2006 Stefania Syrah Eaglepoint Ranch

This wine has been a fruity pleasure from release, and this bottle was no different at all.  I thnk out of all the wines in the Stefani lineup, this is the one that we have drank the most, having purchased 15 bottles on release according to CellarTracker. 

This may have been the best sip yet I have had of this wine, with it's nice garnet color in the glass.  The nose put off the usual red cherry nose with a berry medley and some pepper and spice. 

On the palate, this is the type of syrah that I can truly appreciate, where the white pepper is not in your face.  Some of the syrah I have had are overwhelmed with pepper.  The pepper can be so in your face, that to me, it takes away from the gorgeous fruit that syrah can display.  This is not the case with this wine.

The palate expresses more of that jammy crushed berry, with secondary hints of black cherry and raspberry.  The pepper and spice is there, and the long finish lingers.  Alcohol is nicely integrated,and the tannins are nicely integrated as well.  There is a nice acidity here to give the wine just enough backbone, and again, this wine was incredible.  92 points.

2006 Stefania Syrah Eaglepoint Ranch

We haven’t opened a bottle of the ’06 here in almost 5 months, so why not! This wine is really coming into its drinking window, but I can see this wine continuing to develop for another 3-5 years, and I am guessing it will drink well even beyond that.

Gorgeous dark color in the glass, but a floral nose of dark black and blue fruits. Hints of plum, black cherry, blueberry, and blackberry, with nice spice and creamy vanilla. The nose has such great floral notes here, with a bit of pepper and spice. Such a great nose!

Once again, the palate here was a pleasure, and this wine drank well from the start. More of the same on the palate, with a really nice velvety smoothness on the palate. The tannins and acidity are in a really nice spot, and this is just one of those wines you could never get sick of! Unfortunately, we’re down to our last 4 in the cellar, so we have to start rationing these as I am really curious to see how it is going to develop. Another 92 pointer from Paul and Stef! Cheers!

Spring Fever - 2007 Pali Sunset and a 2006 Stefania Syrah Eaglepoint Ranch

What a day it was today, and you could see everywhere that people were taking advantage of the nice weather after months of cabin fever. Being the first nice day in quite a while in NJ, the crowds were out, and Spring was in the air as the temps neared 60 degrees today. That said, we watched the movie "Bottleshock" for the first time, and then retired out to "The Bistro" for some vino with Todd & Michelle. With Spring Fever, we opted for one of our favorite Spring/Summer wines....a nice Rosé! I went down to the cellar and grabbed a 2007 Pali Wine Co. Sunset. This is a nice Rosé of pinot noir, made from 60% Oregon, and 40% California grapes. I had this downstairs in what I consider migh white wine fridge, and I did notice some crystalization in the bottom of the bottle. It was weird how the crystalization was actually a bright red color, however this had no effect on the taste of the wine.

The nose gave off some hints of peach, pear, and citrus, and this looked absolutely gorgeous in the glass, with a nice peach color. It doesn’t have the almost neon color that we are seeing in some of the other Rosé out there, but it was still nice on the eyes...especially after being couped up in the cold the last few months. On the palate, this was more of the same things that we have tasted with this bottle and vintage in the past. Nice citrus, with slight hints of strawberry, with a nice finish that makes this a pleasure to drink. All in all, a great wine to give us a little taste of Spring, and worth of 85 points.

As the evening continued "On the Bistro," it was time to pop another bottle. Earlier in the day, Todd mentioned the fact that he got his first offer from Stefania Wine for their 2006 cabernet, so I figured it would be nice to give he and Michelle a little preview of another exciting wine to be released from Stefania this Spring, the 2007 Syrah Eaglepoint Ranch. That said, I reached into the cellar and grabbed an '06 to share, and it proved once again to be a great crowd pleaser!

Gorgeous, deep, dark color in the glass, with an amazing nose of of floral dark fruits: black cherry, blueberry, blackberries, and plum, with subtle hints of caramel, vanilla, and spice. On the palate, this wine has managed to wow us yet again. This wine is just incredible, bottle after bottle, and exactly how a like a syrah. This wine has great, creamy dark fruits...black cherry, blueberry, and blackberry smother your palate, and the spice does not overwhelm you one bit, with just subtle hints of white pepper. Ths finish on this wine only gets better, and this wine has really integrated in the last 7 months since we popped our first one. Kudos yet again to Paul and Stef on making a great wine worth of 92 points! Cheers!

Bistro Soleil - Hightstown, NJ

Tonight we decided to try Bistro Soleil for the first time, after reading much about it on Chowhound. Needless to say, we were not disappointed. We were first greeted by a parking lot, and it is nice to know that parking here is not a problem at all. Many spaces, which is a bonus for restaurants in a little 'burg like Hightstown. Upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by warm colors, and a team at the host stand, who quickly seated us with no reservation. We sat on the right hand side of the restaurant if you were looking at it from the outside, and the back of the restaurant seemed like it was missing something, and there was just a lot of dead space in the restaurant. I guess this is great for the future though, so they can add tables when they start getting busier, and their clientel starts to increase. Kerri was our server, and came quickly to the table to greet us, and to open our 2006 Stefania Syrah Eaglepoint Ranch. Shortly after, our water glasses were filled, and bread and oil was brought to the table. One of the first things we noticed yet again was the lack of salt and pepper shakers on the tables. This seems to be the thing lately, and quite honestly, I think that it shows a little arrogance in the kitchen that the chef doesn't feel the need to have it on the table. We'll see. We both started off with cups of the seafood chowder. The soup was good, but it was definitely lacking something. A little bit of salt and pepper would have gone a long way, and really "spiced" the soup up, no pun intended. Regardless, it was still "good," but not great. For dinner, Zelda ordered the Salmon Wellington, and it came out in a good size portion, cut in half, with a beautiful crust, and nice mushroom mix inside. The salmon was cooked perfectly, and this was a large portion. She ended up taking 1/2 home, so it could be consumed for lunch the following day. I went for the Bistro Strip and Fries, as it was said to be a bistro staple. It was a nice NY Strip, cooked to perfection with nice cross char marks on it. Upon first cut, it was very tough, and I wasn't expecting much from it at that point. Once it hit my mouth however, I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty this cut was, and it wasn't tough to say the least. No, you couldn't cut it with a fork, but how many NY strips can you really do that with anyway?

More to come when I get some more time!

2006 Stefania Syrah Eaglepoint Ranch

Another outstanding bottle enjoyed at Oliver - A Bistro tonight in Bordentown. It's just a matter of time and this will be a 93 point wine in my opinion. Popped and poured with more of the same on the nose from past bottles: blackcherry, blackberry, blueberry, and plum, with some subtle hints of spice. Another creamy explosion on the palate with cherry, blueberry, and vanilla, with a nice lingering finish. It's hard to imagine that this wine is going to get better with time, but I am sure it will. It's also hard to believe that we have already blown through 3 bottles. Yikes! But have no fear, 6 still in the cellar, and 6 more on the way! 92 points, heading to 93 soon! Cheers!

2006 Stefania Syrah Eaglepoint Ranch

Tonight we enjoyed this bottle at Ristorante Giangela, and it was yet again another great bottle. Notes were exactly the same as last time, and this is such a great bottle of juice! Popped and poured, this had a gorgeous dark ruby color in the glass! Tons of floral notes, along with tons of dark fruits...black cherry, blueberry, blackberries, and plum. On the palate, the creamy fruit explodes! More cherry and blueberry, with hints of vanilla and caramel, which I attribute to the new French oak that they used in some of the barrels. Just the smallest hint of spice makes this wine absolultely incredible. A nice 30 second finish with surprisingly manageable tannins so early on with this wine make it perfect to drink now, or over the 5-7 years. Kudos once again to Paul and Stef. This wine is a winner now, and we look forward to seeing how it develops. The only difference between this bottle and the last, was that I think the floral notes on the nose really stood out in the glass this time. Such a great bottle for the price! 91 points. Cheers!

Ristorante Giangela - Crosswicks, NJ

Tonight was a great night to try Ristorante Giangela as they were donating 10% of every check to the Anchor House Ride. That said, what better night to go give this place a try, and to support the Anchor House? Upon arrival, the parking lot was full, but we did drive through and found parking on the side of the restaurant. Upon first entering the restaurant, you will notice the warm decor. Nice white pillars, and nice white trim on the ceiling. The walls are painted a nice cocao color, and the tables are nice and simple with a lite tan table cloth. Soft lighting makes this restaurant nice and romantic. We were greeted and brought to a nice 2 top in the center of the restaurant. There were 7 other tables when we arrived, including a large 8 top, so it was good to see the place full of patrons. That had at least another 6 tables they could have sat, so they do have nice table space. The hostess then told us that they had bread in the oven, and it would be out shortly. The bus boy came out a few minutes later and filled up our water glasses and took our wine to open for us. I have never understood why some restaurants will open the wine away from the table, but this is not the first time I have seen it. Tonight we popped a 2006 Stefania Eaglepoint Ranch Syrah, and it was marvelous as always. Fresh, hot bread came out shortly after, and Zelda filled up the plate of dry spices that was on the table with olive oil. The bread had a nice firm crust, and was very soft in the middle. Good stuff! Looking around the restaurant, you could see some unhappy faces, but at this point, we were not quite sure why. About 10 minutes later, our waitress came over and asked us if we were ready to order. She never told us about the specials, and didn't ask if we had any questions, and we didn't, but it would have been a nice gesture. Zelda opted for the Ravioli in saffron sauce, with a house salad, and I ordered the Chicken Parm with a caeser salad. In my opinion, I think that I can get a good feel for a restaurant based on their chicken parm....it's an italian staple. Salads came out about 20 minutes later, and I was starting to see why people had the long faces in the restaurant. You could tell that the food was coming out of the kitchen slow, but the servers were also slow as well. On the 8 top, we both noticed how they brought out the entrees one at a time. With that said, it took almost 10 minutes for the 8 top to all receive their entrees. I know that if I were the first person to receive my food, I would have been a little upset having to wait for everyone to receive their food as mine cooled off. This seemed to be a trend with all the tables, and I found it rather interesting. Why not get a big tray and bring everyones entrees out at once? Or maybe the kitchen is small and they don't have room for all the platings in the window. I don't know. So back to the salads, my caeser came out with the dressing drizzled on, topped with some cheese. Upon first taste, the dressing reminded me of Ken's, straight out of the bottle. I don't think that it was bad, but it definitely did not taste homemade. If you want to make a name for yourself, take the time and make a nice, homemade dressing. Zelda's salad was the house, and her dressing too tasted like something out of the bottle. She made a great point that it has been a while since we have had a salad that "wowed" us! There's nothing to making salads, and all you need is good, homemade dressing. Why can't restaurants get this right anymore? So a good hour has passed now, and we see Chrissy, a friend of ours from town come in with a friend of hers. At this same time, our entrees come out, and like the other tables, they came out one at a time. Very odd! Zelda's ravioli looks great! Huge, what look like homemade ravioli in what looks like a rich butter sauce. I enjoyed this very much, and I could see ordering it. The only gripe that I had, which is a gripe that I have often with ravioli, was that the inside took too much water, making the cheese inside very mushy and watery. The sauce again was very rich, and it had a nice, pungent saffron taste to it. For those who are not big fans of saffron, I wouldn't recommend this dish. If you are however a saffron lover, then this is for you. My chicken parm came out with a side of fettucini, and it looked great. A nice large piece of chicken pounded very thin, with a good crust, nice melted cheese, and the perfect amount of sauce on top. Upon cutting into it with my fork, there was a good crunch to the crust. The chicken however was a bit on the rubbery side, and had they gotten this right, it would have been better. The sauce on the other hand was ok, and it had a very sweet taste to it. I don't know if this was a good thing, or a bad thing. All in all, I thought the dish was just ok, and I wouldn't order it again if we went back. After dinner, we opted to skip dessert, and we finished out bottle of wine as we chatted with Chrissy and her friend. As their dinner came and our wine ran out, it was time to go home. In short, I think that this restaurant has a lot of potential. It's BYOB so that is a bonus, the decor is nice, although we would change the drapes, and the food and service need some work. I don't know if I would call it a "fine dining experience" as they claim, but I wouldn't be surprised if we head back sometime, but not in the immediate future. I was however glad to see that they were making the donation for the Anchor House Ride, and that was a good excuse for us to give the place a try.