December 29, 2011

Quick Wine Review: *****

Tonight we went all out and filled the entire wine fridge.  All slots are happily filled with a mix of South American, Italian, Californian, French, South African and Spanish wines.  I am very excited to try some of these tasty beverages out tonight when we invite Chris and Elena over for a dinner party.  We decided to make a pot roast along with baby bok choy to create a simple but delicious meal.  The pot roast generally takes a while to cook up so in the mean while we had a few wines.

Overall, I think tonight was a great night for wine drinking and of course I have the Venturi to thank for a lot of the great tastes.  We started off with a light Italian wine - a Montelpulciano.  I am a huge fan of Italian wines because they are very easy drinkers with a smooth but delicious taste.  This one of course was no exception.  The initial taste without aeration was a bit on the rocky side, but after being sent through the Venturi it turned out a nice clean crisp taste which I throughly enjoyed.

For our next wine we ventured over to South America and tasted a nice Malbec from the Mendoza region. I was more surprised by the taste of this wine as it reminded me more of a Pinot Noir than a Malbec.  It definitely tasted much fruitier than most Malbec's I have tried in the past.  Regardless, it was a delicious wine and paired quite well with our meal.

The final wine that we sampled was an Italian Chianti. Once again, the Italian wines are very smooth so I enjoyed this one a lot.  It didn't have a lot of tannins so it finished well and gave an overall nice taste to the wine.  This wine also pairs well with desserts - mainly chocolate chip cookies, so I would definitely recommend it as a great table wine.

Altogether I think all wines sampled tonight were delicious and brought their own unique taste and comfort to the table.  I would recommend all to any wine drinker - the taste will definitely be enhanced by the use of a Venturi or decanter!

Name: Citra Montepulciano D' Abruzzo
Vintage: 2010
Cork Type: Conventional
Grape: Montepulciano (predominantly Sangiovese)
Origin: Montepulciano, Italy
Alcohol Content: 13%

Name: Septima

Vintage: 2010

Cork Type: Conventional

Grape: Malbec

Origin: Mendoza, Argentina

Alcohol Content: 14%

Name: Gabbiano Il Cavaliere

Vintage: 2010

Cork Type: Conventional

Grape: Chianti

Origin: Tuscany, Italy

Alcohol Content: 13%

December 28, 2011

Quick Wine Review: *****

Today was a productive yet lazy day.  It started off as every other day, breakfast followed by a bit of TV to stimulate the brain.  We then put together the new ottoman that accompany's the couch - a perfect piece of furniture to enhance nap time.  I really wanted to give the new ottoman a test drive, but unfortunately I just wasn't tired enough.  Instead we went to run a few errands including the evil Wal-Mart and to Ranch 99 Market.  The market was pretty amazing with a stellar selection of different meats several of which I didn't know existed.  Everything looked extremely fresh and the prices were great too.  We decided to pick up some chicken wings and pork belly (YUM!) Our friend Chris has cooked us pork belly several times so we decided to finally give it a try on our own.

We got back to the house and I finally got to try out that ottoman.  Perfect for nap time! Best part is that I now get to be the cheese in the cheese sandwich as all the dogs sandwich me in pretty well.  After my nap, it was time to get down to serious business and start dinner.  We decided to cook the pork belly a la Chris with a side of cabbage.  As sous chef I am responsible for all the chopping which was quite enjoyable with all of our new cooking tools!  We opened up a bottle of Spanish wine named Codice.  I sampled the wine first without the Venturi and it tasted pretty intense.  The alcohol seemed to overwhelm the taste of the wine, so I am anticipating a much smoother experience once it is allowed to aerate for a bit.  The wine through the Venturi tasted much better.  The taste mellowed out quite a bit and was much easier to drink.  I would definitely recommend the Venturi device to anyone, especially those who buy wines that are on the less expensive side.

Name: Codice
Vintage: 2009
Cork Type: Synthetic
Grape: Blend
Origin: Spain
Alcohol Content: 13.5%

December 27, 2011

Quick Wine Review: *****

I had a wonderful Christmas holiday with my family in Beaumont. We had lots of delicious food, dessert and of course wine.  We drank several repeat wines and a couple new wines.  Unfortunately I did not keep good notes so I'll pass on the Christmastime reviews.

I did get several great gifts to enhance my wine experience.  My brother got me this great Venturi device that quickly aerates the wine.  This will come in handy with several of the cheap wines that need a lot of breathing to smooth out the intense bite.  I also got a decanter, so I am excited about all the wine reviews to come in the future.  Most importantly we just stocked up on wine! The wine fridge is back to its home and nice and happy and filled.  We bought $150 worth of wine that should keep us busy for a while.  Several Californian wines, French, Italian and Spanish.  It should give me great material for the next month or so.

Tonight was our first night back from Beaumont.  We were busy trying to get all of the gifts out of the boxes and into their new homes.  After a struggle to get the wine fridge back to it's original location, we decided it was time for some wine.  We drank one of our new pick ups from Spec's - a California Pinot Noir.  I was pretty excited about this wine because it got a gold medal at the 2010 Ultimate Wine Challenge, and it was less than $7!  The first sip proved to have a bit of a bite behind it, but I was still optimistic as running the wine through the new Venturi would soften the taste a bit.  The Venturi run was a success and it did taste a lot better than the initial tasting.  I still wasn't completely overwhelmed by the taste considering it was a gold medal winner.  I have definitely had better Pinot Noir's around a similar price point.  Altogether it was a fairly drinkable wine, but only when allowed to breathe either through decanting for some time or a quick run through a Venturi device.

Name: Barefoot Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2010
Cork Type: Synthetic
Grape: Pinot Noir
Origin: Modesto, California
Alcohol Content: 12.5%

November 25, 2011

Quick Wine Review: ***** More grape juice than wine.

Day after Thanksgiving AKA Black Friday.  Fortunately, we did not partake in the madness and decide to sit back and relax until after the crowds died off.  We did some shopping and were luck in some fronts and found a few Christmas gifts.  We came back to make a soup/stew type dinner meal from the remaining turkey.  This is a Rachael Ray recommendation so I'm expecting big things.  While making the dish my mom and I continued to drink wine from her extensive collection.  I sampled the Los Vascos wine from yesterday one last time to ensure I had the review from yesterday correct.  I stand firm with my recommendation that this was not a good wine.  

We ended up opening a malbec/merlot blend from Argentina which is one of my mom's favorite regions.  This was not a good selection.  It had more of a grape juice flavor than the wine taste I enjoy. It tastes almost vinegary which may be a sign of a bad bottle rather than a bad wine.  This wine also had the synthetic cork which I am not a fan of because it dissent immediately show any bottling issues as the cork doesn't absorb the wine and allow the cork to stay moist.  Despite that fact, I will stand with my review until I am able to try a new bottle.

Name: Wandering Grape

Vintage: 2007 

Cork Type: Synthtetic 

Grape: 65% Malbec, 55% Merlot

Origin: Mendoza, Argentina

Alcohol Content: 13%

November 24, 2011

Quick Wine Review: ***** Extremely tart and earthy taste.

Thanksgiving!!! What am I thankful for...family and friends of course!  Today all throughout cooking we tried a plethora of wines, most which I have already reviewed, but a few which I had not, but do not recommend from the few sips I took.

The Thanksgiving day preparations were fun as me and my mom put all the main course and side items together - part of family tradition. I made the mushroom medley I had earlier this week courtesy of Chris.  It was quite tasty, but not as good as the master himself.  We drank the wine with the scary faced man (the Texas surprise) and the petite syrah Bogle I had tried earlier in September.  I had a few new wines, which I thought had more of a grape juice flavor than wine so needless to say, I was not a fan.

I was absolutely stuffed after turkey day dinner and couldn't help but feel like a much deserved nap was in my future.  However, we had tickets to see the cirque du soleil show Dralion.  It was fantastic and the people in the show certainly raise the bar for talent.  All sorts of acrobats, juggling, trampling bouncing, jump roping and intense balancing highlighted the show.  It was my first time to see one of those and I would definetly recommend it to anybody who hasn't had the opportunity.  The show is broken up into different "acts" by these comedians who were pretty hilarious and the show was overall very well put together considering it was here in Beaumont.

Name: Los Vascos Reserve
Vintage: 2008
Cork Type: Conventional
Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon
Origin: Colchagua Valley, Chile
Alcohol Content: 14%

November 23, 2011

Quick Wine Review: *****

Tonight is Thanksgiving eve, so last chance to eat a normal meal before ridiculously over stuffing ourselves.  Before going out to eat, we started off the night with some wine.  My brother's recommendation was a cab sav from California, not Virginia (ahem).  It was a pretty tasty wine, but I wouldn't say it was anything spectacular.  It was on the dryer side and wasn't as smooth as other cab's I've had in the past.

We decided to go out to dinner at Pappadeux to stalk my mom's dinner party.  I had some delicious fried calamari, shrimp cocktail and fried alligator.  Yummy. Afterwards, we went to the grocery store to get the final ingredients for tomorrow's Thanksgiving fest.  I'm pretty excited to start the holiday season!! When we got back home, we spent some time in the backyard with the puppies and then decided to finish off the night with some more wine.  The wine of choice was a barbera from Italy, which my Dad has really taken a liking to from our trip to Wine Country, USA.  I'm surprised since this is one of the older vintage's I've tried.  The barbera is a less dry wine with a bit of spiciness, but overall I think this is a pretty good wine and it is quite an enjoyable wine to sip.  We are going to watch the final episode of Harry Potter while finishing off the wine, so it will be the perfect way to bring in Turkey Day!

Name: Joel Gott 815
Vintage: 2009
Cork Type: Conventional
Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon
Origin: St. Helena, Napa County, California
Alcohol Content: 13.9%

Name: Barbera D'Asti - Castello del Poggio

Vintage: 2004

Cork Type: Conventional

Grape: Barbera

Origin: D'Asti, Italy

Alcohol Content: 13.5%

November 22, 2011

Quick Wine Review: *****

Tonight we are having another dinner party with Chris and Elena! I'm so excited to try his baked chicken that Elena raves about - the skin should be nice and crispy after having over a day to dry.  The plan is to have dinner and finish off the night with some games.

Name: Bonizio Sangiovese Di Maremma
Vintage: 2009
Cork Type: Traditional
Grape: Sangiovese
Origin: Toscana, Italy
Alcohol Content: 13%

Although the chicken turned out to be a little chewier than I expected,  it was delicious. The mushrooms are going to be my new addiction and I have decided to make the delicious mushroom medley that Chris made tonight for Thanksgiving. The wine was a more dry than I like, but overall it had a pleasant taste.

November 21, 2011

Quick Wine Review: *****

Tonight, I will be reviewing a wine brought over from Chris and Elena (C/E).  They have such great taste so I'm thinking it will be delicious.  We are making London broil with my favorite cabbage creation side.  I decided to put a twist on Chris' cabbage by using leeks instead of onions, so I am excited to see if it will turn out well - but then again, add a stick of butter to anything and it's pretty delicious.

The first wine had a fruity theme and definitely tasted a little richer once the tannins were allowed to breathe.  I think this is definitely a good value for the type of wine.

Name: Crane Lake
Vintage: 2010
Cork Type: Conventional
Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon
Origin: Sonoma, California
Alcohol Content: 12.5%













The second, our gift from C/E, was a red wine from italy.  We sampled this wine over one of our favorite games, Super Mario Brothers.  Unfortunately, it seems that some characters still seem to get those pesky Bowser treats in the red mushroom huts. These Italian wines always have a distinct flavor so compared to the first it had a lot more of a dry, woody flavor.  I think both were excellent, but the second had a more unique flavor than the first California wine and other Italian wines I have tried in the past. Both would make fantastic pairings with a Thanksgiving turkey meal!

Name: Vino Del Fratelli
Vintage:2008
Cork Type: Conventional
Grape: Montepulciano D'Abruzzo
Origin: Montepulciano D'Abruzzo, Italy
Alcohol Content: 12.5%

November 14, 2011

Quick Wine Review: *****  Pleasant Surprise!

Today I had a craving for a plethora of different foods so we had a protein rich, fiber rich meal with some of my favorite foods.  Shrimp cocktail, short ribs and butter cabbage...yum!  And of course, what goes better with my favorite foods than my favorite food pairing...wine!  We decided to try out the Texas wine that my mom brought over of which I had very low expectations.  It all started with the scary faced man who is plastered on the front of this bottle, and the fact that this is a Texas wine.  This was quite the pleasant surprise.  It paired well with everything that we had for dinner and was another easy drinking wine.  I would definitely recommend this scary face man red wine to any wine drinker.  Thanks Mommy!

Name: Becker Vineyards Iconoclast

Vintage: 2010

Cork Type: Conventional Cork

Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon

Origin: Fredericksburg, TX

Alcohol Content: 13.8%

November 12, 2011

Quick Wine Review: ***** Easy drinking wines!

Today was all about getting into the holiday spirits.  Me and my mom went to the Nutcracker Market at the Reliant Center to kickoff the start of the holiday season.  It's like a winter wonderland with so many vendors selling Christmas decorations, delicious holiday treats and plenty of Christmas type gifts.  We spent a good 3 hours walking around checking everything out, after which I was completely beat.  My mom said that she could go all day looking around at everything, but I'm not sure I'm built to keep up with the best.  After our shopping extravaganza we went to Block 7 Wine Bar to get some much needed revitalization.  We ended up selecting two bottles of wine both of which were delicious.  The first was dryer than the second, so I preferred the second, although both drank pleasantly.  We sipped on our wines while indulging in popcorn with truffle oil, smoked salmon and delicious flatbread pizza.  We finished off the meal with a dessert which was a little too sweet for me.




Name: Chateau Coupe Roses Minervois La Bastide

Vintage: 2006

Cork Type: Conventional Cork

Grape: Blend - 90% Grenache, 10% Carignan

Origin: Minervois, France

Alcohol Content: 13%

Name: Crasto Douro

Vintage: 2009

Cork Type: Conventional Cork

Grape: Blend - 34% Touriga Nacional, 33% Tinta Francasca, 33% Tinta Roriz

Origin: Douro, Portugal

Alcohol Content: 14.5%

November 3, 2011

Quick Wine Review: ***** Very tart.


After an invigorating Thursday evening nap, my appetite is worked up and I'm ready for a delicious meal accompanied with some tasty wine.  I decided on the French Bordeaux to accompany the fettucine alfredo which would bring out the richness of the meal.  My first glass was quite tart and I thought a few minutes would give the tannins a chance to breathe and settle the flavor to make the wine smoother.  Unfortunately, close to an hour later, it is still as tart as the first drink.  I had to break up the sips with giving a follow up hair cut (faux hawk's are my favorite!), and washing the dishes.  I would not recommend this wine after the tart flavors really threw off the night.

Name: Graves Chateau Des Proms Cuvee Bellevue

Vintage: 2008

Cork Type: Conventional Cork

Grape: Blend - 70% Carbernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 5% Malbec, 5% Cabernet Franc

Origin: Bordeaux, France

Alcohol Content: 12.5%

October 24, 2011

It has been so long since my last post!  And I will admit, I have not been keeping up with the postings, but mostly because I didn't think anyone was reading my genius blogs.  I need to get a solid fan base that truly appreciates the delectable tastes of different wines.

Regardless, let's get started with tonights review.  Tonight we decided to go out to a new place to try some fresh, healthy food.  Zoe's Kitchen has quite the entourage of food to try, but I went with the Grilled Shrimp Salad which proved a good choice.  The place is right on Washington just a short distance from Sherlock Home.  I enjoy the thought of eating fresh food that is also healthy, so this was a premier pick.  We decided to take it "to go" so we could enjoy a nice bottle of wine with the meal.  The Shrimp Salad chose to be a good decision.  It had so many flavors that went well with tonight's meal.  I really enjoyed the Polka Dot themed label of the Grenacha wine.  I'm not sure I've had a Grenacha wine before, but it really enhanced the flavors of the grilled shrimp, feta and Greek sauce the salad was laced with.

I was able to enjoy the wine and dinner with a side of Dexter, Season 6 episode 4.  I must say, I really enjoy watching TV series back to back which is why I took a liking to the Dexter series.  But now I have to wait until each episode airs until I can get my fix.  Tonight's episode was especially dramatic, but I won't give away any details for the Dexter lovers that haven't yet watched it.

The bottle of wine has since been consumed and we are now on to watching the latest Parks and Recreation episode.  I'm excited to see what the show has been up to since we haven't been keeping up with it as readily as Dexter.  Either way, to epic TV shows equally worth taking time out of my busy Monday afternoon for a quality viewing.

Name: Monte Oton

Vintage: 2010

Cork Type: Synthetic

Grape: Garnacha

Origin: Bodegas Borsao, Spain

Alcohol Content: 14.5%

September 24, 2011

Today, we have a guest blogger who took on the feat while I went to the Maroon 5/Train concert...

After a large plate of double crisp fries smothered in country gravy and topped with crunchy, thick cut bacon, I was craving some thirst quenching wine to combat the heavily salted snack. A fine chilled pinot noir should do nicely as the grape tends towards the lighter side. I'm still a bit fevered from the walk back from the Hubcap Grille for my food as it is still a humid 83 degrees even at 10pm. If they had accepted anything but cash alone this bottle would have been opened a bit later because the Hubcap has a great selection of craft brews. I selected the Pepperwood Grove Pinot Noir to cork and was surprised at the synthetic cork which is custom printed with a delightful graphic. It is a very light color but perfectly smooth and tasty. It is a very fun wine which goes great with the movie I queued from Netflix before I left to eat! Lately I've been feeling bad that the doggies have nothing to entertain themselves with while us humans are away. So this time I started the movie “The Man Who Knew Too Little” starring Bill Murray and headed out to grab a bite. I intended to switch it off when I returned but it just sucked me right back in. The last time I saw this flick was in 1997 when it was in theaters! After a quick click to Rotten Tomatoes it appallingly received only a 42% from critics on the Tomatometer, highly underrated. The audience reviews seem to share my opinion that Bill Murray can do no wrong.

The doggies are now asleep on the couch as I'm ready for my second glass. Its very easy drinking and one I could see myself buying again for hot summer days. I bought a bota bag several years ago not even realizing it was made to be filled with wine! This would be ideal for a weekend trip to the driving range or to play frisbee.

Glass number three already, see I told you it was easy drinking and I'm not even typing with one hand with the glass in the other! I'm catching a lot of spices that are slowly working their way through my taste buds. It reminds me that I should really make some food to bring to a football party our friends are hosting. They have already tasted my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies so maybe I'll fry up some gameday nachos with homecut and extra crispy tortilla chips. Makes me wonder what wine would go well with nachos...

Name: Pepperwood Grove

Vintage: None Given

Cork Type: Synthetic

Grape: Pinot Noir

Origin: Valle Central, Chile

Alcohol Content: 13.4%

September 13, 2011

Tonight has been a whirlwind of activities!  It's like I've been on the go since the beginning of the day, so a glass or two of wine is exactly what I need to take a load off. First, taking care of that never ending laundry business.  Then on to preparing some delicious dinner - pasta a la sausage.  I have built up quite an appetite this evening from my 5k (3 miles for all those who didn't go to SI school) run.  I've been doing the run for 8 weeks now, and I'm not sure I see any results but I feel great.  My endurance and stamina have both really picked up so I feel much healthier.  Hopefully it's enough to battle off that nasty cholesterol.  If not, I'm sure the red wine I'm drinking with dinner will definitely help, or maybe the 4 tbsp of butter that goes along with the meal...

The dogs are up to their usual antics.  Wondering aimlessly around the kitchen waiting for anything to drop down for a quick after doggy dinner bite.  Writing this blog is definitely more exciting on my new Macbook Air.  Who could ask for a better piece of technology - super portable, light, compact, great design! Best part is no viruses

The wine is very tasty - it has a very oaky, earthy flavor when first opened.  But we'll see how the wine fairs after the tannins breathe for a little while and when paired with the pasta dish.

Name: Bogle Vineyards
Vintage: 2008
Cork Type: Conventional Cork
Grape: Petite Syrah
Origin: California, Graton
Alcohol Content: 13.5%

September 12, 2011

This evening has been filled with caring for sick dogs, troubleshooting hot water heater problems, and the never ending story of laundry.  Thank goodness I finally get to relax with some delicious red wine and my favorite breakfast for dinner!  My mom would of course appreciate that my favorite breakfast for dinner is the meat with the little potatoes in the can (corned beef hash).  It also happens to be the first Monday Night Football (MNF) of the 2011 season!! Who better to start off the season than the Patriots?  They are playing a fairly lackluster team (Miami) , but it is always fun seeing the all-star line up of the Patriots.  Unfortunately my fantasy football team is just as lackluster as the Miami Dolphins lineup, however I've still got a big time running back who I'm holding my breath for.  The dogs are doing their normal trot around the kitchen waiting for any morsel of food to drop down while food is being prepared.  To their dismay, they will probably have to settle for the dirty bone that's been stewing in the rug filth for a while.

Back to the wine.  It is a smooth wine with no bite so your mouth doesn't make that pucker face after taking a sip.  To my surprise, it is a wine from Chile which I have stereotyped as bitter, pucker face inducing wines.  It got a 88/100 on the wine enthusiast best buy list.  I'm sure it will pair well with corned beef hash a la scrambled eggs.

Name: Santa Alicia Reserva
Vintage: 2009
Cork Type: Twist Off
Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon
Origin: Chile, Maipo Valley
Alcohol Content: 14%

September 4, 2011

Tonight I am starting my first blog all related to my experiences sampling delicious red wines.

This Labor Day weekend I have had several bottles of wine, some better than others, but all surrounding food, family and fun.  I am spending the weekend at my parent's house which is always exciting with 7 dogs! For me, the experience drinking the wine is what makes it memorable, so I will attempt to capture my experiences with wine.

Tonight...I'm joining the millions on the organic kick to find out if it really does carry over and enhance the taste of wines.  I will be sampling an organic Spanish wine with a new type of grape I have never tasted.

Name: Luzon Verde
Vintage: 2010
Cork Type: Conventional Cork
Grape: Monastrell (100%)
Origin: Spain
Alcohol Content: 13.5%

I am sitting around the kitchen table while the BBQ chicken cooks and the charro beans finish to a delectable spiciness.  The dogs have just finished supper and are running around my parents backyard. Everyone is preoccupied on their technological devices that one day will be the ruin of all mankind.  I have a slight upper respiratory infection which has been hampering my smell and taste since Friday. Despite my temporary disability, I am determined to make sure I eat all the good food and drink all the delicious red wine I can.  The wine is delicious, and doesn't have quite the bite some other Spanish red wines are notorious for.  I am surprised considering this is a 2010 vintage and it has not had much time to ripen to a nice fine age.  Dinner was fantastic - BBQ chicken, charro beans and seasoned sweet potatoes along with a nice glass of Luzon Verde.
__________

Fantasy Football 2011 Draft is about to begin!! Of course, where am I drafting...number 12 (figures).  I'll probably end up with a terrible team just like my other league.  Oh well.  At least I'm bringing in this drafting year with a delicious bottle of Boom Boom Syrah.  I've had this wine a few times at the illustrious Suga's in downtown Beaumont.  This time, I'll be enjoying with a decadent, freshly baked homemade brownie.  Everything tastes so delicious and thankfully I got a good QB and RB to solidify my team.  We'll see how football week one goes on Sunday!

Name: Boom Boom

Vintage: 2009

Cork Type: Twist Off

Grape: Syrah (100%)

Origin: Columbia Valley, Washington

Alcohol Content: 14.1%