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! : )

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! : )

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! : )

Las Vegas- 2005 Banfi Summus

Vegas was off to a GREAT start and Day/Night 2 did not disappoint!

Clay, Maxey, Hope and I had reservations at Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare at the Wynn hotel. Bartolotta is an Italian seafood restaurant (hence the name) and the menu was just insanely delicious looking! I was a tad bit nervous though because Clay's not a huge seafood lover; however, I knew he'd find SOMETHING he liked! : ) Well... we all did! We had enough food to feed a small country (and ate EVERY bite)! It was so delicious and fresh and amazing! We all loved it! It was also a neat experience... we ordered several different courses and for our main course, we ordered two fish... two whole fish to split as a table. The wait staff came out and took the head off of our fish and deboned it right in front of us. I've seen this before, but it never ceases to amaze me how easily these people make it look! : )

We consulted with the sommelier and decided to stick with what we all really prefer... red wine. We knew that we wanted an Italian wine and Maxey and I were both pushing for a Sangiovese. We settled on a Sangiovese, Cab and Syrah blend that sounded too good to be true!

Our first sips were a bit strange. I really didn't think I was going to like it very much... it seemed SO light for a blend of such big grapes! We all decided to finish our drinks from the bar and let the wine sit and breathe for awhile. GOOD MOVE! This wine DEFINITELY should have been decanted! The first sip and the last sip could not have been more different!!! I'm always fascinated to see how much a wine can change and this bottle was the strongest example of that that I've seen!

2005 Banfi Summus

Sangiovese, Cab, Syrah

Ratings:

Rebecca: 8.5-9 (although I would have given it no higher than a 7 at first!)

Clay: 8.5

Maxey: 8.5

Hope: 8

*Again... iPhone pictures:

Really dark in color. Has strong coffee smells, slight licorice smell maybe (not unpleasant though- that's really not a smell/flavor I enjoy typically). Dark berry flavors, spicy, maybe a little chocolate flavor. You feel it in your nose when you drink it... I'm thinking maybe this is due to the spices!? It's dry-tannic.

This is definitely a bottle that I'd get again, but this time, I'd open it up, decant it and let it breathe for an hour or so before indulging! : )