Tip Your Hat to Washington Wines

During book club last night one of the bottles opened was a 2006 Columbia Crest Cabernet. It was delicious. Fabulous aroma and a deep ruby color. It was smooth to the taste. I paired it with some fabulous cheeses (Gouda and Grayson) and fresh fruit. Delicious. This is a great bottle for under $10. I've had other years of this blend and it is consistently a great drink.

I need to go exploring more down the "Washington" isle at my favorite wine shop to see what other great bottle I can find. Do you have a favorite Washington wine? If so, let me know.

Enjoy.

Tonight We Drink Red!

For those who know me and my household you know that this isn't a real surprise but since that is what we plan to do I'm going to write about it. Tonight we are drinking a bottle that was a diamond in the rough -Blackstone Sonoma Reserve Rubric. The vintage is 2005.

We received a bottle as a gift during a dinner party. Not knowing much about Blackstone we opened it and immediately wished for more. It's an amazing bottle (especially for under the $20 price point). In fact, we had to call our local wine shop during the party and make certain they put some on hold for us to pick up the next day. Now that has to be good wine, right.

Since that infamous night we've tagged the bottles of Blackstone Rubric and look forward to the day we get to open another bottle. Well, tonight is one of them.

Here are the wine maker's notes from their website (why re-write greatness, just give them credit):

The grapes for this wine are grown on estate-owned vineyards located on hillsides in the Monferrato and Langhe region of Piemonte. Ruby-red in color with purple highlights. The nose is packed with black fruit, especially blackberries and plums, with slight spicy overtones hinting at black pepper and cinnamon. Sweet, soft tannins come together in a closely-woven texture that merges with the fruit, while a crisp freshness provides a long, tasty finish.

Should you have the burning desire to purchase a bottle, do. It will be hard to find (we know, we've tried). but let us know if you do. We have purchased some Rubric '06 but we're laying it down until later this year to see if the magic will be there.

Enjoy.

Klinker Brick Old Vine Zin.

Okay, I'll be totally honest here...I bought the bottle because of the name. It struck me as funny and I thought why not?! I'm so glad I did.

This bottle (under $20 bucks) has the most amazing "smokey" aroma to it that you detect from the moment you open and the drink is fabulous. It lingers on your palette in a way that is beautiful.

I've always been a big fan of Old Vine Zinfandel wines because they are such a hearty drink. I can always anticipate a rich and intense glass of wine and the Klinker Brick didn't disappoint.

Since I had no idea who was behind this wine I had to do a little investigating. The winery is in Lodi, California and the grapes come from 110 year old vines and over five generations of family have been involved in the making of the wine. They have a great, rich history and an interesting family story. Click here to read more about the background of this winery and grape.

In the meantime add this wine to your list of "must try in 2011".

Enjoy.

Why Decant Your Red Wines?

At a recent dinner party the subject of decanting wine came up. There were many opinions as to why someone would decant a bottle of wine. Here are my three reasons:

Older Bottles of Red Wine: Especially red wines, using a decanter will allow you to separate some of the sediment from the wine that is inevitable during the aging process.

Opens the Wine: When you decant a bottle of wine it helps to "open up" the bouquet. We drink a lot of big red wines and we recommend decanting the big wines (young or old).

It Adds to the Dinner Experience: We love to dine with friends and we feel a decanter adds a nice touch to the dinner table. It allows you to see the beauty behind each/every bottle of wine.

Obviously we're big decanters at our home. We decant every red bottle of wine we consume and on hot summer days we will decant our whites and place them in an iced stainless steel bucket. Decanting is very simple. When you decant a bottle of red wine really splash it around when you pour. Once the wine is in the decanter allow 10 to 15 minutes to sit. This allows the flavor of the wine to be enhanced by the exposure.

I love decanters and I'm always on the hunt for a great (unique) decanter. Do you have a cool decanter that you love? If so, I'd like to see it. Post a picture on my blog!

A Spice Rack in a Bottle.

A wine that we had recently was Artezin. It's a Dry Creek Zinfandel and delicious. The aromas of the wine is of fresh blackberries and black cherry. You can also taste a hint of ripe raspberry. Our dinner guests thought they could taste more subtle aromas of currants, licorice, black pepper and spice.

Because it was unusually warm for Denver in January we were having grilled salmon. We thought we'd have to do a white (hello, we were having fish), but in all honesty the Artezin bottle made a fabulous pairing with our meal. The glass has a great dynamic spice element to it and enhanced our salmon with each and every bite.

It's a lovely bottle for the price point (under $25, we bought it on sale for under $20).

Freemark Abbey

Last Night we drank a bottle of FreeMark Abbey that we had tucked away in our wine fridge. Delicious. This Cabernet Franc we had was dark in color. You could taste vanilla and heavy fruit. We had it with BBQ and we hated to see the meal (wine) end. We bought this bottle in Napa but you can find it around town andI hope you do.

The Tax Man is Here. Have Good Wine

If you didn't know, today is the dreaded "Tax Day". Not sure why so many American's dread this day? It's not like we should be surprised, the tax service companies have been running TV ads for the last 90 days and based on my calendar, April 15th happens every year, so to hear of panic and "all-nighters" to finish before the deadline seems silly. Don't dread today (unless you don't have your taxes done, then by all means, dread) just try harder next year to get it done sooner ("easier said than done" is what a dear friend told me last night in tears because she and her husband were still working on their taxes).

I've decided to take a positive spin on this glorious day of celebration (also known as FREEDOM) and I'm going to enjoy a fabulous wine from another country (that seems backwards, don't you think?) but I'm opening up a bottle of Vietti Barbera D'Alba Tre Vigne (2006).

My husband introduced me to this wine about two years ago. It's wonderful. Of what I know of the Vetti winery they select grapes from top vineyards of Monforte, Barolo, and Castiglion Falletto and from somewhat established vines.

When you open this bottle of red wine (which retails around $25, a bit more than our $20 limit, but less than what I owe Uncle Sam) you will enjoy the scent of ripe red cherry and vanilla. The complexity of the wine is full (or round), great texture, richness, and it is a bottle that you completely enjoyable.

Enjoy.