Bake Like A Ninja

What a bottle!

No, seriously, what a bottle.  The wine…well…

It’s not bad, just a bit bland.  It’s drinkable, but there aren’t any significant flavors.  Perfectly fine for a glass but it didn’t wow us.  The husband says that the bottle is more remarkable than the wine (a comment I’ve heard from quite a few people).  It improves a bit with a breathe, but still there’s just not much there.  It’s not hot, not sweet, not smoky, not peppery, not rich, not thin…it’s just kinda…wine…no shape to it.  There is a bit sourness and dryness, but that’s about it.

Two Buck Chuck!

I’m excited to talk about this wine.  It’s one that we’ve had around here for years, and before we switched to the Block Red Shiraz*, the Charles Shaw Cabernet was our staple table wine.

Some don’t care for it, but we’ve found it a solid wine for its price.  A co-worker says it has topnotes of watermelon and bubblegum; I don’t think he’s a fan, but I see his point – this is not top shelf stuff.  It is, however, an extremely affordable ($1.99 in California, slightly higher in places like Washington with high alcohol tax), medium bodied cab with a bit of tartness, a bit of heat, a bit of fruity sweetness, and overall just a drinkable red wine.

Wait, wait…Don’t drink that… yet!

This little Pinot is a great illustration in the value of letting wine breathe. What started off as fairly thin, somewhat sour and dry and basically flat turned into a nicely drinkable wine with a light sweetness that we both really enjoyed.  It’s not a mind-blowing wine, but it is very solid for the price ($6.99).  A very nice flexible wine that would go well with a lot of different foods.  Also a nice little inexpensive gift to bring to a friend’s house – just remember to let it sit for about 3o minutes!

Wine time!

Today we head down under for a taste of Shiraz (or “Shazam” as a friend likes to call it).  I immediately fell for the label, which isn’t an indicator of quality, but packaging does go a long way.

This one was decent, but not an overwhelming favorite.  My notes include “sharp, peppery, a little sour with a hot finish.”  I thought it was straight down the middle in terms of body – not very heavy or thick but not thin either.  My husband, L, thought it was a little on the sweet side and a bit heavy, saying that it “tasted like a light syrup.”

Blurry but not because of the wine!

I think I’m turning into a Zinf-a-phile!  Maybe the California native in me is coming through.

We liked this one.  Here are my notes:

- Fairly smooth
- A little tangy, but not tart or sour
- Some kind of fruit taste – maybe plum?
- A little hot at the end but not overly so – makes for a nice finish/after taste
- Husband’s assessment?  He thought it was a little “thick” (I would say “syrupy,” but I think we mean essentially the same thing), but drinkable

What did I say a couple of weeks ago about the importance of notes?  This one will be brief* because I can’t find my chicken scratchings on this bottle, but I do remember that it was solid and quite affordable (less than $6).  It’s one of the few at this price point that I would bring to a friend’s house.  While it wasn’t mind-blowingly remarkable, it also wasn’t overly or underly anything (sweet, sour, spicy, etc.) and should go well with just about anything a sturdy red wine would complement.

More next week!

Cheers.

Not sure which is more difficult - learning to "talk wine" or learning to photograph wine bottles

Definitely not a favorite here.

The wine was thin and sort of flat.  There was a dryness to it, but there wasn’t any real flavor to round out the dryness.  My husband tasted it, said “it tastes bad,” and poured the rest of his down the drain, and poured a glass of our standard boxed wine.

I didn’t dislike it that much.  But I won’t buy it again.  There really wasn’t much character to it.  Still lacking the language to describe the differences in wines very well, all I can say is that I didn’t like this one.

Yes that is my laptop in the background - need to hire an art director!

Today is quite a posting day!

When I bought this, a couple of my friends were a little jealous that I’d be drinking it over my “weekend,” which led me to a bit of excited anticipation.  Although I don’t always like what everyone else likes, I was told by more than one person that this is a pretty fantastic wine.

Here’s what the winemaker has to say about this one: