C'mon, Can I get a Woop Woop?

Ah yes.... to commemorate our 10 years together, the Big Dubya and I opened a bottle of Woop Woop Shiraz.

Yes, I know..... Darren & Sue already reviewed Woop Woop a month or so ago, but we had it on the old wine rack, so.... we thought this would be a good time to see just how wine-compatible we all were. As I recall, Darren liked the Woop Woop (yeah, I'm going to keep writing it 'cause saying Woop Woop over and over again makes me giggle) and Sue thought it was a bit on the heavy side.

Now, it could be that different years have different attributes and textures, but the Big Dubya and I really liked the 2006 we had this evening (Darren & Sue had the 2004).

Wine.com has the following winemakers notes:

It is deep in colour and the nose is inviting. With oodles of rich, opulent Shiraz fruit the palate delivers a lush mouthfeel, bursting with blackberry fruit juice, blueberry jam and licorice - chock full of quintessential Aussie character.

I tend to like wines that complement, rather than over power. I tend to like subtle flavors -- rather than bold..... and I really enjoyed this bottle. I found it to have a nice roundness and a flavor that was full and rich -- without being heavy.... perhaps it was because "The wine is matured with the light use of French and American oak."

The Big Dubya thought it was "satisfying" -- fruity -- and complimented the pasta we had for dinner... not conflicting with the acidity of the tomato sauce at all.

We both agreed that it was light on the tannins and that we agreed that we wished we had a second bottle.... Wine.com has it listed as $10.79 -- that sounds like roughly what we paid.

Bottom line -- It's a nice glass, would definitely buy again.
Cheers!

Mr. October

Even though baseball season is over...  What?  It's not over?  Hold on.

Nope.  I checked.  It's over.

Even though baseball season is over, Sue and I picked up a bottle of Longball Cellars Jorge Cabernet named for New York Yankees' catcher Jorge Posada. Can you guess I've been waiting to post this one?

If you haven't seen these wines, Longball Cellars is a division of Charity Wines which partners with athletes and celebrities to market wines that raise money for charities.  Last year, Mr. Big Dubya posted about a Charity Wines Cabernet named for a player on some other ball club.

In the case of Jorge Cabernet, a portion of the proceeds benefit the Jorge Posada Foundation which supports children and families affected by craniosynostosis.  Posada and his wife have a son who was born with this condition.

As for the wine, it was a bit surprising.  We expected a subpar novelty wine.  Instead, we both enjoyed it.  It was certainly no great wine or amazing find, but like a catcher batting .330 or hitting 30 home runs in a season—that's Posada—this wine delivered.  It was lighter than the average Cabernet, but not too light.  It lived up to its description of a warm fruity wine with a "firm tannin on the finish."

There are quite a few other Charity Wines and, based on this one, I'd try another.  What else have we got to do this month anyway?

Don't let it be forgot that once there was a spot, for one brief, shining moment that was known as Camelot.

Tell me, did you ever buy a wine because it looked interesting and then go home only to find that you must have already found that wine interesting...... because it's already on your wine rack? Yeah, uhm me either.

Okay, so.... maybe it's just a case of Mommy-brain, but -- a couple of weekends ago I went to our local wine shop (that's just fancy Connecticut talk for liquor store) and decided to pick up a few bottles of wine -- maybe breath some life into this site.

While browsing the reds, I saw this 2002 Merlot with a little star-shaped sign that said "Ray's Pick -- Great Value". Now, Ray's just a dude that works there, so don't get too excited -- but for $6.99, "great value" seemed right up my alley, so -- into the basket it went.

My job is investment-related and although it's only Wednesday..... all this upping-and-downing of the markets has made for a really long week, so I decided a glass of wine was in order..... and Camelot seemed like a good mid-week choice.

The bottle's label doesn't offer much in the way of a description, and their website only mentions the 2003 Merlot, which has won some awards -- but wine.com includes the following winemakers notes for the 2002:

"Appealing cherry aromas carry onto the palate with deep plum richness and a subtle herbal distinction. Well balanced throughout, this wine has soft, round tannins without angular distraction. Delicate vanilla oak accents are apparent in a rich and complex finish."

I'd say that I agree with the majority of that -- this wine was very mild and as I was drinking it I said to the Big Dubya that it would be a perfect wine to just have on hand -- it's mild and unassuming enough that it would work with pizza or even something more involved -- and then I joked that it was a decent "table wine".

Bottom line --Ray was right -- for $6.99, it is good value. I probably wouldn't serve it to company, but it's perfect for a middle-of the week glass, to cook with or to accompany a casual dinner...... and, lucky me -- I've got another bottle.

Summer Abroad

If you wonder why I haven’t posted here lately it’s because I’ve been traveling. A trip around the world can take a lot out of a guy. That’s right, I said around the world. Five continents and at least six different countries. You didn’t know I was gone? Neither did my wife—and she was with me.

Okay, you called my bluff. We actually didn't leave the country—or go further than about one hundred miles from home—all summer. But we have had a few wines from around the world and I’ve been saving up the reviews. (You can read that as too lazy to write and post them.) I think we had a South American wine over the summer, but I don’t remember it and didn’t save the bottle or the website as I did with the others. We’ve had a couple of American wines recently too, but Sue reviewed one (Jarhead Red) and the others are some favorite ones (like Red Truck) that we’ve already reviewed. Here—from Australia, Europe and Africa—are what we remember. All of them were in the range of ten to fifteen dollars.

I’ll admit that we bought an Australian 2004 Woop Woop Shiraz only because of its name. Woop Woop describes this Shiraz as “deep in colour with great intensity, bursting with blackberry fruit juice, blueberry jam and masses of clean varietal Shiraz fruit” and “well balanced with black liquorice, pepper and spice giving tremendous flavour and length.” I’d say that it was true to that description. If that sounds a little dark and heavy, you’re right. And if you’ve been following Sue’s tastes and mine, you can guess that I liked this one and she didn’t. So that would be one thumb up from us.

We’re no experts with French wine and know next to nothing about how to choose one. So, I can’t really tell you how or why we picked a French 2006 Vieille Ferme Blanc. Vieille Ferme describes this blend of Viognier, Vermentino (called Rolle in southern France), and a few other grapes as having “lots of peach and pear fruit backed by a round, creamy finish.” It was a light type of fruity wine—which is exactly what I don’t like. In this case though, Sue and I agreed that we didn’t care for it much. That’s not to say that it wasn’t a good wine—it just wasn’t for us.

Our South African 2005 Fleur du Cap Pinotage was forgettable. And by that I mean that neither Sue nor I can remember too much about it. We didn’t hate it, but we didn’t love it enough to want to remember to buy it again either. Fleur du Cap describes this one as having a “dark ruby colour with purplish edges,” “ample berry fruit aromas dominated by plum and sweetish mulberry flavours,” and “rich and ripe plum flavours…supported by a good tannic structure.” Like the dark Australian Shiraz, it’s one that I liked and Sue didn’t so much. Another one thumb up.

Sue and I have almost always agreed on liking Spanish red wines and a 2006 Tapeña Tempranillo was no exception. Spanish riojas and tempranillos are often dark enough for my liking, but light enough for Sue. Tapeña describes this Spanish red as a “rich, bold blend of fruit, earth and structure, rounded out by a deliciously soft mouthfeel. We think of this Tempranillo as something like Pinot Noir in blue jeans.” A Pinot Noir in blue jeans? I’m not sure we would have come up with that, but we can agree that the wine has a hint of “luscious red cherry fruit wrapped around an earthy, intense center” with a finish “long and layered with a hint of coffee and chocolate and a pinch of spice.” Actually, we wouldn’t have come up with any of those words either. But we do give it two thumbs up and we’re buying more.

So, without leaving home, we made it around the world this summer. I don’t think any of these are strictly summer wines though. Let us know if you try them too.

Vacation

Chef Mickey

So, I just got back from vacation and while I was away I decided to try some new cocktails. I don't typically drink hard-alcohol, but I decided to dabble a bit..... rather than just sticking with the typical beer & wine..... it was vacation after all.

Although this is "The Whinery"..... I thought I'd share a few of the tasty concoctions that I enjoyed on my trip.

At the Big River Grille, I tried a Raspberry Ice Pick (Stoli Raz, Tangueray, Captain Morgan's, Chambord and a splash of Sprite) and it was lovely. Smooth, refreshing and despite all the booze -- very mild -- this is one that could sneak up on you and knock you off your nut!

I also tried (on a different evening of course) Big River's Chai Latte Martini (Voyant Chai Cream Liqueur, Kahlua and chilled coffee), which was also lovely -- but didn't taste like there was much "power" in it.... just like a $9.00 glass of chocolate milk in a pretty glass.

While at the Leaping Horse Libations, I was able to try a Poolside Lemonade (Bacardi O, Bacardi Raz and Sweet & Sour) -- yum! The only problem is that when you are poolside, these go down like lemonade -- and they are far more potent than that. They are cool and refreshing, but will catch up to you in no time.

At Chef Mickey's (Contemporary Hotel) I had a Mudslide Martini (Bailey's, Vanilla Stoli, Kahlua, vanilla ice cream) and it was delicious. It was lovely and rich, but again, it tasted like an expensive chocolate milk in a fancy glass (decorated with chocolate syrup)-- but it did have a bit of a kick.

I may try to recreate some of these at home.

OOO RAH!

So a couple weeks ago Darren, Clare and I were in the wine store trying to chose a wine for that evening (well, not so much Clare - she just has to touch everything and make me nervous because she's attracted to the most expensive bottles for some reason). I saw this red and with Darren's former college roommate being a Marine and all, we decided to try it.

Jarhead Red is "a wine made by Marines, for Marines (ed. note: I didn't know Marines drank wine, but you learn something new every day I guess), on California’s Central Coast. Net proceeds from the sale of this wine benefit the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, which provides educational assistance to children of U.S. Marines, with special attention given to children of fallen Marines". So far so good - red wine (always good) and a good cause.

Upon opening the bottle, the first sniff made me a bit nervous. The wine smelled a bit acidic and I was afraid it would be vinegary. The first sip was very light, and while the Jarhead Red website states: "Jarhead Red is a robust, full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon. It was aged in French oak barrels for eight months. It offers flavors of plum, cassis and black currant with fine tannins on the finish" it took awhile for any flavor to begin to show up after sipping.

The wine definitely improved after being in the glass a bit - if you were to get this wine, I'd recommend opening the bottle and letting the wine breathe a bit before taking the first sip. I think we paid about ten dollars for the bottle, and if you're looking for something that supports a good cause and could be a conversation piece, if you can find this wine it would be a good choice.

This is posted in honor of Lt. Col. Brian P. O'Keefe USMC, currently serving our country in Kuwait.

So the dingo ate your baby, huh?

I just couldn't face the stove tonight, so we got take-out from a local Italian place. The food's just okay -- but it's cheap and easy and I didn't have to cook it. As the Big Dubya left to pick up our order, I suggested.... how 'bout I open a bottle of wine -- he accused me of talking dirty and then said he'd be back shortly.

I went to the wine rack and grabbed a bottle of 2005 Jim Jim Shiraz. I know very little about this wine, but it was purchased at a wine shop in the Berkshires which described it as "Big" (there was a sticker on the bottle).

There was no price tag on this bottle.... I know the wine shop specializes in good wines that are less than $15 and these guys have it listed for $10.99, so.... I'll say it's in the $10-$12 range.

I put the bottle on the kitchen table, grabbed some glasses and the corkscrew...... then I noticed the bottle's a screw top. I know screw tops are all the rage these days and that lots of reputable, high-end wines are moving in the screw top direction..... but I'm just not there yet -- I immediately thought "Ugh, we're screwed".

I opened the bottle and waited for dinner to arrive. The big guy thought that the acidity of his marinara conflicted with the wine and accentuated the tannins in a less than complimentary fashion. His feeling was that this wine probably would have been better had it been paired with steak, as he enjoyed his after-dinner glass more than his during-dinner glass.

The Big Dubya and I agreed that we wouldn't have classified it as "Big"..... we were thinking more "Medium". He was able to appreciate the berry flavors at times and he called it subtle whereas I didn't really find it to be very fruity.

I'd be more apt to describe it as mellow and almost a little flat -- there wasn't a ton of flavor which isn't meant to be a criticism..... it almost adds to it's versatility -- this is a wine that might work well with a buffet -- it wouldn't interfere with most foods.

Bottom line -- good, not great -- I'd buy it again if it were on sale.