Is it bad that I like cheap wine??

Little Roo chardonnay is not bad at all. It's a pretty, light, bright yellow that just looks like summer.  And I happen to kinda hate the word pretty so it must be true if I say it is.  It does not have the tart undertone that I dislike about a lot of chardonnays.
I can't direct you to the web site since it seems it's maker doesn't feel it's worth the time to make it one, but from the bottle: "Crisp green apples and pear aromas are highlighted by toasty oak".  Which forces me to admit a shameful truth. I've never ever detected a taste of tree in my wine, and if I ever do I'm not sure I'll be able to distinguish the type of tree.  I know, the wannabe part of my title never stood out in such bold type before. Oh well, no where to go but up.
Although I don't detect an highlights of toasty oak, burnt oak, or any other kind of oak that doesn't mean it's not there.  But I do smell the apple and pear, and I think this is a nice, light chardonnay that I'd buy again even if it WASN'T incredibly inexpensive.

Chardonnay redeemed and other thoughts

Since I've been trying different wines in my search for wine or wino mastery (depends on the day) I've found that either wine is unbelievably more complex than I thought or I am just more of a depends-on-the-moment kind of person than I thought.
I had a red wine the other day that I disliked so much I brought the bottle minus a glass down to my father for disposal (it was a red after all) and then I had a much colder glass of the same bottle at his house and I liked it. A lot. I don't think it was the grass is always greener syndrome but what do I know? Unfortunately the whole reason I started this blog was to write about what I like or don't like immediately before I forgot what it was I drank, and that was a couple of days ago. Therefore I can't be certain but I believe it was Black Swan Cabernet Sauvignon.  I guess I'll have to try it again to be certain.
Back to what was supposed to be the original point.  I had just decided that I'm not really a big fan of chardonnay when I tried Black Swan's Chardonnay.  It is WONDERFUL.  The web page says it's "Medium straw in color with fresh peach, citrus and melon fruit flavors complimented by hints of vanilla." The web page shows a bottle from 2006, and I'm drinking a bottle from 2009, I wonder if that's why the description on the bottle is so different. The bottle states it tastes of tropical fruit with hints of pineapple.  It truly does have a hint of pineapple, both the taste and the nose.  It is beyond a doubt the best smelling chardonnay in memory.
But I have to wonder if I would have thought that I tasted pineapple if I had not read the description on the bottle before tasting it.  Anyone have an opinion of how much of your opinion on a wine is your own and how much of it comes from what you expect it to taste like?

Deal of the Week!

Absolutely no one in the area had a deal worth talking about last week.  But, this week Publix has Little Roo buy one get one free.  It's only 5.99 to start! 

I can't find a web site anywhere for Little Roo. When I search for it all I get is gossip about how much the label looks like Yellow Tail's, and I really don't care about that.  I did see that it's from The Wine Group, but that's all the information I found out there.  Just to make the wine sound even BETTER the bottle says it's a product of Australia that's bottled in Livermore & Ripon California. Go figure.

I looked up what other people think about the wine, and it seems they either love it or they hate it. If you try it let us know what your opinion is.  I'll try at least one of them this week, if it's great I'll pick up some more; if I hate it I'll have find or invent another sangria recipe. I doubt there's a wine that can't be fixed by the right sangria recipe.

Finally a Wine I can Describe as Peppery!

One of the many interesting things about wine is how people describe the taste.  Minerally, chalky, peppery, smoky, gamey, all kinds of descriptions I never would have associated with a drink. 

I finally tried the Colores Del Sol malbec I mentioned the other day.  I don't know what came over me but I actually wanted a red wine.  This wine is pretty great.  It's a bit high in tannins and dry for my taste; my cheeks feel like I bit into a lemon.  But the tartness is completely made up for by the fact that it has a come-and-go smoky taste.  AND, even better, I swear it has a peppery taste and finish as well.  I started drinking this wine too cold - the longer it sat in the glass and warmed up the more I could taste the different flavors in the wine and the more I liked it.

Long and short of it is that although this isn't one of my favorite wines I've had I will definitely explore malbec wines a bit more and I would recommend you this wine.  That's pretty high praise for a red wine from a white wine drinker like me!

and the recipe for the red

#1 Red Sangria

1. Start with a bottle of red wine. I use Merlot.

2. Pour the bottle into a pitcher.

3. Add 2 cups of ginger ale.

4. Add 2 shots of brandy.

5. Add 2 oranges and 1 lemon. Cut them into decent sized pieces and squeeze the piece  into the pitcher until there is no more juice. Drop the piece into the pitcher.

6. Add cinnamon as you see fit.

7. Taste.         If:

· It tastes too much like wine? Add more ginger ale and a couple of more shots of brandy.

· It tastes too sweet/watered down? Add more shots of brandy and cinnamon.

· Doesn’t have a slight cinnamon aftertaste? Add more cinnamon until it does.

8. Put the pitcher in the fridge and let it sit at least overnight.

I don't know what If rules were followed for the batch of this sangria I tried this weekend, but it was a wonderfully mellow sangria - well worth the time spent making and waiting!

finally tried white sangria!

I made my first sangria Sunday and it was pretty addictive even if I do say so myself.  Here's the recipe:

1 bottle of Fish Eye pinot grigio (I just happened to have a couple bottles of it lying around, guess why)
1/8 cup peach schnapps
1/8 cup triple sec
tsp of sugar
3 little clementine oranges
1/2 a mango
about a quarter liter of ginger ale

It rocked, but next time I'll use a half cup of peach schnapps, and if peaches were in season I'd slice one into it too.  And  make that a whole mango, why be skimpy?

We had some red sangria as well, but I haven't yet managed to obtain the recipe.  Hopefully soon!

This Week's Best Deal

This week Win Dixie in the Tampa area has the best deals by far.  Another Australian wine - Black Swan is buy one get one free this week.  So is Colores del Sol (Colors of the Sun) which is a Malbec grown in Mendoza, South America.

My blogging consistency is pathetic, but that's all I can do for now.  We're having a who-can-make-the-best-sangria contest today, hopefully I'll have some awesome recipes to post later.

Tampa area Wine Deals of the Week

Well, Sweet Bay has it's Fish Eye wine buy one get one free this week, but the flyer states it's only chardonnay, which I just don't think is their greatest wine.  It's still the best deal out there, and I read somewhere that chardonnay is the most popular wine in the US, so you'll probably love it!

Linderman's bin wines are on sale at Publix this week 2 for 10. There is a pretty good variety of wines to choose from. 

Check out Linderman's web site.  You can look at thier 'tasting notes' that will tell you everything you want to know about a wine and more, from the region the grapes were grown in to the palate of the wine.

I have yet to try any of Linderman's wines myself, but you know that I will.  Have an opinion on Linderman's or Fish Eye?  Let us know which one to try first!  Or if you happen to know an even better wine deal, share the knowledge, it's good for your karma!  I know the deals I mentioned are useless if you're on the west coast...

Are we REALLY the only ones?

OK, I know we haven't blogged in a while but I'll get into why later and anyways, no one is sitting on the edge of their seat waiting for the next tidbit of non-information.

Last week got us back into the wine drinking mode for a very simple reason - Publix had Fish Eye wine $6.99 buy one get one free.  So I started the week off buying two bottles of chardonnay and 2 bottles of pinot grigio, because they were the two kinds of white wine they had, so of course I had to try them. 

I tried the chardonnay first since I know I like it, and was a bit disappointed.  It has that slightly bitter taste that makes your mouth pucker a little like you just tasted a lemon. Thanks to the Wine for Normal People's podcast Top 10 Snobby Wine Terms Defined I know that means it was too acidic for my taste.  Thanks wine for Normal People! 

On the other hand, I tried the piniot grigio and found my new favorite not-fruity wine.  It is absolutely wonderful. I would tell you the specifics of why, but I tried it an entire week ago so can't remember the specifics. That's why I keep meaning to take notes! (but don't)

So the next day... I decided that since Fish Eye was so well priced I should try the reds as well.  They had merlot and cabernet sauvignon so two of each...  I found that I liked the merlot OK, but I REALLY liked the cabernet sauvignon.  My brother-in-law-to-be has told me that people move from white wine to reds as their palette develop (which as a white wine lover I do NOT believe), if this is true then this is the wine that leads the way for me.

Anyway, I'll get to the original point now.  I mentioned the fact that there was a BOGO wine sale at work and NO ONE knew about it.  It's not like I'm the only wine drinker at work!  So I decided to start mentioning some of the really good deals in the Tampa area here.  After all, one of the reasons we are wannabe wine masters instead of the real thing is because the wine drinking bug can get pretty expensive if you let it.  I'll post this week's best deals tommorow.

Pays to talk to Strangers

I was wandering about the wine department in my local Publix and a lady who was also wandering about the department started talking to me about wine. Fancy that! She was looking for a particular bottle of wine who's name I never quite caught and pointing out all kinds of wines that she'd tried before and telling me what I should or shouldn't try.

She was insistent that I should try this Lake Country Red. She walked past it about 5 times and each time told me how great it was. I finally put it in my cart and got it just because I felt rude NOT trying it! Now obviously I'm not a wine expert but really, who ever heard of a winery in New York?

Well, I was taught once again how little I know, because this wine was wonderful. It's a true red wine, not at all fruity, but somehow it manages to be really light and apparently a bit too good for our own good - we went to pour another glass and it was mysteriously EMPTY. and this is not a small bottle. (but in our defence there were 3 of us and plenty of good conversation)

Unfortunately I was looking around on line to find information about New York wineries and found that the vast majority of other people who've shared their opinion of this wine tend to think it's an abomination and meant to be in the same class as Boone's' Farm. Well, although I think of Boone's as Kool Aid wine I still love it. I guess I'm always gonna be a wannabe wine master and not the real thing.... it's a good thing I'm OK with that!

Best red yet?

We were at the Safety Harbor Bar & Grill  (friendliest restaurant EVER) and our waitress told me they had a new wine I'd like.  This is the same place were another waitress suggested I try moscato, so  I know better than to turn down their suggestions!

Barefoot has a new wine out, called Sweet Red that is in the running for best red ever in my opinion.  That means that if you're a big fan of red wine this probably won't be your favorite, but you should still give it a try.  In spite of the name I don't think it's too sweet.  It reminded me of blueberry wine although Barefoot says it's "ripe and juicy wine with delicious flavors of raspberry, pomegranate & luscious cherry".

So far I haven't been able to find this anywhere to purchase a bottle, but the store up the street said they would order it for me, then you can find out what the rest of the clan here thinks of it.

Wild Berry Fusion Wine

We tried this wine last night- it was wonderful! As is obvious when you see the berries on the bottle I picked it. This wine is from a local winery, Keel and Curley. They only make about 10 wines, all of them look wonderful. I'm thinking this winery is deserving of a visit!

This wine was really interesting. Per the label it's "strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries blended into the delicately balanced body of a lush plum driven Piniot Noir". I would swear you could smell every one of those scents in this wine. But that's not what made it so interesting. Our version of wine tasting is a full glass, not a sip. Wild Berry fusion wine started off tasting of blueberries, but about halfway through the glass it started tasting more of strawberry. How cool is that?

You can definitely expect to hear more about Keel and Curley wines here!

Paisano!

You can tell which of the two of us picked a wine right away. If it's a red wine then my dad picked it- the only red wine I know I like is Sangria. If it's a fruity wine then it's a safe bet that I picked it - hence the Sangria.

In spite of that I did like this wine. Not so much that I would go out and buy it myself to have with dinner, but enough that I'm convinced we'll have to try another paisano or two. Maybe we need a Paisano night.

Any suggestions on what ones to try?

Last night we (friends and family) tasted a new (to us) wine, Carlo Rossi Paisano. It`s a red table wine, and everybody seemed to like it, me included. Taste On!!

First Up - ChocoVine

This is the wine we were looking at when we decided to start our blog wine journal. Chocolate wine! How could it not be good?

We poured ourselves a glass (screw top bottle, gotta love easy) and sat out in the perfect Florida weather to enjoy.

It was pretty good - in small doses. It's incredibly sweet and has a consistency more like a liqueur than wine. You can taste the red wine in the background, and very sweet chocolate in the front. I don't think it would be good with any food except maybe not too sweet cookies like biscotti. Unfortunately I can't stand biscotti so straight wine it is.

I think this wine would be best for special occasions when you want to pick up something different for friends to try. Anyone have a suggestion of what would be served with chocolate wine for family and friends?

Know nothing about wine!

Just starting out!!