To all my American readers, enjoy your turkey day! I hope you are able to spend the day with family, friends, good food, and of course, delicious wine!
Filed under: Misc, Thanksgiving | 2 Comments »
Floating Along
Posted on November 19, 2010 by Sonadora
*This wine was sent to me as a sample from Pasternak Imports.
It’s red wine season in my house. Finally. The weather teased me for a while, but it appears the cold is here to stay. I love wood-burning fire season, leaves crunching under my feet, and the smell of fall. Fall has a distinct smell to me. I don’t notice it often here in Virginia, and it’s among the things I miss most about living in New England. Today we tried the 2007 Les Deux Rives Corbieres Rouge. It clocked in at 13% alcohol by volume, had a plastic cork, and retails for around $10. I believe the current vintage is the 2008 for around the same price. The wine is a blend of 40% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 20% Mourvedre, and 10% Carignan.
On the nose I got some spice, raisins, sour cherry, plum, earth, eucalyptus, and mint. It had a slight sour smell overall. In the mouth I found sour cherry, red notes, plums, spice, and eucalyptus. Although there were fruit notes present, this was not a fruity wine at all. It had some decent acidity, but I found it to be a bit thin in general.
Filed under: France, Red, Wine | 2 Comments »
Wannabe Wino Turns 4!
Posted on November 12, 2010 by Sonadora
In human terms, my blog is a toddler, bordering on being a child. In blog terms though, my blog is an older person, probably bordering on retirement. Most blogs don’t last very long. It’s quite easy to use a free blogging service and toss up your blog, then quickly get bored with it and just let it die in cyberspace. Maintaining a blog takes time. Writing posts, updating links, taking photos, all of it adds up. Life events can get in the way and it’s easy to let a blog, which is primarily a hobby for many people, fall to the wayside.
Last year, I was pretty proud of myself for posting every single day. Things have slowed down quite a bit this year, though even through changing jobs, changing life circumstances, and whatnot, I’ve still kept the blog going. Don’t worry, after 4 years of effort, I’m not going anywhere!
Thank you for your continued interest in what we’re drinking in the Wannabe Wino household. I hope you’ll stick around here for the next 4 years, I certainly will!
Filed under: Misc | 3 Comments »
Nine Dollar Pinot Noir
Posted on November 9, 2010 by Sonadora
*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the PR folks for Jacob’s Creek.
I honestly don’t expect much from a $9 Pinot Noir. I expect even less from a $9 Pinot Noir from Australia. I tried this wine with some trepidation, having not experiences much Pinot Noir from Australia and thinking about the general Australian style with big red wines and wondering how that might translate to Pinot Noir, a red I tend to think of as lighter. Last night we tried the 2007 Jacob’s Creek Reserve Pinot Noir. It had a screw cap closure, clocked in at 13% alcohol by volume, and retails online for around $9.
On the nose I found spiced rum, mulling spice, cider spice, hot cider, mulberry, and cinnamon. I thought it smelled more like a Christmas candle than a wine. Christmas in a glass. In the mouth I got tart red fruit, raspberry, cherry, mulling spices, and mulberry. It tasted a bit like Christmas too. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this wine. It didn’t necessarily taste like a classic Pinot Noir to me, and as I said, I haven’t had enough Pinot Noir from Australia to make a call if this is just how Pinot Noir from Australia tastes.
Filed under: Australian, Pinot Noir, Red, Wine | Comments Off on Nine Dollar Pinot Noir
Gruner Gruner Everywhere
Posted on November 2, 2010 by Sonadora
*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the PR folks for Wines of Austria
I’m having a sort of affair with Gruner Veltliner this year. I find it charming, generally interesting, and different from any other white I’ve encountered. Plus, it works with so many different kinds of foods that it’s really versatile. Last night we tried the 2008 Fritsch Gruner Veltliner Steinberg. It had a screw cap closure, clocked in at 12.5% alcohol by volume, and retails for around $15.
On the nose of the wine I got white pepper, pepper, lemon, flowers, and exotic fruit. In the mouth the fruit seemed more citrusy than on the nose, with spice, grapefruit, salt, and a slight steely/tinned fruit flavor. I found the wine to be straight forward and easy to drink, but less complex than other Gruners I’ve had this year. I think I’d like to see this one closer to the $10 price point to feel that it had a good QPR.
Filed under: Austria, Gruner Veltliner, White, Wine | Comments Off on Gruner Gruner Everywhere
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