Toast the New Year with Santana!
Recently, my husband Lee and I were able to steal away for a
day trip to Napa. As they like to say in Napa, “Cab is king”. Though I’m not
all that crazy about Cabernet Sauvignon, I keep trying, thinking eventually
I’ll find the one that will change my mind.
Though Cab is king, there is still plenty in Napa for me to enjoy. We
visited several wineries and tasted at three of them. We always plan where
we’ll visit before we leave and route our tour accordingly. This time, Lee chose the wineries, but as we
drove past Mumm Napa, I asked that we include it and make it one of our
tastings as I was familiar with Mumm Champagne and sparkling wine and I thought
just maybe we might find our bubbly for this NYE. As it turned out, we did.
Mumm Napa came about when Guy Devaux was sent by G.H. Mumm,
of the renowned Champagne house in Rheims, France, to discover the ideal area
in the U.S for growing Champagne grapes. The first vintage was produced in Napa
in 1983.
We tasted several delicious sparkling wines (Sparkling wines
can only be labeled as Champagne if they are from the Champagne region in
France and if certain traditional wine producing methods of the region are
used.)
As we tasted, we learned about Mumm’s Santana series. This is a collaboration with rock guitarist
Carlos Santana. A portion of the
proceeds benefit the Milagro Foundation established by Carlos Santana and his
family. The foundation provides grants
to tax-exempt community organizations that work with children in the areas of
education, health and the arts.
There are currently three wines in the series. We chose Santana Savor, a blend of 47 %
Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir, 6% Pinot Meunier and 2% Pinot Gris. Oh, how I love
blends! The wine presents notes of stone fruit; apricot and peach as well as
apple and shortbread. It is very fruit forward and subtly sweet on the finish. Because
it is slightly sweet, it will pair well with one of Lee’s favorite dishes,
Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas. If you’re having hors d’ oeuvres this NYE, it would also pair well with Cucumber Salmon Canapés . Click the links below to print or
save the recipes.
I wish you all the best life has to offer in 2018!
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