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.

Good Drink. Good Deal.

For some reason our love for a Zinfandel has taken front and center in our wine drinking life. Darin and I have had a few good bottles of wine lately and they've mostly been Zinfandel. Now we seem to be drifting down the “Zin” isle when we are at a liquor store (which seems more often lately). We are building a good reserve of Zinfandel wines in our small, but filled with love, wine cellar.

One “Zin” wine that we like was the Ravenswood Sonoma County Old Vine from the 2006 vintage. It’s good (actually we thought it was very good) bottle of wine for under $20 (under $15 when on sale – you can’t beat that). Although it has an ageability of 10 years we can’t help ourselves to drink it now. It’s a great Zinfandel and typical in “Zin” style – deep, dark, full and spicy (love that). The flavor of the wine is raspberry and blackberry. Darin smells vanilla and I smell cinnamon.

As we continue with our new love affair with Zinfandel wines we have found that Sonoma County produces some of the best. We are going to keep trying them out and we will let you 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.

To Schug or Not to Schug...that is the question

We are a Schug family. We love this wine. We stumbled upon this wine (not to make you think we were drunk at the time) by pure luck and the wine from the Schug Carneros Estate and it is one you should try. It is above the typical $20 range that we try to stay below here at wineyjanet, but there are times we have found it on sale for $24 (and even less). In all honesty, it is well worth the purchase if you need a bottle for a special event, a special evening, or because you just want a good bottle.

Recently we had the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma Valley and it was a very good glass. It was well-structured. We could taste the ripe flavors of currant and cherry. Darin picked up “spice”, but I couldn’t. This seems to be a classic wine from a very good and solid winery. We had it with a steak and the wine enhanced the dinner experience. Our guy at Heritage Liquours (in Centennial, Co) said that it is ready to drink now but will develop over the next 5 years.

So, to answer the question: To Schug or Not to Schug....I say Schug (if you couldn't figure that out after the first sentence). Keep this wine on your list and if you can pick one up, do so.

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.

A New Favorite

Last night we enjoyed a great bottle of wine from Rodney Strong. It was a 2006 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a new release and under $20. The color of this wine is dark. The aromas we could pick out included blackberry, cherry, and cocoa. The tannins were lush and mature. Darin has always liked Rodney Strong. We have not had it in a while (because he was trying to tell me that I did not like their wine) but he bought one yesterday and I had to eat my words (that I don’t recall saying). We went back today and picked up a few more bottles. This is a great cabernet sauvignon and will be good over the next several years.

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.