REVISIT (See my April 12, 2011 review as paired with chicken pot pie.)Shannon Ridge
2008
Lake County,
CAI have already reviewed this wine and was going to review
Monte Oton Garnacha but had to comment on the
Shannon Ridge Wrangler Red when paired with a
curried dish. My rating goes up .25 points with a change of food.
I went in to the wine shop last night to purchase another (cheap) bottle of
Montepulciano D'Abruzzo which I really wanted to try with my home made pizza. I previously had it with good company, a warm fire, and Spanish dark chocolate. As it is an Italian wine, I thought I would mesh it with some oregano and crushed tomatoes and basil and fresh mozzarella and Italian bread crust. However, upon entering the wine shop and telling the owner that I didn't see the
Montepulciano I was looking for (I could only find the $13.99 bottle), he told me I needed to look to the "cheap" table. At that same time, my hand danced across a bottle of
Tres Picos Garnacha. As he pulled the $5.99 bottle of
Motepulciano and went to hand it to me, I bit my lip and gave him an apologetic look and told him my desire was quickly focusing on the
Tres Picos. He told me that he and his wife had just recently had the wine located to the left of my
Tres Picos at a local favorite restaurant of mine. And it was half of the price of the
Tres Picos, but it was also a
Garnacha and he had been very impressed with its taste. So, I decided to try something new and grabbed the
Monte Oton in lieu of the cheap Italian, and took it home to sample. The
Monte Oton review is to follow in a day or two.
However, tonight, I made brown rice and sauteed tofu, organic sweet onions, garlic, Curry and Turmeric Root. I topped the dish with fresh organic avocado. I finished the
Monte Oton as I cooked. Meanwhile, the CS Guy decided to finish the
Shannon Ridge he brought home again the other night. He offered me a sip just after I had a bite of my brown rice concoction. The wine was SO GOOD - it took on a silky spiciness and the curry in the dish totally came flying to the front of all other flavors. I just had to re-review the
Shannon Ridge Wranger Red as an accompaniment to curry flavored meals - I highly recommend it.
I was driving in a bit of a fog yesterday to visit my grandmother who has been in failing health and mental capacity for a little over a year now and, this time, they say it is for real that she is on her way out. She has pneumonia, she is on O2, and she is receiving regular doses of Morphine. My little one and I haven't seen her since Easter due to severe time constraints, and I must confess on my part, also due to a sadness that she has no twinkle in her eye anymore upon seeing us. When I received the call from my mother that the nursing staff feel "this is it", I decided not to go into work. I stayed home long enough to get my little one on the bus and then I was going to leave. However, upon learning where I was headed, my daughter insisted on accompanying me. She was "torn" she said as she knew she shouldn't miss school, but she didn't want to miss seeing her "nana" maybe one more time. And I couldn't argue with that sentiment. So, with my 9 year old in the back seat silently thinking, and me driving in the front deep in my own thoughts, and the radio playing quietly on a station I don't remember putting on, this song came up and I just cried because it immediately made me think of Nana.
I am not a Lionel Ritchie fan by any means. And the following lyrics are to a "silly love song" I actually never did like. That said, as I was on my way to see my wonderful, beautiful grandmother for possibly the last time, and the darn song came on the radio, tears welled up in my eyes and I could only think of one lady:Thanks for the times
That you've given me
The memories are all in my mind
And now that we've come
To the end of our rainbow
There's something
I must say out loud
You're once, twice
Three times a lady . . .
Lionel Ritchie, Three Times A LadyI love you forever and ever, Nana.
8.25 out of 10 (as paired with CURRY!!!!!!!!! YUM.)14.2% alc. by vol.$19.99? / 750 ml. bottle
