Hermes

HERMES was the great Olympian God of animal husbandry, roads, travel, hospitality, heralds, diplomacy, trade, thievery, language, writing, persuasion, cunning wiles, athletic contests, gymnasiums, astronomy, and astrology.

That’s a well-rounded, versatile Olympic God.

My daughter and I did a marathon together a few years ago. To commemorate this event, we got a tattoo of a wing right below the ankle. The wing symbolizes this God. He was often depicted with winged boots or shoes, because among the many things he is known for, one is being fleet of foot. This of course would be a very helpful attribute while running a marathon.

What does all of this have to do with wine? I have no idea, but I really liked the label and the correlation to my tattoo. Oddly enough, I couldn't find out anything about this wine in terms of the winemaker or where it comes from in Greece, except that is imported by a company in New York.

It is recommended to be served chilled - specifically a half hour in the fridge before serving. I like chilled reds, especially in the warmer months. Since I'm in Phoenix and it's 70+ degrees. I'm thinking that qualifies.

Hermes retails for $9.99 at Total Wine. According to the label, it's a red, dry, table wine and is made with the Agiorgitiko grape. Wow, what a name! A little bit of research yielded that this grape is one of the two widely grown heat-resistant Greek winemaking grape varieties, the other being Xynomavro. It can take on a large range of characteristics, from soft to very tannic, depending on factors in the growing and winemaking processes.

It's really quite nice. It's light-bodied, but nicely flavored with gentle cherry notes and maybe a bit of chocolate - oh wait, I had a Thin Mint - maybe that was the chocolate....bahahah!! Actually no...I noted the chocolate notes before I indulged in a Thin Mint.

Also, chilling it makes it seem quite smooth. It's definitely a stand alone wine. Easy to drink and fun with a little tartness at the end that finishes quickly.

The label recommends red meat, appetizers and cheese. Hmmmm....that's a rather non-specific recommendation. I actually ate my dinner before the wine, and of course I didn't have any of that.

I would and will, buy this wine again. It's a great buy for those red wine lovers who like a lighter wine.

So, for next week.....I have no clue, but until then...Cheers!!

Berberana Cava....MARAVILLOSO!!

That means marvelous, wonderful, etc...

This is a nice, easy drinking sparkling wine. I enjoyed it from the moment it touched my tongue.

It's light, smooth, and citrusy, with a touch of berry.

This particular cava, as the Spanish call sparkling wine, is made in the traditional method, which evidently is quite stringent. It includes a secondary fermentation process that occurs in the bottle as well as additional aging in the cellar.

You'll notice from last night's picture that this cava is a Rose Brut. So, yes it's a pretty pink and kind of girly looking....BUT, don't let that put off any alpha males, because it's just a nice, light, easy drinking wine.

The Rose just refers to the color. It's my understanding that a Rose is not a mixture of white and red wine as many might think, but is actually the time the wine stays in contact with the grape skins that gives it this pretty pink color.

And (again speaking to the alpha males), it's a Brut - so it's not sweet.

This particular cava is created at a property called Sant Sadurni D'Anoia in Penedes, which is a well-known wine producing region in Spain.

The types of grapes used in this lovely bottle are: 40% Macabeo, 30% Parellada, and 30% Xarello. I don't know that I have ever heard of those grapes, but I know that I love them in this combination.

This would be a perfect bottle for Valentine's Day. Even though the day has passed, remember it for next year.

If and when you're looking a fun, easy, sparkling wine - this is your bottle!!

Next week I will blog on a Greek wine called "Hermes". I have a tattoo with the same name. Intrigued??? Good....

Until then..Cheers!!!!

I found it!! I found it!!

Here it is....A beautiful Spanish Cava. $8.99 at Total Wine.
Tune in tomorrow for what will no doubt be, a wonderful sampling of this beautiful sparkling wine.

loopy or rushed??

Wow...I'm embarrassed.

I just got off the phone with my brother and at some point during the conversation he asked me "So, were you loopy when you wrote the last 2 entries for your blog?"

He went on to describe a multitude of spelling and grammatical errors. One in particular was "bother" instead of "brother".

Well, all I can say is....yes. I was sampling as I was typing, but I was also in a rush - as I typically am in this life of mine.

However, I do not like that my blogs are a mish-mosh of typos and slops of grammer so I have appointed my "bother" (yes, I meant brother) as my editor/proof reader/approver of all future blogs.

To my "bother"...Cheers!!! May your editorial days be filled with notes of correct punctuation and lingering finishes of smooth flowing prepositions. May your negatives never be doubled and participles never dangle.

Firesteed Pinot Noir

Yes, it is Valentine's Day and sadly, I am alone on one side of the United States and my hubby is alone on the opposite side.

Even though we bicker like school girls - we have been married over 26 years and find it a bit difficult to be apart on a day such as today.

So in the spirit of true love we decided to skype a nice romantic dinner and share a glass or two of wine. He had tacos and a magnificent 7 Deadly Zins wine which I have blogged on before. It's one worth trying if haven't already.

I had a very mild, light, gentle tasting Pinot Noir called Firesteed. As you can see by the picture, it is a very light wine. Thats one of the reasons I picked it acutally. I have to get up in the morning at 0:dark thirty, and I didn't want to feel the heaviness of too much heavy wine, so I thought this light one might a good pick.

This particular wine is probably the lightest Pinot Noir I've ever had. It borders on almost a Rose.

The flavor is descent - definite berry notes, a little bit metalic, and a long finish for such a light wine.

The lable is sort of "cavemanish" with the horse symbol. The back label indicates this is a medium bodied wine. Uh...I don't think so, but thanks for playing.

It's a 2009 Oregon state wine that I purchased at Safeway on sale for $12.24, regular price $17.50. I just have to add at this point that Arizona Safeway's have a faboulous selection of wines. I literally had dozens of Pinot Noirs to chose from.

So....would I buy it again....maybe....maybe not. The wine is not impressive. It's too light to leave a strong impression. It is easy to drink because it's so light. But it didn't make me go "mmmmmmmmm, that was really good".

Now that I'm back in the wine saddle. I'm thinking I need to stop fiddling around and get that Spanish cava I've been dreaming about.

Next week, that is my goal. I will find one. Until then...Cheers!

Buy this Arizona wine....

It's fun, it's flavorful. It would go with the traditional red dishes as well as a nice bottle to share with a friend. Yes, it's a stand alone.

The back label describes notes of cocoa, plums and berries. I would agree and also add a bit of spice, but not overwhelming. The finish lingers gently and ends with a soft berry note.

I liked it very much. It's a great buy for $14.00. I will definitely buy this one again. This would also be nice to give as a gift.

I make it a point to bring something when Im lucky enough to be invited to someone's house for dinner. This would a good bottle to bring and I think it would be well received.

I purchased this wine in Bowie at the Chiricahua Cellars wine store. My brother and I stopped by this small town on our way back to Tucson. This town, was my little hometown of San Simon's rival. I actually lived there for about a year while I was in second grade.

Anyway, the representative at the store was actually a girl that was in my brother's grade in school. I knew her too. To her credit, she hadn't changed much at all in the last 30 years. Anyway, when she told me this wine was produced in Deming New Mexico, I thought...ohhh, yeah about that. I don't really care for New Mexico wines. They tend to be a bit too sweet for me. But then, I tasted and I thought... Wow! This is not bad...this is actually pretty good!!

So there you have it. It's a good buy. A pretty label. And one to buy again.

Im still wanting to find a cava from Spain.

Until then...Cheers.

Where did the time go??

Well, it's been almost 3 weeks since my last blog.

I didn't realize how much time had passed.

I'm going to give it my all to get started again. But I'm going to have to switch days to Tuesday. Thursdays just don't work anymore.

I thought the lable was lovely and the cab surprisingly nice. It's amazing what you can purchase in Bowie Arizona. So, turn in tomorrow for a blog on this Arizona cabernet.

Until tomorrow...Cheers!!