Blogs only get better with age

So I have let the blog age... lets say.  I have been extremely busy and although I have still been partaking in the occasional glass of red.  It has been hard to write about. 

That is about to change. 

I am hosting yet another fabulous wine tasting.  We will again be blogging but this time we will hopefully have pictures of not only the wines but where you can find them and what you should pair them with. 

Please look for more infomation on this in the future.

Happy Vino

Wine Tasting Night

Here it is!!! It's arrived at last!!!

The much anticipated wine tasting and blogging night

This evening we will begin our festivities with:
 a list of who is here (code names if necessary)
a list of what we are drinking
a list of what we are eating
and possibly the music we are listening to - currently as I am setting things up and waiting for my guests I am listening to Three Dog Night's album "Cyan" on record specifically at this moment the song is "Shambala"

Wine:

• Columbia Vally 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon
• Eola Hills 2009 Oregon Pinot Noir
• 2008 Red Dimond Shiraz
• Erath 2009 Pinot Gris
• Apothic Red 2009 Winemaker's Blend
• Hardy's Whiskers Blake Classic Tawny

Food:

• Fruit
• Dried cranberries
• fresh (from my garden) strawberries

• Nuts
• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Chocolate
• dark chocolate covered espresso beans
• Bread/crackers
• French Baguette
• Wellingtons crackers assortment:
• Traditional
• Multigrain
• Stone Wheat
• Round Wheat
• Croissant
• Cracked Pepper Water 
• Cheese
• Feta
• Kasseri
• Aged Asiago
• Amish Blue Cheese

Who's Here:

• Gnosh
• Dyne
• Darby
• and Me!!!

Coming soon: Wine night

So currently in the works is a wine tasting night!!
YAH!!!
Everyone will be bringing a bottle of 7 to 10 dollar wine and their laptops.
We will sign on and list the wines as well as a picture of their labels.
We will all be signed on and partaking in good wine, good food, and great discussions.

Anyone who is available Sat. evening the 11th or the 18th let me know which date you prefer and if you want to participate.

Thanks
Kristin

I'll have the house wine

Yes this is the same night.  No I am not drinking two bottles in one night.
I took notes on the last one and had forgotten to post them until tonight.
The real wine being consumed this fine evening.  Same night as my boyfriend's sister's B-day.

Happy B-day T

Is House Wine - a table blend from Walla Walla Washington. Or at least produced there.  It's a mix of Cab, Syrah, Merlot, Melbec, Zin, Cab franc, and petit verdot.  The cork (real cork) has a little house stamped on the end, very cute.

The wine smells, meaty?  No not meaty like a butcher shop (ew) but meaty like rich and thick.  Something that would fill you up. It's spicy and fruity, but it's also got this smoky sharp aroma to it. It also has a bit of that alcohol smell when you breath in heavily.

 Tonight dinner is pasta and grilled chicken with a roasted red pepper sauce.

The wine is...smooth, easy to drink and very mild where the initial alcohol flavor is concerned.  The fun part is that after you swallow the flavor slowly sneaks back in and then you taste the warmth.  It starts off sweet with a bit of bitterness and then as it travels down your tongue it develops into warmth and spicy and an over all really nice balance with the tannins.  It really lingers which is nice since it's so easy to drink.  Some wines that drink easily don't linger very long and so you take drinks quicker and we all know where that leads.  Yes, your right, empty glasses :) However, the best blend is a wine that is easy to drink but lingers a long time so your happy with the flavor it has left and don't drink the wine so quickly.  Because of the variety of wines in this bottle it goes with the pasta well, but as the title suggests I believe it could go with anything well. Anyone who enjoys red wine will love this.  It's not something that you need to get used to.  It's familiar, like a favorite stuffed animal.  Yet, it's still wine.  There is a kick.  This is a good 9 dollar wine.  Please feel free to pick it up and try it and respond with what you think.

I will be saving this bottle on the fridge in order to purchase again.

Thanks Walla Walla, WA

Drinking a Bodega - Yes the entire winery :) (learn Spanish you'll get that joke)

So traveling to Argentina I picked up this great bottle of wine...
Or at Safeway for 9 bucks.

A Tamari Malbec 2008

I may have to try this one again.  I was a bit concerned cause the cork was split and dry so it cracked into the bottle a bit.  It all smelled okay so my boyfriend and I had it with Chicken Teriyaki and sticky rice. Malbecs I have had before have always had a spice to them. This has that spice but it's very subtle. It's smell is berry's and pepper.  It's very light for a red.  Full-bodied, but very refreshing and easy to drink.  It's got a few flavors that pop out but most are not too deep.  It also doesn't really linger in flavor very long. For what you get as an after taste it is nice, spicy and dry.  I like this wine but it's not the best Malbec I have every had and I probably wouldn't try this again unless I needed a summer drink.  (Aside from the the whole cork thing.)  It is easy to drink and doesn't feel heavy the way most reds feel.  It does have that kick though so if you don't like the alcohol flavor to be heavy you may want to steer clear of this one.     

Overall, I've had better Malbecs for 9 bucks but it was better than a barefoot so although it's not my favorite.  It could be yours so I recommend at least giving it a try.

Plus, it's cheaper than drinking wine in Argentina.

Middle Sister and a Californian no less

I am actually the little sister. No middle, just my big sis and me, terrorizing our parents as much as possible. That hasn't stopped, though I'm almost thirty.  But now dad and I can share a glass of wine over those crazy moments and laugh.

Middle Sister is a wine company out of Santa Rosa, CA and they have a variety of whites and reds to choose from.  All for about 9 dollars at Target. This particular bottle is their Rebel Red.  It is a blend of zinfandel, merlot and cabernet sauvignon. The bottles label states the following "sassy blend of our three favorite red varieties perfect for sipping before, during and after our favorite family meals."  There is also a lot of witty banter about middle siblings and such with makes the bottle an appealing choice for me.  I like the funny.

The bottle is at room temp which is 70 deg in my house so I have chilled it for about 5 mins to bring the temp down to 65 which is perfect for a full body red.  I open the bottle and let it breath.  For most reds 5 to 10 mins is perfect unless your lucky and can afford a nice fancy decanter. (The Melting Pot restaurant has a really cool one that you get to use if you get a bottle of red for dinner.  Unfortunately it's around 150 to buy for your personal use.)  It's not necessary to have wine glasses but I like them (particularly the stemless, I talk with my hands a lot!) any glass that is wide will work just remember to never fill it up.1/4 to1/3 is best.

So I always smell the cork, although that doesn't always tell you what you need to know, and frankly the reason you are shown a cork in the restaurant is so that you see it isn't broken or cracked and red hasn't seeped in.  You don't really smell the cork at a restaurant, just look.  If it looks okay you're fine.

But I did smell the cork, and it smelled sweet, which I don't like in my reds.  So now I am a bit scared. So I pour the wine and smell.  Much better.  A pleasant relief. It smells: Chocolaty and strong, acidic, and I may smell a bit of roses and wood maybe cedar. (I'm not as good with the woods)

Now for the taste. It's nice, smooth, not too heavy. It has a subtle alcohol taste but it's not overwhelming, definitely fuller than any white but it still is refreshing.  I think I could drink this red in the hot sun in other words. It has depth because I can taste a variety of flavors and those flavors change when it's on my tongue and after I swallow it.  It does have that hint of sweet that lingers after I swallow at the back of my throat.  I'm not sure I like that.  Also, I don't care for the smell in the glass when I inhale for every drink.  Luckily it tastes different than it smells. :)

Back to the taste:  There are subtle flavors that remind me of spices (savory like oregano and pepper) It's a bit dry on my tongue but it doesn't dry my mouth out. Something does seem to be out of balance however.  I feel as though the tannin rules over everything else (the sweetness, acidity, and alcohol) then all of a sudden once you swallow the sweetness wins out and lingers.  Normally, I like my wine to linger, it slows my consumption of it down :) but this sweetness is almost too much.  This seems to be closer to a desert wine than a table wine.  It says it doesn't have pino noir in it but it seems like it should.

It's an okay wine over all but 9 bucks is way too much.  It my opinion, skip the Middle Sister and save four dollars on Barefoot's Pino Noir.

Good drinking with you and Happy Vino!!      

P.S. thought this was a fun fact.  The spell checker on Blogger (this site) doesn't like any wine names.  So if your responding trust yourself.  Merlot is spelled correctly :)

Cupcake cab

So in order to properly review this wine, I've decided I need to try another bottle.  My first reaction was that for around 9 dollars I would rather have a Barefoot.  I just wasn't impressed.  Yet, I had it almost five days ago and since I didn't start the blog till yesterday I feel that it is only right to try it again to fairly judge just why I thought that the first time.
Stay tuned for my reviews of both this and a really nice 8 dollar Italian Chianti

A week alone to ponder, a glass to savor

I have never blogged. I have read my friends blogs, watched movies about blogs, and read about blogs. I like many have thought, "Why would I blog, I have nothing to say that others would find interesting." Plus, I have a less than positive attitude towards my writing skills. Then last week my lovely boyfriend worked out of town. Now this has happened before, but for some reason I found myself needing to evaluate my goals in life. This is also not new, at least every year I have one moment where I think, what am I doing? Why am I fighting for these things? Am I fighting hard enough? At these moments I want something that makes me happy. The easiest thing that does this for me is an exceptional meal and a glass of red wine.

So I went to the store. Target to be precise.

Some basic things to know are:

1. I live on an island.

2. My boyfriend and I only have one car.

3. My bicycle was recently stolen.

4. I really enjoy walking.

5. The closest options to shop for wine are, Target, Safeway, and a liquor store (I have never bought wine there, this will be something I check into and blog about later)

I was making salmon with grape and caper salsa (which I changed the recipe for as I was making it, but it was still going to be salmon)

As I was standing in Target in front of the wine isle, looking longingly at the various more expensive brands, I reached for Barefoot (a good quality 5 dollar bottle that has seen me through some tough financial times)

* This is an important note!! - I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Barefoot. For 5 dollars you can't get much better, and frankly I have had some really bad 9 dollar bottles that made me wish I had Barefoot's Pino or Cab instead. That being said, yes for a few dollars more, there are many wines that are much better. However, I still can't hate Barefoot and I never will.

But, back to that day in Target, staring at the 5 dollar bottle I thought, Why? Why can't I drink a 9 dollar bottle? There are so many wines in existence and yet I limit myself to 5 to 6 dollar bottles, and for what. I enjoy wine, I have had more expensive, I have been to wine tastings, I have books on wine, why do I limit myself on this one item. I then thought about finances.

Things to know about my finances:

I am a student,

I am mostly broke,

My boyfriend and I live paycheck to paycheck

I have started cooking meals at home on the weekends for lunch during the week

I am also trying to live healthier so I have been limiting my ice cream consumption

We love good food

Based on these things and our average weekly consumption of various alcoholic beverages I determine right there in the store that we can cut back on beer and such and still afford a few dollars more for our wine.

The plan swings into action and I buy, right then and there, a bottle of 8 dollar Cabernet Sauvignon and an 8 dollar Chianti. I head home.

I tell my plan to my boyfriend Nick and my friend Mickey, I am going to start drinking 8 to 11 dollar bottles of wine and widen my tastes and love of wine. I am also going to blog about it.

The goal and summary:

Each week I am going to try a minimum of one new wine in the price range of 8 to 11 dollars a bottle. Then I am going to blog about the wine, what I liked, disliked, what I ate with it, what I would eat with it again, etc. Hopefully through this, I will have a greater appreciation for wine, and you my friends will try some new wine with me.

Happy Vino,

Kris