Vacation Whining

It’s been months since I’ve posted here on The Whinery. So I should probably slip back in, write a low-key post on this month’s assignment, and pretend that I’ve been here all along.

But I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m going to skip the assignment, break the “guidelines,” and whine about it while I’m at it.

Last month, Sue (the wife) and I went to Disney World with Clare (our seven year-old daughter). We’d originally waited a year for a reservation at the Beach Club Villas, had to change dates and lost that reservation last year, and waited another year to go back. The hotel was fantastic. Unfortunately, it rained five out of our seven days there. The rain was bad. Biblical bad. There was about two feet of rain in central Florida in a few days time.

So what did we do? Apart from staying out of the pool, we went on as usual. We went to the parks, enjoyed the shorter than normal lines, and had fun despite the weather. We also lingered a little longer than usual in some great restaurants (and even got a last minute reservation at one of Disney’s best) and enjoyed a few bottles of overpriced wine. Thinking ahead, Sue jotted down the names of each wine. Not thinking at all, I tossed out the envelope Sue’s notes were written on when we got home. Here’s what we remember.

Our first Disney wine, at bluezoo in the Dolphin, was a 2007 Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio. (I guess that is the assignment—although we drank it in May.) We both had fish, and it paired really well. It wasn’t too dry, and it wasn’t too fruity. (The restaurant overall was really fantastic too—even Clare liked it.)

Our second wine of the week was a Paolo Masi Chianti Reserva at the Yachtsman. We both liked it. We both had steak, and again it paired really well. That’s all we remember. Knowing us, that probably means that it wasn’t too heavy and it wasn’t too light. Chianti usually gets two thumbs up from us. (This is another great restaurant that we all liked too.)

Out third and last bottle of wine (we went with mixed drinks and beer some other nights) was a California Merlot at California Grill at the top of the Contemporary. This is the reservation that we snagged at the last minute, which is unusual since it’s the prime place to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks (especially when it’s raining). The wine? We know we liked it, but we don’t really remember any specifics at all. This isn’t much of a wine review, is it?

Here’s what I’m interested in though. Have you ever ordered a bottle at a restaurant (we probably paid $50-60 for $20 bottles of wine) and then bought a bottle to try out again at home? Did it live up to expectations? If we try it with these three (well the two we remember the names of at least) we’ll let you know.

It’s Juuust Right…or Is It?

One of the reasons that Sue and I don’t post here too frequently is probably that we don’t really know what we’re talking about when it comes to wine. We know what we like when we taste it, but when it comes to using words like balance, body, bouquet, nose or finish, we’re little at a loss. Instead, our discussions of wine often go something like this:

“You like it?”

“It’s not bad, you?”

“Eh.”

We drink it anyway.

Sue and I drink reds more than whites and, usually, one of us likes a wine more than the other. Sue favors lighter Merlots and Pinot Noirs; I usually like heavier Cabernets or Zinfandels. Sometimes, of course, we both really like a wine. This seems to happen most often with Italian Chiantis or Spanish Riojas. When we find one we both like, we usually buy it again.

A few weeks ago, we tried a 2003 Chianti Classico from Castello di Gabbiano that Sue picked up for $12.00. According to Cellar 360, Castello di Gabbiano’s sales partner, the Chianti Classico has “delicate floral aromas of violets and soft scents of fruity blackberry [that] mark the nose. The dry, medium-bodied palate is filled with robust tannins and flavors of black pepper, sweet spices, and a touch of light, toasted oak. The finish is long and dry.” Like I said, I never could have come up with the description myself. I could agree with it though—except for the violets, I’m not so sure I tasted violets.

A couple weeks later, we picked up another bottle specifically for the purpose of reviewing it here. (Yeah, that’s the only reason we bought it.) Same wine, same price, same store even. This time though, we didn’t really like it. It tasted more acidic and a little vinegary. We were hoping we could recommend this one, but now we’re not so sure.

Has anyone else had a bad second experience with a wine they liked the first time?

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

Neither Sue nor I have posted here much in the past couple months. But not to worry—we did get most of the assignments done. Unfortunately, like Mrs. Big Dubya, we drank a couple bottles of wine on vacation and didn’t take the best notes. Here’s what we remember.

The wine we purchased specifically for the extra-credit blend assignment was an Italian Sangiovese and Merlot blend from Luna di Luna. We don’t remember the year or price, but it couldn’t have been that old and the price was well within the guidelines here. This brand is famous for its blends in colorful bottles. We’ve tried the brand before (I think we’ve had the Merlot/Cabernet blend in the red bottle, and the Chardonnay/Sauvignon in the green), but we weren’t very impressed with this one. It was a little too acidic and fruity for our tastes.

Another wine we tried on vacation was in a bottle that Sue picked up based on the name and label (and we've all seen how that usually works out). It was a 2005 Mommy’s Time Out and given that name (and the quality of the website which I just found) we didn’t expect anything. But this one was a good surprise. It’s from Primitivo grapes in the Puglia region of Italy, which, I’ve just learned, have been found to be genetically identical to California Zinfandel grapes. The wine was smooth, a little oakey, and had a great balance of fruity flavors. It was also well under our price guideline. How can you beat that? Only by giving the wine a better name and marketing.

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.