Super Bowl Sunday…It’s an official Beer Day.

Although Wineyjanet writes about wines (99.9% of the time) there are a few times that writing about beer is appropriate. Today is one of them. Super Bowl Sunday and beer is a match made in heaven and a good time to try new beers while you watch the game.

Beer is not like the beer you use to steal out of your parent’s fridge back when you were a teenager. The new generation of beer (the microbrews) are like wines, they are an amazing art form. It is built with the same use of science and creativity to build phenomenal taste, structure, and flavoring.

We have the basics in the fridge to satisfy any guests who pop over (yes, we have Corona) but here are a few micro beers (my favorite) we will drink at today’s celebration.

Sessions: Made in Oregon (oh how I love that State) and it is one of my all time favorite beer. It's a lager. When poured, it has a good head (that is what you look at in beer learned that from my beer-drinking connoisseur husband). The color is a clear pale-yellow. It is a bit tart and grainy with a bit of a hoppy finish but I love it. It is clean with plenty of carbonation and a dry finish.

Stonewall Ale. A nice light tan head, it smells sweet and a bit darker in color than our Sessions beer. There is a citrus with a honey, caramel and a bit of a hop aroma. It’s a good beer.

Remember, in all the chaos that comes with Super Bowl Sunday, please be careful. Please do not drink and drive. If you’ve had too much to drink, stay put, call a cab, or call a sober friend.

Go Colts!

One Winery, Two Wines, Two Different Prices - You Pick

Last night Darin made a wonderful Rib eye steak (he is the official cook of our family), steamed asparagus and we shared a twice baked potato. The wine selected for the meal was Tignanello 2005 from Antinori winery. Darin wanted something special. This was it. It’s way out of our normal price range (he purchased it in Italy for $70 US dollars, because he said "we had to have this"). The wine, from the Antinori estate, is a key winery in Italy. They have been around for centuries.

The Tignanello had an intense ruby red color. It was weighty (dense) each sip left a long and lingering taste on the plate. I tasted chocolate (but I always do) and Darin could taste coffee. It was a complex wine. It was a beautiful wine and added to an already spectacular dinner.
 
But it is expensive. Wineyjanet isn't about that (although no complaints here....it was amazing). So, how do I spin this blog to get it back to something we all can afford, well, this same winery makes other bottles that are just as wonderful, and for less (a lot less). The same winery produces one of our household standards that we love, the Santa Cristina. The wine is ruby red in color with purple hues (trust me on this – pour the wine into a glass and tilt it over something white, like a table cloth or plate, you’ll see). It has a great aroma of fresh fruits and a hint of floral. Like its expensive sibling the Tignanello, the Santa Cristina is well-structured, sweet tannin, and lingering finish. It is a good “family” wine and we have found it for as little as $4.99 (yes, you read that right).

The price of wine doesn’t always mean better. You can find a great bottle, like the Santa Cristina, and have a perfectly fabulous meal.

And, I hope you do. Enjoy

Bucket List: Go to Tuscany, Italy.

My dream is to go to Tuscany with Darin and drink the wine of the country (a lot of it). I love Italian wines (but not in a snobbish kind of way). I especially enjoy wines from the Tuscany region. The grapes grown in the beautiful Tuscan terroir (okay, that was totally snobbish…I could just say dirt…but why) are amazing. As I make my road map of places I’ll drink, one place I would visit would be the Tenuta di Arceno estate (and drink today’s wine pick) PrimaVoce (pronounced: prima-voy-chay). It is a great Italian wine for the money.

PrimaVoce, Arceno Toscana 2005.

After sharing this bottle with friends, I had to look it up and find out more about this fantastic bottle. The wine came as a recommendation so I had no clue what I was drinking (shame on me, I should have done my homework and savored the glass). PrimaVoce is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet, Cabernet Fran, and Syrah. It was named for the leading voice in an opera. It is a smooth Merlot blended in a powerhouse Cabernet Sauvignon region. I taste plums and vanilla. The wine maker will tell you that you also should taste a hint of ginger, white chocolate, and cherries.

Whether you taste them or not, who cares. It’s a very good bottle for just over $20 (I bought it for $21 but then 2 weeks later I found it on sale for $18). Enjoy.

Help, I've Fallen and It's Not Because of the Wine!

I stopped writing. Sorry about that. I guess I lost my way. I don’t blame it on the drink I blame it on me just being preoccupied with life. I had self doubt that my 10 followers would really care if I jotted down my latest notes on a bottle of wine I had or not (me being selfish).

But then a follower reached out and said “you haven’t written anything in a long time” (me feeling guilty). They are reading, following, and they do care. Even if I had only one follower waiting for my blog, I can’t let them down. I better get it together.

So, today I am and I will work on my consistency with my entries. I’ve stored over 50 bottles of consumed wine out in the garage with the notion “I’m going to write about this bottle”. Now, before you past judgment on the 50 plus bottles, I want to disclaim that I have been the host of numerous gatherings at my home over the last 6 months where wine was in mass consumption. So, it wasn’t just me and my husband. I have to blame a few dear friends and my neighbor if I’m going to call people out and make them share blame.

Let’s start with a new favorite that is a fabulous wine with a wonderful label. I found it by complete accident. I’m a fan of the color orange, so you can see why this bottle of wine spoke to me.

Bodegas Tomas Cusine El Vilosell, 2006 (the label only says Vilosell).

The winery is Tomas Cusine. It’s from Spain and the varietal is a Tempranillo (and it’s red). This bottle is a blend of Tempranillo (65%), Merlot (17%), Cabernet Sauvignon (13%), and Syrah (5%), and yes I looked that bit of information up. This wine is delicious. It was smooth and juicy. It is a medium-bodied wine and I could taste raspberry. Loved it and we are proud owners a few more bottles hiding in our basement. It’s definitely a bottle you can buy under $20; we got it on sale for under $15. My friend Jill said you can purchase Vilosell at Costco (now we are talkin').

If you can find it, get it and completely enjoy it.

My New Favorites!

It's been a while since I have sat down to write on my wine blog. Sorry about that. It’s not that I’ve haven't been drinking wine, I have, but I'm working on a few things, including doing my homework on wines, and while doing so I just kept my thoughts in my head (I know, a bit uncharacteristic of me).

It’s been a busy red wine drinking summer, love that. We've had way too many social events and gatherings to go over the last few months and our "theme" for bringing wine to these events was to branch out and bring new wines we had not tried to these social gatherings we were so graciously invited to.

Here are just a few of our new favorites we are adding to our wine closet. I hope you get a chance to taste them too.

My very favorite is Juan Gil, 2006 Jumilla Red Wine. If I was to ever have children of my own (no, Darin, we're not...I said "if"), I’d name my first born Juan Gil (a bit over the top I realize but I really loved this wine). A Jumilla Red Wine from Spain, it is produced by the Bodegas Hijos De Juan Gil Winery. It’s made with 100% Monastrell grapes. It has a very dark cherry color and a powerful aroma of red berries. It is a pleasant and easy drink. I spent less than $15 on this wine. I will be back to buy more.

Privada, 2005 Lujan De Cuyo Mendoza, Argentina. One word, delicious. I tend to be set in my ways when it comes to the wines that I buy and that I drink. I honestly forgot that Argentina has some great vineyards and Darin had to gently remind what I'm missing. He purchased the wine (must give the man the credit on this one), and we brought it to a summer BBQ party with friends. The wine was a delicious blend of oak, blackberries, plum, and a hint of dark chocolate. It drinks very well and I bought this bottle for under $15.

Renwood, 2004 Zinfandel “Old Vine” Amador County. I'm really enjoying my Zins lately. This is a hand-crafted beauty, and of course, it could be a difficult bottle to find. Sorry about writing on a wine that might not be so readily available, but that is what happens when you save a wine for "good” it might not been around after you figure it out it was good, very good. The wine was a big spicy Zinfandel. Loved it and it will be worth the hunt to find it. I just ordered two bottles of the 2005, so I hope it is somewhat similar in structure and taste. I'll be happy.

Campos Reales Tempranillo (and it was a 2008). Nice easy red to drink, well balanced. Slightly dry, black pepper and cherries. We had it last night at a free summer concert with friends and it went with anything. I loved this wine not only for the taste, structure, and blend, but also because I purchased it for under $10.

Michael, a friend of Darin’s from his Vistage group, introduced us to Orin Swift wines. In particular, “the prisoner” wine (although we are on a family mission to try everything this winery makes).

I will define “the prisoner” as yummy. Not your typical wine tasting notes (I know), but there is not any other simple way to describe this delicious wine. Although this bottle will cost between $30 to $35 range (a bit higher than we like to buy on an ordinary wine run), it is a nice bottle to spend the money on (you will enjoy this, I promise). The Prisoner is a great combination of grapes – mostly Zin (of course, we have been on the Zin kick as you will read below) but has Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Syrah, Charbono, and Grenache.

It is a flavorful bottle of wine. We found it to be wicked (in a very, very good way) and we loved that! It is a complex wine. We had it with an amazing flank steak and great sides.

If you happen to be a person who selects wine based on labels (which there are a lot of us out there) I looked into the image on the bottle. The image was inspired by an original etching depicting a prisoner in chains Dave Phinney received as a gift from his mother and father (Orin and Swift).

WineyJanet is all about finding good wines for a fair price that those of us “ordinary” people who love a glass a wine for the purpose of drinking wine can enjoy. Please don’t drink and drive.

Searching for Seghesio Zinfandel '07 Sonoma County

I met up with friends on Friday night for wine (a great little wine bar called Cru in a shopping mall - go figure).

I enjoyed a flight tasting of wines (it was Flight #7, Sexy Reds) and one of the glass of wines in the sample was amazing. It was Seghesio Zinfandel ’07 Sonoma County. Of course, I come to find out (day late, dollar short) during my wine tasting, that it received a 93 rating from Wine Spectator magazine. Of course you can’t find it anywhere (I know this first hand, I’ve been looking). I want to find a few bottles. If anyone knows a site or location that has a few bottles remaining please let me know.

WineyJanet is all about finding good wines for a fair price that those of us “ordinary” people who love a glass a wine for the purpose of drinking wine can enjoy. Please don’t drink and drive.