Category: Wine

I happened to catch Narsai David on the radio the other day on the way to the grocery store, and he was recommending a bottle of wine from Kendall-Jackson. Their 2005 Special Reserve Zinfandel. And I was actually able to find it in the store, so we bought it! And even if this story doesn’t have much in the way of drama, it does have a happy ending – LOL – in that we really liked the wine. Was lovely and fruity, with lots of excellently blended flavors. (I think we bought it for around $10.99.)

The weird thing about this story is that we have satellite radio for the car, which kicks in right when you turn the car on, so when I thought back, I wasn’t exactly sure WHEN I heard Narsai David as he’s on the local AM radio. Finally, I figured it out. When we were getting gas, we were under the little roof over the gas pumps so we weren’t getting satellite radio, and in the few seconds (less than a minute) before I turned the car back on and drove away and the satellite radio came on, I must have heard this review. That’s the kind of thing where there was such a small window to be able to hear this information that I have to believe it was divine intervention from the wine gods. Heh.
[Tags: wine, wine review, satellite radio]

First, for the old year! Late December we decided to branch out in our white wine consumption and purchased a Riesling – J. LOHR 2005 Bay Mist Monterey County White Riesling to be exact. (I have no explanation for why we hadn’t had a Riesling in so long, since it’s one of my favorite whites!) It was fabulous – light and fruity with just enough flavorful punch to it! Will be getting this one again, for sure.

And now for the New Year! Okay, technically we drank this on New Year’s Eve, but it was already 2007 in most of the world when we opened the bottle, so it counts. I’d never really had a ‘good’ champagne before so we made sure that we tried it in the store before we bought it. (There was a champagne tasting going on in the store, otherwise I probably would have skipped it. My first champagne experience was a cheap brut extra extra dry that had been sitting outside during a hot summer day, but luckily I wasn’t scarred for life.) This was Chandon’s Riche Sparkling Wine – not very dry at all, which is what we were looking for. It was nicely sweet and bubbly but not excessive, with just enough crispness to give it an edge. I’m pretty certain that sparkling wines pack more of a wallop than an equal amount of non-sparkling wines though – either that or the timewarp of flipping to a new year caused some unanticipated havoc with my brain cells. Perhaps more experimentation is in order. In any case, we declare the Chandon Riche a success as well.
[Tags: wine, riesling, champagne, California, 2007]

Over the last few months we’ve tried a number of wines that we’ve been meaning to write up, but just haven’t gotten around to it. So, in an attempt to put SOMETHING in writing, here’s a brief summary just to get something posted!

Elena 2005 Sauvignon Blanc – Very flavorful – fruity but crisp, and easy on the throat.

Kenwood 2004 Pinot Noir – I’d like to try a few more Pinot Noirs to have a little more to compare this to, but overall it was a thumbs up.

Beaulieu Vineyard (BV) Coastal Estates 2005 Sauvignon Blanc – we’re of two minds about this one. I thought it was a little rough on the edges, but John thought it was more bold than rough. Or maybe it’s just our vocabulary that needs better judgment – heh.

Yellow Tail 2005 Cabernet Merlot – Interesting wine – 70% Cabernet and 30% Merlot, but not really tasting like either. Goes down a little smoother after the first glass. Flavorful, almost a hint of sour, in a wine sort of way.

Well, it’s not poetry, but at least it’s online!
[Tags: wine, review]

Wanted to post this quick review before we forgot! The 2004 Blackstone Chardonnay (Monterey County) was an excellent, and rich wine. Rather velvety and strong, but went well with the hard-ish Portugese cheese and crackers that we conveniently had on hand. We might have been a little less ‘affected’ had we had the wine with a full meal (which we’d had much earlier), but as it was, the evening went quite well anyway – LOL.

I’d recommend it for hearty chicken meals, and maybe pastas with heavy cream sauce, and garlic bread too – something on that order.
[Tags: wine, California, Blackstone Winery, Chardonnay, wine review]

We tried a Cabernet Sauvignon from Camelot Wines which cost us about $8.00. I must admit for an inexpensive wine it had a great flavor: fruity and rich with no noticeable after taste. Definitely a wine I would buy again.

[Tags: Wine, Cabernet Sauvignon, Camelot