Vino del pais de Evita

I'm not one to claim that I have a refined palate. To put it bluntly, I'm the type of guy who would go to a poetry reading and offer up some naughty limericks or some Andrew "Dice" Clay takes on some nursery rhymes. For years I abused my taste buds with "Wines of the Fenway" - MD 20/20, (What's the word?) Thunderbird!, Wild Irish Rose, Boone's - you know, stuff that will take off paint.

But, as I've aged and matured, so has my appreciation for better tasting wines. I'm not able to discern all the distinct flavors of any given wine, but I can recognize some things. And, at the very least, I recognize when I like a bottle or not. Mrs. Big Dubya sent me out last weekend to pick up some things for the bar and also asked me to pick up a bottle of wine from South America and a local vineyard. Not being familiar with the wines of S.A. - I know something about California, Australia, Italy - I just looked at bottles and any descriptions the liquor store provided. I settled on a Malbec from (Don't Cry for Me) Argentina (sorry, I just had to). I grabbed the $11.99 bottle of Punto Final Malbec 2006 which comes from Bodegas Renacer located in Perdiel in the Mendoza region of Argentina. Malbec is planted all over Argentina, but the Mendoza region is widely regarded as the best.

We opened the bottle Monday night to complement our pasta dinner that evening.Mrs. Big Dubya used a little bit of it in the sauce prior to anyone even taking the first sip. She was hesitant at first, having read on the label that "This wine is unfiltered in order to preserve its distinct varietals qualities." "Does that mean chunks," she asked. I was intrigued by the "unfiltered" quality -- I am a huge fan of unfiltered wheat beers -- and I replied, "Yep, floaties." I poured us each a glass; let it breathe for a moment or two; gave it a nice deep sniff and took a sip. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. It was very, very mellow and left barely any aftertaste. There was a slight tannin quality to it but nothing that would be off-putting. Mrs. Big Dubya, a little overwhelmed by the initial "nose," found it to be a nice, refreshing wine -- not as heavy or as bold as some reds can be.

The bottle went very well with the pasta we had that evening, bringing forth the flavors of the tomatoes, garlic, onions and Italian seasoned turkey. It was another bottle Mrs. Big Dubya wished I had bought two of.

All in all, a very nice buy. Fruity and refreshing and I think the unfiltered quality only added to its complexity. (Do I sound remotely like I know what I'm talking about? Maybe just a little?) Definitely a buy again.

The Problem With The South American Wine Thing

I had several problems (all of them personal - not like I won't share them with you, but like I am a moron problems) with the South American wine assignment.

1) I thought we were supposed to pick a South African wine at first. I'm just bad at reading. But seriously, South Africa has great wines, we should do that sometime.

2) I drank the bottle of wine and forgot to write down what it was.

Judging from this wonderful picture that I took with my cell phone it is a 2005 Malbec. I'm pretty sure it $12.99 and from Argentina. Also judging from this picture I am pretty sloppy when it comes to pouring.

I think I liked it. I think we drank it with some sort of chicken tacos. I'm pretty sure that I enjoyed it and it was spicy, and I am certain that I caught a nice buzz off of it and then threw away the bottle without writing anything down.

Next time I'll try to be more specific.

- Sarah

We Cheated a Little

Sue and I went for the extra credit assignment even though we hadn’t separately completed the May and June assignments. (We still have another bottle of South American wine waiting to be tasted though.) I think that’ll we’ll just take it month by month to see whether we’ll each review a bottle of wine each month or just take turns writing about one bottle.

We also cheated on the extra credit assignment itself. There are wineries that are more local (we actually have two that are just one town away), but we went to a liquor store and bought one from a vineyard that’s in southeast Connecticut. Stonington Vineyards had the best selection of our state’s wines and choices other than blends. We also spent $16.99, which is a little more than the $15 we were limited to.

We’re not huge fans of white wines, but we picked a 2003 Chardonnay. According to the vineyard’s site, the wine “has been fermented and aged in both French and American oak barrels. This adds to its complexities, and gives an up front yet not overpowering oak finish. There are also wonderful tones of pear and butter. This wine is wonderful with classic French cuisine.”

We didn’t have our Chardonnay with French cuisine. There may have been some French bread involved though. If we had thrown some French fries into the oven and gotten some French dressing, we’d have created “dinner mon dieu.” (We’re good with the John Cusack movie references too—even though we totally missed the boat on appropriately titling that last review of the Peruvian wine “And to drink…”)

Sue liked the wine more than I did, but I didn’t hate it. Actually, it’s a wine that I’d try again—especially if we’re ever at the vineyard to get it. It wasn’t too dry, wasn’t too fruity, and who could resist “tones of butter.”

Extra Credit

When I posted June's assignment, I mentioned the possibility of a mid-month second assignment...... May featured so many reviews, I wasn't sure if one assignment per month would be enough.

Well, as summer gets into full swing, reviews have been a little less frequent -- so I'm not sure we need a second assignment (Even the Big Dubya & I haven't had a chance to complete the June assignment yet), but for those who are interested..... I've posted an "extra credit" assigment.

Cheers!

Marsala, Anyone?

So, last night the Big Dubya and I were trying to decide what to have for dinner.... we'd fallen into a bit of a dinner rut and wanted to shake it up a bit instead of eating the same old thing again.

I remembered that a new seafood shop opened up nearby and suggested he go get some scallops -- we could have them with a Caesar salad. He was a little incredulous about the pairing, but being a scallop lover -- he went and picked up a gorgeous pound of freshly caught sea scallops.

While he was out, I did a quick internet search -- looking for a new way to cook them. I've done baked with breading.... sauteed in butter & garlic.... wrapped in bacon, but this time, I wanted to do something different.

I came across this recipe and decided to give it a whirl. I think I can speak for both of us when I say THUMBS UP!!! The only draw back was that the recipe calls for Marsala wine (see, it all comes back to whine). The only Marsala I had in the house was cheap supermarket wine, it had been in for a while.... and of course, liquor stores here in CT are closed on Sunday.

I didn't want to let that hold me back, so I figured.... hey, how bad could it be?

To be honest, it was delicious -- but I'm wondering if a better quality Marsala would have taken this recipe to the next level.

Anyone have a Marsala they'd like to recommend?

Only $7.99??

Yup!

You heard me -- a mere $7.99 for this 2006 Chilean Sauvignon Blanc.

Just passing through the wine store on Saturday afternoon and this one looked like it was a good candidate for this challenge!

And the verdict?

Terra Andina is definitely a great sipping wine for the summertime, especially at this price!

Light, crisp and refreshing and it had some major grapefruit flavors which makes it a great one for drinking on the deck on a warm, summer night.

It reminded us very much of the more expensive New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs and would definitely be quite tasty with fish or cheese and crackers.

So, enjoy!

Left me wanting more, but not in a good way

I've procrastinated long enough, it's time to get down to my first wine review. I wish I could say that is was worth the wait - for me, something tells me you all had better things to do than worry about when my first wine review was coming - but it wasn't.

Let's go to the beginning. A new wine store recently opened in the shops surrounding on our picturesque, very New England-ish town common. I had high hopes for my first wine from this shop, but I had my two year old daughter with me (they're only open until 6pm, closing well before my husband gets home from work) and I was a bit distracted. So I was only too happy to take the suggestion of the woman behind the counter. A 2004 Fattoria di Vetrice Chianti Rufina.

I was all Hey, I like Chianti! and for $11 I was pretty happy. So I brought the wine home. The wine is produced by the Grati family in the Rufina region of Tuscany, in the hills around Pontassieve. I was even more thrilled then because I've been to Pontassieve twice and was familiar with the area.

I started to do a bit of research on the web about this wine and there was... Nothing. Well, next to nothing (I couldn't even find a picture of the actual label, that one above is a different vintage). And that was a foreshadowing of what this wine was to be like. As soon as I took a sip and swallowed there was...

Nothing.

It is a Chianti Rufina, after all, and not a Reserva, and the very first taste was enough to bring me back to those warm days in the Tuscan sun. But like a good vacation it was over too fast. The fruit explodes quickly in your mouth but there's no finish. And the tannins were a bit too overpowering for the fruit. I don't mind that fuzzy tongue feeling you get from heavy tannins as long as the wine is worth it. This wasn't.

As my husband put it, "It is what it is. For eleven bucks it's not bad." And we weren't eating when we were drinking this wine (long day + cranky child = pass the alcohol NOW). Maybe a good port salut cheese would have helped this wine a bit, but we didn't have any (damn).

For my hard earned $11 dollars I'd like a bit more. This wine, in my opinion, would have been great - fantastic even - in a carafe as the local house red in a trattoria in Sienna. But those cobblestone streets have a way of making everything better, even a sub-par wine. It's not horrible, it's very drinkable, but I'll forget its name as soon as the last drop is gone.