There are so many empty bottles of wine on my desk, that the cat now refuses to come up and sleep in his box. The wine bottles scare him when they fall, and the last time it happened he glared at me and went off in a huff.
As I looked at the bottles, however, I realized there were a couple that I either didn’t like or I couldn’t remember how they tasted, and my notebook had gone missing. So…those got tossed. No big loss; one was a Concannon Petite Syrah that I wasn’t that impressed with, and the other I couldn’t remember but was a new label called Handcraft – a Pinot Noir, both from 2010. I will get back to the Handcraft because I don’t have bad memories of it, and because it’s still a new wine to me.
So on to the wines that are left!
Clos du Bois Pinot Noir 2009 North Coast – Alcohol 13.5% by Volume. Regularly $14.27 at Vons; $6.99 on sale
On the Label: “Grown in north coast vineyards influenced by cooling ocean breezes and persistent morning fog, our Pinot Noir exhibits aromas and flavors of red cherry, raspberry, and hints of cranberry harmonized with vanilla and spice from aging in oak barrels.”
My Take: A lovely wine, at a lovely price. It definitely meets/beats the Smoking Loon test (is this better than a $5.99 bottle of Smoking Loon Pinot Noir?) and was a treat. We had this with a lovely home made red pasta sauce with ground pork, pureed tomatos and fresh zucchini, onions, carrots and mushrooms sauteed with the pork. That and a raft of garlic bread made a fantastic meal.
My Rating: ~ Very, Very Drinkable ~ Especially for the price!
Cut The Fluff Comique Revolution White Table Wine 2010 Central Coast
Bottled by Central Coast Wine Warehouse – I could not find the alcohol content on the label. $6.99 (?) at Trader Joe’s.
On the Label: “We had no choice but to CUT THE FLUFF – our white wine smells like apple blossoms, juniper berries & honeydew. TASTES LIKE white peaches, custard & salted pain perdue.”
My Take: This was an interesting wine. It tasted smooth, went down very well, I had no problems with it at all. But surprisingly, neither have I gone out of my way to pick up another bottle, even when I’ve been to Trader Joe’s – and usually I’ll do so if I like it. Not sure what that says about the wine, lol.
My Rating: ~ Drinkable ~ But not memorable. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…
Tato Montepulciano D’Abruzzo 2009 Denominazione di Origine Controllata Alcohol 13.5% by Volume $6.99 at Trader Joe’s.
On the Label: “Dry Red Wine. Product of Italy” (Brief – gotta love it!)
My Take: Italian wines are, to me, luscious. When I was in Italy in 2004, I couldn’t get a bad glass of red wine, and I always asked for the house wine. Every restaurant seemed to have its own supplier; and while each glass tasted different, the wine inevitably was wonderful.
This wine is, I’m happy to say, no exception. It needed airing; but it was a lovely, full-bodied, rich red wine that went perfectly with hamburgers topped with blue cheese, and lovely roasted smashed potatoes.
My Rating: ~ Very Drinkable ~ and at a great price! Plus the label is really cool.
As usual, this is just my honest opinion – which will depend upon my mood, the weather, and what cycle the moon is in. Your taste buds will differ.
~ Until the next time, cheers – and remember to drink responsibly! ~
Demon Soul is available now. BLOOD DREAMS, a Caine Brothers Short Story, will be available on June 1st. Demon Hunt coming Summer, 2012!
My Rating System: Undrinkable, Barely Drinkable, Drinkable, Very Drinkable, and the ever popular Stay away! This is MY wine, you slut!
The Tato is a gorgeous label. I’d buy it just to look at that. : )
Roben, that’s why I first bought the Tato! But it turned out to be a pretty good bottle of wine, too. A bonus!
I like your motto, “Drinkable ~ But not memorable. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…” I agree. 🙂
LOL! If all wine were memorable, they’d all blur together…
Snort and I love the Cut the Fluff white table wine. I am not a white wine drinker at all, but this one is nice, crisp and very drinkable. Probably because I don’t drink many whites or like the ones that I taste, this one stands out for me.
Funny how that works, huh? Plus, they were on sale at Trader Joe’s last week for $4.99 so I stocked up on a couple of bottles for the summer.
Love coming here to get my wine education – without the hangover!
I’ve nominated you for the Liebster Award. The Liebster is a pay-it-forward kind of award, meaning that now that you’ve received the award, you can pass it on to others. The rules are as follows:
1)Thank the person that gave you the award in a post on your own site
2)Nominate up to five blogs with less than 200 followers
3)Let the nominees know they’ve won by leaving a comment on one of their posts
Add the Liebster image to your blog (you can cut and paste it from http://londoneats.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/liebster-award) so all your readers know that you are generally awesome
*Note: There is no general committee that bestows this award. It’s just a recognition from one blogger to another for how awesome they are. Kinda like a really big Internet hug! Congrats!
Joan Rhine
http://leftbrainedwritebrained.wordpress.com