EAST COAST PALATE

This South African sparkler is full of citrus and toasty biscuit aromas.  I drank it on the way to a hike in the woods and it delivers as a refreshing treat and a well-balanced scott...

Friday night and I'm staying in.  Yesterday I got a tetanus shot and some antibiotics after a mishap where a nail entered my big toe, so I'm feeling like a homebody.....
    These are a few of my favorite things:
Avocado and Tomato
Trisuits
Cheap (but good) Côtes du Rhône
Strong Belgian Tripels
Sharp mustard
Basque cheese

Looks like my appetite is taken care of... Just add Grateful Dead and Words with Friends and we're getting somewhere.

The '09 Andre Brunel Côtes du Rhône is yet another testiment to my trust in Robert Kacher's palate.  It's got spice and heat, raspberry and prune with a hint of sage.  It cost me about $8 in D.C.  It overdelivers for that kind of price.

Chimay Cinq Cents... what can I say?  Trappiste monks make me happy.

The cheese:  Ossau Iraty.  A Basque sheep's milk cheese that has a bit of gritty texture, a nutty rustic flavor, and is so so good.  I know girls who have moments when shopping for clothes or shoes is their cathardic coping device... my therapy is buying expensive cheese and craft beers.  This is how I learn about new flavors. 

Anyone up for Words With Friends?  My username is ChrisLanning.

Bring it!

This Napa Cab has soft tannins, sumptuous fruit, and has the balance and drinkability of a fifth or sixth Margarita... all right off the bat.  A little air will help her open up.  I fully vouch for the deliciousness of this wine.  Yum...

This Aussie Shiraz from the Padthaway region is a B- kind of effort.  It is a decent wine, but I felt while drinking it that I could have got something better for $8.  That said, this bottle only set me back $12 and it wasn't without a few nice elements, i.e., a spicy blackberry component that has it start out zesty and rich.  The problem with this wine is that it just doesn't have the umph, the body that other Syrah/Shiraz have so readily.  It is a lighter, medium body sort of wine.  It also has a bit of unripe greenness lurking  under the jam. All in all, it is a bottle that I probably will never get again.  I admit, sometimes I also impulsively buy a wine just because I like the label.

Well simply put, this wine rocks.  It has the juicy fruit that makes wines like Ménage à Trois and Apothic Red so popular.  With a little more grip from the tannins and a little more pop from the acid, this blend of Cab, Merlot, and Syrah steps it up into the realm of absolute deliciousness.  It is good on its own, but stands up to a steak with no problem at all.  One can find this liquid snack for about 15 bucks.  Get it now and you'll be happy!

    Why don't I love this wine?  I really was pumped to try this domestic Rhone blend from a winery that I venerate for creating their Esprit de Beaucastel.  Shit, I even propped up the bottle and case and had a photoshoot of sorts.  But this is a wine I'll pass on for now.
    Running a price between $15 and $20, I'd like to see a lot out of this bottle.  Sadly, the fruit was veiled by a chemical-like air... not quite like ethyl acetate, but distractingly weird and olfactorally offensive.  I wanted rich raspberry and got a hot noseful of rubbery smells instead.  What a disappointment.  Good thing I bought two bottles of the '09 Esprit de Beaucastel and two bottles of the 09 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape... I reckon they'll deliver.

    I got home yesterday with a yearning for steak, so I uncorked this 2009 Charles Krug Cabernet Sauvignon, and went to pick up some filet mignon.  Twenty minutes later, my first whiff and sip had me salivating at the thought of this rich, muscular Cab married up with a tender morsel of meat.
    The Krug winery is the first in the Napa valley, established back in 1861.  The Mondavi family aquired the property in the 1940's and soon some of the best Bordeau blends to come out of California were being made here.
    This wine has aromas that are restrained at first but later the black currant and cherry emerge, commingled with a stoney, granite coolness.  The tannins have a firm grip, but aren't astringent at all.  There is tremendous value in this bottle.  Next time I think I'll try it with a ribeye...
For $17 this Napa Cab should be in every Cab-lover's cellar! 

This wine overdelivers for what I paid.  Its full mouthfeel and firm tannins give the impression that it is way more than just a cheap bottle of Vin de Pays from the south of France.  There are wonderful berry aromas, hints of smoke and tar, and an overall drinkability that makes me want a case of this for everyday table wine.  Found this on sale at the Georgetown Safeway for $7!  Rediculous!  I will start sampling some of the Cotes du Rhone category from this producer and see if it creates a similar wow factor.

If the Mayan calendar is right, we'd better start popping corks...

This product of Santa Barbara, CA gets a C- from my tastebuds.  It has synthetic cotton candy, playdoh, pot pourri aerosol aromas that are an immediate turn off.  The wine is light, drinkable, not sweet or syrupy.  But I find it lacking depth or dimension, a touch astringent, and all-in-all I just couldn't get excited by it.    
Even for a wine with a price tag around $15, I'm going to pass on this.  My intrigue with areas in California like Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Valley, and Paso Robles continues to grow, however, and I plan on sipping more and more domestic wines to see what great wines I can discover.

I may or may not have bought this bottle because of the Templar knight on the label... That said, what is inside the glass is nothing less than delicious.

There is a richness to the palate, a smokiness to the scent, and a long lingering finish that makes this Vacqeyras a memorable wine.  I talk all the time about balance between fruity elements and tannic structure.  This is a perfect example of where the vignerons have taken great grapes and let a beautiful wine emerge from them.

This blend of Grenache and Syrah was found on the racks of the county liquor store in Cloverly, MD.  It'll run you about $18.