CalNaturale Wines: Enjoying the Taste and Convenience of Cabernet and Chardonnay

I love food and I love wine – eating, drinking and cooking. I think a perfectly paired wine-and-food combo elevates even the most mundane of weeknight fare into a celebration and a splash of wine tossed into a recipe adds a transformative burst of flavor.

Yet despite the myriad upsides of this combination, wine brings on some inherent challenges to both cook and diner. Between the necessary wine-opening tools and storage issues for the ever-present half-empty bottle, the logistics of drinking wine seem more complicated than they should. The challenges continue for home chefs who need both red and white wines on hand for cooking – but who may favor one over the other for drinking. For example, do red wine lovers buy – and ultimately crack open – a bottle of white wine if they only need a quarter cup for that Dover sole recipe? And then toss it in the door of the fridge, where it sits for the next week or so?

Fortunately, CalNaturale now offers a much-needed solution – Mendocino Chardonnay and Pasa Robles Cabernet Sauvignon wines packaged for convenience. In its vineyards in Medocinno and Pasa Robles, CA, CalNaturale grows grapes organically and packages them in Tetra Pak cartons, the same containers used to store juice boxes. This solution allows consumers to unscrew the packaging container, pour enough wine for a glass or two – or two tablespoons needed for a favorite recipe – and then easily store the remaining wine.

I sampled the Chardonnay and Cabernet and enjoyed both. Even though I favor red wines, I liked the Chardonnay and thought it featured a fresh, light flavor. I also incorporated it into a favorite mushroom pasta recipe and – wow! As with most dishes calling for just a few ingredients, the ones you use really matter. The addition of this white wine made a clear difference in the pasta, resulting in about the best batch I’ve ever made.

Rich and full-bodied, the Cabernet offered a hearty accompaniment to both steak and pasta. Yet it also proved nice just on its own – a smooth glass of red to enjoy while the sauce simmers on the stove.

While I enjoyed these wines at home, I’m also looking forward to taking advantage of the convenient packaging and incorporating CalNaturale into my upcoming summer plans. Between camping trips, vacations, and barbecues, CalNaturale wines make summertime living even more easy.

Disclosure: Mom Central received a sample of the CalNaturale Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon wines to facilitate this review.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Stephanie Kaufman

Feeling for much of her life that she couldn't sit still long enough to thread a needle and that all in all, she'd rather be reading, Stephanie Kaufman discovered crafting in her late 40s and now loves knitting, sewing, and household decorative arts.