Proven Wrong

This blog post is dedicated to Ma-Bridges, Miko Chan and Bella, who have forever been telling me that Rose is a good wine.

I have never been a fan of the stuff. I've been repulsed by it in the past. Also, after reading about fake roses (mixing red and white wine together), it turned me off completely. Bella was a fan of a rose she bought at the Trader Joe's wine shop, but that $6 bottle didn't do it for me at all. It taseted like a cheap diluted wine with a splash of red dye (sorry Bella).

Given my reservations, I don't know what compelled me to buy a bottle. I guess I had a glimmer of hope that there had to be a decent tasting Rose. My true love is a glass of red (Cab Sauv, Syrah or Malbec). However, in this heat there is no way I am drinking that. So I went to my local wine shop and I saw a Bordeaux Rose called Chateau La Mouliniere on display and I asked one of the store clerks whether it was decent. He told me it was and that all I needed to do was put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill it and that it would be great.

I kept it in the fridge longer and I have to say I liked the wine. It was berry filled, with hints of strawberries and raspberries. It was also crisp and refreshing. Now I don't plan to start buying Roses all the time, however I will not dismiss them completely in the summer when I want to drink wine.

So there ladies -- you have proven me wrong, and I'll bite my tongue now. :p

Trader Jose

With these current economic times, and since I am still living on my unemployment check, I have started trekking from the Upper East Side down to Trader Joes for my bi-weekly grocery shopping. So I set off this week with my reusable grocery bag on a mission to buy some goods. It had been a while, but I decided to enter their wine shop to replenish my stash. I spent $15.50 on 2 bottles of wine -- oh how I love Jose! Well, the white I selected I didn't particularly enjoy. I'll normally go for a Sauvignon Blanc or Chenin Blanc, and this time I tried a French table white. Not good, and I'm forgetting the name of it. All I know is I'll never buy the white wine with the goat label again.

However, I did get a decent bottle of red wine: Excelsior Cabernet Sauvignon (2006), which cost about $9. Since being unemployed, I almost always drink a glass of wine with my lunch. It makes me feel all warm and happy inside, and probably helps me unwind from my gym workout. I should probably be drinking more water post workout, but that's not as appetizing as pouring a glass of red. This full bodied wine has blackcurrant aromas. It also has hints of dark chocolate and smoke. It's not too overpowering and it goes down quite smoothly. Great compliment to a satisfying lunch. I worked with what was left in my fridge from my Trader Joes purchase and concocted a warm chicken salad, consisting of rocket arugula, mozzarella cheese topped with red wine vinegar and olive oil. The chicken I marinated with adobo (very Hispanic of me), ground cumin, smoked paprika and good ole salt n' pepper, and cooked it on the stove top. I'll probably be hungry in two hours, but it was better than me grabbing a slice of pizza post workout. Ahh this wine is putting a smile on my face :)

Lambrusco, Where Have You Been All My Life!

Wow I've been on a hiatus: my apologies! Anyways, before I forget, I wanted to make mention of a sparkling red wine I tried almost a month ago. I was introduced to Lambrusco by a former coworker who had an obsession with it. I soon began to taste the hypnotic effect of cold red wine. It sounds so wrong, but it is so right.

I was off to a friend's rooftop party one Friday evening and I was not entrusting the guests to bring decent wine. I took it upon myself to buy a bottle for myself and two girlfriends to share. I went to one of my favorite local liquor stores -- Crown Wine & Liquor. Now I don't know why I feel compelled to write this, but I think I have been going to this liquor store since it opened almost 4 years ago. I went there so much that when I used to take the bus to my first paying PR job, I would see the lady who owned the shop bringing her son to school and it took me a few times, but I finally recognized her. Yeah, I feel when you can recognize the woman who sells you your alcohol outside of the normal setting, you have a problem. Or it's customer loyalty -- I might go with the latter. However, I'm digressing, so let me get on to my review.

I asked the man working that day where the Lambrusco was. He introduced me to Riunite Lambrusco. At first I was hesitant. The Lambruscos I had previously imbibed cost roughly $15 -- this bottle only cost $6. I asked the man if this wine was good and he said yes. He told me he sells Riunite and another brand that is more expensive, however he believes Riunite is the better bottle. This shop had never led me astray, so I put my faith and money in their hands.

The wine tasted divine and it quenched my thirst. This medium bodied wine had hints of plums and cherries, so it was fairly sweet. It reminded me of sparkling grape juice, but better than that. My girlfriends thought I made a great choice for a warm spring night.

I have to say this is the best Lambrusco I have had and the best cheap bottle I have ever purchased. My goal in life is to find the best cheap/moderately priced wines (also food), and keep track of my memories via this blog. I enjoy jotting my memories down and I hope you're entertained reading it. I'll write again soon!

Malbec, Glorious!

So I probably did the ghetto-est thing ever.  One of the janitor guys in my parents' building gave me a bottle of Malbec.  It's one of the many bottles of wine my parents' neighbor throws out -- he's a wine critic, so he gets boxes and boxes of free wine shipped to him and throws it out.  So I was able to capitalize on this via the janitor - I feels so dirty, sketchy con carne to be exact.

However the Malbec is good, but it's not an Argentinian Malbec.  The Official Yolo County Sawbuck Malbec retails for about $12  This California wine has aromas of ripe red apples, blackberries and vanilla.  It also has hints of spice and leather.  It's a soft Malbec, but goes down effortlessly.  And the same vineyard makes my favorite Syrah, Matchbook, so I am officially a fan of these California guys.  The Malbec is going nicely with my DVR-ed L&O SVU.

Temento

As usual, after I left my Monday yoga class, I made a pit stop at Vintage Grape to pick up some vino.  With these economic times, I opted for a wine that was on special.  I chose an Austrian wine this time around: Tement Temento 2006 ($11.99).  This Welschriesling/ Sauvignon Blanc blend is fruity, crisp and aromatic.  Welschriesling is not at all related to Riesling.  It's a Austrian white grape that produces dry wine and dessert wine.  It went nicely with my wheat pasta lunch. 

So Clos

I picked up a bottle of Clos Du Bois Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 (+/- $15) at my local wine shop post taking a body conditioning class.  I feel it's the end goal of my daily workouts - the "I burned enough cals so I'll buy those wine bottles" mentality.  I have to say this is the probably the first red wine I've found to be refreshing aka I could drink it in the summer and be content, even on a hazy, hot and humid day.   There are hints of black cherry and plum.  However, I don't think their label should say that the wine goes nicely with fajitas - that's just random!  Next thing there will be a wine that says on the label "goes fabulously with sushi."  I will say this wine went nicely with the chicken and tomato slice I just inhaled.

Oregon Trail

I've been trying to expand my wine experience, so I have more interesting things to say in my blog entries.  So instead of going for a Spanish or California wine, I decided to give Oregon some love. I bought Badger Mountain Vintage 2007 Syrah ($18 +/-).  It's medium bodied and has hints of black pepper and oak.  Some descriptions mention hints of blackberries, blueberries and smoky bacon.  I taste a bit of blackberry, but I get no bacon aftertaste sipping this wine.  Badger Mountain is also a certified organic winery, so that made me feel good about my purchase.  It's a little pricey for an unemployed gal, but it goes down smooth and went nicely with my concocted dinner from the cold prepared foods section at Eli's - couscous with feta and scallions, assorted raviolis with basil and roasted garlic, and tuna salad (OK I know the tuna is obscure, but I needed a protein and the chicken options weren't cutting it).  I give the wine three stars!  It's not robust like a Malbec, but sometimes you want to tone it down a little.