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.

D'Vine Wine

Lone Star Chardonnay

A close friend of mine, who lives in Texas, sent me a wonderful care package after I had surgery back in March. In that care package was a bottle of wine from D'Vine Wine of Texas. This white wine was from their Vintner's Select Wines and was called "Lone Star Chardonnay." According to the website, it has a peach flavor. Last night, my husband and I finally got around to popping the cork and giving it a try.

Why did it take so long? Because I am not a huge fan of Chardonnay. I normally find them to be too dry for my taste. But my husband needed a white wine to cook with so he opened this one up and we imbibed on the rest with dinner.

The first sip was actually quite delightful - very fruity and light - not dry at all. Unfortunately, the delight didn't last long for me - I thought the aftertaste was a tad bitter, though my husband thought it was fine. Would I buy this one again? Probably not, but it was a nice change from the usual Chardonnay.

3 out of 5 grapes.

2004 Tacama Gran Blanc

We went out on a limb and got a white wine for our South American adventure. After some searching, we found a 2004 Tacama Gran Blanc. The Tacama Vineyard is located about 180 miles from Lima, Peru.

From the Tacama website:

The pale yellow colour of this wine gives it a lovely presentation. The freshness of its bouquet is revealed on first contact with the nose. Both flowery and fruity, with highly agreeable citric notes, its flavours give it a particular finesse. The grape varieties used are Semillon, Sauvignon, and Chenin.

The Tacama winery website also suggests some dinner pairings with their wines, and for this wine, suggested “Plain poultry and fish dishes, such as Roast Chicken, Roast Turkey, Fish in Meniuere Sauce, etc.”

We had this wine on Sunday night, paired with a Yancy’s Fancy Champagne cheese and Triscuits. (Money baby, we’re money.) The taste was fruity, light and crisp. The only thing we might have done differently was let the wine warm a bit before trying to drink it – we had refrigerated it since Friday (when it was bought) and it was very chilled.

While not fans of white wine, this one was an interesting change from the reds we normally drink. I think we paid about $10 for the bottle. ($9.99? Perhaps I should have saved the receipt.) While it could be an alternative to the usual pinot grigio or chardonnay (if we drank those on a regular basis), I don’t think we’ll buy this again.