Get a wine stopper. Go on. Go.

I used to rarely drink wine, mainly because I would only ever want a glass or two at a sitting, and since I had no one with whom to share the bottle, most of the wine would go to waste. I hate throwing away good wine.

I talked to wine shop staff, who recommended a vacuum wine stopper, like this one here. I was skeptical. I know that once oxygen gets to the wine, it starts to change the chemistry, and within a day or two, you have skunky wine that tastes suspiciously like vinegar. Ew.

But, I have found that by using the vacuum stopper AND by putting my vacuum stopped wine in the fridge overnight, I can get about a week out of a bottle. Perfect.

I'll be honest - by the end of the week the wine is definitely not as smooth and delicate, as nuanced, as it was when first opened. Also, I would recommend letting red wine come closer to room temp rather than drinking it straight out of the fridge (the optimal temperature for enjoying red wine is around 60 degrees, so you do want it a little cooler than room temp), but still, the last glass of a bottle can still be enjoyable after a few days in the fridge. Really. I swear.

I have noticed that the finer the wine, the better it keeps. The cheap $6-8 bottle doesn't hold up as well on day three as it did on day one. But, I have an easier time pouring half a $6 bottle of wine down the drain than I do a $20-30 bottle.

This past week, I opened this lovely pinot noir. It was smooth, slightly chocolatey, and had a delicate mouth feel. And it lasted the whole darn week.

Keeping it classy

I'm finishing off the Chenin blanc I opened earlier in the week, accompanied by a bowl of cheez-its and an episode of Breaking Bad, while I work on a new cross stitch project. 

Because that's how I roll, people.

Wet wool? Lead pencil shavings? Really?

I'm not sure which is more odd - that descriptions of wines can include such flavors as wet wool or lead pencil shavings, or that those flavors actually work? I really would like to try a wine with notes of lead pencil shavings, just for the curiosity factor, except that description was for a very expensive wine ($100+) that I won't be trying any time soon. 

The wet wool is in a description of a wine that I have been enjoying over the last few days. It's one of the wines that I picked up on a whim not too long ago, based on the fact that a) it's South African, and I have yet to try a South African wine I didn't like, and b) the description included a note that there is an undercurrent of lychees, which I find intriguing,

The wine is lovely. I used to shy away from white wines but have lately been expanding my palate. I definitely taste a light citrus note as well as the promised lychees, though the wine is not overly sweet. It's crisp and refreshing. I do not, however, notice the taste of wet wool that is noticed in a review I found of this wine: http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1125940

What's really interesting is that the same source that notes the wet wool taste also mentions a taste of lanolin, which 

is a substance naturally produced by sheep, who of course also produce the aforementioned

 wool. I wonder if the reviewer realizes this and also how he could possibly know what lanolin tastes like!

Birthday wine

This past week, a dear friend invited me to join in her birthday celebration. She chose a fabulous restaraunt: vin 909 in annapolis, md. I was the first in our party to arrive. The place is a former residence that has been converted to a restaraunt. Because it is on a street lined with homes and trees, and because the floor plan is still reminiscent if the site's previous incarnation, the setting is intimate. They have benches set up in a garden out front, and the weather was glorious, so I ordered a glass of rose and adjourned to the out of doors. One by one, the rest of our party arrived, and soon we were all holding, and sipping, generous pours of various wines. I don't recall the name of the wine I chose, but I remember vividly its deep pink color and the notes of strawberry in the finish. As the sun began set, we moved indoors, where we ate amazingly delicious things, such as a brick oven pizza with foie gras, shaved black truffles, peaches, and two kinds of cheese, accompanied by a skirt steak in Moroccan seasonings. 

Yeah, I know. It tasted as good as it looked. 

As the evening went on, another friend ordered a bottle of a montilpuciano that I had wanted to try, and he generously poured me a glass. 

By the end of the evening, everyone was smiling, I enjoyed a delicious butterscotch pudding, and we said goodnight, but not until after the birthday girl blew out the candle on her pot de creme.

Gnarley

I live in Maryland. Growing up, whenever my parents wanted to buy beer or wine, they had to go to a liquor store. Alcohol could not be sold in grocery stores in my state. 

It still baffled me when I travel to a state that does sell alcohol in grocery stores. I don't quite know what to make of the awesome ability to purchase beer or wine along with your dinner groceries, without having to go to a different store.

Recently, I learned that not only can alcohol be sold in grocery stores in certain counties of Maryland, but it is available in a drugstore here in my county. I'm still baffled by this and need to investigate the actual Maryland beer and wine laws. In the meantime, a good friend gave me a bottle of one of her favorite wines from the local Rite Aid. That sounds cheesy, except a) I'm so taken with the fact that wine is available in a local drug store, and b) it's a really good wine! 

Gnarly Head merlot is quite good. It has a rich, almost chocolatey flavor without being sweet, and it's a full bodied wine that holds up well to foods with strong flavors. I enjoyed a glass alongside pizza with onions, mushrooms, and jalapeño peppers and this wine did just fine. 

Not to be shared

My family recently hosted a graduation party for me, and one of my gifts was a bottle of Sauvignon blanc from my sister's mother-in-law. When i opened the gift, she said that it is the wine that she doesn't open to share, but rather keeps all to herself. She also gave me a set of wine accessories, including a vacuum pump, vacuum seals, and these neat wine pourers. 

See the little attachment that is in the top of the wine bottle? Using that I can pour a glass of wine (or, ahem, three) without spilling or having some dripping down the side of the bottle. It's genius. 

I really enjoyed the wine. The predominant flavor to me was citrus. I just do not have the wine vocabulary yet to come up with anything other than "citrus." I looked the wine up online and found descriptions using words like "lavender," "fruity," "thyme," "dry-yet-fruity," and a "terse, stone fruit and mineral finish." Yes, to all of that. I will be very happy when I can come up with such descriptions on my own, without looking anything up. 

Cupcake Malbec

The first thing I notice about Cupcake Vineyards' Malbec is the amazing color. It is THE Wine Red. When I go hunting around CVS for a deep red nailpolish to make my toenails look colorful but professional, THIS is the color I'm searching for. And, looking at a full glass of this stuff, I understand why Revlon calls my favorite nail color, "Forbidden." It looks taboo, a bit evil, a bit like a chalice of blood. It's the darkest wine I've seen in awhile. It could also be that it looks so especially dark sitting on the lacquered white play-table chair that belongs to my son. (Seriously, can we get a coffee table now?)

When I take in a long sniff from the top of the glass, I swear I smell chocolate. The dark color certainly makes me think of a rich 80% dark chocolate, so maybe there's some weird brain interference, but I really smell something chocolately. The taste is full, with a nice zing as I swallow. It's more powerful than that Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir from earlier in the week, but I don't feel like I need food to temper it. It's perfectly nice all on its own. Which, honestly, is my favorite way to drink wine. I certainly won't turn down wine with dinner, but it's become my grownup dessert these days, even preferable to actual dessert-dessert. The zing at the swallow is not overpowering. It's not like some reds I have tried that literally make me involuntarily cringe. It's just a zippy tail, after a smooth entrance. I can see how this would mix well with other grapes to make a nice blend.

This would go well in good company, in the twilight evening. Why doesn't anyone bring Malbec to parties? This is a nice after-party wine, after food wine, kicking back after the kids are asleep wine. I paid $16 for it, but wonder if I could get it cheaper elsewhere. After comparing prices on several of the Safeway wines, I'm starting to think they jacked prices up in preparation for the 10-cent sale. I wonder if this one is normally $8 elsewhere? (Though, honestly, it seems worth the $16.)