I need to wash my mouth out!

Posted on December 2, 2006 by Sonadora

No, not with soap silly, well actually…..really, with anything that will get this sweet sweet sweet syrup taste out of my mouth.

I’ve been trying to find a bottle of sparkling wine that I want to review for WBW on December 13. Thus, I’ve been drinking more than my share of sparkling wines. This is the second one I’ve tasted. I haven’t blogged about the first because it’s still in the running for my WBW entry.

This was a Beviamo Moscato D’Asti. I picked it up for $8.99 at World Market. The beverage specialist said it was a sweet wine, but easy to drink. My thoughts: Well, for nine bucks I’ll give it a shot.

NO!!! Don’t do it. It was not easy to drink. In fact, I think I was making a face the whole time I was drinking this wine. It was just too sweet. I think the proper term is that it was cloying. It lacked any structure to tame the overwhelming sweetness of the syrup in the bottle. Overripe peaches with some apricot were the fruits I smelled. I just couldn’t get past the sweet taste to actually distinguish anything in the mouth. It also wasn’t that fizzy. NMS.

Filed under: Sparkling wine, WBW | 10 Comments »

The Neverending Turkey (and Sides)

Posted on December 2, 2006 by Sonadora

I’ve discovered the flaw in hosting a holiday meal when there are only two people who live in the house regularly: leftovers that never end. I did not notice this when I was a kid, for a few reasons. One, my family all lives in the same area of the same state and thus the host usually ends up only making the main meat dish and maybe a few small things. The cousins, aunts, grammas, etc., bring everything else. And when they leave, they clearly want to take their dish home, so they take it with whatever leftovers are in it. Two, there were 4 people to eat the leftovers. And finally, my mother clearly knew better than I how much turkey any given group could eat at a time.

That said, we still have a ton of leftovers. We’ve eaten turkey almost every night since Thanksgiving and had it in sandwiches for lunch. We’re turkeyed out. However, not one to want to waste anything, I made turkey soup out of the rest of the turkey.

And that’s what I paired with a Bottle of Hanna Winery Bismark Moutain Vineyard 2000 Noir. We picked this bottle up for $30 at Hanna when we were out in Sonoma. Cork closure, 14.5% alcohol by volume, this wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot.

I actually remembered to decant this bottle, and I had it out for about 40 minutes before drinking the first glass. I’m really glad I decanted it. I could still smell alcohol on the nose even after that time. So I put my glass to the side and let it air a bit more. When I went back to it, the alcohol scent was gone and I got cherries, herbs and spices. However, this was by no means a big fruity wine. It was also not sweet, it weighs in at 0.03% residual sugar. It was smooth in the mouth, with a long lasting finish, but the finish was not as smooth as I would have liked. This usually retails for $50.00 a bottle, but was on sale for $30.00 the day we bought it. We have another bottle and I will keep that around for a while. I think the finish should mellow with a little more aging.

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A Night of Two Whites

Posted on December 2, 2006 by Sonadora

For some reason, we decided on Wednesday we needed two bottles of wine. Probably not the world’s wisest idea, but it certainly didn’t stop us from drinking another bottle the next night! Both bottles were purchased at Arrowine in our quest.

The first was a Olivier Morin 2004 Bourgogne Chitry. $16.99, 12.5% alcohol by volume, one of those plastic “cork” closures. It had cedar and pine on the nose. It was tart at first in the mouth, but then just flat. It also had an odd finish. There wasn’t much structure. I’m inclined to believe that we may have gotten a bad bottle. I’ve read good things about this producer, and his wines are supposed to be very terroir driven, with the soil being chalky and imparting mineral flavors to the wine. I would be inclined to try another bottle of this if the opportunity arose and the price was right. It’s 100% chardonnay, so the flavors I found were quite off.

The second bottle was a deal and a great surprise! A 2005 Comte Laudet Vin De Pays De Terroir Landais. 12% alcohol by volume, screw cap and only $6.99!! Made of 80% Colombard and 20% Gros Manseng. We also picked this up at Arrowine in our quest for everyday wines. This was incredibly easy to drink and would make a great everyday white table wine. It had some tropical fruits, a hint of lemon and some peach on the nose. Also, a nutty scent. It was tasty in the mouth, not too thin, had a little vanilla on the taste and a bit of spice on the end. Drink up for $6.99 a bottle.

Filed under: Arrowine, White | Comments Off on A Night of Two Whites