Posts Tagged ‘wine’
Varietal: 100% Shiraz
Region: South Eastern Australia
Cost: $7 (SRP)
Winemaker’s Notes: Ripe blackberries and blueberries with spicy black pepper on the nose. Pairs well with BBQ baby back ribs with macaroni salad, jerk chicken with brown rice and black beans, or without any food at all.
My Review: It’s been unseasonably warm here in Virginia so I’ve been able to make use of my grill here at the end of January and start of February when it’s usually covered and forgotten until March. Because of that, my wife and I recently threw some chicken on the grill with some BBQ sauce basted on and decided to open up a bottle of Fisheye Shiraz that had been sent to me.
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Region: California – USA
Cost: Approx $10
Winemaker’s Notes: Rich earthiness and bold robust flavors. Pairs well with full-flavored hearty meats, stews, and soups paired with rustic bread.
My Review: You ever have one of those moments when you see a bottle of wine on your rack and have absolutely no idea where it came from? I had that moment last night with my wife when we were trying to decide which bottle of wine to open up with some chili we had made for dinner. I had no memory of the wine being purchased, was confident it wasn’t a sample that had been sent to me, and didn’t remember anybody bringing it over during one of our holiday parties, and it wasn’t until I sat down to write this review that I realized where it came from – my wife and I did buy it at a local store that was offering a free tasting. This is what age does to you.
Varietal: Carmenere
Region: Chile – Curico Valley
Cost: $8
Winemaker’s Notes: Dark garnet color or great intensity with an aroma of generous ripe red fruit and merged peppers with toasted French oak. A silky, flavorful mouth feel, creamy with great volume. Firm tannins provide an enjoyable finish. Best paired with light hors d’oeuvres and pastas.
My Review: My wife and I are always on the lookout for inexpensive wines that may not excite or inspire us, but are easy to sip on and are more interesting than cheap merlot or cabernet sauvignon from California, Australia, or New Zealand. Chile has become a favored region to get affordable wines that mix it up ever so much. When a friend recently brought over a bottle of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon that he had picked up and we enjoyed it we decided to pick some up at the store the next time we went. They were out of the Cab Sauv, but had a healthy supply of the Carmenere that we decided to give a try to.
Varietal: 100% Malbec
Region: Patagonia, Argentina
Cost: $13 (SRP)
Winemaker’s Notes: A deep ruby-colored wine with rich, smooth blackberry flavors and vanilla aromas. Pairs well with red meats, cheeses, and pastas.
My Review: I’ve been a fan of Malbec for some time now, I’ve found it to be, on the whole, a nice inexpensive alternative to numerous other budget wines where you can get far better quality than your dollar would lead you to believe, especially coming out of South America, and it tends to pair well with the foods I like to eat. Because of that, I was pleased to receive a bottle of Malbec as a sample right at the end of the year, and my wife and I finally decided to pop the cork and give it a try last night.
Varietal: 100% Pinot Grigio
Region: South Eastern Australia
Cost: $7 (SRP)
Winemaker’s Notes: Light bodied with ripe peach and tropical fruit flavors. Pairs well with Korean BBQ ribs with spicy tofu soup, Teriyaki chicken with a side of pork or vegetable potstickers. An excellent wine to enjoy with our without food.
My Review: I’m somewhat hit or miss on Pinot Grigio, so when some samples showed up and there was a bottle of Pinot Grigio included I’ll admit that I hesitated. However, when the tasting notes recommended potstickers, my wife pointed out that we had some chicken potstickers that we’d been putting off cooking up and that at the very least we’d have something to pair the wine with, so that’s just what we did.
Varietal: 59% Cabernet Sauvignon; 19% Cabernet Franc; 11% Malbec; 6% Merlot; 5% Petit Verdot
Region: Napa, California – USA
Cost: $40 (SRP)
Winemaker’s Notes: Rich garnet color goes perfectly with the holiday season and it’s aromas of toasted hazelnut and winter spices make this wine the perfect gift for anyone on your list.
My Review: Another of the bottles that I received just before the end of the year, and on an unseasonable warm day on Sunday (pushing 70 in Virginia? Really?) my wife and I decided to throw a couple of steaks on the grill and a bottle of red wine sounded like the perfect pairing.
While there are some violet streaks going through the wine, it was a nice deep red in the glass and I picked up aromas of spice and dark berry. In the mouth there was a ton of fruit, but it was by no means a “fruit bomb”. By that I mean there was plenty of body and depth to the wine that allowed the wine to present nuanced fruit flavors and have a bit of complexity and a medium-smooth finish.
