Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Just me and my wine - The outlook is not so Rose-y

In my never ending quest to fight the evil writers block I recently promised twice-monthly wine recommendations. That means I will drink wine, think long and hard about what that wine says to me (and to me its usually saying "Drink me! Drink more of me! BwaHaHaHa."), and then pass that wisdom on to you guys after I've sobered up. Because one never wants to drink and blog, does one? If that becomes a habit one will start posting about the fabulousness of one's new pedicure, fall back on the beauty of one's child, or participate in far too many memes. And one will keep referring to oneself as "one".

Before I go any further I feel I have to make perfectly clear the fact that I am not a wine expert. I am simply a wine lover who drinks, um... Let's just say enough wine for a mother of a challenging young child to decompress with after a long, hard day. I've been to many a winery, participated in quite a few tastings, and I have a husband who shares my passion for this hobby. Oh, and I have a sister who owns her own restaurant who keeps us stocked with free vino and, if we are so inclined, tickets to informative events. Or, as I like to call them, drunk-fests.

(I know that's not the purpose of those events, but after tasting the offerings of 4 or 5 distributors, its hard not to feel a little tipsy. And please don't get me started on spitting. I don't spit.)

If you read a recommendation from me about a wine that you've had and you think I'm full of shit - Tell me. I don't care and it won't hurt my feelings. These recommendations are based on my opinion (and maybe my husband's), if you'd like to add your two cents, go ahead and add away. Please, I encourage it. My tastes may be different than yours and I welcome your opinion.

One more thing before I get to this week's selections: You will never see me recommend a white zinfandel. Never. Don't even ask. I'm not a wine snob of the highest degree, but I've got to have my standards.

On to the wines...

My darling husband was in a Rosé phase over Memorial Day weekend. I have no idea why. As I mentioned before, we don't drink pink wines unless they're bubbly, so you can imagine the perplexed expression on my face when he removed the bottles from the paper sack. He had purchased a 2005 Marques de Caceres Rioja for approximately $9, a 2004 Vin Gris De Cigare for $12, and a Chateau Puech-Haut for $16. I almost wept when I saw that the Hubby had spent 16 bucks on a Rosé but since we weren't returning them to the store from which they were purchased, we put them in the refrigerator to chill. Luck would have it that the weekend was warm so the wines were not a bad choice after all.

If you're new to wine, or if you insist on drinking pink beverages that aren't made by Nestle or Kool-Aid, a Rosé is a good wine to cut your teeth on. They're light on the tongue, not too sweet (actually, they're not really what I would call sweet at all) and the flavor almost always disappears soon after you swallow. In my opinion its a good wine to zone out with because it doesn't require much thinking. Real wine connoisseurs might disagree with me, but I am not a real wine connoisseur. To me, a Rosé is better than drinking water, but not much.

The $16 bottle - which I can't find a webpage for anywhere - was mildly interesting. Subtle in taste, it didn't overwhelm me at first, but the more I drank of it the more I enjoyed it. If I had to pick the one I liked the best, that would probably be the one. But it will be a cold day in hell before I spend 16 hard earned dollars on that wine again. For the money, I thought the $9 Rioja was the best. Much more flavorful than the other two and it won't hurt to open your wallet to buy.

The moral of the story - It doesn't always pay to look at life through Rosé colored glasses. Try a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc instead.

25 comments:

Mom101 said...

I love the idea for this column! Nate is a wine guy himself (having spent too many years serving it to people in restaurants) and puts me to shame.

White zin is like My First Wine. I hate when I go into a restaurant and ask what whites they have and someone says "well, zinfandel..." ACK!

j.sterling said...

i think this is cool... go with it! and YAY!

Anonymous said...

I really want to be sophisticated (I don't even know how to spell that) and drink wine, but honestly, I think it's nasty!! Nasty. I try it all the time to be cool, but I can barely choke it down!I also do not like beer. Unless it's a really cold beer, and it's really hot out.

Anonymous said...

I usually default to Merlot or Pinot Grigio, but I'll take a Mojito over wine anyday!

carrie said...

I love this! You are right, price does not always equal quality or good taste. My latest fav red wine has a white label that reads RED TABLE WINE, looks like it was scribbled w/ a sharpie and it costs $9.99! Raise a glass!

Mom on the Run said...

I wrote about Mia's Playground Zinfandel (red baby, it's red!) a while back, I think I got it for about $12.00 at Safeway. It's my new 'fave' for in the $15.00 range (which to be honest, is about as high as I go!).
I do love wine, but not because my Mom used to drink it from the box...!

Sandra said...

I love this idea of a wine feature. I too am a wine lover -not a wine conoisseur (that is not spelled correctly I am sure). So I was interested to read about your rose experience. I'll admit I haven't drank rose since highschool and am in the "is that real wine" camp. But it would pay to be more open minded clearly. And you are so right that price does not equal quality. I once was at a wine tasting evening for work with some people who thought they were "wine guys" and did a blind tasting and rating and the "wine snobs" were all shocked to see they had rated the cheapest bottle the best.

Carolyn S. said...

What a great idea. I love the review. It's far less hoite toitie than most wine reviews and comical at the same time. Keep them coming!

Our friends will all be amazed when they see how sophisticated our taste in wine is.

Christina said...

I can't wait to see more of your reviews. I took a wine tasting class in college and loved it! I'm a big fan of Riesling whites. But when we went to Florida for our honeymoon we discovered citrus wines and I really like those as well.

Cristina said...

I, for one, am grateful you've had a bit of bloggers block so that we can benefit from these wine reviews.

Can I make a request? Can you review Charles Shaw on one of your future posts? I know a lot of people hate it, but I find it a good value for 2 bucks a bottle.

Anonymous said...

Two Buck Chuck is great! This is fun read!

Radioactive Tori said...

I really tried to like wine, but just can't seem to do it. I do like boone's farm, and that other one that is similar to it. Yes, I do know it is not actually real grown up wine...my husband gets so frustrated with me when I refer to them as wine. Oh, how I wish I could make myself like wine!

Anonymous said...

Dude. I ALWAYS swallow. And I thought Rose was just another way of saying White Zinfandel...

I will definitely read your wine reviews. Informative and entertaining - what more can I ask for? A Mr. and Mrs. Chicky-sponsored tasting?

Amy said...

Excellent idea! I need to read your recommendations so I can start finding some good wines now that I'm nearly done weaning my little one.

kittenpie said...

yeah, I'm not really snobby, but I have to admit that I think of pink wines as grownup koolaid, much like coolers of various descriptions. Might be yummy, but maybe not really what I'm looking for when I think "wine."

Anonymous said...

Love it - can I come drink with you? lol..

SUEB0B said...

I had a blog devoted to Rose wine. I figured it was underappreciated. I soon found myself dreading tastings. I could not find any good roses - or at least roses that didn't make me long for the real stuff, red wine. I pretty much abandoned my blog and never looked back.

The Vin Gris de Cigare is one of the better ones for the price, IMO.

Jess Riley said...

I have recently gotten into Pinot. Yes, I'm one of the Sideways movie lemmings. LOL

I also want to drink some wine and hang out with you. :)

Her Bad Mother said...

I used to be a wine snot. Not snob. Snot. Pretended that I knew a lot about wine because I hung out with oenophiles. Then I fessed up (to myself) that the only thing that I cared about was that whether it tasted decent and provided a good buzz.

But I LOVE a good wine rec! 'Cuz some days, it does matter whether it's a rose (from south of France! The best!), which, I agree, can be a *fine* bevvie.

I'll drink with you anytime, Chicky. Anytime.

Blog Antagonist said...

OOH YAY! I am stuck in a wine rut. I usually choose a moderate to very dry Chardonnay, but lately I've been in the mood for something different. I've heard tell that the new-ish white Merlots are good, so I tried it on a whim, despite Miles' contempt for them. Well, um, Miles was right. Ick.

Any recommendations (affordable) for someone who prefers a dryer wine? Are they hidden somewhere that I can go read them?

Anonymous said...

That was a great post about wine! Thanks for sharing.

ms blue said...

I'm allergic to pink wines. They make my cheeks turn pink. As long as I keep drinking, I don't mind so much.

Having to drink wine to review is a tough job but someone's got to help us out. Yay for you Mrs. Chicky!

SUEB0B said...

Wine Recs:
Cheap - The Rosemount (Australian) Shiraz-Cabernet blend $5 at Trader Joes and it is good!

A little more expensive - Coppola Red Table Wine. Yes, Coppola the director. Usually runs about $9. He also makes a nice Zinfandel for around $11.

I have died and gone to heaven - Sanford Estate Pinot Noir, Bien Nacido Vineyard, around $25.

Kill me so I will go to heaven, where they will be serving this: L'Aventure Optimus meritage blend $50.

All red, all good. My favorite wines are pinot noirs and I loved them long before Sideways, which, BTW, was filmed in and around where I grew up and where Dad's family has lived since the 1870's.

Will said...

I'm all about the Reisling. Any Reisling...I never remember brand names or years anyway. Husband's job is to buy the wine and pour glass after glass until stagger to bed. Only every few weeks, of course. But now I'm going to try a little wine to break occasional writer's block...great post!

Lori said...

Don't care about the wine (sorry!) but am LOVING the Def Leppard reference in your post title. I'm going to see them this Friday in concert (with Journey! does it get any better???) and am totally psyched!!