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.