EAST COAST PALATE

2000 Mumm Napa DVX...
This premier bottle from Mumm Napa is a serious sparkling wine.  It a 50/50 blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.  Its yeasty aromas lend to it a sugar cookie smell that is enticing and warm.  There is a fresh citrus component that brings this wine into balance, and that lemon zest bite lingers all the way to the end of a SweetTart finish.  This bottle deserves an A, 93 points for my taste.  At $50, it's more of a special occasion kind of wine, perfect for holiday merry-making.

Mumm Napa Brut Rosé (NV)
This is a very balanced Brut rosé, made mainly from Pinot Noir grapes.  Its subtle strawberry/raspberry scent gives it an almost desert-like allure, but it's nice and dry, with frothy bubbles that burst with flavor.  This doesn't have the lasting finish as the high-end DVX, but it is an excellent wine, priced under $20 (I saw it over the weekend at Circle Wine & Liquor for $17.99).  I give this a B+.  It's a great bottle to give as a gift or to kick off any party.

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.

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.

Before I began my journey into a bottle of Jameson last night, I did some drinking that involved a certain amount of reflection and sensory conciousness. 

As I began preparing dinner I uncorked a beautifully ornate bottle of Italian Pinot Noir made by Candoni Wines.  A 2007, this young wine exudes a berry freshness.  I normally prefer a little more meat and earth aroma from Pinot, but the crisp Goji berry, raisiny smells pulled me in all the same.  This wine has low alcohol and high acid.  It brings a tart berry flavor at the front end, then pulls a La Bruja move and, poof, it's gone.  After a pause the tart finish comes on strong and leaves a pleasant long-lasting semi-pucker that reminds me of Sour Skittles.  This get a B letter grade even though the structure and balance were a little off.  The wine won me over with its eternal finish.

Then I had to open a Chardonnay for the chicken I was making, so I got a $7 bottle of Barefoot Chardonnay.  It's a little buttery, but has a good amount of acid to keep it in balace.  For the money, it's a decent bottle; a B wine.

With dinner, my aunt and uncle blind tasted me on a Merlot that was so light and acidic that I was guessing it was Italian.  Not the case.  The 2006 (I was able to guess the vintage), Estancia Merlot from the Central Coast of CA is not the cocoa nib and prune kind of Merlot that I love.  But it is a solid 86 point, B wine for me.  Light berry aromas, some stoney minerality, and a solid overall balance... for $12 it's definitely a bottle I'd bring to a dinner party or wine tasting.

A couple curveballs in this round of tasting, which I love because it reflects the variability and versatility of vitis vinifera.  An then, the pitch came in tight and hit me(Why does Jameson have to be so smooth?!).  I'm walking it off today.  Tomorrow there will be wine to drink.