Simon Pearce

A year ago this month, my friend Lynne and I took a vacation to Vermont. We went with the intention of running a half-marathon, and then seeing what sights there were to see before/after the race.

One day, we were taking a drive, and if memory serves, we had gotten lost or perhaps had to turn back from somewhere due to weather; I can't quite remember, other than, we happened to stop at a covered bridge, got out of the car to take some pictures, and a local lady walked by with her dog. She stopped to say hello and recommended that we check out the glass factory that was right around the corner.

That turned out to be Simon Pearce. We wandered through this store for hours, looking at the gorgeous handblown glasswares and hand-fired ceramics. The stuff wasn't cheap but it was quality. I purchased a small glass Christmas ornament (a) it was one of the few things in my price range, and b) I was inspired after watching the artist in the glass blowing studio for a good while. The studio was open to the public and we watched this man make glass Christmas tree after glass Christmas tree, handling molten hot liquid glass, turning and heating and cooling and turning until, one after the other, they turned into perfect glass Christmas trees.

Part of the way through the process he asked if we had any questions. He had been doing this for so long it was like second nature to him. He fielded our questions without missing a beat. It was fascinating to watch him work, one headphone in his ear as he listened to music while talking to us at the same time while never missing a beat as he worked the glass. It was awesome, in the truest sense of the word, to watch true artistry and craftsmanship at work.

Fast forward to today. Lynne is back in Vermont, eating dinner at the restaraunt associated with Simon Pearce as I write this blog entry. She was able to return with her husband this year, and is introducing him to Simon Pearce. 

For Mother's Day, Lynne's two sons bought her a wine stopper from Simon Pearce. That got me thinking, because her birthday was a week later. Lynne and I have gone to many a wine tasting, including one day long wine trip hosted by the local community college on the day I was supposed to have graduated from grad school. I didn't graduate initially as planned but still wanted to do something to mark the day, so etching positive to show myself that my struggles with school had not gotten the best of me. And so I have many find memories of wine tastings with Lynne, including our experience at Simon Pearce. It just made good sense that I would look to that store for her birthday present. 

I ended up selecting a perfect, beautiful wine glass.

I had it shipped in a fabulous gray box with a box. I also may have bought one for myself, only mine is a red wine glass. Lynne's is for white. The glass is much taller, heavier, and more substantial than I expected. It is an object of great craftsmanship and that conveys the best of our friendship. And, in a beautiful act of symmetry, tonight Lynne texted me that she is enjoying a lovely class of Simon oearce's house Chardonnay in a hand crafted goblet in Queechee, Vermont, smiling and thinking back in our memories there together. 

Brunello and my dad

My dad's favorite wine was Brunello di Montalcino. That's not a specific wine; rather it refers to dry red wines made from sangiovase grapes in the Montalcino region of Italy. My family is Italian, and dad liked a nice dry Italian red.

He and a friend of his made a pact: If my dad died first, he would leave his friend a case of the friend's favorite wine (Dom Perignon champagne). If my dad's friend died first, he would leave my dad a case of Brunello.

I was always curious about Brunello because it wasn't until after my dad passed away that I even began to develop a taste for dry reds. I do wish that he and I could discuss wines and enjoy them together; it's an interest that we both shared, but at different times in our lives.

I looked into buying a Brunello from time to time, just to try and see what my dad's fuss was about, but those baby's aren't cheap. Brunello tends to start around $80-90 a bottle and they go up from there.

This week, I received an email from my favorite wine shop, advertising a sale on a great Brunello. The description was:

The 1009 Brunello di Montalcino Caparzo is a pretty, impeccably balanced wine to drink over the next decade or so. Sweet red berries, mint, tobacco, licorice and rose petals are woven into the attractive, layered finish. 

It really was a bargain, at $35 a bottle. That was a price point I could stomach. I stopped by that shop today and - bonus- the Brunello was open for free tasting! I have not liked sangiovase in the past and so was not expecting to like this wine, but on the first sip I loved it. It's dry, but not too dry, and has the nice balance noted in the description. I quickly bought two bottles, one to open tonight and one to have for later.

While I was tasting it, I got to chatting with the wine guy. He asked what kinds of wine I usually drink, and I said I tend to gravitate toward reds, particularly red blends, plus dry rieslings, roses, and generally not chardonnays. He brightened up when I mentioned rose and asked if I wanted to try a really interesting one. Well, yeah!

He ran to the back and came back out with a rose of a different color. It turns out that most rose is made with red wine grapes and then the skins are left in for a short time (just enough to give the wine that rosy hue) and then removed. This rose was made with white grapes and the skins were left in longer, leaving a sort of orangey color. The flavor was really nice and refreshing, perfect for sipping on a summer's day. I snagged a bottle of that, too.

My conversation with the wine guy was interesting. We both agreed that the best thing about wine is the variety. There are always new wines to try, and it's not just the variety of wines themselves, but everything about enjoying wine changes. You change, your palate changes, the weather changes, which affects what you are in the mood the drink. The wine itself changes over time, or even day to day once you open the bottle.

The ornangey one is on the right.
The one on the left is made with
syrah. On the right, pinot gris.

I left the wine store happy, and thinking of my dad. I wonder if he would have liked today's purchases. I got home and found something unexpected in my mailbox.

I recently changed my name and knew it was only a matter of time before my new last name made it onto mailing lists for various direct mail. Today there was a free issue of my dad's favorite magazine, Cook's, in my mailbox, addressed to me with my new name. It's a complimentary issue along with a push to get me to subscribe. It was an easy sell; gourmet cooking was my dad's hobby, and he would rave about this magazine because the writers test each recipe and then the articles aren't just the recipes but also include all of the steps of trial and error so you can learn the techniques. That magazine showing up at my door the same day as my purchase of the Brunello was a sign, clear as day. I quickly wrote my check and mailed off the slip for my new subscription.

Thanks, dad.

Sharing a bottle

A friend at work texted me today to ask if I was up for getting together after work. She took the week off to stay at home and enjoy some gardening time. She lives a few miles from our workplace, so it was easy to meet up for dinner.

We went to a great restaurant inside an art museum. This place has real tablecloths and a fancy pants wine list. I felt more than a little under dressed in my work clothes of polo shirt, shorts, and sneakers, but they didn't judge.

Looking over the menu, my friend and I were delighted to see that the restaurant has a special discounted menu for Tuesday nights. This includes a list of wines for $20 a bottle.

I considered a cocktail, but was dismayed when I discovered that they didn't have any gin cocktails on the list. Really? Three whisky-based cocktails but none with gin?

So to the wine list I looked. We both agreed that we wanted white wine and figured what the heck, let's split a bottle. We would each have spent at least ten dollars on a glass had we ordered separately; this way we each got half a bottle for ten dollars. A bargain!

There were five whites on the list. My friend did not like riesling so we crossed that one off. I don't like chardonnay but there weren't any chardonnays on the list so that was easy. We ended up narrowing it down to a spanish varietal neither of us had heard of or a pinot grigio. We asked the waiter for help deciding, and he didn't hesitate: the Spanish wine it is.

He brought it to the table and offered a taste. It was fruity but not sweet, perfectly refreshing and easy to drink. It went very well with my oysters lightly fried in corn meal, apple and fennel cole slaw, and roasted potatoes.

We both had dessert - blueberry lavender gelato, accompanied by coffee. The waiter got bonus points for bringing us each a little creamer mug. Most places just bring one per table, even if there are five people drinking coffee. What IS that?!

At the end of the evening, we realized we still had about a quarter of the bottle left. The waiter offered to send it home with (one of) us. I was stunned. "I can take it home?!" I blurted out? Apparently you can. I didn't think you were allowed to have opened containers in your car (not to be confused with an open container. The bottle was of the screw top variety so the waiter very easily capped it and wrapped it in a plastic bag). My friend did not want to take it home and pushed it towards me. I drove home with the bottle wrapped up in the trunk, and now it happily resides in my refrigerator where I will finish it off tomorrow and smile.

Riesling

I am generally a red wine kind of person, but I find that I almost always enjoy a riesling.

Rieslings from Alsace in particular tend to be winners for me. I'm not sure what it is. They are usually crisp, and mostly dry, and have just enough citrus and petrol to be interesting.

Yes, I said petrol. Weird, isn't it? I wouldn't have known to put my finger on that note if I hadn't read a description of Alsation rieslings and how they tend to taste ever so slightly of petrol. As in, gasoline. But, sure enough, there is just enough of a hint of something, something that isn't fruity, isn't citrus, isn't quite right but also makes the wine taste interesting.

Last night, I made one of my favorite meals from Let's Dish, which is a meal assembly program. My friend Lynne and I have been going there regularly for about a year. You choose from a list of meals each month and then go in and assemble your complete meal at different stations. The food is all natural and the meals go right into the freezer, along with instructions on how to prepare everything when you're ready.

Almond-orange tilapia with almond rice was last night's meal, and it just cried out for a nice, acidic, not-too-fruity-so-it-doesn't-compete-with-the-citrus-in-the-fish wine, and the riesling I had on hand was just the thing.

Good times

My co-blogger, Deanna, invited me and a few other friends to a local fundraisig event that raised money to support her local library. It was a lovely evening. Our event hosts had brought in literary figure impersonators to give presentations in character, so we enjoyed our amazing hors d'ourves in the company of William Shakespeake, Edgar Allen Poe, Dorothy Parker, and Oscar Wilde (who loved my sparkly, fancy shoes). 

We were not shy about enjoying said food, even though we had dinner reservations right after. Dinner was at a lovely Italian restaraunt that felt very grown up. When presented with the wine menu, we knew we wanted to share a bottle and quickly narrowed that down to red. Then, narrowed it further to pinot noir (it's really hard to go wrong with a pinot noir). After that, the price range narrowed it to two bottles, and from there, we randomly picked locale (Santa Barbara, California). 

We chose wisely. The wine was lovely, it was a much better bargain to split a bottle four ways than to each order a separate glass, and there was the added camaraderie that comes with the sharing of wine, much the way the sharing of food is best enjoyed as a communal experience. 

Food and drink are the stuff of life, with friendship a beautiful bonus. 

Snow day

Today is a snow day. I was determined to treat it exactly as such: my plan was to sit around, watch tv, eat cupcakes, drink something yummy, and generally be a slug. After many years in grad school when I never had a true snow day, always being able to do schoolwork from home, and never having a break from the revising, I would dream about what it would be like ONE DAY when I was done with school and could enjoy a snow day properly.

Whenever snow days occur, my Facebook feed floods with posts about how people are stocking up on alcoholic beverages. As someone who did not really drink at all until my thirties, I never understood the draw. Can't you drink beer and wine anytime? Well, not ANY time, but certainly you don't need a special day for it.

As someone who now enjoys wine, I understand a bit more. It's nice to be able to enjoy a glass of wine, or perhaps a splash of bailey's in my coffee, and not have to drive anywhere or have any real responsibilities. 

On my way home one day this week, knowing that the snow day was imminent, I stopped at the local Home Goods looking for a basin for a foot soak to go with the pedicure I was planning, and I noticed a mix for chocolate lavender cake. I love lavendar flavored foods, so I could not resist this. I knew I had my snow day snack food.

This morning, I decided that, in honor of the cupcakes, I would enjoy a dessert wine. I had a few in my cabinet that I wanted to try. One was a port, and another was a wine that I didn't know anything about - I had never tried this one before. I think I bought it on a whim when at the local wine store, lured by their description of it. I can't really remember. 

I first learned about dessert wines several years ago when I ran a 5k at a local winery, and a tasting came as part of the registration fee. Unlimited tasting of all wines was free for runners, except for the port. That was a dollar per tasting. I asked why and was told that ports and dessert wines tend to be a higher alcohol content of regular wine (16-20% as opposed to the 12-13.5% of a regular red), and more goes into making them, so they can't afford to give away the tastings. I asked what you would pair port with, and the lady said that ports are lovely with sweets of any kind, but are especially good with chocolate. Sign me right up.

So, needless to say, I knew a dessert wine would be just the thing to go with those cupcakes and with my lazy day off. 

The cupcakes did not disappoint, and neither did the wine. It's dark brown (which is a bit startling and off putting at first, but it's a characteristic of port-style wines), very sweet, and thick, almost with the consistency of syrup. I would have thought the sweetness would be too much with the sweetness of the dessert, but no. It just works. 

Rutherford Ranch

Chardonnay is not my favorite, but this one from Rutherford Ranch, is lovely. It came as part of a mixed case and is described as a "classic" Chardonnay, "exhibiting rich vanilla-soaked tropical fruits on a medium-body." I didn't see the words "oaky" or "buttery" and I love flavors of vanilla and tropical fruits. 

Plus, tonight I decided to make a new recipe, a red lentil and spinach soup. It seemed to be just the right food pairing for this wine, which is further described as being perfect "for a taste of west coast warmth on a cold winter night." This wine seemed like it would match the heartiness of the soup without being overwhelming, and it did just that. 

Once Upon a Vine

I'm not fond of punny shop names and wine names. They're likely to induce eye-rolling, and I'll ignore them just on principle. But, then this evening, when I'm so hopeful and nervous and worried, and wanting my life to turn impossibly just like a perfect story would, I saw a Pinor Noir from Sonoma called, "Once Upon a Vine." It had a beautiful picture of a nighttime fairytale forest, evocative of mystery and tangled stories, and it was $10.50---exactly right. I bought a backup bottle of my old favorite Robert Mondavi Private Selection, just in case the new wine tasted more like poisoned applies than enchanted elixir.

It was as perfect as can be---the kind of new-wine experience I wish I could always have! It had an intriguing, interesting nose to get me wondering, and then paired exactly right with the herbed goat cheese and crackers I chose for a weekend dinner. It was medium-bodied, not pale and flimsy, not overpowering. Just right and balanced, as it should be.

With our little cape cod house For Sale, and my heart pining for the gorgeous, spacious historic home we toured this weekend, I want my story to end just the same---everything right where it should be. My feet walking those floors. My son sleeping in that bedroom. My wine stacked in those cabinets (those thousands of kitchen cabinets where a person could actually have room for a wine rack!)

http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=762578&storeId=10052&langId=-1

Merlot

I used to really not like merlot. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because it has a somewhat unique (to me) taste. I don't know what changed things, but I find merlot works for me more and more. 

Last night I made mahi mahi and went to my newly purchased holiday wine case* to see what might best accompany the fish.

*Every year, a local wine store offers a special holiday wine case, which is twelve bottles for $149. It always includes a bubbly, a dessert wine, and then a mix of red and white. This year's case offered a prosecco as the bubbly (score!), and a port (whoohoo!) - as far as bubblies and dessert wines go, those are my favorites. Then, the red/white mix was heavy on the red, which also suits my taste. The case just had the perfect mix for me, and is such a great price. Plus, it comes with a description of each wine as well as a pairing recommendation.

To my surprise, the bottle that was recommended to accompany fish was a merlot. Huh? A red? With fish?

The description said that the fats in the fish can stand up well to the strong flavors of merlot. The description was right.

I'm enjoying a lovely merlot from Washington State called Red Diamond. The description at Total Wine is at the bottom of this post. The best part about it? It retails for - get this - $6.97. That's right. I did quite the double take when I saw that, because this does not taste like a cheap wine at all. I would happily give this as a gift or serve it to guests.

Yay for merlot! (and, one of the distrinctive flavors of merlot is chocolate, so how exactly did I not like this before?)

Washington- This Merlot opens with a beautifully knit blackberry, cherry and spice scented nose with a toasty oak background. Sweet fruit on the palate is complemented by medium-bodied but firm tannins.

I am the special occasion.

Several years ago, I wrote an article for a local magazine about local wine shops. I disctinctly remember one of the wine consultants talking about how women tend to buy cheap bottles to drink now and nicer bottles to give as gifts or save for a special occasion. She liked to tell her clients that, "you ARE the special occasion."

She is so right. Ever since, I have reminded myself of that every time I open a bottle that cost a little more than I might usually spend, or that I'm not sure I can finish before it turns into vinegar 

If I wait until I have someone else available with whom to share a bottle, months could go by before I try something new. So, I open a bottle whenever I feel like having a glass of wine, I use my trusty wine stopper to get a good three to four days (sometime a week) out of it, and I make no apologies.

After a recent milestone, when I graduated from a very long graduate school program that was fraught with stress and disappointment, one of my gifts was a care package of sorts from my friend Jane. It contained a bottle of wine, a cranberry scented candle (that is crackling as I write this), a box of godiva chocolates (!!!), and this:

That's right, it's a hand painted wine glass that says things like, "I'm awesome," "Cheers to me," and "I deserve it!"

RIght on! I AM awesome. I DO deserve it. And lest you think I am being conceited, I feel I should share that when I was growing up, for a long time, I was awkward and out of sorts. I was teased horribly as a kid. I spent many years with very low self esteem. So to be able to proudly say heck yeah, I rock! is a big deal for me. 

I supposed this really isn't a post about wine, but enjoying this glass of merlot tonight and using this glass remind me of just how far I have come in life, on a personal level. I am happy with who I am, with the life I have made for myself, even with all of the mistakes and missteps. I still kick ass. 

Par-tay

I'm having a party. It's kind of a big deal. All of my favorite people are coming. They are gathering to help me celebrate a milestone. Kind souls have been asking what they can bring to contribute. I have waved them off; I would really like to treat them to a nice evening as a completely inadequate, yet totally heartfelt gesture of thanks for their friendship and support over the years.

Today I went beverage shopping. My problem is that I have no clue how to gauge quantities when purchasing beverages for 40 or so people. I looked it up online, but the estimates I found (that each guest will drink 2-4 drinks per hour?!) seem grossly exaggerated. I will generally have 2 or so drinks over the course of the evening. Maybe three if I don't have to drive. Most of my friends are the same way, and the few who might have more will be balanced out by the few who will have less.

That still leaves me without knowing with any confidence if I have purchased enough.

Here is what I have so far:

• one mixed case of wine (three pinot noir, three red blend, three sauv blanc, three chardonnay)
• eight bottles of bubbly (prosecco)
• three cases of beer (one full case of yuengling, one mixed case of sam adams, one mixed case of harpoon)
• three cases of bottled water

I will be adding various bottles of regular and diet soda. My friend Irene, who has graciously offered to open her home as the locale for the party, is also making iced tea, punch, and coffee.

That seems like a lot to me, but I constantly second guess myself. I would hate to run out, or to make my guests feel like there isn't enough to enjoy without feeling guilty. 

Here is what my haul so far (plus a few bags of paper goods) looks like:

When in doubt...

According to Glamour magazine, when in doubt on what wine to choose, look for a Sauvignon blanc from New Zealand or an Oregon Pinot noir. 

A wine store is not a wine store

I needed a bottle of wine. I have a dear friend who loves prosecco. Tomorrow we're getting together to watch a movie. He's ordering the pizza, I'm bringing the bubbly.

My favorite wine store was an hour and a half drive from work, so that was out. I asked a coworker if there were any wine stores in her neighborhood, which happens to be the neighborhood right next to my job. She recommended this one. She also admitted that she didn't know much about wine.

I got to the store and loved that as soon as I walked in, there were baskets and shopping carts. These folks know their clientele. They had several wines on a display up front, each with a short description of the wine. Great. It was crowded, so rather than bump elbows with people, I asked a cashier to point me towards the prosecco. She said that, if I wanted, she could call over an associate to walk me there and make a recommendation. Great! I was loving this store more and more.

My new best friend came over immediately. He zeroed right in on a particular bottle, saying it was the "most interesting" prosecco he had tried. Those are the magic words for me when it comes to wine, so I not only bought it, I had it gift wrapped. They will gift wrap any bottle for you for FREE. Heck, I may have every bottle gift wrapped from now on.

The cashier wrapped the bottle up in nice shiny cellophane and tied some multicolored ribbons onto it.

I then did a little more wandering, and was disappointed to discover that the rest of the store did not have the helpful descriptions that the display up front did. And I really didn't care to wander the place with my new buddy. I like browsing on my own. I realized quickly that the reason my favorite wine shop is my favorite wine shop is because of the helpful descriptions of each bottle. Those little write ups haven't steered me wrong yet. Just grabbing a bottle off the shelf is a crapshoot, and more often than not, I end up wasting money on wine I don't like.

I ended up choosing a bottle of zinfindel from that display. It had a nice description, and sounded like something I would like.

Girl, Junot It's True

There is a wine flight at Red, Red, Wine Bar called "girl, Junot it's true," and it is fantastic. There was a Cabernet franc/merlot blend, a temperanillo, and a grape that I had never heard of before, but which was lovely. The wines were all distinctive, yet there was a nice cohesion in that each was a rich, bright red, with noticeable notes of spice, cinnamon, chocolate. 

Now I need to go look up Junot.

That is my lovely trio, above. Each wine is placed on top of a description of that wine. Here is the description for the cab blend: 

Sangria

And sometimes I drink my wine with a straw. 

Lynne and I went to Red, Red Wine Bar for lunch today and decided that it may not seem very wine snobby but we wanted sangria. It came in a high ball glass, on the rocks, with a straw. The wine was Zinfandel, which I never would have thought of as a sangria wine, but it held up really well to the citrus and fruit flavors that had been added. It was the perfect accompaniment to our Mediterranean pizzas, which came with roasted red peppers, spinach, goat cheese, and entire cloves of roasted garlic. Yum. 

Monday Funday

My favorite wine store sends out an email blast every Monday about a particular wine they have on sale that week. Since I typically have Mondays off, it's not unusual for me to schedule work on my car for a Monday. The shop is right down the street from the wine store. They have free wifi so I can check my email easily while I wait for my car. You see where this is going. 

This week I did not have to take my car in, but I did get the email and I was able to stop by today. This week's offering is an Oregon Pinot noir, described as a "sleek red, with delicate layers of cherry, tobacco, and cocoa flavors." Wine spectator gave it 90 points, which is exceptionally rare for a Pinot noir at this price (usually $23.99, on sale until it's gone at $15.99). 

I enjoy a nice Pinot noir and this shop hasn't let me down with their wines of the week yet. I picked up a bottle of that and a nice Australian Riesling while I was there (Australia makes Riesling. Who knew?).

I will enjoy them both in good time.

Relax

There is a meme floating around on Facebook that I saw today that sums up my feelings on coffee and wine. It says something about how coffee helps me deal with difficult people and wine helps me accept when I can't. You get the idea. I got to thinking about how different a person I am now that I drink coffee and wine. The beverages aren't the catalyst for change, but they are symbolic of who have I become over these last few years. Up until about five years ago, I was married. During that time in my life, if I drank coffee at all, it was decaf, and I barely touched wine. I liked coffee, but was worried that the caffeine would trigger the migraines I had as a kid. I liked wine, but my then husband didn't, and I couldn't bring myself to drink a glass or two out of a bottle and then pour the rest down the drain, nor could I stand restaraunt markups. 

Then, we separated, and it went through a phase of eating and drinking whatever I wanted, health and cost be damned. One night I actually ate an entire six pack of Hershey bars. 

I started enjoying regular lattes and realized that, since I didn't drink coffee as a child, those migraines were most likely not caused by caffeine. I started going to wine tastings and developing my own preferences. I learned about wine stoppers, and how they can help me get through an entire bottle of wine over the course of a week, so I neither have to overindulge or pour money down the drain. 

Coffee is now my friend. I drink the regular stuff with nonfat milk most mornings. Wine is lovely, and, restaurant markup be damned, I order a glass or two with a meal if I want to. I'm paying, in part, for the dining experience, so I may as well enjoy it. 

I put a bottle of wine in the fridge a few days ago and then didn't feel well for a while, so I didn't open it until tonight. I was on my feet for most of the day and so I'm tired and just wanted to relax, watch tv, and eat something easy and yummy. I picked up some red lentil chipotle hummus and multi grain chips on my way home, and opened that bottle. And I sat here and thought about how diffrperent I am now. I am certain in my likes and dislikes, and finally feel like myself. 

Slovenian Weedkiller

One of my favorite wine stores has a bargain section that the staff introduced me to on my latest visit. I always got so hung up lolling around in the Pinot Noirs that I never perused the dark stacked-up shelving at the back of the store. That's where they stockpile the "3 for $25" bottles. I began my visit upset because I couldn't find "Stray Dog" Pinot Noir, a really nice pick that my husband found for me earlier this summer. I asked the staff about it and was told they had lost the distributor for it. (aka: "It's DEAD, and you'll never get to drink it again.")  Sensing my sadness, the staff suggested I could look through the bargain bottles since Stray Dog had gone for such a reasonable price. I wasn't terribly enthused as I looked around, but then recognized a really nice Sauvingon Blanc that I had drank at a party. I chose that one, and figured I would pick two reds to round out my $25 and could have blog fodder, if nothing else.

I have been searching the past few days for just the right word to describe the Slovenian Pinot Noir I tried. Then, I found it tonight while reading reviews: WEEDKILLLER. The Pinot Noir made by Avia is just dreadful. It's not at the very bottom, as I have yet to drink anything worse than the body odor wine mentioned in an earlier post. But, it's just one rung above. It tasted suspect on the first sip. I remember thinking, "Funny...Pinot Noir shouldn't taste carbonated." And, truly, it wasn't like drinking a soda, and it wasn't bubbly, but there was something day-old-Coke about it. The wine store staff tried to sell me on it by claiming Slovenia was located *just* so very near some famous wine regions, and that somehow that vine cred hopped the border and brought something lovely to this wine. The lovely wasn't there. I couldn't finish the bottle, and was glad the cheap price tag allowed me to end the experiment early and toss it down the sink.

Message in a bubble

Last night I stopped in to one of my favorite restaurants, Red Red Wine Bar, on Main Street in Annapolis. They have a fantastic wine menu, very reasonable pricing, and even offer wines on tap! (It's the weirdest thing to see.)

I was in a bubbly kind of mood, so I tried a wine flight called "Message in a Bubble." The wine on the left is a prosecco, which was my favorite. Not too sweet, it had a nice fruity, citrusy flavor. It was very bright and flavorful. According to the info that came with it, that particular prosecco was a favorite of Charles De Gaulle, former president of France. 

The one in the middle is a cava, which is a Spanish bubbly, and was the closet to champagne of the three, which explains why it was also my least favorite of the three. Champagne is almost always made of Chardonnay grapes, which are not my favorite. This selection had that dry, buttery flavor typical of champagne/Chardonnay, so while it was still pleasant, it was not my top choice.

The third was a rose, mostly Merlot but with a few other grapes blended in. That was a nice dry offering, probably very refreshing on a hot day. 

Overall, enjoying three different bubbles side by side was delightful. It was fun to try to decide if I wanted to take a sip from each and rotate through them or if I would enjoy each one individually and then move on the the next (first I did the former, then switched to the latter to finish them off). 

Cashmere

Not too long after I defended my dissertation, my dear friend Tina and her significant other Dan treated me to a fabulous Italian meal. As I perused the wine list, I was trying to select something different and interesting and that would somehow complement a variety of appetizers and flavors. One of the wines that the waitress recommended is a red blend called "Cashmere" by Cline winery. She said it was difficult to describe, that it had a distinct taste and was unique, and that everyone who tried it liked it. Sold.

She was right, the red is bright and hearty but not too tannic, and while the label does not say which grapes are blended in, it does describe the wine as a "lusciously bodied blend with easy, earthy undertones, flavors of cherries, raspberries, chocolate and hints of plums leading to a smooth, long finish."

(Now, WHY, when I try to describe a wine, is the best I can do along the lines of, "I liked it, it was good," when the winery can describe a wine like the above and then I read it and think YES, I agree with all the things!

Why didn't the cherry and chocolate notes make them known to me on my own? I can clearly taste them.

Ah, well. I tracked down the winery and ordered a bottle to keep at home and I just opened it a few minutes ago. I am enjoying a glass while I catch up on emails and smell the beef stew simmering on the stove.

Cryptic

Um. Yes, please. It's a nicely structured, medium bodied red. Great for sipping on these the not-quite-yet fall evenings.

Cabernet Sauvignon, ???, Zinfandel 

What's the one in the middle?

Dangerously Drinkable

The pinot noir that Hob Nob makes is Dangerously Drinkable. Here's why:

The liquor store that sells it is in a most convenient location on my way home from work, right off the main drag. Easy in, easy out, no stoplights, no interruptions or delays.

It costs $9.00. A wine under $10 feels practically free, so I experience zero financial guilt. You can't even buy a decent-sized pizza for $9.00.

It's very, very smooth with no alarming after-tastes or weird stinging on the tongue. It's literally one of those goes-with-everything wines. I also deem it a good party wine, as it seems likely to offend very few.

So far (and luck be with me!) I have experienced not a single negative physical side-effect from this wine. My wine punishments always occur the following day, but with this one I haven't been stumbled by a headache, or experienced that awful lingering nausea. Nothing at all! So, it's lovely drinking it, and there's a happy satisfaction the next day rather than regret. (Granted, this is with stopping at two glasses. If I drink a whole bottle of pretty much anything, there is projectile vomiting involved. Always.)

All of these beneficial factors make this a Dangerously Drinkable wine in my book because I can't think of a single reason NOT to drink it. Therefore, I'll keep drinking it a lot.

http://www.hobnobwines.com/

No good story...

I ordered a salad of arugula, fennel, goat cheese, grilled shrimp*, and lemon vinaigrette. I asked the waiter for a wine recommendation. I was trying to decide between a Riesling and a Pinot Grigio. He suggested the Riesling, saying that you always want your wine just a bit sweeter than your food, otherwise you get overpowered by the acid. An acidic wine with a citrus vinagrette would throw off the food/wine balance. I took his advice and was very happy with his suggestion, and with that salad. 

*i did order the shrimp. The salad came out with chicken. No offense to the chicken, but I really wanted those shrimp, which came out soon after. 

Likes and dislikes

When in doubt, I enjoy a nice red blend.

I found this one recently, and bought it on a whim. It consists of 40% merlot, 20% cabernet sauvignon, 20% bonarda argentina (no clue what that is), and 15% malbec. It had a really nice smooth flavor, with the heavy, strong cab and malbec flavors balancing out the more mellow merlot. When in doubt, if I choose a red blend, I am usually happy with the result.

I am the opposite when it comes to chardonnay. I can drink just about anything and like it fine, but in general, if I'm not sure what to get and want to try something new, I do not reach for chardonnay. It tends to be not quite dry, not quite fruity, not quite right. I have found one that I find acceptable and can actually drink without thinking "blech," and that's this one:  I opened it to have with that gorgeous roast chicken and it paired nicely. It was fine. I would be happy to serve that wine to guests, especially guests who like chardonnay. But at $50 a bottle, I don't see myself buying it very often when there are so many other wines out there that I like so much better.

Shenendoah Wine Country

I took my four-year-old son hiking in Shenandoah National Park this past weekend. It was vigorous, beautiful, sweaty, green and rocky and intense. It was nothing like the hiking that we normally do on the flat Eastern Shore trails at Tuckahoe State Park and Pickering Creek. It was foreign in layout and design. The trails were full of massive, sharp rocks, seeming at once threatening and yet acting as benevolent memory markers constantly proclaiming: You are not Home. You are Away. Breathe it in, carry it with you. We drove Skyline Drive to mile marker 49.4, where we stopped to park off the road. We crossed over to the junction of a horse trail and a vehicle fire trail, and checked our map to see which would bring us quickest to Rose River Falls. My son has a brave, adventurous heart, but, alas, he is only four with short little legs, so I have to temper his bravery with common sense. Were I on my own, I would have hiked the entire four-mile-plus circuit trail, but with my little guy, we opted for the two-mile-plus trail that took us down and back along the same strip. We hiked down, down, down with my knees complaining painfully but silently most of the way. I ignored it, as I always do since I love hiking more than thinking about knee pain. We heard the traveling water some time before we saw it. We stopped in the forest, we listened intensely, and heard the whisper grow fuller and louder with each step closer to the source. The falls were gentle, despite their noise. They were composed of multiple runs over small breaks, moving quickly over the sharp and slippery rocks in the stream. We followed along on the bank, then moved in closer where the vegetation broke. We stood watching, just inches from the stream. My son, always rule-bound, announced, "We can't go in the water. We can just look." When I replied with, "Says who?", he nearly fell over with shock and anticipation. We stripped off socks and shoes, and tiptoed into the cold water.

The next day, rested from our strenuous post-Falls hike back up the mountain (and our embarrassing collapse into the stream that resulted from climbing on the slippery rocks!), we were ready for something quiet and calm. I explained to my son that, as with his toys, life experiences sometimes require the taking of turns. We had done several things on our trip that he wanted to do, and now I wanted to visit a vineyard for a wine tasting. It was time to take turns. He understood this logic, if grudgingly, so we headed off to Cave Ridge Vineyards in Mount Jackson, VA. We had passed three highway signs for vineyards during the day, and chose Cave Ridge merely for proximity. I entered the property with high hopes. The view was stunning. It was, again, that perfect, welcome reminder: You are not Home. You are Away.

There was live music playing as we squeezed into the last available parking spot in the lot. Besides two bored-looking 10-year-oldish boys breaking sticks at the edge of the lot, there were no children around. I felt a guilty twinge, wondering if I were breaking some kind of Good Parenting law by dragging my preschooler to a winery. I ignored it, and we walked across the courtyard into the tasting room. I celebrated the lone chair sitting strangely in the middle of the room, and situated my son into it with his Nintendo DS. (THIS is why we bought him that gadget, I thought! To give us the occasional much-needed grownup reprieve!) He clicked it on, and I walked happily to the bar with the muted sounds of electronic lightsaber zappings chattering from his chair. 

Cave Ridge had a wonderful array of wines to sample in their Standard Tasting that included five whites and four reds. Nine wines for the sweet fee of six dollars! There was an option to throw in four more for an extra two dollars, but that niggling bit of parental shame wouldn't allow me to go quite that far, and then drive us home on the bouncing, steep mountain roads. I stuck with the nine sampler, and found that several of the whites were stunning. The reds just weren't my style. They were spicy and peppery with notes much too strong for my taste. The whites, however, were just the kind I like: sweet but dry, not too sweet, not too bland. The big winner was the Traminette. It was devine! Just slightly sweet, just slightly dry, not a true dessert wine but so perfect that it could double as dessert. Yet, it could pair up with cheeses just fine, too. It tasted like summer nights on the back deck, moonlight over the trees. I bought a bottle for $15, and gathered up my son whose determined patience was wearing thin by that point. 

I'm saving up the Traminette for the last of summer in hopes of reviving that feel, that place, that time away. 

http://caveridge.com/shop/traminette