Los Vascos Cabernet

2006
Colchagua Valley
Chile

Overall, this wine is a good deal for the price. Owned by one of the more premier older French vineyard owners, this wine was medium bodied and dry with a light oak flavor and scent, mingled with green pepper taste, slight black cherry and black pepper finish. Not a long finish, not a deep wine, but perfect for every day to have on hand. The Guy and I reviewed Los Vascos 2004 Reserve last year, and I think I like this more.




My Wine Eludes Me

In the midst of hardening reality
Questioning, praying, on the edge of delusion and then forsaking
Only to initiate the cycle again

Knowledge, religion, veracity, asseveration
Ebb and flow through the veins
Afflicting the heart and the brain
Even my wine eludes me

Ransacking for solace, or just a sign
Beholding the electronic medium
It is the lyrics to a song that taunt me in possessive irony
The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" offers me no mental release

Nothing is as it seems



7.75 out of 10
$10 (or less) / 750 ml bottle
14% alc. by vol.

14-18h Rose

2007
Agiorgitiko
Greece
I once again visited the world of Rose (accent mark necessary but stumps me again). 14-18h was pretty good. I actually liked it. It wasn't sweet. It was dry and flavorful. Reminded me a bit of "Turkey Flat" which is another Rose I like. Though it wasn't heady, like I like my whites and reds (I didn't expect it with a Rose), I enjoyed it with leftover Tortellini Alfredo and fresh, sliced Avocado. And I enjoyed it on it's own. On a hot summer day, this is a refreshing wine to drink, well chilled.

Although, not a strong wine, I found myself affected :) My children have been away having fun at the beach with their grandparents for several days, and I knew I missed them, but I didn't know how much until my little one called me tonight to ask me to say her prayers over the phone and sing "Silent Night" to her (our favorite bedtime song all year round). I answered the phone at 10:00 PM and heard a quiet "Hi Momma" (I LOVE it when she calls me that - normally she calls me "Mom" except when she's really sleepy or just out of sorts). She asked for "prayers and 'Silent Night' ". I choked up halfway through prayers, then again doing the second verse of "Silent Night". I blamed the wine in my mind. :)

All my bags are packed,

I'm ready to go

I'm standing here outside your door

I hate to wake you up to say goodbye

But the dawn is breakin, it's early morn

The taxis waiting, he's blowin' his horn

Already I'm so lonesome I could cry.

So kiss me and smile for me

Tell me that you'll wait for me

Hold me like you'll never let me go.

Im leavin' on a jet plane

I don't know when Ill be back again

Oh, babe, I hate to go.

Peter, Paul, and Mary, Leavin' on a Jet Plane

7.75 out of 10
12.5% alc. by vol.
$13 / 750 ml. bottle

Clos Du Bois Chardonnay 2007

2007
North Coast
California

This is just a brief comment on trying the 2007, thinking it was the 2006. The Guy brought this home last week to please me following a week of no wine. While I normally prefer "new" wines to review, I was so happy that it was my old standby (or so I thought). I tasted it and, though it was good, it was different and not as "minerally" or finish-lasting as my norm. So I quizically studied the label. It was 2007 in lieu of 2006. I was pretty thrilled to realize I can tell the difference a year makes! Anyway, still a good wine, but I will pay more for the 2006 flavor.

And you read your Emily Dickinson,
And I my Robert Frost,
And we note our place with bookmarkers
That measure what weve lost.
Like a poem poorly written
We are verses out of rhythm,
Couplets out of rhyme,
In syncopated time
Lost in the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs,
Are the borders of our lives.

Simon & Garfunkel, Dangling Conversations

7.75 out of 10
$22 / 1.5 L bottle
http://closdubois.com/

Altosur Malbec

2006
Tupungato - Mendoza
Argentina

Will drink again.

This was a very good deal for the price. It was on the dry side, but the finish was fairly long and good. Blackberry with slight smoke and mushroom, it had a dark purplish-black ink color and heavy fruit scent.

We had a simple meal tonight of black beans in red wine and garlic sauce over brown rice made in organic chicken broth. I added avocado and Greek plain yogurt to mine and this wine took on a spicier, more flavorful taste than when alone - although it was enjoyable alone too.

I sing alone,
while I watch the ocean,
my lover's gone,
no earthly ships will ever bring him home again,
bring him home again

DIDO

8.0 out of 10
$9 / 750 ml bottle
13.5% alc.by vol.
www.sophenia.com.ar

Recent Wine and Food Pairings

La Segreta
2005
Sicilian White Wine

I recently reviewed this wine, however, I wanted to check back to write of it's deliciousness with Parmesean risotto and grilled chicken and peppers. As it was my mother who treated me to dinner out when I first tasted this wine, I ordered a few bottles and had she and my stepdad over for dinner recently to enjoy the wine again with a slightly different menu. I made risotto and we grilled chicken and peppers (and zucchini too) and the wine accompanied it well. In addition, it went well with Cabot Sharp Cheddar and Carr's crackers (mixed variety).












Liberty School
2005
Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon


I reviewed this back on March 11th, but just wanted to add how good it tasted recently again with shrimp, bowties, fresh parmesean, and spinach. Also, it accompanied mushroom pizza very well a few nights later.












If you want it
Come and get it
Crying out loud
The love that I was
Giving you was
Never in doubt
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now

-David Gray, Babylonoubt
el it now

Trumpeter

2006
Malbec
Argentina

Might drink again.

This was dry with a slight smoke flavor similar to a Chilean red. Black cherry flavors with some licorice and pepper and a hint of vanilla, the finish was slightly long though it was a bit bitter and it weakened out a bit at the end with a little "alcohol" taste.

We had this with turkey meatballs and bowtie pasta and it's flavor was neither detracted from nor enhanced either way. I would recommend it be served alongside a hearty grilled piece of beef and bet it's flavor would soar (as well as that of the meat).

Evening falls, and again he is there
Sitting by her in the field
Watching the sunset over the trees
Resting his arm on one propped leg
Sometimes playing with a blade of grass between his fingers
I secretly watch him from a distance
Emotions emanate from his very being
His head hangs down by his shoulder
Occasionally he stares off to the hills
Cars go by on the road, interrupting
Neighborhood dogs bark, intruding
People bike by, imposing
Still he just sits by her, oblivious to life going on around him
I quietly watch now from the other side of the field as I walk my dog
My heart aches as I think of my life in it's unbliss and look at him there, handsome and young, after all these months still devotedly by her side
They were just starting out
God! Comfort him, give him a sign, let her speak to him this time
He continues to sit by her and think, head down
Finally it is time for him to go
I am home now and watch from behind a curtain at my window, as my eyes water over
He rises up, but lingers, struggling to tear himself away from her never ending silence
He kisses the tips of his fingers, leans over and gently presses them on her gravestone, then quietly walks away

(I live across the street from a cemetery. My children and I noticed a young man regularly appearing every evening before sunset and sitting by a grave, sometimes with his dog. I was struck by his youth and devotion to whomever he was missing. I sometimes feel an unbelievable desire to go sit by him and I don't know why. One evening after he left, I went to see if it could be the grave of perhaps his mother or father. It was the grave of a 31 year old woman. I looked her name up on the internet and found out it is his wife. In a weird set of events, I found a random Email link that was posted by her husband, the man I see almost every night, letting her college friends know (who were shocked by her death) that she died unexpectedly of mitral valve prolapse in February. One day she was there, going to work, and then she was gone. What really hit home for me is her web page, for a local realty office, is still up - you can call her if you're looking for a local home. And she speaks of her husband and their dog and her picture is there, smiling broadly :( She was beautiful.)




7.75 out of 10
$10.99 / 750 ml. bottle
13.5% alc. by vol.

Clos Du Bois Sauvignon Blanc

2006
North Coast
California

(Please note - the two photos here are of La Segreta - the wine I had recently at a restaurant that I liked. The Guy ordered it from one wine shop, and I ordered it from another. Both came in today. It was a wonderful accompaniment to grilled chicken, creamy parmesean risotto, and buttery spinach.)

A very bad photo of the Clos Du Bois exists below - venture forth if you will. :)

Matt & Corrine - Thank you for your comment - I have responded if you check back to your Renwood note. Thank you again, for stopping by and for giving me incentive to give it a go one more time.

Onto the Clos Du Bois review:

Will drink again - with seafood next time.

The Guy, with the best of intentions I'm sure, thought he'd bring me home my favorite summertime staple: Clos Du Bois . . . Chardonnay. He brought home a BIG bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc instead. I actually had not had it before - because I am not particularly fond of Sauvignon Blanc as I don't like a zip to my wine - I like it more heavy bodied and smooth. Anyway, I "suffered" through a couple of glasses and actually found I enjoyed the flavor. It was good with a simple grilled chicken Caesar Salad. A bit citrusy with melon, it had a slight woodsy finish that I liked.

The next evening, in the sweltering heat of my Cape's upstairs, after struggling to put in air conditioners, I poured myself a glass in my newly cleaned bedroom, plucked myself in front of the air conditioner in my great, great grandmother's mahogany rocker, and turned on Rock Hudson and Doris Day in the 1961 classic Lover Come Back (that's Rock up there on the screen in my blurred photo, along with a ripped wine label) and sipped in comfort and pleasantry.




Falling forward, her head splits
Too much of herself shown
Warrior princess turned feeble-minded waif
Tumbling forward into the unknown

Unaccepted the way she really is
Held in high regard for something she's not
The words hurt her eyes
His disappointment echoing like a gun shot

No wind can blow the sound away
Nor reverse the hole
The residual frustration
Now burns her soul


7.75 out of 10
13.5% alc. by vol.
$23 / 1.5 L
closdubois.com

La Segreta Planeta

2005
Bianco
Sicily, Italia


Will drink again. Very enjoyable.

A blend of Grecanico, Chardonnay, Viognier, and Fiano, I loved this wine that I had at one of my favorite local area restaurants. It very nicely accompanied a ricotta olive appetizer spread on crostini bread, as well as my walnut, gorgonzola salad and my main entree of salmon, risotto cake and asparagus. Full and dry, the flavor was very distinct with a fruitful combo of pineapple meets peach. It had a wonderful, slight mineral finish for a white wine.

Although it is not a staple in local wine shops, I've requested it and hope to get my own bottle soon.

Softly in her sleep
Pictures of the life she's longing
For slowly appear
She's seen them all before
But somehow never quite this clear
She just smiles, she don't want the world

The open wound she hides
She just keeps it bundled up
And never lets it show
She can't take much more of this
But she can't let it go
And that's ok, she don't want the world

All the things she says
While he's just lying there
Without someone to hear her cry
She slips off into a dream
About a place to hide
And that's ok, she don't want the world

3 Doors Down, She Don't Want the World

8.25 out of 10
$14 / 750 ml bottle

Renwood Sierra Series

2003
Barbera
California

Might drink again.

This was pretty good I guess :# - The Guy really liked it. It was good, just too weak for my liking - more on the lighter side than medium. I thought it accompanied turkey meatballs and spinach well. The Guy liked it all the way around - alone, with food, in front of the computer, upside down with a spoonful of Italian Ice.

A spicy, hot cherry scent, it was slightly peppery, subtle fruit and a slight olive finish.

You don't know about my past, and
I don't have a future figured out.
And maybe this is going too fast.
And maybe it's not meant to last,

But what do you say to taking chances,
What do you say to jumping off the edge?
Never knowing if there's solid ground below
Or hand to hold, or hell to pay,
What do you say,
What do you say?

Celine Dion, "Taking Chances"

7.5 out of 10
$10 / 750 ml. bottle
13.5% alc. by vol.
www.redwood.com

Bogle Old Vine Zin

2006
California

Will drink again.

Good on its own and good with simple bow tie pasta, EV olive oil, sauteed garlic, broccoli and parmesean cheese. Scent was hot granite, black cherry and spice. Taste was similar with slight tobacco. Very good for the price range.

I’m one of the chosen few
Who went ahead and fell for you
I’m out of vogue, I’m out of touch
I fell too fast, I feel too much
I thought that you might have
Some advice to give on how to be
Insensitive

Jann Arden, "Insensitive"

7.75 out of 10
$11.99 / 750 ml. bottle
14.8% alc.by vol

Cartlidge & Brown Chardonnay

2006
NAPA
California

Would drink again.

Badger fan - thank you for sticking with me and checking back. Glad I could help. I hope you will come back once you've been where you're going to get that Champagne! (If you do get your hands on it, come back and give your own review of it.)

This was enjoyable on it's own and with chicken and rice. Medium bodied with light oak and a bit of pineapple in the taste, I would recommend this as a summer accompaniment to lighter fare - grilled chicken, creamy risotto, lighter cheeses. What I don't like is any zip to my white wines - I like them smooth. This wasn't as smooth as my favorite Clos Du Bois 2006 Chardonnay, but it had very little noticeable zip, making me happy.

Lord give me the clarity to see through this smoke,
And salvage the woman comin’ down.
Lord make me an arrow to pierce through the lies
(comin’ down, comin’ down),
Lord make me a lens to better see my life
(comin’ down, comin’ down),
Lord make me an instrument to sing away the pain,
This rushing river, comin’ down.
I’m free, here in the mountains of peace may I be.
I see the greatness above and the smallness of me. . .

. . .So free, here in garden awake consciously,
I see the greatness within; the greatness in me.
Lord I’m your instrument, I’ll shoulder the weight,
Of feeling emotions in a deeper shade.
I’ll be the one who puts them to song,
And liberate the heartache comin’ down.


Paula Cole, Comin' Down

8.0 out of 10
13.5% alc. by vol.
$10 /750 ml bottle
www.cartlidgeandbrowne.com

SHOTFIRE Shiraz

2005
BAROSSA BABY!!!!!
Australia

Will so drink again.

Father's Day pick - I knew it would be safe. I find Shiraz goes nicely with grilled anything and I know the Barossa Valley produces distinct, flavorful reds.

Chocolate and vanilla meet smokey plum. Strong finish. Earthy and smokey scent. Great alone and with grilled chicken with garlic, sweet onion, red pepper, and creamy parmesean risotto.

So I hid my soiled hands behind my back
Somewhere along the line I must've gone off track with you
. . .Well, excuse me, guess I've mistaken you for somebody else,
Somebody who gave a damn,
Somebody more like myself. . .
These foolish games are tearing me apart,
And your thoughtless words are breaking my heart.
You're breaking my heart.

JEWEL / FOOLISH GAMES !
8.25 out of 10
14.0% alc. by vol.
$12/750 ml. bottle
www.thornclarkewines.com