Drink With Turkey

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample.

I’m not a big one on “this is a perfect pairing with Thanksgiving” because I don’t really think there is such a thing. But some wines will work better than others and to me I want something on the lighter side with lots of acidity. Not sure about anyone else, but we have a lot of food at Thanksgiving and it’s general some heavy stuff with potatoes, stuffing, etc.  The 2011 The Crusher Rose of Pinot Noir fits my bill for a decent Thanksgiving wine at a great price. It has a real cork closure and retails for around $11.

Four takeaways from this wine:

1.) At times odd wine descriptors jump into my head, like for this wine where I wrote down “pink berries.” What does that even mean?

2.) I liked this wine because you could just smell the acidity on the nose.

3.) Like I said, turkey dinner.

4.) I could also easily picture this as a porch sipper in the summer.

(I seem to have misplaced the pictures of this wine….) On the nose I got pink berries (?), raspberries, watermelon, and white pepper. The crispness and acidity I could smell on the nose made my mouth water. In the mouth I found melon, watermelon, raspberry, strawberry, and more melon. Overall the wine was crisp, acidic, and really quite tasty.

 

Filed under: California, Rose, Wine | 1 Comment »

Rose Up Your Day

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the winery.

Spring. Glorious spring. Long warm days, with cool nights and sipping rose on the porch. Who could ask for more? Well, if you haven’t got some of the 2011 Vin Gris de Cigare Bonny Doon Rose in your glass, then your certainly could ask for more. You should have some. Especially at a price point of about $14 on various online wine shops.  The wine has a screw cap closure and clocks in at 13.5% alcohol by volume.

Four takeaways from this wine:

1.) Pair it with BBQ ribs. The acidity will be a great foil to the sweetness of the BBQ sauce.

2.) My glass on a Saturday afternoon on the porch is perfection.

3.) Screw caps are great for parties.

4.) Randall Graham really hit it out of the park with flavors and balance of acidity and structure with this one.

On the nose I found watermelon, strawberry, raspberry, spice, and red cherry. In the mouth I got strawberry, red cherry, tangerine, watermelon, raspberry, and a bit of pepper.  You can tell just from the nose of the wine that the palate will have great acidity, and without fail, it follows through.

Filed under: California, Rose, Wine | 2 Comments »

Stepping Up to Rose

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Cornerstone Cellars.

Today turned out to be a gorgeous day in the nation’s capital, so it seemed a perfect time to bust out some Rose. I plucked the 2010 Cornerstone Stepping Stone Corallina Rose from it’s resting place in the basement to join us on the back porch for some afternoon sipping. The Corallina Rose retails for $18, has a real cork closure, clocks in at 13.9% alcohol by volume, and is made from 100% Syrah.

1.) If you like your Rose with acid to spare, this one is for you.

2.) The palate mimicked the nose perfectly in this wine.

3.) The Stepping Stone line from Cornerstone is pumping out some great wines, my fav is the Cabernet Franc.

4.) We just stopped by Cornerstone on our latest Napa trip, look for that post soon.

On the nose and in the mouth I got lime, raspberry, cherry, strawberry and spice. The red fruits smelled delicious coupled with the racy acidity on this Rose. Pair with BBQ this summer for a great treat.

 

Filed under: California, Cornerstone Cellars, Rose, Syrah, Wine | Comments Off

Oops. A Hidden Bottle.

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Cornerstone Cellars.

Sometimes these wily wines escape me in my cellar. Last year Cornerstone Cellars sent me their newly released Stepping Stone line. I thought I had tasted through them all, but sadly I left this lonely little bottle all by itself in the box. The 2009 Stepping Stone Corallina hid from me until the other night. The current vintage is the 2010, which I also just tasted (review shortly). Both of these are excellent choices for these broiling hot summer days we are having here in the DC Metro area. The wine is a blend of 50% Grenache and 50% Syrah, clocks in at 13.9% alcohol by volume, the current vintage retails for $10, and has a real cork closure.

I first had to note the great color on this wine. It’s simply vibrant. On the nose I found raspberry, cranberry, and lime. In the mouth, I got the same, with pomegranate and some stone fruit on the finish. The acidity really carried this wine through to the finish line, making it perfect for a summer night.

Filed under: California, Rose, Wine | 2 Comments »

I liked this one

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample to participate in a Wines of Argentina Taste Live event.

Here’s a wine from this tasting I will recommend wholeheartedly. The 2009 Crios Malbec Rose. I found this wine to be quite interesting, retailing at a good price point, and definitely something I would personally purchase. The Crios clocked in at 13.9% alcohol by volume, had a screw cap closure, and retails for around $12.

The nose of the wine smelled slightly meaty to me (not a bad thing, I promise) and looked like melted watermelon. What an awesome color. On the nose I found berry, cherry, spice, white pepper, and vanilla. In the mouth I got strawberries, ripe cherries, very ripe red fruit, and spice. It was juicy with good acidity and struck me as fantastic for the meltingly hot weather I tasted it in.

Filed under: Argentina, Malbec, Rose, Wine | 1 Comment »

An Old Tasting

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample to participate in a Twitter Taste Live Event

Oops. Here’s another set of long lost posts from a Twitter Event I participated in last September I think. A few set of posts from those types of tastings fell through the cracks for me last summer/fall as I generally jot my notes down on paper (the horror!) while doing the tastings and then have to go back and type them into the computer. That involved way too many steps for my tired self this fall and so they fell by the wayside. Never fear, I’m getting them done now! The 2009 Les Griottes Beaujolais Rose was the only Rose in this Beajolais tasting. It clocked in at 13% alcohol by volume, had a plastic cork closure, and retails for about $16.

Apparently I was on a color of the wine kick when I was taking notes last fall as I also noted the lovely salmon color of this wine. On the nose I got strawberry, red cherry, and cranberry. I could almost smell the acidity on the nose. The palate mimed the nose exactly. Overall the wine was light, crisp, and refreshing. My only issue is that I’m not sure I’m willing to pay $16 for a Rose.

Filed under: France, Rose, Wine | Comments Off

First Rose of the Season

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from F. Wildman Imports.

A Rose by any other name…Well, it’s finally the time of year here for lighter wines, including Roses! Excellent. I love the spring, which appears to be getting cut extremely short here this year since we were so late starting. The other night we tried the 2009 Attitude Jolivet Rose. The wine clocked in at 12% alcohol by volume, had a real cork closure, and retails for about $10.

First, I loved the color on this wine. It was almost a salmon color. On the nose I got raspberry, strawberry, and orange zest. I thought it was light, fruity, and pleasant. In the mouth I found cherry, raspberry, strawberry, and a citrus zest backbone. The wine had good acidity and I found it to be refreshing on a warm spring afternoon.

Filed under: France, Rose, Wine | 1 Comment »

Caught Again

Posted on July 26, 2010 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the winery.

Nothing quite like a glass of nicely chilled Rosé in the summer. Not only does it play well with BBQ (my favorite summer-time treat) but it’s refreshing and I can drink it outside in the heat whereas red wine in the summer is best consumed in the cool interior with air conditioning. With that in mind, we pulled out a bottle of the 2008 Big House Pink.  The wine had a screw cap closure, clocked in at 13% alcohol by volume, and looks to retail for $8.

On first impression: This wine smells like hops. I also got a little cranberry, but overall, not much of a nose. In the mouth, more of the same to me, beer and cranberry, and that was not a good thing. I found it sharp and strong, and overpowering for its 13% alcohol tag. NMS.

Filed under: California, Rose, Wine | 1 Comment »

It’s All About the Bubbles

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Sonadora

I continue on my quest to taste lots of sparkling wines this year! While I’m totally failing at the rest of my goals (read books, write about restaurants, etc…..) I am knocking this bubbly one out of the park. So a 1/3win? Books should pick up soon though as I begin a hectic travel schedule for work and find myself on many an airplane and in strange cities with nothing to do but read (or sit at the bar alone, but that starts to feel pretty pathetic fairly quickly). So the bubbly. Tonight we pulled out the NV Wolfberger Brut Rose Cremant d’Alsace. I picked this one up at Unwined in Alexandria for $18.99, clocked in at 12% alcohol by volume,  and it had a traditional Champagne closure.

On the nose I got bright lime, raspberries, cranberry, strawberries, and watermelon. Mostly the tart red fruits, especially the cranberry, dominated the nose. In the mouth, more of the same red fruits showed up. Watermelon, cranberry, fresh picked strawberry, and tart raspberries. Overall I found the fruit to show as quite tart with the wine being crisp and dry. Another great bubbly for relaxing outside in our finally nice weather!

Filed under: France, Rose, Sparkling wine, Unwined, Wine | Comments Off

Something New

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Sonadora

I put out the call to my friend Jill at Domaine547LA to help me with my “drink more sparkling wine” goal this year. Ever accommodating to the fact that I utterly refuse to use her website to order wine, she came back with recommendations for about a dozens bottles of sparkling, and of course some still wines too! I picked 4 sparklings and rounded it out with the best Grenache Blanc ever and a Pinot Gris. This is a new one for me, I don’t think I’ve had a Cremant de Loire…Cremant of other places in France, sure, but not Loire. We picked out the Julien Fouet Cremant de Loire on a Tuesday night to drink simply because it was a Tuesday night and that called for bubbles. It clocked in at 12.5% alcohol by volume, had a typical Champagne closure, and cost me $19.99 from DomaineLA.

On the nose I found toast, bright red fruit, strawberries, lime, spice, and pepper. I loved the salmon color on this wine, though I fear my photography skills (or lack thereof) leave a lot to be desired and it appears a lot pinker in my photos than it did in real life. In the mouth I got spice, raspberry, strawberry, and an orange rind note.  Bone dry, crisp, tangy, and lots of little bubbles…this will make a frequent appearance at our back yard bbqs this summer.

Filed under: Domaine 547, France, Rose, Sparkling wine, Wine | 1 Comment »

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