Gigondas is a blend that consists mainly of Grenache along with Syrah and Mourvedre, which comes from the nice little Provencal village with the same name in the southern part of the Rhone Valley in France. Grenache is a grape which is quite hard to characterize: it does not have the prominent varietal characteristics of Syrah or Cabernet and often produces wines that, while concentrated, alcoholic and tannic, are surprisingly light in color. However, given low yields and careful vinification, this grape is capable of producing serious, herby, spicy, earthy, cinnamon-laced wines with good ageing capacity.

Gigondas went very well with the roasted pork loin that we had and would go well with any meat or tuna cooked with red wine, beef stew, game, mushrooms, and strong cheeses. It also matches very well with spicy Mexican, Indian and exotic foods. All in all, Gigondas is a very nice wine for under $20.

I’ll be talkin’ to ya later!

Technorati Tags: wine, wine gift, red wine, French Wine, Cotes du Rhone

The first wine from Brancott that we tasted was the Brancott Vineyards Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. This wine set the benchmark for this particular varietal back in the 90’s when it was awarded the Marquis De Goulaine Trophy for the best Sauvignon Blanc in the world in 1990. This wine displays some nice fruit characteristics such as grapefruit. It was well balanced and had a nice acidity. This new vintage was again a job well done.

We also tried the 2006 Marlborough Reserve Sauvignon Blanc and this wine was again outstanding. It was a little more refined and displayed a little more elegance that it earlier counterpart. Although the same fruit characteristics were there, they were a lot more subtle and probably would go somewhat better with the shrimp I was daydreaming about cooking.

So here is an idea, enjoy the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc while you are grilling the shrimp and enjoy a bottle of the Reserve Sauvignon Blanc while you are eating the shrimp!! What a great evening that would make, don’t you agree?

I’ll be talkin’ to ya later!

Technorati Tags: wine, wine gift, Sauvignon Blanc, grilling, patio

Since we were going to have a couple fine steaks cooked on the grill I thought it would be a nice time to enjoy her Christmas gift. I’m almost sure she didn’t even realize that what we were drinking was a result of my love for her, but I could tell that she was slowly falling in love with her wine. She, as well as myself, thought this wine was truly fantastic. It was a very dark red in color with a lot of fruit on the nose. It had a wonderful taste of black cherry, and a little bit on oak. It was very well balanced, and had some very soft tannins. This wine truly made an enjoyable meal, memorable.

Things covered are

• Wine Bottle Storage
• Types of Wine Cellars
• Considering your cellar as an investment
• Building Your Own Wine Cellar
• Temperature and Humidity and Wine
• Wine Cellar Cooling Units

Most the article focuses on building your own wine cellar. Interesting stuff.

I’ll be talkin’ to ya later!

Technorati Tags: wine cellar, diy wine cellar, wine

We started drinking wine at about 6:00 p.m. with a really nice blend, Rosemont Estate 2005 Traminer Riesling. We both really enjoyed this wine, it was perfect for a great conversation while we waited for the grill to get hot. It’s a little sweeter than we normally drink but not too sweet. Ally really seemed to like it a lot.

Later with our meal we had a cabernet sauvignon, but it wasn’t good enough to write about, the food far outweighed the wine. So anyway, here’s information about the Rosemont Estate wine, I got it off the winery’s website.

Tasting Notes for Rosemont Estate 2005 Traminer Riesling:

Traminer Riesling is a delicious blend of two of the world’s most expressive
and flavoursome grape varieties. Traminer - also known as Gewurztraminer -
has a spicy, tropical fruit aroma reminiscent of lychees and exotic scent, with
a generous, soft palate. The Riesling component adds elegance to the finish,
with lifted, floral flavours and a fine acidity which balances the wine to
perfection.

Regional Source
The fruit was selected from premium Australian regions including Mudgee,
Langhorne Creek and Padthaway.

Vintage Conditions
The 2005 vintage was of consistent good quality across all regions.
Favourable seasonal conditions - particularly mild temperatures, with few
sustained hot periods, and moderate and generally well timed rainfall -
resulted in good quality and steady ripening of fruit, with full varietal
characters being developed.

Grape Variety
Traminer, Riesling

Maturation
The Gewurztraminer was cold-fermented at 13 degrees Celsius. A third of
the Riesling was retained as unfermented juice and later blended with the
dry-fermented components prior to bottling, resulting in a medium dry wine
full of natural grapey freshness.

Winemaker Comments:
Color: Light straw with lime highlights.
Nose: Tropical fruit aromas combine with more delicate blossom notes, wrapped up with a hint of spice.
Palate: Sweet tropical fruit flavours flood the palate developing honeyed notes towards the finish. Fresh, citrus acidity adds
great balance and a clean, lively finish.

Wine Analysis:
Alc/Vol: 11.5%
Peak Drinking: Now - 2007
Food Matches: Ideally suited to Aperitif, Asian, Seafood

I’ll be talkin’ to ya later!

Technorati Tags: wine, wine review, Gewurztraminer, Riesling

Sen. Migden said in a news release, “the heady varietal is a “quintessential California wine,” dating back to Gold Rush days and versatile enough to stand up to the spicy diversity of California cuisine. “It’s about time we give it the recognition it deserves.”

Now I’m not a Californian but I would think this bill would raise some heads. California is the lead winemaking state in the U.S., we all enjoy many varietals from California, how could they elevate one varietal, Zinfandel, over the rest? Certainly this doesn’t sit well with wineries that only produce Cabernets or Chardonnays or any varietal other than Zin.

The bill, SB1253, is headed to committee and could be heard next month. I’m going to be watching how this plays out and I’ll let you know when I know.

I’ll be talkin’ to ya later!

Technorati Tags: wine, zinfandel, California wine, California Zinfandel

It’s too late for Valentine’s Day but remember, Mother’s Day is coming up. We just put a collection of items called The Rose Collection and they are really pretty. Any item from the collection would make a great gift for a lady. We also put another collection in the store called The Riviera Collection. You just need to check this stuff out.

There’s more to come, we’re only about halfway through the Picnic Time stuff. And I can’t wait ’til we get to the BARBEQUE stuff! Yeah, barbeque! The catalog even has a page for tools! I don’t know if Reba will let me put the tools. Maybe if I let her put the garden stuff, she’ll let me put the tools. We’ll see.

If you have a suggest for items you’d like to see sold in our store, just leave a comment. I don’t get many comments here but I would love for my regular readers to add something (I know you’re out there!).

I’ll be talkin’ to ya later!

Technorati Tags: wine gift, picnic baskets, wine gift store

Fragrant nose
Strawberry and raspberry on the palate
A dark, woody layer
Nice finish with moderate tannis

There is a lot of great wine from the Columbia Valley in Washington and this is no exception. It’s an interesting blend of grapes with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Cabernet Franc. This is close to a Bordeaux-style blend, but not quite due to the Syrah. It has good texture and nice overall flavors. Don’t let the label fool you- it looks like a home-made label with “House Wine” in huge black-on-white lettering. I paid $10 for the wine on sale, reduced from $12. Raise a glass!

Here’s what the winery’s website at www.magnificentwine.com said:

The Winery:
Located at the base of the Blue Mountains in Walla Walla Washington, K Vintners opened its doors to the public on December 3rd, 2001. The property at 820 Mill Creek Road where the winery sits was homesteaded in 1853 with the adjacent farmhouse built in 1872. The winery grounds with Titus Creek flowing through the lawn and the old pioneer planted trees, is a little slice of heartland Americana.

The Winemaker:
He loves to drink wine! Charles Smith, proprietor and winemaker, comes to Walla Walla after 11 years in Scandanavia. Originally from northern California, he has been involved with wine personally and professionally his whole life. And did we forget to mention… he loves to drink wine!

The Vineyards:
K Vintners is producing wines from 2 distinctive viticultural zones: Wahluke Slope and Walla Walla Valley. Each of these areas are unique and awesome for Syrah and the Field Blends produced.

In April ‘02 two seperate blocks of vineyards were planted to Syrah adjacent to the winery in the rocky dry creek beds that run through K Vintners property.

2004 The Magnificent Wine Company ‘House Wine’ - Cabernet Sauvignon
(Cabernet Sauvignon 70%, Merlot 25%, Syrah 5%)
Cocoa Powder & black currants is the aroma of this awesome wine. It is so smooth it gives velvet a run for its money!

I’ll be talkin’ to ya later!

Technorati Tags: wine, wine gift, wine review, cabernet sauvignon

Anyway, I love this wine for the price. It a very, very, very deep red, garnet red. The aroma is all blackberries and black pepper. The taste, very spicy, again black pepper and blackberry fruit. Soft tannins, very smooth taste, full-body. A lovely wine.

I wish they would do something with their website, it’s all fancy and my computer just doesn’t like it. However, I was able to get the media info from the site and from the importer’s site. Here’s a compilation of what they say.

Area of production:
This full-bodied and fruity wine comes from vines grown high on the slopes of Mount Ventoux, one of the best vineyards in the Rhône Valley.

Grape varieties:
Grenache 50%, Syrah 20%, Carignan 15%, Cinsault 15%

Vinification:
Nearly all the grapes are lightly crushed but not destalked and are vinified in cement vats containing between 150 and 300 hectoliters. Classic long fermentation.

Maturing:
Meticulously selected and blended by the Perrin family, who also produce one of
France’s most acclaimed wines: Château de Beaucastel. The wine is kept in both
vats and large oak barrels for ten months and then bottled in July after fining and sheet filtration.

Tasting Notes:
This blend of Grenache, Syrah, Carignan and Cinsault grapes has produced a
typical Rhône Valley style; full of fruit and spice aromas, it has soft tannins and
good body.

Appearance : deep cherry red.
Nose : ripe fruit, rich and spicy.
Palate : good solid red wine with pleasant tannins.

Serving suggestions:
Serve at 17°C/62°F. To accompany most foods or to be drunk on its own, this is a delicious wine for easy drinking.

I’ll be talkin’ to ya later!

Technorati Tags: wine, wine gift, red wine, wine review