Port.

This was my first experience with port and I am really glad we picked this up. Victory Tawny by R.L. Buller & Son.

The color in the glass was beautiful. Being clueless I wasn't sure what color "tawny" was supposed to be. This particular one is dark in the glass. Towards the bottom there is a lovely ruby highlight. At the edge of the glass, as you look down, you can see the lovely tawny color. A kind of brown amber.

The scent is like a perfume. Not some overly floral sinus choking stench but a lovely bouquet with a hint of sugar in it. I love smelling this wine. This is the best smelling wine we've blogged about and the best I've ever had.

The taste is smooth. Soft. Very sweet and delicate on the tongue. I freaking love this stuff. There is a definite woodiness that is absolutely lovely. I just really don't have the vocabulary to do justice to the description. Trust me, it's well worth the money.

Remember how I said I would never give out 5 stars? I was wrong. This port completely deserves 5 stars. Or whatever unit of happiness you want to use.

We baked shortbread cookies that have a chocolate drop in them. Not the best choice for this wine. The sweetness of the semi-sweet chocolate didn't really work with the woody aromatic of the port. The shortbread part of the cookie wasn't bad with it, though. Fresh bread just came out of the oven. Hot buttered bread should be a much better match.

Recap. 5 out of 5 units of tasty, happiness. Oh yeah, there's quite the alcohol content but it's not harsh at all. It'll sneak up on you. Don't drive. Seriously.

After taking a week off... Behold, the Power Of Port.

This evening we made a batch of shortbread cookies, and opened a bottle of R.L. Buller and Son's Victoria Tawny Port.

This is my first experience with something other than regular wine, this is my first glass of port ever.

We picked it up at Sam's Club believe it or not for the very nice price of $18.48 a bottle. We bought the one, not knowing exactly what we were getting into. We ourselves bottled a 15 bottle batch of Chocolate Raspberry Port that we got in kit form not but a week or so ago, and wanted to get an idea of what to expect.

Upon opening the bottle, which was remarkably simple, and a little too easy, out came this miraculous odor of fruit and pecans. At least that's what my nose told me outside of the normal wine smells. Poured a half glass for myself and my wife. The color was a deep deep maroon, almost brick red, with a hint of yellow as you got to the edges. What I found interesting about the consistency, was that the wine clings to the glass, unlike conventional wines. In a word, it seemed almost syrupy like an ice wine.

Took my first sip after looking at the color, and I have to say I was incredibly surprised at how sweet it was. It had this maple-pecan flavor, mixed with a hint of fruit. You can definitely smell the alcohol content in this, but the major difference between this and other wine, is that I really couldn't discern the amount of alcohol in the wine itself.

Not for about 20 minutes or so after. That's when the warm feeling hits you, and your face flushes.

This particular bottle has no vintage on it, no bottle date. It barely has any kind of warnings on it at all, save for the obligatory Surgeon General's warning that is just a formality. I wish I knew more about the processes of how Port is actually made, and why it is so strikingly different than conventional wines. I guess I'll be spending some time on Wikipedia looking things up.

This is definitely a dessert wine. This is not a table wine. This is a wine that you serve with cheeses, crackers, and perhaps something like dark chocolates. I wouldn't pair this with something like Cheesecake, for fear of a diabetic coma being the end result. The alcohol content is pretty remarkable after 20 minutes as I have to say that as a rather robust land mammal, I am having second thoughts of leaving my seat.

It sports an 18% alcohol content, but I am willing to bet that is merely a suggestion of what could be in there as opposed to what actually is in there. The warning label should read something like this.

"Rivals Benadryl, and 2 tree curare' in knock down power, do not make any plans to go anywhere."

My normally happy and talkative wife, who would be normally correcting me on my writing, is silent. Perhaps this is a better wine than I thought. All kidding aside, and with all seriousness, unless your normal BAC is 2.0 do NOT drive.

On my trusty one to 5 scale, I give it a solid 5. The labeling is great, except for a lack of information. The bottle shape reminds me of something old world, another plus. The wine itself is pretty amazing. Color, Clarity, Aroma, Taste and finish are all truly exemplary. I think the finish is what surprised me the most actually because other wines feel sticky when you finish drinking it. This one did not.

I would recommend this wine for special occasions, and or entertaining guests. I'm thinking that I might be picking up a few more bottles for the cellar eventually. Once the haze of alcohol eventually fades. Seriously, it is a wonderful wine.

I am seriously f'd up right now. Had one glass. This won't be a coherent post. Took me three tries to login. Seriously.

Not bad tasting. Not smooth, that's for damned sure.

Evidently it needs to breathe. A lot.

The husband unit is having a second glass. I'm not that brave.

What can I say about this one? I would have bought it if I'd seen it in the store. It's a dark red zinfandel. Didn't know they came in anything but the lighter colors like blush and white. Had my glass with the pork roast. Not the best match for this wine. You will most definitely want to eat something with this. And not some insipid cracker / cheese combo. Real food. Red Meat. Hearty fare.

Now I really want mashed potatoes and gravy.

There isn't a website but a google search will show reviews that cover the spectrum. One review described this as watery and flat. That was for 2004, I think. Well, 2007 isn't watery and flat. It's strong and peppery and will knock you on your ass if you don't let it breathe properly. We've never decanted a wine properly. This Zin is a prime candidate for that test. Wowsers. You would not believe how many times I've had to correct my typing so far.

I guess I'll give it a 2.5 out of 5.

The bottle are is pretty cool in a Halloween vibe. The taste isn't bad. Not great. I'm drunk off of one glass. Even my notoriously low tolerance to alcohol shouldn't leave me this bad off. It is a pretty purple/red color. Each year appears to vary wildly and there isn't a website. To be honest, I should have known Zombies would find a way to eat my brains, even if they had to do it one brain cell at a time.

Zombie Zin. (Zinfandel) 2007.

First, let me say thank you to my friend Andrew for giving me this wonderful gift. Oddly enough, I traded him a bottle of wine that We had made at Vine Park Brewery.

This is the Zombie Zin 2007 Zinfandel. Made by Zombie Cellars, in Healdsburg, CA.

The warning label as per the surgeon general talks about impairing your ability to drive a car.

What it neglects to tell you is that it will impair you ability to think clearly, type coherently, and most of all, negotiate a flat hardwood surface (The Floor).

It boasts on the label a 14.9% alcohol content. I've had Vodka that had less alcohol in it. In fact, I've drank paint stripper that had less ability to kill brain cells. So what is it about Zombie Zin?

Well, I'm pretty positive, that this wine is made from Concentrate. Why would I speculate that? Well, because going back as far as I can find, the reviews have been incredibly broad for every year they've produced wine, and their reviews vary in description. Not to mention it says on the label, Rich in Concentrated Fruit Flavors.

There could be crayons in this stuff, and I'd probably never know it.

The color of this stuff is literally black blood red. Very pretty, very flattering. The aroma, very nice, very pleasant. Could I tell you what is in it? Well, grapes. I'm pretty sure there's grapes in there. Battery Acid? The enzymes from an electric eel, and I think perhaps a hefty dose of cayenne pepper, just for spite.

As a guy who likes a cheap bottle of wine, and I'm guessing that this batch wasn't exactly cheap to make, bottle, and of course ship, I have to wonder why it is that Chateau Diana vineyards would neglect to put their name on a bottle of wine, and give credit to Zombie Cellars?

You see, that's where this stuff is made, and I'm pretty positive that since its from concentrate, and not from freshly pressed grapes, they'd probably rather keep their name off of it. Now, how do you think it compares to 3 Buck Chuck?

Well, here's the thing. Sometimes you can uncork a bottle of wine that's 2 years old, and realize that this bottle simply is NOT ready to be drank. I pulled the cork, and when that hard smell of alcohol hit my nose, I knew immediately that this is the case.

Fresh pressed wines take time to create their character. Wine made from Concentrate...? Try about 3 years at the minimum for it to realize full potential, and that's only if the concentrate came from a good place, and wasn't a second pressing.

I'm willing to bet, if I were to rack 10 bottles of this 2007 Zombie Zin, and hold it til let's say October of 2010 at the earliest and then uncork one, I'd say that would be enough time for this wine to loose some of it's anger management problem, and develop the right kind of flavor.

Underneath the horrifically acidic taste, is a flavor of plum, and black currant that needs to be realized. The finish on this wine is reprehensibly bad, however, the aftertaste is actually quite pleasant. Which tells me that this wine has some growing to do in a cellar.

I'm not sure if Chateau Diana needed the cash this year to produce something else, but I think that if they are going to venture into the cheap wine from concentrate business, they probably should start by putting a halt to their shipments until the wine is actually ready to be served. Right now, this wine has all the potential in the world, but it won't be realized until about another year or so passes. It doesn't have a date when it was bottled, but I would wager that it was probably bottled late 2007. They sat on it for a year, thinking it was ready and then shipped it out the door.

I wish they'd waited.

At any rate, on my scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 1.5. The color, is beautiful. The flavor? Well... I'll buy another bottle and save it for next Halloween and revisit this post. The aroma was actually not bad, once you got past the alcohol burn. The packaging, Bleh... As a guy who can actually draw, I could have done better. The price? Well it was free, but I think it sells for about $8.00 a bottle at a couple of different liquor stores.

The thing is, for a Halloween Wine, where people are going to drink this and party, it's not a bad thing. I drink wine to enjoy it, not to get plowed off my behind. As it stands, one glass was enough to make me forget a decade of abuse at the hands of my parents. I'm not even sure I can remember my parents. Do you have an idea of how heavy duty this stuff actually is?

Seriously though. If you want to get absolutely trashed out of your mind, with One Bottle or less, THIS, THIS IS YOUR TICKET TO ZOMBIE LAND.

Casillo Del Diablo Merlot 2008.

Chile apparently is becoming a pretty good place to have a vineyard, as well as produce and bottle a pretty decent table wine.

I've come to the conclusion that there are three or four regions in the world that will produce a better tasting red, and a lot of it has to do with the soil. In California, most of the vineyards in a borderline drought / desert area. In Italy, and France, where they have the best land, the land is dry, but not so dry that the vines struggle as much as they might in the US, or Australia. Australia is essentially No Man's Land, where grapes really have to struggle to survive let alone be cultivated, and the last place I think is South America where the temperatures are fairly similar to the US, but the terrain and humidity are different. Hence, the different taste and body of the wine.

I've been reading a lot about grapes, and how they are cultivated, and it seems that the more a vine is stressed, but cared for, the better the flavor of the grape, and the more intense the flavor. A lazy vine that has no problem feeding grapes with water, and minerals produces bland flavored wines. I think the reason for this, is that the more moisture that is pulled in, the more minerals get pulled up the vine, therefore the wine has more minerals which retard the taste.

With that said, South America has fantastic soil for just about everything. The problem that I can see with Chile is likely the abundance of water, either in the air, or rainfall. Those are two things that really can't be controlled, except through hot house growing, which essentially defeats the purpose of cultivating a particular lineage of vine in the first place.

So where are these vines grown? Well, it says Rapel Valley, which is in the heart of their wine making country. Judging by the aerial views, I'd say it's a very lush area. Which explains why the flavor to me seems a little on the flat side. Happy vines, happy grapes, blah flavor, however...

Plums, which were added to the mix, don't suffer from the same issues as grapes when they are getting sunshine, water, and plenty of nutrients from the soil, which is where the majority of the flavor in this wine comes from. You can really taste the oak cask in this wine as well. I'm guessing they probably buy their casks out of California, or possibly Minnesota. What I know is that by the taste, I'd say they've spent the time to put the right materials with the right wine.

The aroma of this wine is very sedate. Meaning it belies the flavor that's underneath the surface. It plays off your tongue, and when it hits the back part of your throat, the true flavor erupts into something very heady, with the taste of a peppery spice that for now I cannot readily identify, Raw dark cocoa, with a hint of coffee?

After having the first glass, you realize that this is a wine that is meant to be had with a meal. The reason why I say this, is that there seems to be a pretty good alcohol content for what it is. Like another wine we've tried this one sneaks up on you. It went well with the pork steaks we had. I think it would have been better with some fish or chicken tacos. Either way, it was meant to be a table wine, not something you simply drink to get plowed.

On my trusty scale of one to 5, I give this one a solid 4. The label art, and bottle were conservative, which is something I always prefer. The aroma, flavor, and alcohol content were all superb. The color of it was a bit odd, but I think that's largely in part to the fact that there are plums in the mix, and that always tends to take things to the blue.

I enjoyed this foray into the unknown. It's a wine fit for the Devil's Cabinet, that is for sure.

Casillero del Diablo

Ah, Halloween. My favorite time of year.

We'll be reviewing a spooky little number to keep up the ghastly festivities.

Casillero del Diablo is Chilean Merlot circa 2008. This was my first Chilean wine. It was good. I've come to realize that region doesn't guarantee good or bad. It really depends upon the art of the vintner. This was a nice spicy little number. Not a huge flavor, but I am coming down with a cold so take that with a grain of salt. Not the best Merlot we've had but it was nice and it's appropriate for Halloween. We've reviewed worse.

I think we paid about $12 for it. Good bargain, nice price, seasonally appropriate.

Normally I'd say the label art was bland but I really like the old fashioned calligraphy font used and the devil faced seal. Adorable.

So if you're looking for a bottle to pick up for a spooky little get together, I recommend Casillero del Diablo by vina Concha Y Toro.

Dona Paula Malbec 2008

Dona Paula Estate. Malbec 2008, Grown, processed and bottled on the estate in Argentina. (From the label)

Ever buy a bottle of wine and think to yourself, Should I be drinking this? Well, this is one of those wines. We picked up a bottle of this and gave it a try. My first thought, was that this wine Really hasn't developed any real character, or flavor. On the surface, it was a fairly bland tasting table wine.

When I say bland, I mean that where wine is concerned, every bottle should have some kind of remarkable feature. Such as color, clarity, smell, taste, and of course finish. Finish is a fancier word for After-taste.

I opened the bottle and noticed there seemed to be no particular smell at all. Sniffed the cork, and in all honesty wasn't really smelling wine at all, just cork. I let the wine breathe, and of course one would think it would have improved. Nope. Poured the first glass. The color was decent enough, but wasn't particularly dark, and typically a wine with a 14% alcohol content would given me some kind of indication as to what kind of wine I was about to imbibe. The first few sips were nothing serious. A few hints of either raspberries, or blackberries, mixed with a few different spices such as cinnamon, or clove. I think they flame clean their barrels as there was a definite carbon taste to it. It was about half way through the first glass that I noticed the alcohol. Yep. Definitely not for the faint of heart. In fact, after one glass, I was pretty severely impaired. About an hour or so after that first glass, I had my second, and I can tell you all with absolute certainty that I had no desire, or ability to drive.

It's funny how quickly alcohol can catch up to you, when the meal you're eating consists of corndogs. State Fair brand corndogs from Sam's Club no less. The extra cheap kind that will sooner kill you than being exposed to radioactive materials.

I'm sure someone is thinking that I drank this wine with the wrong food. I whole heartedly agree. I think this wine would have made a fine compliment to any kind of dessert, or a good steak, served with Chimi-Churri sauce, fried red potatoes in garlic butter, and fresh cut corn with red peppers. Freshly baked bread would also have been necessary to complete the meal.

However, I stuck with corndogs because in all honesty I didn't feel like grilling anything, and am above all else lazy. This blog is for people who want to know about wine, not about setting the perfect placesetting or planning the perfect meal.

I am new to Malbec styled wines, somewhat. I was given a bottle of a brand that I cannot remember and it was exceedingly good. Of course I had that with something other than Corn Dogs. Yep, Fish Sticks I think. This Malbec is okay, but again it could very well be that by eating corndogs, it ruined my palate as to what the wine's potential could have been.

Given what I know of both corndogs, and wine, I imagine had I eaten the corndogs with hormel chili with cheese and sourcream on the top, it might have made for a more interesting meal.

So, how does the Dona Paula Estate, Malbec 2008 rate?

For starters, wait til 2010 to enjoy it. I think that this wine needs to sit someplace in your celler for another year for it really to show its true potential. It also needs to be served with something other than junk food. Twinkies might have been an okay choice.

On my scale of 1 to 5 it shakes out as follows.

I give it a 1 for the label. Boring, unimaginative, and as much as I like conservative labels, this one was just too boring.

I gave it a 2 for smell, 2.5 for flavor, and a 4. for the alcohol content. For the price, I gave it a 2, because I've had wines that were half the price, that were decidedly better than this one.

So what is the over all tally? I give it a 2.3 on my 5 scale.

I would definitely buy another bottle of this though, and put in my cellar for at least another year before giving it another try. Will likely do so, and write about it in a year. Better write this down someplace.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

337, Not just a number, but a wine. I need 336 more bottles.

Last week I opened a bottle of 337 that we picked up at Sam's Club. It's a Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 from Napa Valley. Apparently they cloned these grapes from some vines in Bordeaux, which is why they call it 337, as that was the batch name. They are in Lodi, California, in the middle of wine country, which seems to have a knack for producing wines of extraordinary quality.

I've had 337 before, and bought it from all places, Sam's Club. For $9.99 a bottle, it's not a bad bottle of wine at all. It has an exceedingly pleasant aroma, that has more berry smell, than grapes. Wen you taste it, there's a myraid of flavors ranging from grapes, to berries, to some kind of chocolatey finish. I think there's some coffee flavor to it as well. It's an even balance of fruit, that isn't overwhelmed by the spiciness of something that is elusive at this time. I know it will come to me, but probably not tonight. I'm writing this later than normal due to the fact that when I drank this, the wife was working and she and I usually post our articles together. I was actually drinking wine, and working on projects, and got sidetracked.

Drinking a glass of this has some definite perks. One of which is the feeling one gets when you've tasted something refined. For being only $9.99 a bottle, it strikes me as being a little more refined, and pulled together than let's say some of the wines I've had that were considerably more expensive. Coppolla makes a nice Cabernet Sauvignon, but for half the price, you can buy this and be twice as pleased.

The subtle hint of spice, perhaps Cardamom, or some other variant, along with the blackberry, gives this wine a wonderful flavor. Especially if you're eating something like Chicken, or Cajun food. The color is also beautiful. It has a fragrant aroma that masks the alcohol content, and of course, there's the conservatively labeled bottle, which I thoroughly enjoy.

On my scale of 1 to 5, I give this wine a 5 for the bottle, 5, for the flavor, 4 for the aroma, and a 5 for the price.

Over all, I give it a solid 5. Why? Because for the money, you are getting something better than what you deserve. Seriously.

The Little Penguin that could

As my husband already noted, this was my choice. I'll admit up front that the sale price reeled me in. Hah! Get that? Reeled me in? Just a little reference back to the Fish Eye wine that started this blog out. Which was also my choice, cheap and on sale.

After one Patented Alcoholic Serving my reasoning and typing skills leave a lot to be desired. Honestly, as much as I like this wine it does leave something to be desired.

So let's cover the basics. Pinot Noir. 2008. Southeastern Australia. Cheap. Worth buying.

First impressions: When my husband poured out our glasses there was a very powerful aroma of alcohol. Which led me to believe this would be another example of "you get what you pay for" in wines. No determinate scents of fruit or oak or whatever the fuck wine snobs go off on.

Imagine my surprise when my first sip was so smooth! Smooth, light (for a red) and no strange after taste. There is a light scent of grapes. But not much scent at all. Took a long while to feel the alcohol content. I like that.

Seemed prudent to eat while doing this tasting. Paired it with this Cajun bean & rice dish I made earlier. The Little Penguin stood up to the Cajun spices nicely. You really could pair this with nearly anything that is Red Wine appropriate.

I'm quite tempted to go back on Monday and pick up another bottle. I'm curious to find out what the 2008 tastes like in 2010.

Solid 3 out of 5.

Good general table wine, cute label art, good price. This is one to recommend. Go visit their website and learn more about Australian wines. I'm going to.

The Little Penguin, Pinot Noir 2008

The Little Penguin or... Happy Me.

This wine comes from Australia, apparently South Eastern Australia where everything is surprisingly subdued. The label boasts a Spicy Rich Flavor, which is utter nonsense. It's about as bland as a plain baked potato. However it does have an incredibly nice finish, that is also incredibly smooth. The aroma is pretty bland, nothing special, and the taste in my honest opinion wasn't overwhelming at all. In fact, if this wine were a part of your house, it would be wallpaper.

Utterly unremarkable, and completely boring. Which is perfect for a table wine. You can drink this wine with Donuts in the morning, and it would taste every bit as good as if you had a porter house steak.

I drank a glass of it, and thought, there really wasn't anything special about it, and then about a half hour later the impairment set in. One glass, and blotto. There's a lot of alcohol in this wine and if you're looking for a cheap buzz, this is it. Winos look out. At $5.99 a bottle, this will go over quite well with the college crowd. Cheap buzz, with cheap booze.

Please don't think that all we drink is the cheap stuff, we drink a lot of different things in our home, but the label, and the fact that this was on sale spoke to my wife, so we got it. I myself would have chosen something else, but I will have to say for the value, it is exceptionally good.

It has a bland taste, high alcohol content, smooth finish. Upon pouring the second glass, I took another sniff, and there's literally no smell at all. I think these people should get into the Vodka making business, as they have the odorless bland thing going already.

Upon having another drink, I've decided that the only thing this wine is really good for, is truth serum. I'm of the mind that if you gave this to any person you needed to get secrets out of, within two glasses they'd be telling you everything. I've seen Sodium Penethol that was less effective. Not that Sodium Penethol is that effective anyway. Im Vino Veritas, they say. This would definitely fall into that category as the alcohol content is completely understated.

I'm not sure how they masked the scent of alcohol, but I'm sure that they probably did it by accident. Whatever they've made this wine out of, can't be all that fragrant. What this wine needs is some kind of aroma. Give me something to work with!

On my trusty scale of 1 to 5. I give this a solid 3. Label art is good. Nice and conservative. The aroma, is dull as dirt. The taste, bland as bland gets, but the finish is perfect. Alcohol content, is far more than expected, and the fact that it would go with just about anything you served speaks volumes as it is truly a table wine.

My only disappointment is the lack of scent. There's nothing to this wine that really makes it distinctive, or flavorful. Then again, that may have been the point. I would serve this with corn dogs, chili, or with some kind of really good dessert. Hell, I'd drink this with breakfast if I wasn't planning to do anything during the day.

That's all for now. I'm barely functional as it is.

Echelon Merlot 2005 - OMG

Echelon makes one fantastic Merlot!

Seriously, best Merlot I've ever had. Currently Best Wine Overall, as well. But this blog is still new so I have some high hopes.

We'll start with the color. Beautiful dark maroon, hints of purple and red in the highlights. Aroma, not very strong, but delicate. First taste impression: smooth. Very smooth. Good. Not sweet. Not overpowering. Hardly any sense of the alcohol. It was all flavor. I'm not as good as my husband in describing flavor. After one glass I finally realized that my legs and arms weren't quite responding as well as they normally do. Oh yeah, baby, this is the stuff.

Before drinking I had eaten Little Debbie Swiss Rolls. Cheap chocolate. After my first glass I decided that some real food on my stomach would be a good thing. So leftover Chicken Pesto pasta it was. I have to say that this wine goes better with chocolate than Chicken Pesto pasta.

This is a very good wine. On my scale of 1 to 5 it gets a 4. I reserve the 5 rating for the Nectar of the Gods. In other words, the 5 will be a nearly unattainable rating. The bottle art gets a 2. I hate conservative art. I like the celtic knot on the front but really it needed some neon.

If you want to impress someone, this is the bottle to do it with. I also highly recommend pairing this wine with really good chocolate. Like Godiva chocolates. You're sure to get some romantic reciprocation if you surprise your love with a bottle of this and a box of high end chocolate.

The Wild Kingdom effect is currently taking place in my brain and the higher functions are losing out. Time to go slug back another glass of Echelon.

Echelon Merlot 2005

Wow. What can I say about this wine? Well, for starters, it's a brand I've never tried before. It was $10.99 on sale. It had a conservative label, which was the first thing that attracted me to it. Aesthetics to me are important. The look of a label and bottle is what gets my attention. This one looked bland and safe.

I uncorked it, and was hit with an aroma that was more than just grapes. There was a hint of chocolate, or something along with a very fruity aroma. After reading the label I found that they used Cherries in the mix. Cherries to me add a bit of an acidity, but there's a tartness from cherries that also has a certain sweetness in the aftertaste.

Not that I have one of those super refined palates, it's that my sense of smell is super keen. Probably all those years sniffing donuts and baked goods from a mile or so away from any bakery.

We let it breathe for about 10 minutes or so, while I finished my dinner consisting of leftover pesto chicken and pasta. The first sip was quite striking in its flavor. It wasn't until I was half way through the glass that the alcohol content, which wasn't readily discerned showed itself. In a word, this wine is Smooth. Incredibly smooth. We're talking like a new born baby's behind kind of smooth. Only without the stink.

The aroma has something quite ethereal going on. It doesn't actually smell like it tastes. It has this sort of unremarkable smell, again covering the fact that this seems to be a very potent wine where alcohol is concerned. The dark color, and consistency are quite good. I could drink a glass of this every day and probably not get bored with it. I am of the mind that 2005 might have been a better year for the central coast than first thought. At least where this vineyard is concerned.

On my scale of 1 to 5, I give this wine a solid 4 and a half. Packaging I give it a 5. It's understated, and conservative. I like that in a wine producer. Price I give it a 5. For $10.99 a bottle, you could do much worse. In fact, I know I've bought much worse for twice the price. Taste, I give it a 4. For some reason I think it's missing something, but I imagine once I figure it out I won't actually care. It seems this is a far superior wine at the price than a lot of other brands. If anything I would say adding blackcurrant to it would probably even out the flavor a bit.

Regardless, It's definitely the best wine we've had so far on the blog.

Driving the Red Truck

Red Truck, Pinot Noir, 2007, Sonoma California.

First impression: Nice, smooth. Lighter on the alcohol content.

Unlike my husband I didn't have hotdogs for dinner. I had some slices of fried Asiago and Sun-Dried Tomato bread. Should have made some more to have with this wine.

Unsurprisingly, I liked it. Although it doesn't seem to have a large alcohol content my constant typos are telling me otherwise. Let's just say I'll heed the warning about not driving any motor vehicles.

I can't think of much to say that is witty about this wine. It's a good solid table wine. Totally worth opening when having dinner with friends. Assuming your friends aren't snooty wine snobs. Remember my earlier post about the Fish Eye Merlot and how it would be the second bottle to be opened? Well, Red Truck would be the first bottle opened in that scenario.

What else can I say? I didn't taste or smell any maple. The cherry/berry thing I'll agree with.

Rating? On taste a solid 3 out of 5. Price, 4 out of 5. Bottle prettiness, 3 out of 5.

I'll eventually try all of the (Insert Color Here) Truck wines. What the hell.

Like every other producer of anything they have a website. redtruckwine.com

Red Truck. Pinot Noir 2007.

Well, for the hell of it, and because it was cheap, CHEEEEEEEEEEAAAPPPP... We decided to try out Red Truck. It was $6.99 a bottle, and for that price I expected a lot less.

This wine is made from grapes, Berries, and Cherries. I am pretty sure that there's crayons in it. It did not have the smooth flavor that I enjoy from other pinot noirs, and oddly enough it seemed a little bright colored compared to other Pinots. This seemed nearly a Rose' as opposed to a Pinot. Then again, what the hell do I know, I don't know anything about vineyards, grapes, or people putting stuff in trucks to be crushed, processed and turned into wine.

I am just a casual wine drinker.

For the first time, in a while I was mildly surprised as the warm that I got from this, didn't hit the chest, it hit a lot lower. Meaning, this is not the wine to have with Hotdogs. I had hotdogs for dinner, and for an apertif I decided to have some Red Truck.

Probably not exactly the wisest choice, but then we've all made mistakes playing culinary Russian Roulette.

It had a decent enough flavor. On the label they mentioned what's in it, Berries and Cherries, but there was this hint of Maple which I could not ignore. After having one glass of it, I decided that it wasn't quite as bad as I thought, but then again I'd eaten Hotdogs for dinner so how delicate or discerning could my palate have been?

Being a purist, I eat my hotdogs plain, on a plain bun. No cheese, no condiments, just hotdog and bun, because for the most part they are bland and safe.

I swished the the wine around, and noticed that when I breathed out through my nose, it smelled faintly like Maple again. A peculiar, but nice aftertaste from a wine that was a decent bargain for the price.

Would I drink this daily? Are you out of your mind? No. Here's why.

The stuff isn't too bad, but the sulfites in it immediately went to my ears, and of course gave me the warm, and sweaty feeling that I get after having watched a Wendy's Hamburger commercial. I was once poisoned by Wendy's food, and Like post traumatic stress disorder, there are some things you never get over. I can tell how many sulfites are in a wine by how much warmer I suddenly become. If Hives are present, then it's pretty high sulfite content. Right now I'm at fever stage.

Once I reach out of control, throwing feces like a gorilla stage, I'll likely be too busy to finish this review.

On my scale of one to five, I give this a solid 3 on taste. Better than average, but... then I might revise the score at a later date if I happen to drink something that's more acidic, and or distasteful.

For the label, I give it a 2. Neat label, but I'm pretty sure I've seen the art somewhere before.

For the price, I give it a solid 5. Cheap, and pretty good buzz for the money. If you want to relax, and want to relax faster than if you were on prescription pain meds, this is your ticket. Seriously, I went from being mildly tense, to being pretty damned laid back. Laid back, and sweaty. I smell like hotdogs, and booze. Either my kidneys and pancreas are failing, or quite frankly I need to change my diet. Oscar Mayer makes a pretty good beef hotdog, but I have to tell you the minute you start sweating, real dogs come out of nowhere to lick you and be your new BFF.

Seriously though, this was not a bad wine. It's just not something I would be serving to my A-list friends, or people I thought were going to be my A-list friends.

Fisheye Merlot 2006

You've already read through my husband's post. I'll be giving my opinion of Fish Eye Merlot as well. It's always good to have a second opinion, right?

Let's start with the basics. I'm not refined in my taste. I also am a lightweight when it comes to alcohol. Fish Eye Merlot was my choice at the liquor store. Why? Because I liked the pretty label art, it was a merlot and it was cheap. I'm a cheap date. Or was. I'm married now. Since I'm digressing anyway let me describe my decision making process when choosing wines.

First I wander around the store looking at the label artwork. Is it pretty? Boring? Just a name in a bland font? Or is it witty sounding with intriguing art? Then I move on to what kind of wine it is? Riesling? Eek, no. Bad past experience with that. Zinfandel? Girly, might have to talk the husband into it. Merlot? Always a good call for us. Actually, we seem to both enjoy reds of any kind. Then the price. At this point remember my earlier comment about being cheap.

Which brings us back around to discussing Fish Eye Merlot. Intriguing art, Merlot and cheap.

I don't have a problem with screw top caps. Read an article somewhere about how a lot of wineries were moving to screw caps because the technology was now such that screwcaps created a better seal than traditional corks. Something about corks not being always reliable and a bottle or two can have the flavors go off. Had to get the husband to open it. I was not being lazy. Stupid thing wouldn't open for me.

Upon opening it smelled really nice. Made me think, "Ah, so this is what 'Fruity' means." Poured two small glasses. Still had a pleasant aroma and nice color. Taste was only ok. Not bad, not great, but fine. Nice kick to it. After the alcohol kicked in and I had a few more sips the taste seemed to get a bit better. Told you I was a cheap date. The back label description is:

"The nose is ripe and fruity with plums and dark fruits. The palate is soft and long. Serve with pasta, turkey, pork or beef."

Not sure what they mean by palate or the soft and long. Whatever. Ripe and fruity I'll agree with. I'm going to have mine with chicken tacos.

Conclusion? Worth the $5.99 it cost. Sometimes you do get what you pay for. When sitting around drinking with friends this wouldn't be the first bottle I open. Probably the second.

FIsh Eye, A Whale Of A Wine.

Fish Eye. Never heard of this name in wine before today. Why? Well, in 2006, Fisheye Wines made this very interesting Merlot.

We purchased this bottle at Edina Liquors in Edina, MN. It was early in the morning, so as to give them the impression that we were alcoholics looking to get our drink on. It didn't hurt that we were laughing at what will be a long standing joke about the wife's family. She and I are doing this review, because she feels that I have "issues" with being mean spirited. HA... As if.

It was $5.99 a bottle, which to me is pretty reasonable considering I had no idea what we were buying or if it was any good. I've paid more for a bad movie rental, so I didn't see it as a bad thing being cheap.

Back to the wine.

I'm not a fan of wine with a screw top cap. Why? Because there is something old world about having to rummage through drawers to find the bottle opener that you misplaced from the last time you opened up a bottle. Nothing like swearing and cussing to get your heart racing just before you realize that you're actually looking at the thing in the drawer, and had simply forgotten what it was used for.

The wife asked me to do my manly duty to open it because it apparently was put on with some kind of pneumatic tire wrench. Actually the cap popped off just fine for me, the wife is lazy.

From the second the seal was broken, a wonderful aroma emerged. When I say wonderful, I mean something akin to grapes meets something highly flammable. The bouquet on this particular wine was actually, and is actually pretty good. Given that I can still smell the lingering bouquet of the raspberry bismarck I ate about an hour ago trapped in my moustache.

The wife poured a sample which is about 2 ounces in the bottom of the wine glass. I edited photos while I allowed it to breathe. Now, not all wines need to breathe. This one, I would give at least a couple minutes, because the alcohol content on it, is pretty stout. 13.8 percent alcohol to me seems a bit high. Considering right now that my face is on fire as I write this, and am breaking a sweat after drinking it.

This Merlot, contains sulfites. Not everyone gets along with sulfites. I think I do, but to be honest I have no idea what sulfites are, and probably should look it up on Wikipedia.

Okay after looking up what Sulfites are on Wikipedia, I think I might be having some kind of reaction. I'll let you know if I break out into hives.

Just kidding. All wines, even organic wines have sulfites in them, as they are used to arrest fermentation at different points in the wine making process. If the wine you're drinking has 10 parts per million sulfite content, it gets a notification on the label.

Again, back to the wine.

This wine had a very complex flavor, as it hits your tongue, you can taste more than grapes in it. It says on the label it has plums and other fruits in it. Which could mean anything. They're not giving away any secrets with this label.

The flavor is just the start as even though it's a very heady Merlot, the taste is very spritely. Once you swallow it, you get the warm about 5 minutes after drinking. The warm is what I call that sensation that warms your chest and face. Some people who are alcoholics don't know what I'm talking about, but those of us who are only occasional drinkers do. It's a very pleasant wine, with a very nice flavor. One thing to consider, is not to let it languish on your tongue too long.

The label said it would impair your judgement and your ability to operate a motor vehicle. They would be absolutely right. As it is, after one half glass of the stuff, I'm having a hell of a time typing this review. My wife seems unfazed, as she sits and reads her book in boredom.

SCALE: 2.5 out of 5. Flavor was good, but lacked something. I think if this wine were allowed to age a little longer, it might have some of the rough edges taken off of it. Then again we might be drinking it past its prime, as there was a very sour taste to it, more so than most Merlots I've had. For the money, I give it a 4.0 out of 5. Great product for the cheap price. Presentation, I give it a 1.5 out f 5. I hate that particular font, and the choice of colors for the label is straight out of 1986.

Kudos to Fisheye winery for a cheap wine that isn't half bad.

http://www.fisheyewines.com

For Those Curious About Wine.

If you find yourself unable to comprehend the subtleties of wine, or understand what the snootier, snobby class are talking about as it pertains to wine, have no fear. This Blog is for you.

I'm a guy who enjoys a good glass of wine with his meal from time to time. I have a glass or two once a month, because quite frankly I don't have the tolerance to be a full on alcoholic, or the budget for that matter.

What I do know about, is wine. I know about tasting it, and more importantly, enjoying it. I have a discerning palate, and a nose for this stuff, even though I'm just like you, completely un-refined.

With that said, I am writing this blog for you. The people out there who would like to know about wine, have the appearance of refinement, and not look stupid. Such as when discussing wine in front of your boss, inlaws or other people you want or desperately need to impress.

In the coming weeks, I will be writing extensively about many types of wine, many brands, and of course, how to properly enjoy it.