EAST COAST PALATE

$7.50 is an amazing price to pay for the quality wine that you get from this bottle.  This blend comes from the southeast of Spain, in a region called Almansa, where in 2005 the heat was strong and the grapes ripened extremely well.  This wine consists of about 2/3 Garnacha and 1/3 Syrah.  There are some resinous dark cherry and leather components coming from the Grenache in it, while the Syrah adds some ripe plum and a peppery kick to the final product.  You can tell the wine spent some time in oak barrels, but those tannins are very well integrated with the fruit and acid it the wine, bringing a toasty cedar note into the mix.  The acidity here will put a pucker on your face, like a big swig of cran-grapefruit juice would, if you can imagine the sensation.  Early on I detected a bit of that nail-polish-remover, chemical odor (ethyl acetate) that can really screw up a wine.  But if it was a bit flawed, it wasn't to a strong enough extent to mask the great aromas, flavors, and overall balance of this red blend.  In any case, I'll be buying more of this wine, so I'll be able to compare the bottles I open in the future with the first one.  Overall I'll give this wine a solid B rating at 88 points.  I love that it matches or surpasses many of the wines in the $20-$30 range.  It is a drink-now kind of wine that bring with it many old world characteristics, and I recommend it to everyone.
I have to say thank you to Nick Henning for pointing this wine out to me at YES Organic Market in D.C.  Otherwise it could've passed under my wine radar and I would've never known what I do now.  Currently it is the wine of the month at YES, so there will be plenty in stock throughout the holiday season.  I am pumped up to know about this wine.  Tell your friends.  Share this wine at parties.  It's only 7 bucks and worth every sip.

I popped the cork out of this bottle on a Wednesday night, and after trying it I felt that everything was in its right place.  This is a Wednesday night wine: nothing costly or crazy.  It is a medium bodied, lightly colored, fruit foward Pinot that will please most of the crowd.  But for me it's still in the low B range as far as quality is concerned.
The alcohol content in this wine is 13.5%, so while it makes you yell woo-hoo a lot faster, the nostril stinging sensation robs the spotlight from some very nice flower petal, cherry and strawberry aroma.  Personally, I prefer a Pinot with some resious, smokey bacon odors coming off of it, and that this wine was so fruity was a let down.  I did enjoy some leathery cherry components to the smell, and the wine had surprisingly firm tannins for how light it seems at first. 
I would drink this bottle again, and would recommend it to others.  But I can't see myself purchasing this Pinot Noir any time soon.  I'd rather spend $4 more and get a bottle of Yealands Pinot Noir from Marlborough, New Zealand.  In fact, I need to go get some of that wine to review.  All in do time.
Question of the day:  If you could take some wine and some friends and go anywhere in the world, where would you go?  And what wine would you bring along?
One love.  Wine love.

So I picked up this bottle at a county (Montgomery) run liquor store for under $9.  As a linguist and a fan of Côtes du Rhone wine I appreciated the pun and bought the wine.  Later, with my aunt dishing up some of her arugula, orange, onion, and walnut salad, and myself ladeling out pumpkin and mango soup, I unscrewed the cap and poured out some of my new favorite wine from South Africa.
The nose carries some barnyard-earthy stink, which integrates nicely with some dark fruit and spice aromas.  The wine is medium bodied, spicy, and has a pomegranate-like tart finish.  Any fan of Rhone reds needs to try this wine.  I'll rate it a solid B with 87 points.
And for the Rhone fans: What are your favorite wines from the Rhone valley?

Today for lunch I met my friend Jennifer for some Cuban cuisine in Burtonsville, MD.  Cuba de Ayer is a small restaurant with a simple, medium sized menu, but everything I have tasted here has been a treat.  Jennifer decided to try a quintessential Cuban plate: Ropa Vieja, a shredded beef entree served with maduros (fried ripe plantains), rice, and beans.  This time I chose the Picadillo, a dish consisting of ground beef, potatoes, raisins, onion and garlic.  It was spicy, but not picante spicy.  The seasoning was perfect, and later when I looked down at my clean plate I only wanted more.
The only other time I visited this restaurant I ate fricase de pollo,  which was a tender skinless  1/4 chicken with a succulent sauce.  Also I sampled some fried yucca served with a garlic dipping sauce that were amazing.
The list of cocktails on the menu was inviting, featuring Mojitos and a few variations on the Margarita, but it was noon and I still had some things to do later, so I sipped on water.  Later on though, I opened up one of the best $8.50 bottles of wine I've ever had: the 2007 Goats do Roam red blend. 
Visit Cuba de Ayer's website at www.cubadeayerrestaurant.com and if you're anywhere near Burtonsville, MD, stop in for a taste of true Cuban cuisine.

A wine that for $10 will amp up your antipasto or spaghetti...but it would also be great with a burger or a pork chop.  This light wine is a blend of mostly the Corvina and Rondinella varietals, and it has the color of a cherry jolly rancher that's been toasted.  It is translucent, a vibrant red that is still somehow slightly burnt looking.  It has fresh cherry and berry aromas, with just a hint of autumn leaves or leather giving it a very pleasent scent.  Once past the lips it begins with all fruit...light bodied and clean, then an acidic rush comes on and all of the sudden you're puckering up.  Strangely, the anstringent, drying out sensation only happened on my inner cheeks, while my tongue retained the berry flavor and the acid bite.  I'll give this wine 87 points.  It is a wine worth sharing and I'll definitely be trying it again soon.

So tonight I went down to the YES Organic Market in NW Washington, D.C. to pour a pair of wines from Australia's Barossa Valley:  The Black Swan Pinot Grigio and the Black Swan Shiraz.  I had a great time hearing the shoppers' reactions to the two wines, and I was able to chat with some really interesting people.  This connection, for me, was the most important part of my evening.  The chance to sample two wines priced at only $8, and get feedback about the two products, is what I really valued most.  That is the essence of this blog: share wine opinions, try a few beers, talk about some restaurants that impress me, but mainly find wines that are worth their cost.
The 2009 Pinot Grigio is a refreshing, zesty white wine, perfect for summer or pairing with cheese or seafood.  It has a lemon-Granny Smith tartness that gives it a great finish.  It reminds me sort of the sensation of eating Sour Skittles or Sweet-Tarts.  It is a solid B wine (86) and definely worth its price.
The '08 Shiraz has a jammy, raisiny aroma, and once it's in your mouth it is a mix of toasty prune flavors with a bit of peppery spice to fill it out.  It didn't have much of a finish, but I still give it a low B rating (83-84).
Two decent wines that were well priced, and an evening of meeting the people I'm trying to reach with my opinions and recommendations... I enjoyed every second and every sip I shared with you all.  Cheers to all who came by to try the Black Swan wines.  Let me know how you liked them, and feel free to share some suggestions with me...I'm always open to try something new.
Thanks also to YES Organic Market.  The store is amazing... we need this in MD.  Visit their site at www.yesorganicmarket.com

I decided last night to try two Malbecs side by side.  The prospect of this tasting had me excited, ready for a good matchup of two bottles of the hottest grape varietal around.  Then I opened these bottles and smelled each contender.  This is when things started to go downhill. 
The 2008 Elsa Bianchi, from Argentina ($12), had a faintly chemical aroma that masked the little grape and blueberry that was barely present.  The wine in my mouth started smooth and fruity, but quickly dissolved into a bitter aftertaste.  Overall it lacks any complexity and is a B- at best.
The 2005 Pigmentum Malbec from France wasn't much better...it's aroma was a nice, resiny mixture of dry fruits and dusty plums.  It had a little bit more of a tannic structure than the Elsa Bianchi, but lacked any finish and was for me equally disappointing.  For $12, this Malbec really didn't give me my money's worth, either.
I was hyped up about this flight, but it turned out to be like watching a soccer match that ends in a 0-0 tie.  I remember working at Syzygy in Walla Walla, WA, standing on the edges of binfuls of fermenting Malbec and the smells rising up to me as I punched down (just a mixing up of the grape skins and juice) the cap of grapes into the juice as it fermentened.  There is something about malbec that is lush and sensuous and sexy when it is made right, but neither of the wines tried last night really did much for me.

A well-made Southern Rhone style red wine from Chateau Ste. Michelle.  This is the best wine I have ever tasted from them.

This bottle, Chateau Ste. Michelle's Orphelin blend threw me for a loop.  I had my sister pick a bottle out of my growing collection and pour me a glass.  Immediately when I lifted the wine toward my nose, I thought Malbec, and that dark plummy color and the prune and chocolate-covered cherries aromas had me thinking maybe Merlot, maybe Malbec.  The flavors were fruit driven with some spicy undertones.  I really liked the way the wine was in my mouth until a strange, bitter and metallic aftertaste crept in.  I was intrigued with this wine, and into my third glass, the interest is only growing.  I rate it a B+, but it pairs very nicely with Eva Cassidy's Live from Blues Alley album, which almost bumps it up to an A- wine. 
The blend on this Rhone style blend consists of a bunch of different grape varietals: Syrah, Cinsault, Grenache, Mourvedre, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pedit Verdot, Touriga, and Viognier.  It doesn't drink like a Cotes de Rhone or Chateauneuf de Pape, but it is a wine worth trying priced around $15.

Technically speaking, last night I really was in New Zealand, attending a charity wine auction sponsored by the Washington D.C. Rotary Club.  There was plenty of good food and wine to choose from, but only two wines stood out to me as being noteworthy:  The Lil' Rippa Pinot Noir and the Lil' Rippa Sauvignon blanc. 
The latter, a crisp Sauv. blanc loaded with crisp zestiness, was the perfect glass to kick off my evening of meeting a few of the members of the club.  The pinot noir was a wine I returned to after some eating and bidding on silent auction items, but it startled me with how dank and deep the aromas were.  Bacon fat and musty basement smells mingled with some fresh red berry... a for-sure A wine in my book.  Now I just need to find out where I can find it aroud here...shouldn't be too hard

This bottle was brought to me to try out, becuase someone else liked it.  There is an aspect of open-ended vulnerability when you recommend something to a friend.  What if they don't like it?  Will your favorite wines or restaurants shed light on what type of person you are?  The answer, to an extent, is yes.  Fortunately, our palates and personalities are all unique.  Otherwise so many restaurants and wineries wouldn't be able to survive.  
Well, the person who gave me this bottle of 2006 Blackstone Merlot is not a person who spends a lot of time smelling and discerning the details or flaws of wine.  He just likes what he likes, and this wine fits that category.
For me, the aromas in this wine were better than the flavor and the body.  I caught whiffs of raisin and plums, and a resinous spiciness (due in part to the alcohol smell burning off).  In the mouth this merlot is fruity and fleshy with a moderate amount body, but it soon fades and has a bitter aftertaste.  I tried it with pizza later and the tomato sauce helped to soften the rawness of the finish, but overall I'd give this wine a B-.  Most stores sell it for about $10, so it isn't pricey by any means, but there are a lot of other wines that cost 10 bucks that I'd choose over this one.
I am a fan of all grape varietals, and love a well made merlot.  If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear your input.