Blue Teal

Before I get into the Blue Teal Rio Rojo (which means red river), I have to comment on the St Clair label that indicated New Mexico was America's oldest wine producing region.

Here's what I found out....Mexico is the oldest wine producing region in the Americas. So, since New Mexico was once part of Mexico, I guess it could sort of be an accurate statement.

I also mentioned the label for Blue Teal had a plethora of information. To elaborate, it goes on a bit about the Blue-winged Teal (pretty colored duck) that is commonly seen in New Mexico during migration. I lived in New Mexico for many years, but never saw one. Maybe I wasn't looking.

The label describes the wine as "very approachable with mild and well intergrated tannins...easy drinking, rich nose of red berry plums, and hints of freshly sawn wood". Hmmmm.....well, that could sort of be an accurate statement. At least parts of it. It is easy drinking. There's definitely notes of berry, but I'm not so sure about the wood. It's a bit like berry punch with a short sugary finish. The aftertaste almost reminded me of Equal or Splenda or some type of sugar substitute.

The wine is recommended to be served chilled - specifying between 42 and 46 degress. There is also a sweetness level indicated as well, and as you might guess this is definitely sweet. And the alcohol content is only 11%. This is a bit on the low side when compared to other reds (or even whites).

So, all in all. This would be a great wine for novice wine drinkers. Typically, those that are new to the beautiful world of wine prefer the sweeter wines. I myself was nothing but a Moscato drinker when I first started so I'm thinking this would be a great "starter" wine.

So, here's to all you new wine drinkers!!! Cheers!!

New Mexico prelude to a blog.

So, due to reasons beyond my control. I find myself in New Mexico for a few days. This is not an unfamiliar place and I am happy to be here. Actually, I used to live here many moons ago and still come back once or twice a year.

I've noticed something about wineries. Except for California, it seems that vinyards and wineries used to be somewhat of a rarity. But now New Mexico, like so many other states boasts several wineries.

I have a bottle of a New Mexican green chile wine that is held in the mouth of my Theodore Roosevelt wine holder showcased in my wine room at home. Yes, I said wine room. My wine hobby has become so large, that I have devoted an entire room to it. Not quite the wine cellar I dream of, but the next best thing I suppose. Anyway, the green chile wine is a novelty and I will likely never open it. In part, because it looks so cool in the Teddy wine holder and it's a great conversation piece. Beyond that, I don't believe I have purchased any other New Mexico wines. But today, I was lucky enough to purchase 3 bottles from local wineries and will blog on at least one this Thursday.

Now for a bit of info on each. The first bottle on the left is a Rio Rojo from Blue Teal vinyards in Deming New Mexico. According to the label it's a red table wine, so we know it's a blend. I went to the website to try to find out what the blend was, but wasn't able to find out any more info than what's on the back label, which actually has a plethora of information about pretty much everything else such as vinyard name, wine notes, sweetness level, serving temperature, etc.

The next bottle is Voluptuous Sweet Temptation from Southwest Wines which is also in Deming. I love the back label, it reads: "Sweet Temptations is strikingly sweet with the robust flavors of juicy, plump raspberries stacked with tart cherries and sweet strawberries. Its ample sweetness will tempt you into a wild night out with your girlfriends or a cozy evening at home after a long day of being fabulous". Ha! That's too awesome.

The final bottle is from St Clair winery which is also in Deming. Hmmm....Evidently Deming is the wine mecca of New Mexico. Anyway, this is a rather sophisticated looking Riesling. The back label claims New Mexico is America's oldest wine producing region. Wow, that bears further research and sounds completely incorrect. But, being the open-minded individual I am, I will reserve judgement for later.

So, one two or maybe all of these New Mexico beauties will be the topic of my Thursday night.

Until then...Cheers!!

And the winner is.....

What an education.

I think I have compiled a decent list of light to full bodied wines. To compliment my list making sensibilities, I am sipping on a Chianti which I will describe in detail momentarily.

In my mind, I tend to clump together wines, grapes and regions and then don't quite know what all that means. Actually, I still do that, but it is becoming somewhat clearer.

So, lets begin with light bodied - Beaujolais Neoveau (gamay grape), and Pinot Noir (Burgundy's most famous grape). As an FYI - France has 3 famous red wine producing regions which are Burgundy, Bordeaux and Rhone. As a side note, my next blog will be on a Burgundy. I read an article recently that describes Burgundy as seductively graceful. That sounds magnificent, and I simply must have some.

A light to medium bodied wine is Dornfelder - this is Germany's primary grape for red wine. I visited Germany several years ago and remember sharing a Dornfelder red wine with my relatives. I really enjoyed it, but couldn't understand what kind of red wine it was. My dear German relatives speak no English and I do not sprecken se Deutsch. My Mother, who was the translator did not do so well with the information translation. So, I never really knew what I was drinking.

Moving on to medium bodied - Merlot, Shriaz, Chianti (Sangiovesi grape) Pinotage (blend of South African's cross between a Pinot noir and Cinsault grape)

A medium to full bodied wine is a Tempranillo which is a Spanish wine from the Rioja region. Other countries seem to name their wines based on the region it was grown versus they way we do it by typically naming it after the actual grape. I like our way much better.

Malbecs are another medium to full bodied wine and used to typically be a blend from the Bordeaux region. However, Argentina changed all that and made it a single varietal wine which has become quite popular.

Other medium full bodied wines include Italian Borolo or Barbarescos (nebbiolo grape) and Petite Verdots - which is very often used in Bordeaux blends. Zinfandels are thought of as medium to full bodied as well.

Finally the big daddies. The number one full bodied big red is.....drum roll please....Cabernet Sauvignon of course. Was there ever any doubt?? Well yeah, I guess there was, I actually thought that Zinfindels might be a bit fuller bodied than Cabs. And there are some other full bodied contenders as well such as the Italian Super Tuscans and Bordeaux. Bordeaux are typically made from 3 varietals which are most often the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Super Tuscans are Tuscan wines that don't adhere to the traditional blending laws for the region. Just as another FYI - Italy has over 20 wine producing regions that account for 1/5 of the worlds wine production. Thats so awesome.

A quick note on the the Chianti. It was ok. Somewhat of a sharp finish. Definitely cherry spice, with soft tannins. We paired it with spicy pulled pork sandwiches. I don't know how we come up with these pairings, but spicy wasn't the best thing for this wine. But all in all, it was ok and reasonably priced. Would I buy it again? Probably not.

Finally to end this novel sized blog. I noted a visit to 2 wineries. Barrel Oak was very nice. This lovely picture is the beautiful view from the deck at Barrel Oak. At first, our wine server seemed a little tired and uninterested, but she quickly came about and we had a wonderful tasting and bought something called Chocolate Lab. It's a dessert wine. Port style Chambourcin (French-American hybrid grape)infused with cocoa. It's either infused with Brandy as well or aged in a Brandy barrel, I can't remember which, but either way, it was excellent!!! We are going to savor it this weekend with dear friends and cigars.

The suck fest was Chrysalis. This is the second time I've been made to feel unwelcome there. When we first entered, both wine servers were busy with tastings - I waited patiently at the counter. After a few moments, one of the wine servers rather curtly asked me if he could help me. I advised him my hubby and I were here for a wine tasting. He said he would be with us in about 5 minutes. Well, after about 10 minutes, the other wine tasting party had left and he cleaned up their mess and made his way into the back and disappeared with out a word. The other wine server was still knee deep with her tasting party and still unavailable. We decided we weren't feeling the love. Not only were they not interested in helping us, they weren't even interested in telling us.

Except for that minor negative moment, everything else was wonderful.

So, I'll sign off with dreams of Cabernets and Super Tuscans. Oh, BTW, I'm practically a celebrity in my own home. Thanks to my beautiful, generous daughter, I now have a Little Miss Vino t-shirt and business cards. I plan on planting the business cards at various and sundry locations through out the contiguous United States. So be alert. If you find one, you could win a prize!!!

Until then...Cheers!!

Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the most full bodied of all???

Well, there's lots happening for tomorrow. I've got a lot of research to do. I want to know, what is the most full bodied wine...and not just American wines. I want to know how others compare. We're talking Sangiovese, Chianti, Cabernet, Zinfandel, Burgundy, Bordeaux. etc. etc....Which is it?? I DON'T KNOW!!!

But, I can't wait to find out. My hubby says a Cabernet Sauvignon is the most full bodied of all. I love him, but he is totally biased, so much research is warranted.

Also, I was off work on Tuesday and went to 2 wineries. Barrel Oak and Chrysalis. One was quite nice and the other was...quite frankly, a suck-fest.

Tune in tomorrow to find out who was who.

Another thing...I now have "Little Miss Vino" attire. I may just show it off tomorrow as well. Actually, I may have contest for my readers (all 3 of them). The winner gets a Little Miss Vino t-shirt. Ahh!!!! This is getting larger than life!!!

Mirror, mirror.......

MAGGIANO'S!!!!!

OMG!! We've lived here for years and have never been to Maggiano's Italian restaurant. In a word, it is MAGNIFICENT!!

Let me paint a picture. My daughter, son and I sat down (my hubby and Arizona friend were parking the car) our server Theo (shout out to Theo), asked if we would like some to drinks to start and what were we in the mood for. Here was the conversation.
"We want wine of course."
"Red or white?"
"Red!"
"Smooth or dry?"
"Definitely smooth."

Well, Theo read me like a book because he brought a bottle of 2008 Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet. This South Australian wine was wonderful. It was not only smooth, but had lots of gentle currents, dark berry flavors and ended on lovely velvety finish. It was $34.00 a bottle at the restaurant, but I found it online for $12.00. I am going to either Total Wine or World Market tomorrow to buy some.

Another exceptional moment was when the Chef actually came to our table and brought a special appetizer. I'm not sure what it was - some sort of zucchini tempura style. It was excellent.

I enjoyed watching my son drink the Penfolds with his lobster pasta dish. His eyes actually rolled up in the back of his head. Culinary nirvana at it's finest..

We ended up polishing off 2 more bottles of wine beyond the Penfolds. Although nice, neither compared in my mind. One was a Louis Martini Cabernet the other a Cellar number 8. I don't remember much about them beyond that. They were good, but the Penfolds stole my heart.

I have to say, our server Theo was awesome. He was a cute little New York Italian - all of about 5'4". I adored him. He was attentive and obviously made some awesome recommendations - not only with the wine, but with our entrees as well.

My hubby and Arizona friend weren't very easy on Theo. I say this with love. These 2 men are both well educated, articulate, and successful. But they are also knuckle dragging neanderthal, testosteroney, gun toting, alpha males. Theo didn't stand a chance, but he was such a good sport. My hubby made up for it with a big tip.

The picture above depicts my daughter and I enjoying this marvelous wine at this fabulous restaurant surrounded by 3 men that we both love dearly.

Life doesn't get much better.

Rumpas????

I thought Tres Ojos was a dumb name, but this one ranks right up there with dumb names as well.

My hubby and I celebrated our 26th anniversary last night at The Wine Kitchen. I must say that this restaurant is fabulous. It's small, intimate, great food, attentive staff.

We each ordered a wine flight of 3 wines each and shared them, but neither of us had fallen in love with any of the wines and didn't want to commit to an entire bottle of anything. Our server recommended a wine called Rumpas. He described it as a very nice, smooth, California blend. My hubby lamented that he didn't know why wineries were always trying to mess with blending something as perfectly nice as a cabernet. He's obviously a cabernet puritan. Whatever, that means more blends for me.

Back to the wine. It's a 2009 blend of Zinfandel, Syrah and Cab Franc. Rumpus is a Sonoma California wine. I forgot to take a picture of the bottle. It's quite plain actually. I thought I could easily find a picture online, but no luck.

I personally loved it. It's smooth, fun, flavorful, with lots of dark fruity notes. It's definitely a stand alone wine. It needed nothing..except for me.

The wine kitchen also sells wines by the bottle, so of course I wanted to buy one. But again, no luck - they were out. I was disappointed, but thought I should be able to find it at Total Wine, so I called them from the restaurant (they're on my speed dial). Still yet again, no luck.

I finally did find it online, but haven't ordered any yet. The Wine Kitchen charges $35 at the table and $25 if you buy it to go. Online, I found it for $16. I will absolutely buy some as this wine is just lovely.

So, except for not getting to take a bottle home and getting into a stupid fight with my hubby about him fertilizing the yard (are we the only couple who bickers over idiotic things?), it was all in all still a good night - at least for finding a wonderful new wine to add to my list of things I love.

For next time, I'm going to do some research on what is the most full bodied wine. It is a Cabernet or a Zinfandel? How do other wines compare such as a Shiraz or Chianti or Sangiovese? I have no idea!!

So turn in next Thursday and learn something new.

Until then....Cheers!!!

Hob Nobbing

I noted yesterday that I might try some bubbly. A bit of the bubbly would've been quite nice, but just wasn't in the cards for tonight.

Instead, my hubby and 2 wonderful friends met at local pub for a night cap after a wonderful dinner at Uncle Julio's. I had a 2009 HobNob Pinot Noir for $7.00/glass.

I looked up the wine online to check the retail price and it sales for about $13.00 a bottle. The HobNob website is pretty cool. Good music, lots of stuff to do and read. And it has a great way of providing info on the wines - to see what I'm referring to, go check out the website.

So, it turns out I had a french wine at an Irish Pub in Virginia - I LOVE IT!! I am so cultured.

I don't think I've had HobNob before. As I noted, it is a french wine from the Languedoc Roussillon region of France. Evidently, this is one of the oldest wine regions in France and is quite large with over 400,000 acres of primarily red wine producing vines. It's been referred to as France's "wine lake". I wanna go swim!!

The wine itself is pretty good. The winemakers notes on the website indicate violets with bursting cherry flavors. I thought it did have some cherry notes although I would not say bursting. It was a nice medium bodied wine as you would expect from a Pinot Noir with a relatively gentle finish. It's an easy drinking, stand alone wine. I had no food with it, but the website recommends food items such s prime rib or sausage.

I would buy it again. It's reasonably priced and has enough character and texture to be compared to a more expensive wine. That plus the fact that it's a hip looking french wine with a goofy name is just plain cool.

So, go hob nob and have a good time.

Cheers!!

So many wines, so little time.....

I have absolutely no idea what I'm blogging on tomorrow. I'm hoping for some sort of epiphany.

The choices are endless.....

I don't even know what I'm in the mood for. Maybe a bit of the bubbly - we shall see.

Until tomorrow - CHEERS!!

About that Chapelle.....

I tried it. The maids who clean this room tomorrow are going to think I'm an alcoholic with the 2 wine bottles I've left behind, but I figured I likely would not have the chance again, so I better take advantage of the opportunity.

I went to Walmart and purchased a $6.97 bottle of 2008 Ste Chapelle Cabernet Sauvignon from the Snake River Valley. The back label indicated this winery has been producing since 1978 with grapes grown in high-altitude vineyards overlooking the famed Snake River in southern Idaho. The long daylight hours, warm summer days, crisp evenings and well drained volcanic ash soils are ideal for producing distinctive varietals.

Thats lovely and well written.

The wine is so so. It actually tastes a bit ashy and tart. It's not too bad, it's just a bit unusual with it's tart finish.

I googled Snake River and found that it sits within a 4 million year old lake and boasts 44 vineyards and 22 wineries. The Snake River Valley was quite renowned for it's wine prior to 1920, but prohibition shut the wineries down and they didn't perk up again until 1970.

Would I buy it again?? Probably not...But I'm glad I took the opportunity to try it. I'll put a cork it in and leave it for the hotel maids when I check out of here tomorrow. I hope they enjoy it.