Time to celebrate the end of Summer and welcome in Fall. I love Fall. I guess I love the change from any season to the next, but Summer to Fall is my favorite (until we get to Winter/Spring lol) It’s a combination of the cooler weather, the chance of rain, baking homemade goodies (check your email for my Moist Banana Bread recipe. Click here to sign up to get our emails) and smaller electric bills. Plus, the holidays are coming (don’t groan), which to me, means getting together with friends and family and enjoying some good wines!

This week on the Front Porch we mixed a little Summer and Fall wines with Chocolate! A delicious assortment of chocolate. What a wonderful world we live in that we can have wine and chocolate whenever we want 🙂 Click here for Lindt’s wine pairing guide.

We had three wines this week. 2009 Vinum Cellars California Petite  $5.99, Rex-Goliath White Zinfandel $1.99 and 2011 Bandana Chardonnay-Torrontes $2.99.

This Sirah had an intense fruity aroma, cherries and black berries I think. I’m no expert and have trouble identifying tasting notes, but this is one of my favorite red wines!. It pairs extremely well with a Mediterranean cheddar cheese and both the 70% and 85% dark chocolates. Neighbor Terry says it gives you a warm fuzzy feeling, to me it felt like a relaxing sigh after a long day.

This 30 Gold Medal Winner White Zin is truly reminiscent of Summer. It is very light and fruity. Terry would’ve liked to add fruit to it and Connie thought it would make a great Sangria. (we may have to try that!)

The biggest hit of the night! Bandana Chardonnay-Torrentes blend. It has a very clear color and a crisp bright finish. Connie commented that is was supple and excellent with the Terry’s Orange Chocolate (no relation to neighbor Terry) The absolute best comment of the evening was: ‘This is the type of wine you want your husband to pour over your body’. And, at $2.99 a bottle, you can actually afford to bathe in it!