Chateauneuf-du-Pape

2007
Red Rhone Wine
Domaine Du Vieux Lazaret
France

67% Grenache
22% Syrah
5% Mourvedre
6% "others"

As a child, I loved the "old" Christmas Carols (Perry Como, Glenn Miller, Doris Day, the Andrew Sisters, Benny Goodman). I still do today and find it harder and harder to find any station that plays the original stuff that makes Christmas extra awesome for me.

Christmas is like a wedding - lots of planning and excitement leading up to the event, then it's all over in a whirlwind and there's this feeling of "where'd it all go"? It is truly my most favorite time of year - I LOVE presents and I love giving presents. I love the food and WINE and family gatherings that I crave so much (and never seem to have enough of).

New Year's Eve is my second most unfavorite time of year (Halloween being first). So, I found a religious radio station that continues to play Christmas Carols for 12 days after Christmas and they have been making my week this week. THIS is the week I spiral into a depression. I can't help it. But this station is playing the most awesome eclectic old stuff mixed with some real good newer stuff (think Harry Connick, Jr.) and I am slightly more happy because of it. And, thanks to receiving almost 3 cases of wine in gifts this year, I have something to look forward to every day (or at least every few days!). I just have to come up with the food pairing. We have old friends coming for dinner Saturday and we are going to new friends for the big countdown tonight. So I am hanging in there. :)

My brother brought a couple of bottles of this wine (and I miss him now), and I enjoyed it more with him here with his aged cheddar cheese. However, it was still enjoyable on its own (and with him gone home).

Although I have not previously given much value to decanting, I did buy the Guy a decanter for Christmas and we have been enjoying how the wine aroma fills the room upon doing so. Well, I was blogging after Christmas and my brother decanted this and left it in front of me and left the room. My mouth started watering and I couldn't wait for us to pour it into glasses. We had some aged cheddar with it and had an awesome afternoon together tasting the two. This wine has a stone cherry scent and flavor and is one of the few French wines I thoroughly enjoy. Not a bad value for the price.

Happy New Year.


My world is changing
I'm rearranging
Does that mean Christmas changes too?

Where are you Christmas?
Do you remember
The one you used to know?
I'm not the same one
See what the time's done.
Is that why you have let me go?

Faith Hill



8.5 out fo 10 (when served with OLD cheddar cheese)
8.0 out of 10 on its own
14.5% alc. by vol.
$17/750 ml. bottle

Sonoma-Cutrer

2007
Chardonnay
Russian River Ranches

We went out to dinner tonight thanks to my mother-in-law and had a good dinner, though way too pricey. I had a glass of my old favorite Nora Albarino, 2007, but it just didn't taste as good as the first time. So, when my dinner came (shrimp with green beans and peas and garlic aioli sauce) I switched. I told the waitress I liked a heavier wine and she gave me a glass of the Sonoma-Cutrer. It was perfect with my shrimp. It was creamy lemon with butter and minerality. A nice match to both the shrimp and a bite I had of my stepfather-in-law's lobster and spinach provolone mac and cheese.

The highlight of my night was Dustin Hoffman showed up. I am a sucker for Hollywood types. I contained myself though and didn't act like a fool. Unlike the wait staff who came out of the woodwork to wait on him and ask him if he needed anything, repeatedly! Even the chef made a miraculous appearance shortly after he arrived. She acted casually, bringing out dinner to a table that she barely paid attention to. But on her return to the kitchen she made a strategic b-line to his table.

Anyway, I hate it when things are way over-priced, and our meal was for sure. But I enjoyed my wine with my meal. I just won't make a hearty attempt to return to that restaurant in the near future.

I'll bet she's beautiful
That girl he talks about
And she's got everything
That I've had to live without

-Taylor Swift-


8.0 out of 10
$19/750 ml. bottle

Passing Clouds

2005
Reserve Shiraz
Bendigo


Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I hate it when it's over. I luckily still have some celebrations to go so its not quite over yet. But all that anticipation and watching the wonder of my children and that "magic" in the air has faded. :(

My brother has been here since the 24th and he brought a case of wine which we have continued to enjoy daily. Yesterday was a great wine day. We tried (3) and enjoyed them all. Passing Clouds was definitely my favorite of the day. The finish on this was long and deliciously flavored. Black cherry mixed with ever so slight smoke and vanilla and oak, this wine went down very smoothly. Although awesome on its own, Passing Clouds went very well with aged cheddar cheese.





8.5 out of 10
15.2% alc. by vol.
$24 / 750 ml. bottle

Turley Zinfandel

2004
Howell Mountain
St. Helena, California
Dragon Vineyard

I am still in shock after coming home to discover a friend had left me two bottles of wine as a Christmas present in my absence. That, in itself, was not surprising. But the fact that one of the bottles purchased was a bottle of 2003 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap District, has me speechless. Morning can't get here fast enough for me to call him and tell him how crazy he HAS to be! I will not be drinking that anytime soon. It's good now through the next 20-25 years. I need a wine cellar now for sure as I don't want to ruin it while storing it for the right moment to eventually open it.

Regarding the Turley: this is our usual at Thanksgiving dinner. However, this year we had 3 different regions. I only have the bottles of two and I definitely know that Dragon Vineyard was my favorite. The other was a 2002 Old Vines also out of St. Helena. The third was from Paso Robles and I can't recall the vineyard. Please note: The other Turley wine was a 2002 Presenti Vineyard from Paso Robles. All three wines are a great match for turkey dinners, I just enjoyed the sweeter baking spice flavor of that from Dragon Vineyards.

The Dragon was awesome with the meal and especially pumpkin bread I'd made. With my first sip I knew it would be terrific. It smelled of baking spices: especially cloves and nutmeg and allspice. And that's exactly how it tasted too. The clove flavoring was enhanced by the pumpkin bread. It was highly enjoyable.

Oh there ain't no rest for the wicked
Money don't grow on trees
I got bills to pay
I got mouths to feed
There ain't nothing in this world for free

--Cage the Elephant--


16.0% alc. by vol.
Approx. $55 / 750 ml. bottle
8.5 out of 10

The Chocolate Block

2007
A Beautiful Blend of Syrah, Grenache Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault & Viognier
South Africa

This was a wine we enjoyed the weekend after Thanksgiving. Herbal notes and flavor with a hint of tobacco, this was a rather smooth wine that tasted even better with a piece of dark chocolate. Of course, the warm atmosphere of fire at the hearth, and my brother at my side, and a good movie rolling (Bottle Shock) probably contributed to my overall enjoyment.

I am up late baking a pie, drinking organic chocolate chai tea rather than a good wine, and reflecting on those I am indebted to. I wanted to be in bed by 10:00 but my evening unraveled in a frustrating fury when I locked not only my car and office keys and money inside my car, but the spare car key as well, as I hurried to grab my two younger children to bring them to the high school to see my older daughter's first "GLEE" performance. The show started in 10 minutes and I had no way to get there. The Guy didn't pick up his phone and neither did my mother (who was meeting me there). In a most frustrating frenzy of actually considering bundling my children up and walking to the high school in 18 degrees, I called my boss. He was there within 9 minutes and we made it. After the show my mom and stepdad called triple A for me and waited patiently in my kitchen (which, when we returned, wreaked horridly of canine gas). When triple A didn't show after an hour, I had a revelation and went in mad search of a backpack I brought to Maine over the summer. Inside, sure enough, was a third and only other spare key. It was 10:00 before I had even started making the pie, and I needed to clean the kitchen first.

So, as I wait for the pie to finish baking, I am thinking of how lucky I truly am. My brother was here for almost a week and fixed broken chairs for me and mowed the lawn and collected neat piles of leaves that my stepdad spent two full days leaf-blowing into clean, workable piles. I am honestly grateful to these men in my life who provide rides in bad weather or for locked-in car keys, who buy me lunch, fix things around my house, help me with the lawn, provide ladders or a hand in cleaning my gutters, and buy me fine wine. I know The Guy gets a little miffed at times at these gestures, but where would I be without all of their kindness and caring? Things get done and I am happier and calmer. And it's one less thing he has to try to eventually get to. So, now the mad pie baking begins to return thanks to all those who make my life easier. Being up late is a small price to pay in return to those who give unselfishly all year long.


8.25 out of 10
14.5% alc. by vol.
$37 / 750 ml. bottle

Cesari Amarone

2005
Della Valpolicella
Classico
Veneto, Italy


The week of Thanksgiving was a totally fab wine week. My brother purchased this Amarone in honor of my birthday, along with a bottle of 2003 Pio Cesare Barolo. Here is a terrific case of higher price not being indicative of a great wine. We all agreed the Della Valpolicella was superior to the Barolo. It was $36. The Barolo was $67.

The Amarone was really smooth, with a long finish, herbs and black fruit, and a bit of minerality. A most excellent Italian wine (and now my favorite Italian wine thus far). This wine was delicious on its own, and with my prosciutto and fontina cheese pinwheels.

I highly recommend the Amarone if you are looking for a pricier wine that is worth every penny (sorry for the photo blur factor to the right but I wanted to show the label for anyone interested in purchasing).









The Barolo was good, just not in the same league as the Amarone in spite of its heftier price. It was more dry with less finish time, and less flavor variation.


After dinner at our mother's we came back to my house, opened a bottle of The Chocolate Block, lit a warm fire, and kicked back and watched Bottle Shock (LOVED this movie based on the rise of California wine in the 1970's).





I have to throw in to this blog tonight how incredibly awesome it was to be back in the company of my high school Soul Sister, JAM, and her wonderful, fun sisters with their priceless sense of humor. I haven't laughed so much in quite awhile. You ladies are so much fun to be with. Thank you for always making me feel like part of the family. I've missed you!! Tonight I am happy.


I feel stressed out,
I wanna let it go.
Lets go way out, spaced out
and lose all control.

Fill up my cup,
Mazel Tov!

Black Eyed Peas (This little ditty causes me to spaz out whenever it comes on - I just gotsta MOVE.)

8.75 out of 19
$36 / 750 ml. bottle

Kistler Cuvee Natalie

2007 Pinot Noir
Silver Belt Vineyard
Bottle No. 05109 (12,456 bottles produced)
California

The Dead Arm Shiraz, The Holy Trinity and Kistler's Cuvee Natalie. Those, so far, are my top three wines of my life. :)

I had a wonderful winetasting week last week and have listed my Thanksgiving week wines on the left of this blog which I will be reviewing. However, following the fantastic wines from last week, I opened this. Cuvee Natalie easily moved to the top of the posting list.

Let me tell you, it is recommended to let this age for the next 10 years, and I can't imagine how incredibly awesome it might evolve to as it was beyond pretty darn good right now. The scent is black fruit with warm, slightly sweet baking spice mixed with herbs. The flavor is right on with the scent and is LONG and heated and really SMOOTH with a subtle minerality (it's a bit like ME actually - hah!). A most excellent wine.

This wine was a gift from my Uncle Bob and it was indeed a gift. We loved it SO much that we have savored it. I shared some with my mother when she dropped by last night. I gave her half a glass which she downed in no time, commenting on how delicious it was with each sip. After she finished, she reached over and popped the cork again and said she wanted "just a little bit more". Yes! It is that good. You don't want to take it or leave it. You just want to take it. Yet, you also want to leave it . . . for later. Because you just don't want it to be gone.

Robert Parker gave this a 94-96 rating.


I want a perfect body
I want a perfect soul
I want you to notice when I'm not around

~RADIOHEAD~


9.5 out of 10
14.1% alc. by vol.
:0 $120 - $159/750 ml. bottle :0 (clears throat, not quite budget material)
www.kistlervineyards.com (You can buy it direct from the vineyard for *only* $90)