Summer is winding down — although it’s still plenty hot, here in the desert — and I am gladly using up all my white wines and getting back to my favorite reds. The other night I was having fish for dinner and opening my wine cabinet took out one of the few whites left — Menage a’ Trois. I don’t even remember buying it, but their wines are decent everyday wines and (as the name implies) a blend of three wines. The fish came out of the oven, the green beans were done and the rice was pretty well ready — maybe a little on the crunchy side. Fish is not my favorite food, but this was pretty decent. I reached for my wine glass and took a sip. Now I’m guessing this has happened to you at some point. You have your mouth set for something and then you taste something else?… Read More »
Verdict on the two Rosenblums
Okay, because I wanted my bargain Rosenblum zinfandel to have every opportunity to show at its best, we did have a nice steak dinner. You know, it’s sort of like putting on your Sunday best when you’re trying to make a good impression. If the wine showed poorly, I didn’t want to think it was because I didn’t give it my best shot. So I chose the Sonoma Valley Maggie’s Reserve to go with the grilled T-Bones and Susie brought sauteed mushrooms. The dinner was delicious and the wine was a good complement although it quickly became apparent that most of the fruit was gone. No question that there was plenty of sharp pepper and spice and maybe a hint of licorice.(The label said a burst of eucalpytus but none of us detected any.) Not bad, but I do like fruit in my zinfandel. However, as it opened up in the glass, it became more mellow. It certainly did complement… Read More »
The 3 Rs of Zinfandel
It was several years ago that a wine buyer for a market told me I could not go wrong with zinfandel if I stuck to the Three R’s: Ridge, Ravenswood and Rosenblum. I think there might be a 4th R and there are many excellent zinfandels that don’t start with R — but it was a handy, quick guide. I thought of that a couple of weeks ago at the wine tasting at Marche Bacchus. We were tasting wines from Hahn Winery in the Santa Lucia Highlands. The Santa Lucia AVA is on the backside of the mountains that face Monterey Bay. I’ve been there several times and loved the Hahn tasting room and always ended up buying a couple of bottles. In fact, just the night before I had opened a Hahn Syrah with my friend Susan. So at Marche Bacchus, we were listening to the merits of the various wines when… Read More »
Blind Wine Tasting
Wine bottles lined the counter, each in a black velvet bag with a number on it. It was a blind tasting. Irene King had just passed her level one Sommelier exam, and the night before led the American Wine Society’s monthly seminar. Tonight she was hosting our wine club at her house and had chosen the wines she thought we would enjoy and she also hoped would confound us. “What on earth is Moroccan spice?” Gidget muttered as we sat at the table with a glass of wine in front of us. Gidget has an amazing palate and an even more amazing nose. If she says she’s getting aromas of ripe plum or lavender, you can bet on it. We were reading the description of the Hug Cellars red from Paso Robles: “Medium red violet color, has layered complexity with Moroccan spice, herbs, roasted meat and brimming with red fruits like raspberry and… Read More »
Russian River Wine
“I’ve got two maps of the Russian River wine country and I’m not afraid to use them!” I was preparing Lonnie for a wine jaunt as part of the Berkeley house-sitting gig. Cousin Susan was taking off for a week in Barcelona and had asked if I’d like to stay at her lovely little house in Berkeley and take care of her doggie, Rezzie. Rezzie is a dog who loves one thing in this whole world: walks. Not being a dog person, I don’t know if this is typical dog behavior but I suspect it might be. And walking in the Berkeley hills is terrific exercise and great fun. The houses are charming and individual. The trees tower — mammoth pine trees, some of which surely are redwoods, spreading sycamores sturdy oaks and lofty eucalyptus shade the streets and add gravitas to the houses. Dog-sitting Rezzie is pure joy! And Berkeley is within easy… Read More »
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