Lots and lots of vino

Much wine was imbibed on Sunday. It was wonderful to see what wine my friends brought with them.
The lovely expectant couple brought 7 deadly Zins. I don't care who ya are, this is a very flavorful, full bodied wine that is easy to enjoy.
The realtor brought Estancia Merlot (and some totally yummy cupcakes).
My dear friend brought a 181 Merlot and a Willowcroft Albarino.
And my volleyball teammate brought a Prosecco.
I completely forgot to buy a Newman's Own Cabernet. But if I would've remembered, it would have been a big hit. It's an exceptional wine, but since I hosted the party and provided all the food, it didn't bother me too much.
Back to the wine....First, the 7 deadly Zins. Just so ya know. It's a Zinfandel from the Lodi region in California. Evidently thats the place to go if you like Zin. Anyway, the wine comes from 7 different growers, hence the name 7 Zins. It's a great wine, great price, with a great full in your face taste. What more could you want? The couple that brought it are really nice folks. She is 5 months along and he is.....a great guy. My daughter and I thought he was gay when we first met him. It's a long story, but he obviously is not, and he obviously has good taste in wine.
The Estancia Merlot was nice. The Realtor that brought it was more fun than the Merlot. She was funny and friendly and high energy. Actually wine spectator gave the 08 Merlot 86 points - Not bad, but I liked her better.
The 181 Merlot. Well, this was good. Nice flavor, smooth finish. This is a Borderaux style Merlot - meaning, it's from California, but we copied the French.
Finally, the Willowcroft Albarino. That's my dear friends favorite winery, so she brought a bottle. It's a lovely white wine, very tart and citrusy, not sweet, but not too dry either.
And last but not least, my volleyball friend brought an awesome Prosecco. This one was a Riondo Spago Nero. It was fun fun fun!! Not too dry, not sweet, easy on the tongue. We downed it quickly.
It was a great barbecue!!
As I mentioned, the rest of September is all about Washington State wine in honor of my dear friend that is leaving for greener pastures - So I went to Total Wine and bought several. For tomorrow, we will be having the Gordon Brothers 2008 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for $23.00. It's the first bottle on the top picture. According to the wonderfully helpful gentlemen from Total Wine. We should LOVE IT!!