Category Archives: Wine

Mike bought a couple of bottles of this wine last year when they were on sale for $20. He really seems to like it. I always feel guilty about drinking expensive wine (and for me, any wine over $10 is expensive) for the hell of it, but we don’t have enough special occasions to actually drink all the bottles we have (yes, we should have more, but it’s not always easy with 2 little kids).
Sunday night, however, I was making a Cameroonian Menu and my friend Arthur happened to drop by, so we invited him to eat with us. He’s moving away soon, so I figured that merited a nice bottle of wine. Plus I didn’t have any cheaper ones 🙂
Anyway, I wasn’t too kin on the BV Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2003. It had a nice beginning, it was smooth and buttery, but then it just fell flat. There was nothing there. No middle, no finish.
Mike and Arthur said they liked it, but the bottle went unfinished.

I have nothing to say about this Chilean TJ wine, as I didn’t actually drink it. It’s a kosher wine, which I didn’t realize when I bought it, not that it matters to me. In any case, I used this wine to marinate some braised short ribs I’m making today, so I wanted to remember what it was to let you know (and me) how the recipe turned out. I’m now off to throw away the bottle 🙂

It’s time to update the list of wines I have at home, so I can check it next time I need a wine to match some food. Clearly I need to buy more cheap wines. And clearly I need more special occasions for the expensive wine.
Under $10 wines
Chateau Briot 2004 Bordeaux
Columbia Crest 2003 Two Vines Cabernet Sauvignon
Zonin Proseco Brut
Villar Carlotti Prosecco
Medium Priced Wines
2000 Atlas Peak Vineyards Sangiovese, Napa Valley
Piper Sonoma Brut
Better wines
2006 Bink Sauvignon Blanc, Randle Hill Vineyard (this, like the other Bink wines, we got at an auction for Girl’s Inc – we paid $80 for all four)
2002 Casola Lopez Malbec (my cousin Betiana Lopez gifted it to me in Argentina)
2004 DeLoach Sonoma County Zinfandel ($35 or so, bought at winery)
2003 BV Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon (I think $20, Mike likes it)
2001 Yorkville Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon (bought at winery)
A syrah we bought at Roederer and that’s too high up in the closet for me to look at.
2001 Fife Meritage (was $15 at Safeway off $32)
2003 Bink Merlot, Hawks Butte Vineyard
2003 Bink Syrah Hawks Butte Vineyard
2004 Bink Pinot Noir Weir Vineyard
1999 Roederer L’Ermitage Brut ($45 bought at winery)
Sweet wines
Westover Port (someone must have gifted it to us, doesn’t say which kind, must be around $20)
2005 V. Sattui Muscat (bought @ winery >$20)
2005 Navarro White Riesling ($29 small bottle)
Lustau Dry Amontillado Los Arcos Sherry

I bought this wine after we came back from our wine country trip and we were all enthused about wines. It was 50% off at Safeway (from $20) and it seemed like a good deal. I’ve been meaning to drink it every since, but after our initial enthusiasm with drinking wine, we kind of forgot about it.
Tonight I made a nice dinner and decided it was a good time to have some wine. Yes, I had made chicken and a white would have been more appropriate, but I didn’t have any in the fridge and I wanted to open this wine once and for all.
I found it to not be a bad choice at all. The wine is definitely robust, but it didn’t overwhelm the chicken. It has hints of black cherry and is somewhat chalky – the finish is pretty sharp. It’s not an easy to drink wine, but it feels nice in a cold night – it warms you up.

Tonight we had this cheap Trader Joe’s white wine. I’d bought it because I liked the off-shape frosted bottle. The wine turned out to be quite nice. It’s dry, easy to drink and quite refreshing. I don’t distinguish any particular flavor in it, other than wine, but it did become a bit buttery when drank with chicken (cooked in the same wine). In all I liked it and would buy it again as an all-around white wine.

I don’t usually like Merlots, but I was seduced by this wine when we tried it at the winery. It’s extremely smooth, with a great finish and all the oakiness you could want. It’s not in the least alcoholic, with the medium tanins, one of the easiest drinking wines – and most satisfying – I’ve had. It went great with the food we had at Spettro (chicken marsala in my case), even though the food itself left much to be desired.
I would definitely like more bottles

This is the first time I’ve ever tried a Pinotage so it’s difficult for me to know how Zarafa’s compares to other wines of the same varietals. For me, it was a complete different experience in wine. I can’t quite describe the sharp flavor with which its greets you. Wood? Dark chocolate? Dark chocolate covered wood? I read somewhere that it smells like band-aids and I have to say I agree, but the taste has me dumbfounded. Following that is a medium-to-light body, which disappears into nothingness. Am I drinking water? It does have a lingering flavor, somewhat sweet and plumy. But very earthy and leathery. Yes, I think that’s the right word, leathery.
In all, it was a complete new experience in wine for me – though it did remind me of certain Argentine table wines. It’s not an experience that I enjoyed tremendously, but it was OK and I will finish the bottle. Mike, OTOH, didn’t like it at all.

I had read that feijoada, a famous Brazilian sausage and black bean stew, went very well with Argentinian Malbec. Alas, I didn’t read that until the last moment, and when I went to serve it the only Malbec I recalled having at home was the 2005 Black Mountain Malbec, Watson’s Grove – a California wine. (Later I remembered that I had a Malbec I had brought with me from Argentina a few years ago). It’s a cheap wine (about $6), but it seemed like the best option for dinner.
It wasn’t bad. It had a medium body – as Malbec’s tend to do – and a fruity finish. It improved magnificently with dinner, bring forward hints of oak and black cherry. All in all, a good but not great, table wine. But whoever said feijoada and Malbec went well together, was right.

Last night we opened the bottle of Vintner’s Cellar Dolcetto we won at the “Day at the Casa” raffle a couple of weeks ago. We’d drank the other of bottle of wine we won previously. The wine itself was pretty good. It resembled a muscat in being golden and sickingly sweet, and it tasted of honey and fruit. It was a bit alcoholic, though, reminding me of a madeira. It had a smooth, yet bitter finish. We both liked it.
Alas, I’m puzzled as to what this wine actually is. I researched it on the internet, and dolcetto is a black grape from Italy. The wine it produces is dark red, as I confirmed by doing a search of images of dolcetto. This one, as mentioned, was golden colored. Still, the bitter finish is associated with dolcetto – was it for that, I’d just conclude it was a mislabeled muscat.
The wine was produced by Vintner’s Cellar, a make-your-own-wine chain. It’s labeled as a Vintner’s Cellar wine, so I don’t know if this means that they made it, or if the person who donated it made it there but did not use a customized label. To add to the puzzlement, Vintner’s Cellar at least now does not offer dolcetto or muscat. Also, there is no Vintner’s Cellar in this area, so this wine must have travel somewhat.
All that said, it was pretty good, and we are sure to finish it.

I opened this wine tonight and I have to say it tasted like … chianti. Really, it had a complete chianti taste and aroma. It was easy drinking without being too light, a tiny bit sweet and fruity but with a slight tanic finish. It was easy to drink, and it complimented my TJ’s gnocchi a la sorrentina perfectly. I daresay this is a good a wine to sip by itself, or drink with pasta, stews and probably even beef.
Update: I tried the leftover wine with a beef and potato curry, which was mildly spicy, and it didn’t work out too well. The spice deprived the wine of its body, living it hollow with some bitterness around the edges. Not a good combination.
I also tried it with some milk chocolate treats (I’m not a big dark chocolate eater), and it also didn’t go very well, the hollowness wasn’t as pronounced but it was still there.
(note, the label on the picture is from 2003 Aquilda de’Oro chianti, I couldn’t find a picture of the 2005)
In any case, at $4 a bottle (I think), this is a wine I’ll buy again. A perfect (western?) table wine.