Wine Club: Revenge Edition

What goes better with red wine than REVENGE? Wine Club started out well-intentioned last night...we were going to drink pinot noirs and merlots and watch "Sideways." 

But our obsessive nature with the TV show "Revenge" won out, and we ended up watching last week's and this week's episodes, raising our glasses to the twisty plots and fancy fashions. It was great.

I wanted to have some comfort food for wine club this time, so I made roasted red pepper soup with gouda (in the shot glass), two types of paninis (which I served in halves), grilled mini zucchini and grapes.

I did two types of paninis: salami, fontina cheese and pesto and turkey, cheddar and a pepper mayo spread.

I also served the herb mix salad, with champagne vinaigrette, gouda and candied pecans on the side. Healthiest wine club I've ever done!

Our wine selections this time were:

• Simply Naked Pinot Grigio: A light, citrusy pinot that went down easy.
• Barefoot Sweet Red: So sweet, but deliciously so. I said it was like a wine lollipop...it tasted like candy.
• Estancia Pinot Noir: I picked this bottle of Monterrey County wine from Target, of all places, and it was a great, dry plummy wine with a smooth finish.

• Il Duca Stella Rosa: This one was a big surprise, because its strawberry flavor and slight fizz made it taste very much like Rosa Regale, a wine club favorite. Stella Rosa was my jam, you guys. It was delicious to the last drop.
• Temptation Zinfandel: A fruity Sonoma County red with notes of dark fruits, black pepper and strawberry.
• Bogle Merlot: Any "Sideways" fan knows merlot is the enemy, but I actually quite liked this one. It was a little spicy, with a long finish.

I had two special wine treats, but this was the more exciting: a mocha wine wafer. Wine wafers, called oblatky, were delicacies first made in the Czech Republic in the 17th century that became enormously popular among the elite. Only a few bakeries make them now, because the process is intense, but they are DELICIOUS. The package recommends taking a sip of red wine, taking a bite of the wafer, and then having another sip and swallowing.

I don't know how or why it works, but when the flavors combine, it's soooooo good. I picked my wafer up at Monticello's gift shop, but you can order them online.

I didn't snag a picture, but my other dessert item was Ciao Bella Blackberry Cabernet sorbet. A wonderful treat to share with our Revenge-a-thon!