2008 Yalumba Shiraz Viognier- The Y Series

Clay and I decided to continue our Christmas Movie Marathon a few days later. We REALLY wanted to see "It's A Wonderful Life" because Clay's never seen it; however it wasn't On Demand, so we settled for "Elf"! : )
(Side note: How Clay has never seen ANY movie is beyond me!? He's a walking movie encyclopedia... it's strange!!!)

2008 Yalumba Shiraz Viognier (The Y Series)

South Australia

Date tasted: 12/22/10

Purchased from: Shiraz wine store

Price: $9.99

Rating:

Rebecca: 8.5

Clay: 7

Sight: dark and really clear

Smell: spicy and jammy

Tastes: med-full bodied, easy to drink, spicy, dark jammy fruits

I've talked about Yalumba before... I've never had a bad bottle! This was no exception. It's 92% Shiraz and 8% Viognier. (And, it's a screw top which I always love!) It's really smooth and easy to drink, but still dry and spicy. It's just a great 'drinking wine'! This one isn't anything special, but it's just a good, easy bottle of wine! This, to me, would be a great bottle to just keep on hand for when you want a glass of wine at night... especially since it's only $9.99! It's not a special occasion wine, it's just good! : ) I would and will definitely buy this again!

2009 Domaine Bahourat Cuvee Elizabeth

Clay and I were trying to really get into the Christmas spirit, so we decided to have a little Christmas Movie Marathon! The marathon ended after one movie when we were both too tired to sit through another... does that mean we're old!? : ) We decided to make it extra festive by drinking out of our beautiful Waterford glasses! Sometimes, you just need to pull out the fancy stuff and live a little! : ) "Christmas Vacation" probably shouldn't be the movie to watch while drinking from Waterford, but hey, who cares!

2009 Domaine Bahourat Cuvee Elizabeth

Costieres de Nimes, France

Date tasted: 12/19/10

Purchased from: Shiraz wine store

Price: $13.99

Rating:

Rebecca: 6.5-7

Clay: 8

Sight: dark, raspberry color, clear

Smell: slightly chalky- lead, earthy

Tastes: very slight spice, kind-of drinks like a bolder Pinot, some tobacco/smoke, medium bodied

The wine was 80% Syrah and 20% Grenache.

It was a lot lighter than I expected it to be. Not bad, but definitely not my favorite. Clay liked it and said he would drink it again, but I probably wouldn't buy it again. There are just too many other great wines to try! : )

2005 Baron de Magana

Before I talk about the wine, I have a confession... My name is Rebecca and I am utterly and completely addicted to Mexican food! It's pretty ridiculous! And, even though I can admit it, I still totally blame my mom for this obsession! : ) Clay and I eat Mexican WAY too frequently and this night was one of those many, many occasions!

The weather was horrible, we were lazy and all the pieces just fell together for a great and relaxing evening in! We had Mexican delivered to the house (Bulldawg Food delivery*= greatest idea/company EVER!), watched TV and had some wine. It was just perfect!

*Bulldawg Food is a new company in town. They've teamed up with tons of local restaurants and will deliver anything from the menu for $2! Seriously!? Why didn't I think of that!? They have an awesome website and have probably added to my increasing waistline the last couple months! : ) I may be their only customer (but I'm a good one!), so here's their website: http://www.orderbulldawgfood.com/ Enjoy Athenians! : )

Now, back to the wine!

2005 Baron de Magana

Navarra

Date tasted: 12/15/10

Purchased at: Shiraz wine store

Price: Normally $21.99, but $19.99 this month

Rating:

Rebecca: 8.5

Clay: 8

Sight: very dark, clear

Smell: slight fruit- raspberry, smoky, lead, slight hay/straw- interesting

Tastes: very dry, smoky, very strong, seems very acidic/tannic

This wine is 40% Merlot, 40% Cab. and 20% Tempranillo. I have been pretty vocal about my aversion to Merlot; however, I'm always willing to squash stigmas! The wine didn't drink like there was any Merlot! The Cab. and Tempranillo really did a great job of bringing out all of the Merlot's good qualities without showcasing the ones that I'm not super fond of! It was really, really good! I wrote in my notes, "YUM!" so that should say something! : )

I would definitely buy this wine again!

2009 Domaine des Huards Cour

Clay was out of town for work and I just couldn't bring myself to eat another Lean Cuisine for dinner, so I ordered Cuban food, a girlie movie and opened a bottle of wine! : )

2009 Domaine des Huards Cour- Cheverny Michel

Mis en Bouteille au Domaine Par- Gendrier-Vigneron (if you can understand this line and the one above it... more power to you because I haven't a clue!)
Date tasted: 12/8/10

Purchased from: Shiraz wine store
Price: $16.99

Rating: 9

I hate to admit it, but I'm still always apprehensive when I open a bottle of white wine. I know that I've found some great whites that I love, but it's hard for me to let go of that negative outlook on them. So, with great hesitation (because I was REALLY looking forward to a wine night), I opened this bottle. It was fantastic!!!

I ordered Cuban food with ZERO intention of a good pairing, but the spicy food and this delcious wine actually went perfectly together! Huh, who knew!? : )

Sight: Slight yellow, very clear

Smell: Buttery, kind-of herbal (?), stony

Tastes: a little petrol (one of my favorite things to taste in a white wine), kind-of spicy for a white wine, not at all sweet, seems really acidic

Again, I really enjoyed this wine! It was really interesting and hard to explain. It REALLY dried my mouth out. Had A LOT of flavor- almost drank like a red and was full-bodied for a white (not thin).

It completely held it's own against the food and, more importantly, my reservations about it! : )

I would absolutely buy this wine again! It ranks up there with Pikes Dry Riesling for me, but with more flavor! YUM!

2008 The Chook Sparkling Red

AGH! I am SOOO far behind! One day I'll catch up! : )

All the guys decided to start having a "Guys Night" every Monday to play poker, etc. So, Alli and I decided we'd just have a little girls night too! : ) (Side note: Monday night Poker only lasted 2 weeks! Boys... :) )

So, Alli came over, we ordered take-out and rented the girliest movie we could find! We looked through our options for wine and decided we'd take a chance and try something neither of us had ever had (or heard of for that matter)!

2008 The Chook Sparkling Red

Date tasted: 11/21/10

Purchased at: Shiraz wine store

Price: $18.99
Rating: None (will explain)

So, this was a sparkling Shiraz... strange, huh!? We thought so! : ) The bottle said to serve it chilled, so that's just what we did. Unfortunately, it was a lot too chilled! If I had it to do over again, I'd probably serve it at the same temperature that I serve regular red wine.

I didn't take too many notes on this one because we were so puzzled by it! : ) However, here's what I did write down:

Sight: dark, much lighter on edges, really clear

Smell: cold- weird! : ) Still smells like a Shiraz

Tastes: strange since it's cold and bubbly- does have the peppery Shiraz tastes

Wouldn't serve as cold next time- got so much better as it warmed up some

We didn't rate this wine because we only had one glass and didn't think it was fair to judge it (how very PC of us)! : ) We decided to just open up a bottle of Pikes Dry Riesling! Alli enjoyed it as well... it's still a great recommendation! : ) I fully intended to go back to The Chook and try it again less chilled... but never did! Oops!

I probably wouldn't buy this again- I'd just rather either drink a regular bubbly or a regular Shiraz! : )

Despite the hiccup in the wine, we still had a great and girly evening! And, I'd place a large bet that we could make a regularly scheduled Girls Night last a lot longer than 2 weeks! : )

2009 El Posadero

Wow it's been a long time since I've posted! I have 4 additional posts after this one to get to as well... Oops!

So, after the UGA vs Colorado Basketball game on 11/16, Clay and I decided that we needed to celebrate the (much too narrow) Dawgs win with a glass of wine at home! I went to the wine fridge and pulled out a bottle that looked interesting. I poured a glass, took a whiff and did NOT like what I smelled!!! I then looked at the bottle again and had a flood of memories attack me! Emily: "Rebecca, you need to make sure that you decant this wine for about an hour before you drink it. I tasted this straight from the barrel earlier this year, so it's super young." CRAP! We didn't want to wait an hour and now I've already opened this bottle! UGH!

So, I poured it into our decanter in the most un-ladylike manner possible (to try and get as much air in there as fast as I could)! I swirled the decanter full of wine with power and determination! : )

So, here we are... trying to rush the process of aerating the wine! Well, it sort-of worked! : )

2009 El Posadero
Vinos de Madrid Denominacion de Origen
Date tasted: 11/16/10
Purchased at: Shiraz wine store
Price: $10.99

Rating: 8.5-9 (Clay: 9)

This wine is 85% Tempranillo and 15% Syrah and 100% DELICIOUS!!! You would NEVER believe that this was an $11 bottle of wine!!! This probably sounds stupid, but it seems like a really sophisticated wine! I would serve this or take it to a high-class dinner party and not worry at all!

Really dark in color, gets lighter at edges; very clear; beautiful deep Garnet color.

Smell: maybe cherry, not really jammy, almost flamed cherries!? (yes, I know that's weird... but it had a Cherries Jubilee type smell), some spice, maybe a little chocolate, coffee, pencil lead

Tastes: BIG, bold flavor, spices, acidic, tannic, seems like it may have a higher alcohol content than normal, but I don't know that that's true

We didn't eat anything with this wine, but I felt like we really should have! I almost felt like I was wasting the wine by not having a good meal with it!

It continued getting better and better as it had time to breathe. The last 1/2 glass was phenomenal!

I made a note that the smell throws the wine off a bit to me... Not that it smelled bad, but it tasted a lot better than it smelled to me.

I will definitely buy this wine again! Especially since it's only $10.99!!!
*Note: I did actually go back and get 2 additional bottles. Next time, I'll make sure to give it ample time to open up and breathe! And... I think we'll have a great meal with it too!

**I always talk about making notes, etc. Well, I have a wine book that Emily gave me to take notes, etc. about wines tasted. I usually just fill in the blanks on the pages, but this wine had me writing all over the page trying to fit everything in! So, I figured I'd take a picture of that as well! : )

2009 Darting Scheurebe Spatlese Durkheimer Spielberg Pfalz

My dad's officially getting old! : )

My dad, who looks no older than 30, just turned 64, so I went down to Milledgeville to celebrate with him and my mom!

My dad is definitely more of a beer man than a wine man... and he's really picky about his beer! Hand him a light beer and watch him morph into the biggest snob you've ever met! : ) So, his primary gift was beer; however, I did bring along one of our wine club wines to toast the fact that he's a year older!

2009 Darting Scheurebe Spatlese Durkheimer Spielberg Phalz

Germany- Gutsalfullung

Date tasted: 11/10/10

Purchased at: Shiraz wine store
Price: $18.99

Ratings:

Rebecca: 5

Mom: 5-6

Dad: 7.5-8

Very pale yellow and clear. Very, very fragrant, has petrol smellls, maybe a little citrus. I also wrote, "this is probably way off, but maybe lavender?". Doesn't smell sweet at all. Has a really great smell!

Rich flavor. SWEET- I definitely didn't expect that after smelling it! Maybe some honey. I also wrote, "this is probably not a good thing to say about a good wine, but scuppernong (sp?)!"

My first sip was SO unexpected! I was ready for something completely different from what I got! It really drank more like a dessert wine and I wasn't at all mentally prepared for that! (I know that sounds dumb, but it was a shock.) It smelled SO good and then, it just wasn't for me!

I really didn't enjoy drinking this, but I know a lot of that had to do with my expectations of the wine! I think that if I had this again and knew what to expect, I may like it better; however, I can't rate it highly after this try. I definitely wouldn't buy this one again.

Dad really liked it and said that he would definitely get it again. Mom said that, "To sit and sip it, it's pretty good, but I wouldn't want it with dinner. I don't know what it would complement." Apparently she has become an expert with pairings! ; ) She also said, "I would get it again, but don't really want to rank it very high." So, basically, because my mother is the world's best optimist and sugar-coater, I'll translate... she didn't like it! : )

*I'm pretty sure that I've had a dry Riesling from Darting that I enjoyed a lot, so I'm not writing them off completely! : )

2008 Turkey Flat Vineyards Rose

I decided to try and make a healthy dinner for Clay and I one night, so I made pan seared tilapia, sauteed spinach and couscous with zucchini. I had wine, Clay did not. He said that having wine sort-of negated a healthy dinner... what a buzz kill! : )

So, I picked something I knew he'd turn his nose up to, a Rose (it really bothers me that I have no idea how to put the accent mark on the e!). I'm sure I've probably had a Rose at some point in my life, but I really have no recollection of it! So, for all intents and purposes, this was my first!

This particular Rose was 63% Grenache, 18% Shiraz, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Dolcetto.

2008 Turkey Flat Vineyards Rose

Barossa Valley, Australia

Date tasted: 11/8/10

Purchased at: Shiraz wine store

Price: regularly $16.99, this month $13.99

Rating: 8

just trying to show the color

Coral colored and very clear. Really good and very dry. I don't really get any fruit flavors, but I'm probably off on that. I think I was expecting it to be somewhat sweet, but it really wasn't sweet at all!

Smells fruity (but not sweet), smells yummy (that's helpful, right!?), slight grassy smell.

Seems acidic maybe. Really can't decide how it tastes, but it's really good!

Would definitely buy again!

*Note: I made this note the next day: Wasn't as good the 2nd day... that's disappointing!

I can't decide if that affects my rating and overall opinion... guess I'll just have to try it again! : )

2006 Chupacabra California Red Wine

Clay recently accepted a promotion at work that will really cut down on his travel... SO EXCITING! : ) So, this means more home-cooked meals and (fingers crossed) more wine! : )

We decided to have an at-home dinner during his first officialweek of the new job. We recently got a Trader Joe's in Athens, so I stopped by to try and find something good for dinner. I bought a Cabernet marinated roast, brocollini and fingerling potatoes. Well... not super impressive. The roast was just ok, so that was slightly disappointing. But, I still thought Trader Joe's was pretty cool! : )

We figured we needed a Cab to go with our Cab marinated roast, so I pulled one out of our wine fridge and hoped for the best. This particular bottle was (surprise, surprise) one of our wine club wines and I had been wanting to try it for awhile. The winemaker is the lead singer of "Tool"... pretty cool, huh!? : )

It's a blend of Cab, Petit Verdot, Petit Syrah, Valdique, Cab Franc and Zin. and the grapes are from both California and Arizona.

2006 Chupacabra California Red Wine

Merkin Vineyards (Livermore, CA)

Date tasted: 11/3/10

Purchased at: Shiraz wine store

Price: $20.99

Rating: 7.5 (Clay didn't think it was as good, but didn't give it a rating)

Clear and really, really dark wine.

Smells: cranberry- almost overwhelmingly so, smells jammy

Tastes: hay or wood tastes, not fruity, slightly smoky, really tannic (really dries mouth out)

Doesn't have a whole lot of flavor while you're drinking, but has a pretty spicy/powerful aftertaste

I would drink this one again, but I probably wouldn't buy it... does that make sense!? : )

2007 d'Alessandro Nero d'Avola

MY BEST FRIEND IS GETTING MARRIED!!! : )

Kauleen got engaged and we were too busy to actually get together to celebrate until about 2 weeks later! Geez!
Once we were both FINALLY in town at the same time, we decided a girl's night was in order! So, I ordered lasagna and a spinach salad from Mirko Pasta (here in Athens) and drove down to Lake Oconee for a much needed night of wine and girl/wedding talk!

The lasagna lost a little of it's deliciousness in the hour drive, but Mirko is always a winner! The wine... not so much, unfortunately!
I took a bottle that we had gotten from our Shiraz wine store wine club. I cheated* this time and looked at Emily's description in the newsletter and saw that this wine was supposed to be good with Italian food/pasta, so I was really hopeful that we would have the perfect night!
*I never look at the newsletter's descriptions of the wines before I try them so that I won't be influenced by Emily's expert opinion.

I can honestly say that I'm VERY rarely disappointed with our wine club selections! I know that everyone has different opinions/tastes on wine, so it's really not a surprise that once in a while I'm not crazy about one! However... I will say that I was a bit disappointed about this one, simply because this was a celebration and the wine was just ok! Oops! Sorry K! : (
Next time we'll take no chances... BUBBLY!!! : )

2007 d'Alessandro Nero d'Avola
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy
Date tasted: 10/27/10
Purchased at: Shiraz wine store
Price: normally $16.99, but it was $14.99 at the time
Rating: 6 (I forgot to ask Kauleen what she would rate it. She said that she liked it, but I think she was being nice more than anything!)



The wine was really dark (really dark) and very clear. Was extremely dry and tannic (dried my mouth out significantly) and seemed acidic for a red (not sure if that's accurate though).
Smells: slight chocolate, cinnamon and some kind of fruit (not sure what though)
Tastes: Maybe cranberry?, not jammy at all and doesn't taste fruity at all- hard to explain
Notes: Didn't really like it much at all- wasn't terrible, but I wouldn't buy it again

Oh well, regardless of the sub-par wine, it was great seeing Kauleen (and that rock she now sports on her left hand) and talking about the wedding (and, of course, THE BACHELORETTE PARTY)!!! : )
Congratulations Kauleen and David!

2007 Pikes Traditionale Dry Riesling

I have a lot of blogging to do... : )

I mentioned (briefly) in an earlier post that I think that Riesling has an unwarranted bad reputation, so now I'm proving that!

I, along with SO many people, thought Riesling was ridiculously sweet and unbearable to drink (and there are plenty of those); however, dry Rieslings are delectable! They are very neutrual wines and can be paired with anything (or just enjoyed alone)! Most (good) dry Rieslings will actually spell it out for you and put on the label that it's a DRY Riesling, so definitely be on the lookout for that!

This particular dry Riesling was the feature wine at Shiraz wine store here in Athens for the month of October. I walked in to pick-up our wine club wines and Emily (the store owner) said, oh Rebecca... you're going to want this one! : )

See, Emily is the person who made me take that brave first step and "try" a Riesling again. Only, she didn't exactly tell me that it was a Riesling... she tricked me! : ) She does a great job of trying to learn your particular tastes and guide you to try new things. Emily asked (early on) what I usually drink, etc. and I told her that I just really haven't been a fan of white wine, but would love to find a few "go-to" whites. She started by asking what I don't like about white and if there are any varietals in particular that I don't care for. My first response... "I hate Rieslings!" She calmly said, ok, why? I explained to her that I just DO NOT care for sweet wine (unless it's a dessert wine and I'm mentally prepared for it to be sugary sweet)! Emily's response, "No problem... I actually have a great bottle of white open, why don't you just try it and tell me what you think." So, low and behold, I take a very cautious sip of white wine and fall in love... with none other than the dreaded Riesling! Emily says this is one of her favorite tricks to pull and that tons of people have the same reservations about Riesling until they try a good one. So, the moral of this (way too long) story... TRY A GOOD DRY RIESLING!!!

2007 Pikes Traditionale Dry Riesling

Australia- Clare Valley

purchased at Shiraz wine store (Athens, GA)

$19.99 normally, but it was $9.99 because it was the feature wine

Date tasted: 10/19/10

Rating: 9-9.5

I had this wine one night when Clay was out of town, but I still wanted a great meal. So, I grilled a peppercorn pork tenderloin and some zucchini and opened up this fabulous bottle!

Pale yellow in color, gets more yellow around the edges, very clear wine

Smells: honey, grass, petrol- Yes, petrol/gas... I know that's odd, but it's very common and doesn't mean that it's not good... it's actually DELICIOUS! : )

Taste: medium bodied, acidic and dry- light and crisp, earthy, petrol, not sweet at all, also has little spice kick at the very end of the sip

My notes:

Really crisp and refreshing dry Riesling- Really great! Seems super versatile- I would think this wine would change someone's mind about whites and especially about Rieslings! Would definitely buy again (and again and again)! Screwtop bottle. Hard not to chug this one- it's really great!

Side note: I did actually buy this wine again... Shiraz decided to extend the $9.99 special into November, so when I picked up November's wine club wines, I bought two more bottles!

2008 Argie Andes Torrontes

A girly TV night filled with admittedly terrible shows (i.e. new 90210, Gossip Girl) calls for wine! I had a couple bottles of white wine from our wine club selections in the fridge, so I decided to give one a try.

2008 Argie Andes Torrontes

La Rioja / Andes / Argentina

purchased from Shiraz wine store (Athens, GA)

$13.99

Rating: 8.5

I have to admit, I'm always a bit nervous opening a bottle of white wine. I have always prefered red wine and white wine intimidates me. I know that there are tons of red wine varieties and grapes, but for some reason, they seem easier to conquer. I can't remember a Chardonnay from a Pinot Grigio for anything! But... I'm trying!

All that being said, I was extremely pleased with this bottle! Again, I'm always wary, but the first sniff and sip put me at ease.

I'm not good at identifying aromas and tastes with any wine yet, but whites are definitely harder for me than reds, but here goes nothing...

Appearance:

very light in color, slightly yellowish, also slightly lighter around edges, very clear

Aromas:

slight honey maybe, possibly slight watermelon?, it smells fruity, but it's not sweet smelling, it smells really good, could possibly smell citrusy

Tastes:

medium bodied, seems fairly acidic and crisp at first, but then not as much so after a few sips (maybe as it warms?)

light, not sweet (but not dry necessarily either), possibly a little buttery tasting, but I could be way off on that, pretty noticeable alcohol taste at the end, seems like it would be a great Summer wine, light and refreshing, maybe a little earthy (a little cut grass maybe?)

I would definitely buy this wine again! Also, I think this would make a GREAT Spring/Summer gift because it seems so neutral and easy to like! I'll have to refer back to this one next year when we're invited to dinner or something.

Also, I don't know the first thing about pairing, but I can really see this being good with light seafood (raw oysters, shrimp cocktail, etc.). Who knows!? I can't wait to try and see though!

Definitely a good start with the first blogged white! : )

2007 The Table Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Clay and I bought a new grill a couple days ago and thought we should properly break it in... with a nice, juicy steak! So, we went to our wine fridge and found what we hoped would be a great Cab. to go with it.

2007 The Table
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
ONCE Sommelier Series
Purchased from Shiraz wine store (Athens, GA)
$20.99



We loved this bottle! It was a really great, perfect example of a Cab. Seemed really tannic to me and also seemed to maybe have a bit higher alcohol content, but I really don't know if it did. I would say that, unless you really love Cab., you wouldn't enjoy this bottle as it is very dry, tannic and strong. All the qualities I love! : )

My notes:
Dark in color with slightly lighter edges. A bit cloudy because of noticable sediment (the bottle ended up having A LOT of sediment- the last glass I poured from the bottle was FULL of sediment, but it wasn't a distraction to me). (You think that sentence had the word sediment enough times!? Geez Rebecca!)
Starts off with a strong pine smell, then at the end of that same whiff, it smelled like really sweet cherries. Very interesting and really pleasant.
Earthy tastes (I'm sure the sediment has something to do with this), thick jammy tastes (not fruity though).

Rating:
8.5-9.5 (that's as specific as I can get... I am NOT good with ratings!)
I will definitely be buying this wine again and again!

The premise...

I am, like so many people, a believer in wine. Yup, a believer.

Wine is delicious, yes, but I also feel it holds medicinal properties. Wine can be a stress reliever, a companion, a liberator, and, of course, a means to an end (drunken bliss).

I don't pretend to know much about wine, other than... I LIKE IT! However, with each bottle opened, each sip tasted, each glass drained... I learn more and more.
Personal taste is just that... personal. So, I feel that wine can be difficult across the board. Everyone's palate is different, so my favorite wine may taste like yesterday's garbage to you. I am simply making an effort to lasso any information I obtain about wine into one central location, so I'm not rummaging through my house (constantly) looking for that scrap piece of paper I wrote that vintage on.

My wine journey (and blog posts) will be random and probably extremely frustrating for wine aficionados; however, there's always that possibility that just the right person will be out there reading and find something useful! : )
Most of my posts will just be my random (and NOT expert) notes about wines that I taste (varietal, vintage and producer information, smells, tastes, general opinion, price and whether food was involved).

I will also note that my husband, Clay, and I are members of a monthly wine club here in Athens, GA at Shiraz wine store. Through this great store, we've had the opportunity to taste a great variety of wines and really learn which wines and characteristics make us happy. I also had the fantastic experience of taking a 6-course beginner's wine class to start my "formal" education. Wine class is great (too bad that wasn't an offered major at UGA)! We tasted wines from around the world, compared our opinions on aroma, taste, etc. and began to understand more and more what we loved (and, unfortunately every now and then, what we hated).

Hopefully this will be a fun exercise for me and possibly someone out there who cares at all about my worthless opinion!