A wrap up on Tres Ojos

We had some friends over on Saturday.  Of course there was a bit of the Tres Ojos left over, so I poured myself a glass. All my friends were drinking beer, so I didn't feel bad.  At that point,  I had nothing to eat and wasn't snacking on anything.  As I think I may have eluded to earlier, this is not a stand alone wine.  Tres Ojos needs to be paired with something spicy.
But, being the true wino I am, I polished off my glass and looked forward to opening something else.  Which I did and it was phenomenal.  It was a sparking shiraz - The Chook.  I wont blog on it except to say that  I have already tried it and I highly recommend it.  It's approximately $17.00 at Total Wine.  It is definitley a stand alone wine.  I could drink it all night, all by itself and be happy happy.
Now, on to the Thursday. I haven't yet selected the wine, but plan on going to either Total Wine or World Market tomorrow to pick it.  I can't wait to experience the lovely label that catches my eye.......

Not bad at all

So, I grab the bottle from my wine rack.  Eager to try this wine with the dumb name.  I'm somewhat doubtful as I watch my husband "unscrew" the lid off.  I must say,  screw offs remind me of college days with TJ Swan and Mad Dog 20/20 - but times have changed and rumor has it, there are many respectable wines that do not have a cork.
I must say......this is one of them.  The first sip was actually a pleasant surprise.  It hits with a bit of a peppery "bang" on the palate, but then softens very quickly.  I made a spicy turkey spaghetti sauce (with thin wheat spaghetti), and the wine was nicely complemented.  I'm an Arizona girl, so I add green chile to almost everything including spaghetti sauce. It sounds weird, but my family and I love it.  I would venture a guess, it doesn't matter what type of "spice" you prefer, this wine would go well with it.
I did forget to mention I tried the first sip with a bit of the goat gouda cheese.  My daughter - being the astute 21 year old wine drinker that she is, reminded that I should try the wine beforeI eat anything so that my palate is not biased.  It's a wonderful thing when you're children give you good advice.  So moving forward, I will make sure that the first sip is unadulterated with any type of food.
Anyway, we did use an aerator.  It's a great only actually.  I bought it at Safeway for $20.  It fits on the top of the bottle, and works very well.  I'm sitting here drinking the wine as I blog and I must say that leaving the bottle open for an hour made a difference as well.  It's still has the initial peppery taste, but it's not strong and doesn't overwhelm.
So, the wine with the dumb name is a keeper.  I would buy it again.

This is it!! Tres Ojos!!

This is the choice for week 1.  I found it at Whole Foods.   It costs $7.99 and is a Spanish red wine. On the label it reads "unfiltered".  It sounds so primitive! I love it.   If you can't read the label, it says below the bridge "Old Vines Garnacha 2008 Calatayud  Demominacion de Origen.  I had no idea what that means.  I googled it.  It's describing the kind of grape, which is garnacha.  This grape doesn't have the greatest reputation among grapes.  Evidently it's high in tannins (here comes a headache) and is better when mixed with other types of grapes - which in this case, it is not.  The rest of the info is just the region where it came from in Spain.
The reason it caught my eye is because my husband and I went to a wonderful wine bistro in Ashburn this past weekend.  I noticed among the many bottles at the bar was one entitled "Tres Ojos".  I asked my husband, who is a fluent spanish speaker. "Doesn't that mean three eyes?" He confirmed that in fact was the meaning and I thought to myself - What a dumb name... But today, as I was meandering through the isles of Whole Foods I noticed this particular bottle and I uttered out loud "Thats the bottle with the dumb name!!  I actually felt silly, because I didn't intend to verbalize.  I looked around to see if anyone noticed and luckily for me there was only one women near me.  She appeared unfazed and I don't think she even spoke english.  Regardless,  I have a bottle and I am ready for Thursday.  I'm mildly concerned because it appears I have an unfiltered wine (chunky??) made from grapes with a bad reputation.  Bahahaha!!  What a great way to start!  But I remain optimistic, and I also bought some phenomenal gouda cheese while at the store.  :-)

It begins.

Ok, here's the scoop.  I've been on a wine journey for a while.  As time has passed and my palate has evolved, I've found wine drinking has become somewhat of a hobby.   Many of my wine drinking friends have experienced the same - which was part of the genesis for this blog.  I figured if I enjoyed trying different types of wine and wanted to communicate about it, there must be many others.
So, here's the challenge.  52 bottles in 52 weeks.  The label must be one I've never tried before.
Now I realize I'm a baby in the wine world.  I'm not a sommelier.  I don't have a wine cellar.  Im just a middle aged women who truly enjoys a glass of wine and I love to share.  I don't like drinking wine out of a paper or plastic cup.  This actually bothers me a little bit when I fly.   I do occasionally fly first class, but since Im typically in coach, I have put some thought into bringing my own glass on the plane.  I'm obviously not a wine snob, but I know what I like when I taste it.  I don't care if it's in a box or a bottle, I am willing to try it and won't deny it if I love it.
Throughout these 52 weeks, Im looking forward to trying everything from Napa Valley to South African and beyond.  What a glorious year this will be.  I saw a movie a while back with a similar premise except the woman in the movie was cooking 365 dishes from the Julia Child cookbook.  I actually enjoyed that movie, but like my idea much better.  I wish I had to stamina to try 365 bottles in a year, but really don't want to end up in AA.  So 52 sounds perfect to me.
So, it begins this Thursday May 26th.  The first bottle.....What to choose...Hmmm....My methodology will be to meander the isles of such magnificent retail stores as Whole Foods, Wegmans, Harris Teeter and Total Wine. I also plan on Trader Joes, World Market, etc.  Actually, I will be the look out for wine wherever I am and will buy whatever label catches my eye.  They say you shouldn't choose a book by it's cover.  I assume the same could apply to wine, but that's exactly what I am going to do.  I will keep the price less than $30, but have no qualms about buying something for less than $5.  I'm planning on having whatever wine I choose with my evening meal so Im excited to see how the wines taste on their own, as well as how they are (hopefully) complimented by the meal I prepare - or in some cases the meal I purchase.
Unless my husband is helping me, it's not likely that I will polish off a bottle in one evening, so Im also excited to see how the wine will change over the course of a week.  Even though I always use a vacuum pump when I have some wine left over - the wine still changes.
So, to my fellow wine lovers, wherever you are - we are off on a journey.  This should be fun!!