Favorite Wines of Late

November 2009
Turley Zinfandel
Howell Mountain
Dragon Vineyard
California
2004


December 2009
Kistler Cuvee Natalie
Pinot Noir
Silver Belt Region
California
2007

Cesari Amarone
Classico
Italy
2005


January 2010
Tobin James
Blue Moon Reserve
Syrah
Paso Robles
California
2006


No surprise to me, but I tend to be a California Girl :)


And as we drank our wine and let the world fade away, the sunrise tried to end it while we tried to stay.

--Joshua Radin--

Guess I'd rather hurt than feel nothing at all
It's a quarter after one I'm all alone and I need you now
And I said I wouldn't call but I'm a little drunk and I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without

-Lady Antebellum-

Twomey Merlot

2001
NAPA Valley
Oakville, CA


This was a highly enjoyable wine. A Christmas gift from my partner in crime during the work week, we drank this with my mom's birthday dinner. Terrific on its own, it accompanied my Rioja Chicken with prunes and olives nicely. It also tasted great with our chocolate cake dessert.

Herb and earth scents opened upon pouring. The taste was on par with the bouquet, with a little of cocoa and black berry mixed in. This was delicious overall.

I'm sorry, again :( Not a budget wine.






Rioja Chicken called for Rioja wine. As I didn't have any, I turned it into Merlot chicken just as well. I made long grain brown rice, caramelized carrots and fresh popovers to accompany it.





This Devil's Food chocolate cake recipe of my grandmothers tasted good with the wine as well.








Night and day, you are the one
Only you beneath the moon or under the sun
Whether near to me, or far
It's no matter darling where you are
I think of you
Day and night, night and day, why is it so?

--Cole Porter--


$75 / 750 ml. bottle
8.25 out of 10
14.4% alc. by vol.

Chateau Les Vallees Bordeaux

2005
Grand Vin De Bordeaux
Gironde - France

We got this at Christmastime and decided to open it tonight for my mom's birthday as our opening wine. Although it was disappointing for me on first sip, it tasted much better with roasted cashews. It at first had a watery-musty brief finish but it became much more meaty and enjoyable with the nuts.

Not bad for the price.


$12 / 750 ml. bottle
8.0 out of 10
13% alc. by vol.

Tobin James Syrah

2006
Blue Moon Reserve
Paso Robles, CA




I'm sorry for apologizing yet again for another non-budget wine. I LOVED this wine. But I don't think I would pay the $150 price tag for it on my own. It was oh so fantastically SMOKEY. NICE distinctive flavor and finish. Great with dark chocolate.

I am on an elimination diet and have done well until tonight. My doc told me I could afford one or two nights during my (30) days to go slightly astray. Tonight was the night. But I've had too much. This has been a totally tough week for me. I immersed myself in old movies and LOVED "Night and Day" (the Cole Porter story) with Cary Grant. It helps (sometimes) to go back to a simpler time of romance and life.

Anyway, we had some good wine and food pairings tonight with some friends. And, when I shouldn't have had anymore, the Tobin James Blue Moon Reserve was opened up and I enjoyed it immensely. I would have enojoyed more but my little one (who was at a sleepover) got homesick and needed to be picked up.

This is a distinctive, delicious wine if you've got $ to blow. Mussels are the recommended accompaniment for this wine. I've got a great Gourmet magazine recipe that includes garlic, organic chicken broth, white wine and chicken flavored stuffing mix and fresh parsley that might be awesome with this wine (maybe just replace the recipe's white wine with the red).

Defense is paper thin
Just one touch and I'll be in
Too deep now to ever swim against the current

So let me slip away, so let me slip away
So let me slip away, let me slip against the current
so let me slip away, so let me slip away
so let me slip away, so let me slip away

Vindicated, I am selfish, I am wrong, I am right
I swear I'm right, swearI knew it all along
And I am flawed, but I am cleaning up so well

--Dashboard Confessionals--

$150 / 750 ml. bottle
8.75 out of 10
15.8% alc. by vol.

Chateau Lafite Rothschild

1994
Grancru - Pauillac
France
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

My stepbrother-in-law posted on his Facebook page last night that he wondered what Martin Luther King, Jr. would think today about how far we've come. Sadly, it's no way near far enough in my opinion. I am shocked and dismayed in the last couple of months to witness (or be told of) remarks, comments and actions of blatant prejudice from people who I respect and/or consider friends. The ignorance of those who I deemed educated and/or caring comes as a great surprise. Prejudice makes even beautiful people ugly.

ONTO THE WINE:
I find myself once again feeling the need to apologize for reviewing a big-time expensive wine on a "Budget" wine blog. It really doesn't happen that often, but when I am fortunate enough to have such an experience, I must let you know my thoughts just in case.

My stepfather-in-law held a birthday party for his wife (my mother-in-law) and shared this wine with us for the occasion. It was gifted to him upon his retirement from Merrill Lynch. A blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and a tiny bit of Petit Verdot, I must say that on first sip I was disappointed. So I let my glass remain out in the open for more air time and it was slightly better, but for the price, disappointing. Although there were some interesting and promising scents and flavors of leather, slight herb, and mushroom with hints of blackcherry, the fullness just wasn't there that I truly expected, and the finish wasn't as long as I anticipated. My mother-in-law commented to me on how surprised she was that it didn't open up like a big juicy cab, which is what she thought it would be like. I don't know how my stepfather-in-law stored it over the last few years, but I don't think it was mistreated, though it definitely wasn't in a temperature-controlled environment. But my gut really doesn't think that was the issue. I would love to know what others' experience with this label have been.


I want to get out of this
I wonder
Is there anything I'm going to miss
I wonder
How it's going to be
When you don't know me
How's it going to be
When you're sure I'm not there
How's it going to be
When there is no one to talk to, between you and me
'Cause I don't care
How's it going to be
How's it going to be
Where we used to laugh
There's a shouting match
Sharp as a thumbnail scratch
A silence I can't ignore

Third Eye Blind


8.0 out of 10
12.5% alc. by vol.
>$275.00 / 750 ML bottle