Menu For Hope III

Posted on December 27, 2006 by Sonadora

Okay, first, my blog is not down, I have no idea why Wine Blog Watch is reporting it as such, but that’s not cool! Maybe I went on too much of a posting rampage last night, who knows.

Second, Menu for Hope ended on Dec. 22. What a great event, over $58,000 was raised! It will take a while until the prizes are announced, but check with Chez Pim on January 15 to see if you won. I will certainly be checking it out in hopes that I won one of the great prizes I bid on. Even without the prizes, it’s a great cause and I’m happy to have participated and been able to give what I could this year.

However, my pocketbook will be lighter if I don’t win that lot from Twisted Oak, as I’ve been wanting to try their wines and will have to head on over to their site to get myself some.

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WBW #29-Biodynamic Wine

Posted on December 27, 2006 by Sonadora

Ack, it’s here already! I feel like I just finished WBW #28. This month will be hosted by Fork and Bottle and we are being asked to drink a biodynamically (can I make that a word please?) produced wine. Now, I don’t know much about biodynamic wines. I’m about 99% positive that I have never had one. From what I do understand, it has to do with harvest cycles and the moon and all aspects of the environment working in harmony or some such thing. So I guess this week will find me visiting old haunts again to hunt down a biodynamic bottle. And reading a bit more so that I have a better understanding of what exactly I’m drinking. I can only hope that it doesn’t take me as long to find one I’m happy with reviewing as it did for WBW #28. Pick a wine, drink it and send a review in by January 17 if you want to participate.

Filed under: Biodynamic, WBW, Wine | 2 Comments »

Festivus for the Rest of Us!

Posted on December 27, 2006 by Sonadora

Sadly, we were unable to taste any actual Oklahoma grown wine while out in OK. Our weekend was just too packed to be able to fit anything else in, what with Gramma’s 90th birthday celebration and Christmas in just 2 days. Plus, OK is in the bible belt….no liquor sales on Sundays, the one time we had a spare hour. Oh well, I’m sure we’ll be back as a good portion of Matt’s family lives out there.

However, we did have some wine that is blended and bottled in Oklahoma by Grape Ranch Vineyards, a relatively new winery at only 3 years old which has not yet produced a vintage of its own. Though they seem to have a great sense of humor with their Festivus wine selections.
The festivus is made from Sonoma grapes and is a Cabernet Sauvignon. It costs $15.99 a bottle, has a real cork closure and can be purchased through the Grape Ranch Vineyards website. There was also a bottle of Festivus Chardonnay floating around, but it was gone before I could get a taste.

The Cabernet Sauvignon was a little thin in the mouth, but I think that might have been due to the fact that it was served slightly warm. Otherwise, it had very good cabernet sauvignon characteristics, currants, peppers on the finish, a little kick at the end. I thought it showed great promise. Plus, it’s fun for the label kitsch factor!

Filed under: Cabernet Sauvignon, Red | Comments Off on Festivus for the Rest of Us!

Wine at Christmas

Posted on December 27, 2006 by Sonadora

We visited my FIL’s family over the Christmas holiday out in Oklahoma City. Much fun and good food was had by all. We’ve made it home, full of Christmas cheer, but spent for this year. Too bad New Year’s is this weekend, I could use a weekend off!

Several bottles of wine were consumed over the course of the weekend, including a 2005 McManis Family Vineyards Viognier. The botle is from California, 13.5% alcohol by volume, has a real cork closure and can be found here for just $9.98. At the price, this is a great wine. It would be perfect for an everyday bottle and worked really well as something to drink as we were all waiting to go the Hornets-Spurs game on Saturday!

I got peach and a bit of melon on the nose. The wine was very floral with touches of honey in the mouth. Smooth, with just a little citrus on the finish. This was an easy and fun wine to drink.

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2001 Brothers in Arms Shiraz

Posted on December 27, 2006 by Sonadora

My Mother-in-law received this bottle as a gift last Christmas and brought it out to Oklahoma for all of us to enjoy this year. Vital stats: 14.5% alcohol by volume, real cork, produced in South Australia, probably cost around $34. You can read about the winery here and can find it for about $40 here.

Vanilla on the nose of this one. Dark berries in the mouth, with a slight roasted meat flavor. Earthy with a touch of oak. Very full in the mouth, long finish, very smooth. Good falvors and well balanced. I’d say drink it soon if you have this bottle.

Filed under: Australian, Red, Shiraz | Comments Off on 2001 Brothers in Arms Shiraz

Free Wine Game!

Posted on December 27, 2006 by Sonadora

Go check it out! I won one, and it should be here soon! Woohoo! Very excited. Click here for the link.

Should be a fun trivia game, at least a little bit different than our normal games of Battleship, etc.

Filed under: Misc, Wine | 2 Comments »