The holiday season is upon us and while I’m not exactly Oprah, I thought I’d go ahead and share a couple of my favorite things by pairing some new Christmas music with a couple of not only new to me, but new to market, wines. In the course of my Christmas shopping, I’ve noticed these Duck Dynasty cats have their… Read more →
Four weeks already? Yes. And this week finally delivered what we’ve all been waiting for: high caliber dances from top to bottom! First the dances, then the wine! The Dances Kirstie Alley/Maksim Chmerkovskiy Charleston (Judges’ Score: 30) The Rib: Once again this week, “Big Sexy” brought the Big Fun with this cute Charleston. She looked sweet and sassy in… Read more →
After doing a few errands and running around a bit, good friend and neighbor M.C. and I convened in the Garage Bar at CorkEnvy to sample the Day 9 selection. I chose this bottle since it is a favorite of M.C. (insert comments here, C-Squared and The Rib). 2008 Bogle Vineyards Phantom, California I popped and poured this Zinfandel (51%),… Read more →
With The Rib heading back to the mill for the first day since a month-long absence and me spending the day preparing for the eventual zombie apocalypse with M.C., dinner tonight was a simple reheat of the [fabulous] meat sauce and spaghetti I prepared over the weekend. Since we were both a bit tired and somewhat disinterested in ‘thinking’ much… Read more →
2005 Giorgio Pelissero Langhe Long Now, Piedmont, Italy The Rib and I purchased this Nebbiolo blend in June 2010 at a tasting featuring the winemaker and have been waiting (somewhat impatiently) to open one of the two bottles that remain in the cellar. So I whipped up some meat sauce and decanted this wine for two hours and sat down… Read more →
“The United States Marine Corps, with its fiercely proud tradition of excellence in combat, its hallowed rituals, and its unbending code of honor, is part of the fabric of American myth.” – Thomas E. Ricks, Making the Corps, 1997 On this day 236 years ago, the United States Marine Corps was born within the walls of a bar in Philadelphia,… Read more →
2007 A to Z Wineworks Night & Day Southern Crossing, Rogue Valley, Oregon I popped and poured this red blend (36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 20% Syrah, 10% Sangiovese, 4% Grenache, 4% Cabernet Franc) from the Rogue Valley in Southern Oregon. The nose presented dark berries and raisin along with some fig and spice. I also got a little of… Read more →
Driftwood Vineyards Alamo Red, Driftwood, Texas The Rib and I popped and poured this non-vintage red blend (57% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Syrah). On the nose, I got some mixed dark berry and cherry along with some cola and a hint of cocoa. That hint of cocoa really powered through to the palate. The Alamo Red hit me like… Read more →
The 2009 Essay is a blend of Shiraz (Syrah), Cinsault, and Viognier. I popped this bottle on a Saturday afternoon to sip on while The Rib and I knocked around the house. The nose was super-fruity—lots of berry, particularly strawberry. If this wine had been warm, I would have sworn I had just pulled a strawberry Pop-Tart from the toaster… Read more →
The Renard Rouge is a Meritage Blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot that won the 2011 Virginia Governor’s Cup. The nose on this one had a nice spice, a little twig, and some muted fruit. I also got a little something that reminded me of caramel (odd, to be sure, but that’s what I got). There were also some very… Read more →
