Wannabe Wino

I loved it. An overall fabulous bottle of wine, it had it all. An amazing nose, flavorful in the mouth, excellent structure and acidity, good tannins, I could go on....

The wine was a 2005 Quivira Grenache 2005 from Wine Creek Ranch Vineyard. It cost us $20.40 in a club shipment, clocked in at 14.8% alcohol by volume, and had a real cork closure. I've always liked Quivira and this is easily among the top wines I've tasted from them.

On the nose I found dark fruit. It was actually surprisingly floral overall. I specifically detected blackberries, strawberries, black currants, vanilla, and spice. This was a very aromatic wine.

In the mouth I would describe this wine as round, smooth, and full-bodied. Again, the dark fruit showed through, with slightly sweet strawberries and blackberries being the most prominent flavors. Overall this was a very dark wine.

I served it with homemade bruschetta and pizza and it was a fabulous match. A great pizza wine in my opinion!

Although our weather has been admittedly hot, we have had a cool(er) streak for the last week. I jumped at the chance to dig into some more of my red wines to mix things up around here a bit. I try my best to drink a variety of wines to report on for everyone!

The bottle I picked was a 2004 Ridge York Creek Zinfandel. We picked this bottle up on our April trip out to the Sonoma are when we visited the winery. The bottle cost $28, had a real cork closure, and contained 13% Petite Sirah.

On the nose I found the elements of a great dessert. Vanilla, chocolate and blueberries dominated, with a hint of anise rounding out the aroma. In mouth the wine was silky smooth; the bottle disappeared before I knew it. I got blackberries, blueberries, and a peppery kick. Overall the fruit tasted very fresh.

I served it with a perfect summer meal: burgers on the grill, pasta salad, and potato salad. This seemed like a very food friendly Zinfandel. I've got another bottle clanging around and I look forward to drinking it.

I just could not get the lighting for this picture to come out. I tried lights on, lights off, flash on, flash off, lights dimmed....then I finally just gave up because I really wanted to drink the wine.

The wine was a 2006 St. Martin Reserve Sauvginon Blanc from the France Vin de Pays d'Oc. It weighed in at 12.5% alcohol by volume, cost me $6.49 at Total Wine and had a screw-top closure I believe. We drank this late one evening when it was far too hot to go to bed and a cold glass of wine sounded divine.

The nose of the wine was floral with peaches and melons. I would also describe the aroma as being crisp and fresh. In the mouth I found melon and oranges. The wine had great acidity and balance and was perfect for the intolerable heat of the evening. I would definitely seek this one out again, the value for the cost was excellent.

Sheesh, the wine of the evening clocked in at 16.1% alcohol by volume! I almost didn't serve it with dinner because we had to go to work the next day and I was a bit leery over the alcohol content. But being the good wino that I am, and for the sake of the blog, of course, I pressed on and found this to be an excellent bottle of wine.

The wine was a 2005 Felta Creek De la Montanya Zinfandel that came in a club shipment, had a real cork closure and cost $20.80.

On the nose I found blackberries, spice, black currants, and old leather. Yes, old worn in leather. In the mouth there were peppery spices, blackberries, black cherries, and plums.

The wine had a spicy kick which almost completely disappeared after an hour sitting out. Overall, this was rounder than most Zinfandels I have had, and despite the high alcohol content, really not overwhelming. The fruits were actually smooth and soft and the wine had excellent flavors after being allowed to sit out.

I served this one with a steak on the grill, and the match was pretty good given the peppery spices in the wine!

Apparently I've been delving into the Rhone varietals lately, and here is yet another one. The wine was a bottle of Chateau de Nages, Appellation Costieres de Nimes Controlee, Reserve 2005 White Rhone Wine. The blend was 60% Grenache and 40% Roussanne. The wine weighed in at 14.5% alcohol by volume (high for a white!), had a plastic cork and cost me $7.99 at Total Wine.

On the nose I found honey and apricot and I would call the overall aroma sweet. Which oddly contrasted with the flavor in the mouth with I would overall describe as spicy. Go figure. I found lemons and oranges in the mouth and the wine tasted slightly oaked, but I can't find any information on what kind of fermentation this bottle went through.

Overall, my impression was "eh." The wine was NMS.

This post marks my very last bottle from my last WineQ shipment. I now have to wait until Septemberish to order more my from Q, given the hot weather here. Any wine would fry in an instant traveling to our humid, heat-induced haze. Well, at least I closed the shipping season off with a bang!

Our last bottle of Q wine was a Croze Rose from the Suisun Valley, Napa, California. It weighs in at 13.75% alcohol by volume, cost us $13.99 (free shipping!) and I believe had a real cork closure.

This was an entirely Cabernet Sauvignon-based Rose, which I believe to be a new one for me! As I hope you can tell from the picture, the color of this wine was stunning and so pretty.

One the nose I found strawberries. I would also call the nose light and slightly sweet, with a distinctly fresh scent. In the mouth, the wine was fresh and lively with strawberries and watermelon. The wine was incredibly refreshing and perfect in out 100+ degree weather. I really enjoyed the way this wine played on the palate. Overall, it tasted a bit like a very light and fruity cabernet!

I served the wine with parmesan breadcrumb-baked tilapia, green beans and 4 cheese risotto. It was a great match for the risotto, easily cutting through the creamy flavors, and at the same time, did not overwhelm the light flavors of the tilapia. I would certainly put this wine in my Q again.

Or "Mer" as the case is with this bottle. My French isn't fabulous, as in, not very good at all, but I do know that word...close enough to the Spanish "Mar," a language I speak well enough, for me to recognize it!

I bought this wine for $6.99 on my second trip ever to Total Wine. The wine is Cler' Blanc "Special Fruits de Mer" Vine de Table Francais. Besides that, it says "Sauvion-Le Cleray-Vallet L.A. France, was 11.5% alcohol by volume and had a plastic cork.

On the nose I found pear, melon, and lemon. It was a very light wine, with a bit of minerally undertone. In the mouth there were flavors of pear and peach with good minerality. Overall, the wine was crisp and dry, I would probably serve it as an apertif were I to get it again.

I served the wine with cedar-planked salmon, broccoli, and wild rice, but I prefer my previous recommendation of Pinot Noir with Salmon. The pairing just works better for me. Alas, as I know from personal experience, and confirmed by a recent Pinot Noir round-up over on Good Wine Under $20, the cost of Pinot Noir is certainly not making it's way into budget friendly territory any time soon.

I'm starting to go back now and taste some wines that I tried 7-8 months ago and have more of in my collection to see how they are coming along. The bottle we drank this time was a 2004 Hop Kiln Old Windmill Zinfandel, weighing in at 14.2% alcohol by volume, having a real cork closure and costing us $20 at the winery.

We last tasted Dec. 7, 2006, so it's been 7 + months for this one to sit in my cellar and age. Last time I said let it hang around for a while longer to let the alcohol dissipate.

While the heavy alcohol scent was not nearly as apparent this time, the flavors in the glass were still wound tight and needs to sit out before they unwind to be distinguishable beyond "dark fruit."

After a bit, I found currants, raisins, dark cherry, spices, cloves, and leather on the nose. In the mouth I was getting
cherries, black currants, and spices. The wine is still slightly tannic, but a lot smoother than the last time. I think I have another bottle or 2 left, I'll definitely set those aside for at least another 6 months.

I served this with oven-baked chicken, broccoli and 3 cheese risotto, but again I am of the opinion that it would be better with a steak. I just didn't have any steak hanging around! Also, the wine didn't show the big blackberry and raspberry flavors I have come to expect from many California Zinfandels. Instead, it reminded me a bit more of a blend with Cabernet Sauvignon. Maybe my taste buds are going wacky.

I wanted to take a minute and let everyone know that my work has now filtered all blogs with a "typepad" or "blogspot.com" url. So now I can no longer even read blogs on my lunch break, including responding to comments on my own blog.

I can also no longer post my reviews at lunch, which was when I found the largest number of readers seem to come through here. My blogging strategy has always been that I write up posts as Matt and I are drinking the wine, I save the post, and then publish it at lunch-time.

I'm trying to figure out how blog reading and writing are going to fit into my day now. Does anyone have an opinion on whether I publish posts around 6:45 am est or around 8 pm est?

Sigh.

I swear we eat things other than crab legs and pizza. I know you can't tell that right now, but I am really just behind in getting up posts. A virus infected my work computer so I have had no internet access during the day as I am sans computer at the moment and just haven't been able to catch up on getting posts up!

We drank this 2005 Marry Me Roussanne by Roshambo with a dinner of snow crab leg clusters with fresh lemon and butter. (I will admit, this is one our favorite summertime dinners!) The wine came in a club shipment, had a real cork closure, weighed in at 14.1% alcohol by volume, and cost us $12.00.

On the nose I found lemon, honeysuckle, something tropical, pear, and white flowers. The nose was very aromatic. In the mouth the wine tastes a bit like a slightly heavy unoaked chardonnay, though it was a bit tart. Flavors displayed in the mouth were pear, honey, and apricots.

I thought this was a good effort from Roshambo and for the price point was a very good value. I also like trying new varietals, so that made my day as well.

We drank this bottle of De la Montanya 2004 Pin-Up Caberet with homemade pizza. It will appear to the very attentive reader over the next weeks that I make pizza every other day, but really the case is that I lost some posts and am just getting around to catching up on what we've been drinking. New house + new job =total time suck.

The wine came in our most recent club shipment and cost us $30.40 plus shipping. Only 245 cases of this wine were produced, it had a real cork closure, and weighed in at 14.6% alcohol by volume.

It's a red blend, and as soon as I opened the bottle I picked out Zinfandel and Syrah as some of the grapes involved in this wine. I was quite proud of myself when I turned the bottle over and discovered that it was 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Zinfandel, and 12% Syrah!
Got Zin and Syrah right away!

On the nose I found cedar, tobacco, oak, vanilla extract and black currants. Quite an aroma on this one, with each of the grapes seeming to contribute well to the nose. In the mouth I found lots of dark fruit and would describe the wine as smoky. The flavors were roast meat, blackberries and currants. I'm really loving these red blends, and this one was especially well-balances and went fantastically well with the pizza. However, I am a little concerned with the price tag, but am willing to let it go because I was very much impressed with the blend.

I was going to do a nice post today for my 300 post on Wannabe Wino about the past 8 months and all that jazz, but just discovered that the theme for WBW #36 has been posted. And, it's for the 3 year anniversary of WBW, so I would guess that should be a good enough topic for my 300th post!

Lenn of Lenndevours (some of you may have heard of the founder of WBW :)!) is hosting for us for this, the 3rd anniversary of WBW. Congrats to Lenn for starting something so great that has continued on in the blog world for that long!

Our theme for the month is Let's Get Naked! Turn those dirty minds off, there will be no naked pictures on all the wine blogs come the due date of August 8! Instead, Lenn would like everyone to get out there and find a bottle of unoaked Chardonnay. No other requirements, just that the wine has seen no oak. I love this theme, as I have many unoaked Chardonnays in the basement just begging to be consumed.

Lenn has also announced the release of a new central meeting place for all things WBW-related, Wine Blogging Wednesday Community, in addition to a new board of wine bloggers to help him manage WBW. Not to mention that there's a competition going to design a new label for WBW! Lots of news this month. You can read all about it here on Lenndevours.

Oh, and please do stop by My Wine Education to read the excellent round-up of Spanish wines from WBW #35. The reviews are all up, and Michelle and Kevin did a fantastic job. Thanks again for hosting.

You'd be drinking Sauvignon Blanc like it was going out of style too if you were living in 99+ degree weather with 100% humidity. It's rough to sleep, even with AC going full blast because it's still hot, so don't deny me my Sauvignon Blanc...if I can't sleep well, I might as well enjoy a glass of wine!

The wine was a 2006 Anakena Sauvignon Blanc from the Central Coast of Chile. It was 13% alcohol and cost me $6.50 at Total Wine. I've been digging the Sauvignon Blancs from Chile lately, but sadly, this was not my favorite bottle so far. I was a bit disappointed as a fellow shopper told me it was fabulous, and the store recommended it as a top pick. I think my expectations were too high!

The nose displayed tropical fruit and green apples. It smelled tart. In the mouth there were lemons and white grapefruit. It had racing, mouth-puckering acidity and was very refreshing. However, the acidity was too much for me! I love the tart wines, but I don't want to feel like I've been eating a bag of sour candy for an hour after I've had a glass of wine.

If for nothing else, you can count on me to keep it coming with the Sauvignon Blancs this summer. We have had the hottest week I ever remember in DC this week and I was very thankful I had made a trip to Total Wine for cheap and cheerful Sauvignon Blanc!

The bottle was a 2006 Santa Maria Sauvignon Blanc. The wine hails from the Central Valley of Chile (perhaps beginning to replace New Zealand as my favorite place for inexpensive and delicious Sauvignon Blanc), clocks in at 13% alcohol by volume and cost me $7.99 at Total Wine.

On the nose I found tropical fruit, hay and the gooseberry I usually expect to find in New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. It also had a slightly herbal note on the nose. The wine was heavier in the mouth than I had expected based on the nose, with grapefruit and tangy citrus. It could also be described as herbaceous in the mouth. Overall the wine was crisp and refreshing and definitely one of my favorite inexpensive Sauvignon Blancs to date.

A new grape for us! We picked this bottle of 1995 Hop Kiln Valdiguie up on our honeymoon while at Hop Kiln. They had taken a few cases out of their library to release the day we were there and we thought we'd take home a bottle. Overall, only 400 cases of this wine were produced and we had never heard of the varietal, so we were sold.

On the nose I found spicy raspberries, with the fruit being oddly fresh for a 12 year old wine. I expected the fruit to be duller and more muted given the age, but no, it was as if the raspberries were fresh off the bush. I also found fresh black cracked pepper which was where the kicking spice of this wine really seemed to come from.

I decanted because I read on CellarTracker that it was spicy, but I think that was a characteristic of the wine, not an aging thing. We also drank this outside the window suggested by CellarTracker...it said through 2006....we're not that far off, right?

In the mouth there were fresh strawberries and fresh raspberries (can you tell yet that I am impressed by the fresh flavors in this wine?) And more spice, mostly the black pepper, but something else I can't put my finger on. We had a weird thought on this wine. The fruit was really fresh on the front of the palate, but then it dropped off in the middle and finish, as if someone had poured water into it in the middle of the sip. I realize that sounds incredibly strange, but I can't really think of a better way to describe it.

The verdict? Certainly not worth the $50 price tag. It lacked depth and complexity for a wine at that price point. Not sure we actually paid that much, as I think we got a 20% club discount, but even at $40, too much money for too little wine.

Our host for this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday is Michelle of My Wine Education. The theme she has chosen is two-fold, our wine choice should first be from Spain, and second, it should fall into the $10 and under category. Bonus points if you get a wine not from Rioja, in order to think outside the most popular wine-growing areas of Spain.

I know I said I wouldn't return to Total Wine if I were searching for a WBW wine or a specific bottle as it was quite difficult in my opinion to find anything in particular, but this assignment seemed custom built for the Total Wine experience. Namely, the cheap part. I've bought my local wine shops out of inexpensive bottles and none of them came from Spain. So back to Total Wine I went.

The selection was actually pretty good. They had at least two dozens bottles that fell into the under $10 category, however, most were red wines. I really wanted a white or a rose as it is hot in VA and the idea of a heavier red in 100+ degree weather just doesn't appeal all that much to me. So I took my chances with this $7.49 bottle of Osborne Solaz 2005 Blanco Viura.

The wine had a real cork closure, weighs in at 12.5% alcohol by volume and hails from from Tierra de Castilla, a wine region in Toledo, Spain. (Do I get bonus points Michelle?) :)

On the nose the wine was lightly floral, with a hint of lime and just a bit of tropical fruit. However, the nose was very light and I had to keep sniffing at it for quite a while to be able to distinguish the aromas.

In the mouth the wine showed lime and bitter almonds. The limes were not tart or acidic, but what I imagine the limes in Sprite would taste like if I drank soda. I realize that bitter almonds sounds a little odd, but I kept going back to it trying to come up with a better descriptor, but that's really what it was.

I served this wine with king crab legs, butter and fresh squeezed lemons. The note on the bottle actually suggested a pairing with shellfish, and I happened to be serving king crab, so it was time to break out this bottle. It really wasn't fabulous with the crab. I think the strong, fresh lemon flavors overpowered the light qualities of the wine.

Overall, this is a very simple white wine. It showed better on it's own than with food, though something about it suggested it might be a good match with a sharp cheese. It had a light aroma and a light flavor and I can pretty much describe it as neutral. It was easy to sip and drink, but nothing stuck out about it.

Many thanks to Michelle for hosting!

The wine is the 2005 Indaba Sauvignon Blanc. I grabbed the bottle at Total Wine for three reasons, one, it was cheap, only $7.99, two, I liked the design on the front, and three, the word "Indaba" rang a bell and it irked me, so I wanted to figure out why.

Upon examining the label closely when I returned home, I discovered that the wine was 12.5% alcohol by volume, had a screw-cap, and was from the Western Cape of South Africa. And the word "Indaba?" It means a gathering, a forum for sharing, in Zulu. I knew it sounded familiar, I remember it from one of my all-time favorite books, The Power of One.

Anywho, what I found in the bottle was a nose of lemon and grass with a hint of tropical fruit. The wine was very lemony in the mouth with herbal notes and limes. Overall, the wine was crisp, but not very complex. A perfect wine to take on a picnic or to the beach, especially with the screw-cap!

Here we go again, another one from my WineQ! This time a 2003 Ceja Vino de Casa Red. The wine cost me $17.99 (and free shipping), weighed in at 13.4% alcohol by volume, and is a mix of 52% Pinot Noir and 48% Syrah. A very interesting blend, but I'm digging red blends lately and this one worked for me. (Not to be confused with the Ceja White I drank a few weeks ago!)

On the nose I found raspberries, cherries, plums, spices, and oak. The wine had a beautiful aroma, and again found me with red wine dripping from my nose as I put myself a little too far into the glass. In the mouth there were tart cherries, sour raspberries and plums.

Overall I would describe the wine as having very good structure and being really well balanced. This is a wine I would easily get again. I served it with steak with a red wine-strawberry jam sauce over 2 cheese risotto with steamed broccoli. It stood up okay to the steak, but I think it would have shone with a simple pasta dish with tomato sauce!

The wine is a 2006 Cantavida Sauvignon Blanc. Cantavida? Literally I think that means "sing life." Cantar is a verb that means "to sing" and "canta" is a conjugated form of the verb, meaning "he, she, or it sings." So "Life Sings" or "Sing Life?" I guess it can also mean to gossip in Chile, so that could be it too, since this is a Chilean wine....who knows, enough Spanish Lesson for today!

I picked this bottle up at Total Wine for $6.99, it hails from the Central Coast of Chile, it had a plastic cork closure, and was 13.5% alcohol by volume.

The wine was very aromatic. This was one of my favorite bargains at Total Wine and will be finding its way into my rotation of everyday wines. On the nose there were lemons, limes, passionfruits and other tropical fruits. A fruit salad in a glass! Not to mention the grapefruit. In the mouth, the wine was crisp with excellent acidity. The flavors showed lemons, so much grapefruit and green apples. I would certainly call this wine a refreshing palate cleanser and a pick-me-up for the hot, humid, VA summers.

I thought this wine, was the same Bella Zinfandel I've already reviewed and I was going to review it again since it's been 6 months or so since I drank it. However, I was wrong. As I went back to look at my old post, I realized the labels are slightly different and this is a completely different Zinfandel.

What I have here is a Bella Big River Ranch 2004 Alexander Valley Zinfandel. And I'd been avoiding drinking it because I thought I already reviewed it! Apparently it is sold out through the winery, but when we got it, it cost $34 minus a club discount, weighs in at 15% alcohol by volume and had a real cork closure.

On the nose there were gobs of dark fruit. Blackberries and black cherries with a hint of spices, vanilla and a cedar hope chest, along with black currants showing later. In the mouth the wine was quite tannic. I suggest decanting or holding off for a few years on this one. After the wine sat out, the flavors smoothed and the air certainly helped enhance the fruit, showing blackberries, other dark fruits and hints of oak. Once it aired, this wine showed the potential to be a very complex Zinfandel, with spicy earth undertones. I would definitely say hold on to it or let it decant before you consume!

Lots of celebrations happening at the Wannabe Wino house now that we've had a bit of time to get settled in and can actually walk through our living room again after finally unpacking all of the crystal and china that we got as wedding gifts last year and were never really able to find a place for in our apartment.

We paired this Moet & Chandon White Star Champagne with the disaster of the first meal I ever cooked in the new house. You know those pots with the locking lids that you just flip over to drain pasta? Well, I put the lid on, flipped, and drained.....and then the lid wouldn't come off. I think perhaps the heat expanded it and it just wouldn't budge. I ended up having to throw the pot away after leaving it in the fridge all night hoping the metal would contract. And in the meantime, cooked new pasta, but the cheesy cream sauce I made reformed into basically one big lump of cheese from cooking too long and it was just not good. So the meal was supposed to be pasta with fresh tomatoes, cheddar cheese sauce and grilled chicken.

The champagne was $41.99 on sale, had a traditional champagne closure, and weighed in at 12% alcohol by volume. At least the champagne helped salvage what otherwise would have been a disaster of an evening and I think it would have gone really well with my pasta if the sauce hadn't been destroyed.

I would say the nose of the champagne could only be described at toasty and yeasty. It really smelled as if I were making bread from scratch. In the mouth, it was smooth, with a fine bead and certainly went down very easily, displaying mostly crisp green apple flavors. Slightly sweeter than I had expected for this bottle.

Overall, a decent bottle of champagne, though I wouldn't pay that price point again.

Wine and fireworks are not a good combination, so I think I'll let someone else set off the explosions while I sit back and sip a glass of wine on this gorgeous 4th of July! Matt and I are celebrating the two year anniversary of our engagement today, which actually happened on the National Mall under the fireworks, picture above of one of those fireworks! I hope your 4th of July is excellent and relaxing and stay safe!

Matt's Uncle Bruce came over for dinner the other night and arrived bearing wine gifts, which are always greatly appreciated in out household! One bottle was the Veuve Clicquot Demi-Sec to help toast our new house. I popped it in the fridge and we enjoyed it together after dinner, though I imagine it would have gone quite well with the baked ham I made!

I know the same champagne was reviewed just the other day over on Huevos con Vino, I suggest you pop (pun intended) on over there and check out that review too, but that doesn't spare you from getting my opinion on the bottle as well!

The champagne had a traditional closure and was 12% alcohol by volume. Overall, the wine had a very fine bead, good acidity and bubbles in the mouth and was an excellent sweet champagne! Delicious, I would certainly get it again to celebrate an occassion.

I would describe the nose as displaying aromas of toast, toasted almonds and sweet honey. In the mouth it was quite sweet, but nicely balanced with honey, sweet almonds, green apples and flowers. An excellent way to toast the house and end our evening.

You didn't believe me about the deluge of Sauvignon Blanc I would be drinking, did you? If you were living in mid-to-high 90s weather with 100% humidty, you would be downing Sauvignon Blanc like it was going out of style as well!

We drank this 2006 Fat Ladies Sauvignon Blanc from the Western Cape of South Africa while sitting around the other night. (See, I can break out of the box...South Africa instead of Marlborough!) It had a screw-cap, cost me $7.99 at Total Wine, and was 12.5% alcohol by volume.

On those nose I found grapefruit, tropical fruits and lemons. The wine was very aromatic, I definitely didn't need to get my nose wet to smell this one. (Come on, I know you've done it too, stuck your nose so far into the glass that you actually get wine on your nose? No? It's just me? Well, it certainly wouldn't be the first time I've admitted to being an odd duck.)

In the mouth I found more grapefruit, tangerines, lemons and oddly enough, what I can only describe as orange creamsicles. It almost made me want an orange creamsicle, until I realized I'd prefer to have the wine.

Overall, I'd describe the wine as displaying very good citrus flavors while not going over the edge into overally acidic or tart. With the creamsicle flavor, I'd say the wine was smooth and it had a creamy character to the mouth that I don't find in the New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs I've been drinking. Another great value for everyday drinking from Total Wine.