Tag: Uncorked!

I’m not worthy!  I’m not worthy…of my pseudonym, that is.  I was just doing a little perusing of my blog archives and realized that it was (drum roll please)  AUGUST 27TH since I posted a wine recommendation.  A-U-G-U-S-T-2-7-T-H!!  That’s 4 MONTHS!  Shameful.  Just shameful.

It’s not exactly my fault.  Circumstances have conspired against me. First, there was the unseasonable heat during our September trip to Connecticut.  Then, while stopped in Philly on our way home, we hit the Belgian Abbey Ale motherload at Eulogy.  By the time we got home it was nearly October.  You know what that means, don’t you?  Octoberfests!  Our local brewery, Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, hosted it’s second annual MECKTOBERFEST.  You didn’t hear about it because BG never wrote up his post. But, trust me, it was fun!  In October, the weather turns chilly, which meant it was time to eat chili.  Somehow, wine and chili just don’t seem to mesh.  Of course, I couldn’t drink wine while I baked (and ate) ButterBEER Cupcakes or BEER Bread.  Then, before I knew it, the holidays were upon me, which calls for fancy cocktails.

So, you see, it’s not really my fault.  Weather, travels, holidays and even movies have created a situation that resulted in there being a lot of beer and very little wine around here lately.  And I dare to call myself “Wine Girl”…

Tonight, though, we remedy that.  Boy oh boy, are you going to thank me.  Let me introduce you to the 2008 Tormaresca Neprica…

I first had this wine a couple years ago in a restaurant when a girlfriend and I were out having a girl’s night. We split a bottle of it over dinner and each loved it so much that we made certain to jot down the label info before settling up the tab.  We paid $45 for the bottle in the restaurant, so imagine my surprise when I found it for $11 at my local Harris Teeter!

It’s an blend from the Southern Italian province of Puglia. (It’s in the “heel” of the Italian boot.)  The name “Neprica” is derived from the three grapes included in the blend NEgroamaro, PRImitivo and CAbernet.  See.  NE-PRI-CA.  Kind of clever, huh?

You notice more when looking from above than from the view in my picture, but it’s a luscious ruby red pour.  There are berries and spice on the nose.   On the palate you get those same berries, plus some chocolate, and a wee bit of, dare I say…licorice?  Generally, I’m not a licorice fan in any way, shape, or form. But this is very slight and not at all over powering.  All those flavors, combine with the nicely balanced tannins to make up a rich, complex wine that rolls off the back of the tongue like velvet.  And I should know…I’ve done the leg work on this one!

Cheers, y’all!

I know, I know, I know!  Bad blogger!  Bad, bad blogger!  No posts in a week!  Such a naughty little blogger!

Sorry, guys.  It’s be a crazy busy week and there has just simply been no time to post. But we are getting back on track.  Will you forgive me if I tell you about a heavenly new Cab that I found last week?

Drum roll please….

Ladies and gentleman, meet the 2007 Penny Farthing Cabernet Sauvignon!  I love the old fashioned bicycle on the label, don’t you?  The label on the back of the bottle says that this “whimsical pennyfarthing bicycle invokes bygone days when life was simpler and more joyful.”  Well, now I know I’m going to have to visit this winery one day.  Doesn’t that sound lovely? And what can be more simple and joyful than a lovely bottle of wine?  Not much, in my book.

Here’s what caught my eye while perusing the wine aisles

“Flavors of German chocolate cake with a raspberry glaze accompanied by generous pomegranate aromas filling out the chocolate.  These flavors were married with the vanilla, coffee, and espresso aroma from medium and heavy-toast French oak.”

(That was from the descriptor tag on the shelf.) SOLD!

Look at that gorgeous vermillion color!  Kind of looks like blackberry jam.  And speaking of berries, you get a lot of those plus a little cedar on the nose.  My sniffer is not sensitive enough to discern blackberry, from raspberry, from strawberry, from blueberry scents, but there is definitely berry there.  I personally don’t notice pomegranate, but that may be because I’m almost certain I’ve never smelled one. It’s smooth and nicely tannic, but not too much.  I really do pick up the vanilla and coffee on the palate.

The label says it is a Bordeaux style Cab.  Not sure what that means, but I’ll look into it and get back to you.

Mmmm…don’t mind that noise.  It’s just me slurping and cooing with delight.

I don’t mind telling y’all that my go to Cab may have just been unseated.  I liked it so much that I polished off the bottle (over the course of the last 4-5 days, mind you.  I’m not a total wino…not yet anyway) without bothering to make any notes on it for my Uncorked! Naturally, I had to then purchase another bottle so that I could write it up.  The BG and I are both off work today as we were expecting houseguests to arrive at ~11:30 this morning.  Well, their flight was delayed and now they won’t be here until after 4pm.  So since I had a little extra time on my hands…I thought I’d uncork the second bottle and get my thoughts down.

What?  It’s 5:00 somewhere.

Cheers, y’all!

Whew!  It’s been a busy week and the weekend isn’t going to be much better.  So the first thing I did when I got home was uncork a bottle and relax while I still had the chance.  Tonight’s Uncorked! bottle is the 2008 Estancia Pinot Noir.

It’s a beautiful garnet color, even if it looks a little thin in the glass.  It’s got great legs after a whirl, though.  There’s lots of berries and spice on the nose.  The initial taste is full of berries as well but the finish brings hints of vanilla and, dare I say it, rose.    Please don’t misunderstand me.  I don’t go around snacking on rose petals or potpouri.  But there’s a flavor at the finish that tastes like a rose smells…you know, in the same way a Piña Colada tastes like suntan lotion smells.  You know what I mean, right?  Anyway, it’s delightful.  This vino is smooth in texture and feels warm from the back of my tongue all the way down my esophagus.  (Sorry. I’m a Speechie that helps people deal with swallowing problems all day. A little anatomy is gonna sneak out from time to time.)

I’ve been a fan of this Pinot Noir for a while.  I usually pick it up for ~$17-18, but tonight’s bottle was on sale for $14.  Sweet! Just what I needed!

Well, here’s hoping your weekend is less busy than mine has the potential to be!

Cheers, y’all!

Well, it’s Friday night and you know what that means. It’s time to uncork a bottle of vino and kick off the weekend.  We’ve been in the whites lately but tonight I’m in a red mood.

Ladies and gentleman, may I present the 2007 Ghost Pines Cabernet Sauvignon!

It’s not very often I get to use a word like scrumptious to describe a wine, but that is exactly what this one is.  SCRUMP-DIDDILY-UMPTIOUS!  It’s so yummy that I’m having to resist the urge the polish off the bottle myself.  The BG was supposed to be flying home from a work trip to Memphis tonight, but he missed his flight and could not get another one before tomorrow morning.  I’m more than a little perturbed and bummed about that.  Did I mention that it has “come a flood” outside (as good Southern folks say), complete with lots of thunder and lightening?  Needless to say am sorely tempted to drown my sorrows in this smooth and velvety Cab.

But, alas, that is not good form and I have to walk 12 miles in the morning.  So, it’s probably a better plan just to have a glass… or two. 🙂

Just look at that color!  And the nose…you had me at first sniff!  It’s a little earthy, but with chocolate, berries, and cinnamon – OH MY!  It’s just so smooth on the way down with hints of vanilla and spice on the finish.

BG found this one when I sent him on a grocery run one day.  I was into it at the very first pour and it is now my go to Cab.

Find it. Uncork it.  Put a straw it.  You’ll thank me later!

Cheers, y’all!

Happy Friday to you all!  I hope you are all as glad to be home from work as I am.  I don’t know about y’all but it’s been a crazy busy week for me.  I’m exhausted with no end in sight as I have to work tomorrow at 7 am!  (There are so many things wrong with that statement that I don’t even know where to start.  It’s wrong, I tell you.  Just wrong.)

For now, though, let’s uncork a chilled bottle of Rodney Strong Sauvignon Blanc and relax.

My go to vino is usually a Pinot Noir, but it’s just too dang hot outside.  I need to drink something chilled.  So, I’m on a whites kick right now.  This one is from Rodney’s Charlotte’s Home Vineyards.  Just looking at mellow straw-like color of the pour in the glass cools me off.  It is so lovely and fragrant with hints of pear and pineapple on the nose.  It is light and crisp and, although it is generally dry, there is a slight sweetness at the finish.

Those are my thoughts.  If you are interested, see what more seasoned wine reviewers at the Vine Republic and Snooth have to say about it on their sites.

One thing I don’t like…it’s got a screw cap.  (I know, I know.  Technically that means I didn’t “uncork” it.  Rather I unscrewed it.  But I can’t have a regular blog spot called Unscrewed!, can I?)  I ordered it online with my groceries and I couldn’t tell from the picture that it was a screw cap.  If I had noticed that I probably wouldn’t have ordered this one.  (Yes, I’m THAT shallow.) I know that some legitimate Rieslings, Sauvignon Blancs, and Pino Grigios are being bottled with screw cap these days, but I don’t like it.  I just don’t like it.  It makes me feel like I’m opening something that I bought at a convenient store, not something as artful as a beautiful bottle of wine.

There, I said it.  I’m prejudiced against a screw cap.  So sue me!

But, on the bright side, it was on sale for $9.99 at my local grocery store and it went VERY NICELY with the Roasted Salmon with White Wine Sauce and broccoli that I had for dinner.

Overall, despite the screw cap, this one’s a winner!

Cheers, y’all!

Uncorking a bottle of wine is typically the first thing I do when I get home from work on a Friday night.  So I have decided that my Uncorked! segments will be regular Friday night segments.

Tonight’s Uncorked! is dedicated to Toad Hollow’s Erik’s the Red.

Consider yourselves introduced.

We got this as part of wine club shipment that I think we will be canceling soon because we haven’t really loved any of the wines we’ve gotten with it.  It is a red blend of 18 different grapes, none of which really stand out in the flavor.  Maybe that’s a good thing in a blend.  Who knows?  (I’ll be sure to look into that for you guys.)  You can check out Toad Hollow’s description of it here.

In the glass it’s a lovely dark currant color, but it’s got pretty thin legs when you swirl it around.  Upon first sniff it was a little too peppery for my taste, but I could definitely smell more cherry/berry as it opened up.  To me, it tasted a little bitter and my taste buds could never pick up on the cherry/berry flavor I assumed would accompany the opened aroma.  It generally had a smooth but thin texture, and the finish – I lie to you not – seemed soapy.   I know that may seem ridiculous, but I had a distinct “soapy” after taste in my mouth after each sip.  It was just odd.

Since I’m really trying to learn and hone my tasting skills, I’m always interested to see how my personal notes on a wine tasting stand up against those of other wine lovers.  A quick Google search of this wine led me to a tasting site called Cork’d, of all things.  Wine lovers on this site used words like “disappointing,” “flabby,” “metallic,” and “weird” to describe this one.  A couple reviewers enjoyed it, but for the most part the wine-o’s either didn’t love it or weren’t sure exactly what to make of it.  Check out the Cork’d reviews for yourself here.  In fairness, I should mention that someone known as The Wine Curmudgeon seemed to really like it.

My final thoughts on this “vintage” are… Meh.  It smells better than it tastes…and it tastes kind of cheap.  I don’t think I’ll be uncorking another bottle of this one.

Sorry I don’t have a better review for you tonight.   If any of you have tasted this one, I’d love to know what you think of it too.  Don’t forget to stop by and see what I uncork next Friday night!

Cheers, y’all!

Welcome to the first installment of what will also become a regular spot on this blog – Uncorked! This is where I will review new wines I’ve tried or just give you my thoughts on tried and true vintages I love.  Please keep in mind that, while being a sommelier sounds like heaven to me, I have absolutely no training in this and have no “wine expert” credentials.  But, I do know what I like and am continuously working on refining my palate. 🙂

Tonight’s Uncorked! varietal is the 2009 Nessa Albariño

I picked it up because I wanted a Spanish white to go with the seafood paella I made yesterday.  I was perusing the Spanish wine section of my local Harris Teeter and noticed that this one had been granted 88 points by The Wine Advocate, so I thought I’d give it a try.

As you can see, it has a lovely golden color.  It looks beautiful and kind of bubbly in the glass, doesn’t it?  It has a bouquet of apples and pears, is dry but not too dry, and has a light citrusy aftertaste.  It was light enough that it didn’t compete with the heavy flavors of the paella.  After making my notes for this post, I Googled this wine to see what other folks thought about it and how easily accessible it is.   Check out commentary from The Wine Cellar here.   I found a couple websites, such as LaTienda (a great site for all your Spanish cooking needs), that are selling it for ~$17-18.  My Harris Teeter had it for $12.  You can’t beat that!

All in all, I’d consider it a lovely, light, and crisp summer wine.  Uncork a bottle yourself and see what you think.  When you do, come back and tell me about it.

Cheers!