Wine Wednesday

Wednesday!

Since we’ve moved on from zinfandels to other varietals, it’s sort of knee-jerk to compare the two, even if it is comparing apples to oranges.  This week we tried a pinot from Sebastopol HIlls, a winery we’ve tried before.

Some overall notes comparing pinot to zin: pinot noir has a lighter color than zinfandel.  It’s also lighter bodied and very smooth, without much of the peppery taste that seemed to be a signature trait of all our zinfandels.

¡Hola Wednesday!

So we were going on last week about changing it up a bit and getting away from Zinfandels – which coincided nicely with the fact that the last couple of bottles we’ve tried haven’t been Zinfandels (a fluke of luck, not planned I assure you).  This week we have the Apothic Red Winemaker’s Blend, a basic red table wine.

And here are the results: the Apothic had both some chocolate and tobacco overtones (different from the Zinfandel varietal).  We also found it to have a sort of prune taste – almost like a rich old plum.  There was an absence of the dryness that indicates a high tannin level, so not a lot of tannins.  It was also pretty smooth drinking.

A little errant aren’t we?

Well, we’ve been busy.  We’re building a house.  It’s a lot of work.

And I’ve started to rethink the “taste all the ‘varietal “x” in the store’ strategy of Wine Wednesday*.  It does work well in two helpful ways – we are able to compare which ones we like easily by comparing apples to apples (or Zins to Zins) and it also makes it very easy for me at work to be able to make a Zinfandel recommendation.  I have clear favorites and even if I don’t remember all our tasting notes (which I do not), I can point with confidence to a couple of bottles in any given price range and say “I like this one – it’s really (any given thing I can actually remember about the wine that I liked).”

Hey – Happy First Wednesday of 2013!

Today we get one step closer to our goal of drinking our way through all the Zinfandels in the store.*  Over the last holiday weekend** we tried The County Fair’s One Man Band Zinfandel from Sonoma, CA and…we’re not really that impressed.

Which is interesting because all the other reviews I’ve been skimming online really liked this bottle.  We thought it was unremarkable.  It’s not terrible, but it didn’t have any strong fruit, it was kind of “thin” and it wasn’t particularly spicy in the way that most Zinfandels we’ve tried have been (and we like that spice!).  It’s also a little “hot” – L said he could taste a distinct alcohol flavor.

Hello there Wednesday!

The day after Christmas is not going to stop us from posting a couple of words about another wine tried and tasted.* This week it’s Panilonco Cabernet Sauvignon.  I brought this home after sampling it at work, and it was featured at the store for the month of December (with our holiday flier).  It was nicely priced ($4.99) and I liked it – I thought it tasted of berries, and it was fairly smooth, although with a bit more alcohol than the Zinfandels we’ve been tasting.  It was a little nondescript, but again, for the price, I thought it wasn’t half-bad.

Happy Wednesday!

Yummy yummy yummy yummy Zinfandels!  This one was fantastic.  Very peppery (Zinfandels are spicy, often with strong pepper flavor) and tasting very strongly of fruit, most noticeable raspberries.  Even I could taste them.  The wine was so fruity, that it could have bordered on adult fruit punch if it hadn’t been so well balanced with spiciness.  Very smooth, not a lot of heat at the end, and highly enjoyable, this is another very nice bottle that left us both hankering for a steak or a lamb chop to go with.  The fact that the second glass is even better than the first (likely due to a little breathing), makes this another “alarmingly drinkable” wine.

Well hello Wednesday!

Man do we love our Zinfandel.  Really truly.  Looking back on the previous WW posts, almost all the Zins have been winners.

This week’s contender is right up there with the best of them.  A great value at $4.99, the Old Moon is a very smooth, peppery wine that would make another wonderful everyday wine.  There is a little sparkle up front, with some nice fruity flavor, but the wine is not hot – there is no alcohol taste.  If we could find any complaint for this bottle, it would just be that it’s a little hollow – because there is no real heat, no heavy tannins, nothing really bold or brash at the beginning or end.  But the wine isn’t flat or boring.  It’s just really, really smooth.

Ooh delicious!

It’s Wednesday again, so time to crack open another bottle and give it a try.  Today, we have a winner!

Originally, my new “plan” for Wine Wednesday was to work through different varietals in the store and compare and contrast.  Since we liked zinfandels so much the last round, I thought we’d start there.  Then, someone at work said that this Grifone was such a great wine and such a steal (at $3.99) that it’s a perpetual hit with the staff when we can get our hands on it…

Hello again Wine Wednesday!

I’ve been missing the blog and as I explained in the last post, there isn’t a whole lot of baking going on around here.*  So naturally, it’s time for the return of Wine Wednesday!

This week we tried a Zinfandel from Cline.  Overall, a definite winner.  It had the usual fruitiness of Zinfandel with some raspberry and blueberry notes.  This isn’t a heavy or syrupy wine, but it’s still got some heft to it – I believe the pros would call that “balance.”**  It was also very smooth – not a lot of heat to it and not overly tannin-y, but far from flat or boring.

Happy Wednesday!

Today we have a lovely little bottle from the Trader Joe’s Reserve line.  There have been a couple of bottles from their “reserves” that have made it into a Wine Wednesday post – mostly because they are really pretty good!  Good value goes far around here.

This particular wine – called “GSM” which stands in for “Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre” -  is from Paso Robles (our region of choice for California wine) and is a nice blend.  Full bodied without being syrupy or “heavy” it had some nice ripe fruitiness to it (the label refers to dates and plum – I’d agree).  All in all, a perfectly respectable wine for it’s $9.99 price tag.  Give it to a red wine drinker as a gift and I think they’ll be pleased with both the thought, and the present!