheese tended to overpower the wine.

However, the hamburger and the mushroom (sans cheese) went wonderfully well with this wine.

WW - I used one mushroom cap instead of two (because I thought two would be a bit much). Coated the mushroom with extra virgin olive oil and seasoned it with sea salt and pepper.

I then grilled the mushroom right next to the hamburger. I left the gills on the mushroom. I started with the cap facing down toward the coals. I turned it once about 90 degrees to get a grill mark pattern on the cap. I then turned it over - gill side down for just a couple of minutes.

To serve I placed a small patty of butter on the inside of the mushroom cap, a half-tablespoon of blue cheese crumbles and then topped that off with the hamburger. I then topped off the hamburger with another small patty of butter and another half-tablespoon of crumbles.

I used Maytag Blue and crumbed it with my fork. I don't go too much for the pre-packaged stuff, cuz it isn't very good.

I'd rather have made my own hamburger, but Black Angus Bubba burgers will do in a pinch when time is short and hunger large.

[tandkvd]

Sounds good there Mr. D. I'll have to try that wine and burger.