I know many of you have been wondering where I have been and specially for the lack of post for the past few week, Life has been crazy and when your on the road allot sometimes you just do not have time to sit down and blog when you so desperately need to.
Several Months back I read a tweet from a friend about making Fettuccine Alfredo with Zucchini instead of noodles the wife and I thought we would try this and see how it worked, we had attempted this before but our first attempt was a mess as we over cooked the zucchini.
So basically here is what you do,
take about 6-10 zucchini (yes I know thats allot) and slice them longways only a centimeter thick (at the most) If your really good with a peeler you can use that instead but depending on the peeler used you might have to take your time.
Prepping is the hardest part of this whole thing.
Then you take zucchini that was sliced and cook them in an open skillet till they become a noodle-like consistency. 
Then my little secret that I use (dont tell anyone) is that I take the noodles/zucchini and rinse them with cold water. This stops them from continuing to cook and seems to make them a little rubbery which is what you want. I added sliced and seasoned chicken and Alfredo sauce and there ya go! A gluten free Noodle alternative to Fettuccine Alfredo.
I paired a
2009 Concha y Toro Marques de Casa Concha Chardonnay and
and
2003 Azienda Agricola Romana Carlo Dolcetto di Dogliani Brich dij Nor (I know what a name)
First the Chardonnay
I was attempting to go for a semi-oaky Chardonnay to see if this would pair well with my Alfredo sauce but I was very dissapointed in this wine. Not because it was a bad wine. It is very well priced and well worth the $12.00 price tag. I was just hoping for more oak and malolactic.
Sadly this wine is moving along with the trends of this “no oak in my chardonnay” movement which has taken the world by storm. Somehow I feel the same people that told you Merlot is evil and that Pinot Noir was better came up with another statement. “Oak in Chardonnay is bad!” (Or “malo. es Malo!”)
I have said this many times to many people, “I am not afraid of a little oak in my Chardonnay”, I do not like allot of oak nor am I advocating “cougar juice” but a little bit does not hurt and sometimes depending on the region the chardonnay needs oak.
I had a Russian River Valley Chardonnay the other day which was unoaked and you could tell that the grapes used were in previous vintages oaked or semi-oaked. The wine was all out of place I thought I was drinking a Chardonnay from Texas 🙂
I have noticed on the back of many California Chardonnays they are now using phrases like “restrained oak” or “minimal oak” or even taking out the word oak and using phrases like “Honey or nutty” Its like they think that we dont want that in every single bottle of Chardonnay we buy.
The point I am making is that some Chardonnays need oak to enhance what they are, not to mention with creamy dishes like this oak blends nicely.
Now this wine had allot of tropical fruits and bright acidity, I liked this by itself as opposed to eating it with food.
Now The Dollcetto
I will be honest, I did not even know of Dolcetto till I tried it at a Texas vs New York wine “competition” (I use competition in quotes because…well thats a long story) back in 2009
The Dolcetto was from Duchman family winery http://duchmanwinery.com/ and if I was not mistaken was an 08 vintage. I had later tried a lighter version of Dolcetto which was from Italy on a #bteam twitter tasting where Dolcetto was grape we discussed. The wine was always light and very soft similar to a Pinot Noir.
However this 03 Piedmont Dollcetto was made with MASSIVE tannin extraction. lots of dark fruits but I was shocked at how much tannin was in this wine. It reminds me of the different styles that I see with Mencia from the Bierzo region. Some are soft and light others have massive tannin extraction like this wine.
The acidity was still very much alive even though his was an 2003
The Romana Carlo Dolcetto paired better with the Zucchini Alfredo than the Chardonnay, and I might add was a much softer animal to drink on the 2nd day in the decanter.
For a price point of about $16.00 this wine was very much a steal!
All in all I had a great time trying new things. My whole mindset is to always be adventurous and never settle for the status quo. I like to try the wines and foods that are unique and different than what is normally out there, maybe this Chardonnay and Dolcetto were not prime examples of living on the edge but you defiantly see that I am trying!
Next time your in the mood for something different try Zucchini noodles instead of Alfredo noodles. Specially if you are counting carbs and Calories this is a great alternative!
Straight Shooter 