Enza Prosecco

I'm back! Did you miss me? Or rather: did you notice that I didn't publish a blog last week? Well if you didn't, shame on you, 'cause I noticed, and I missed me, damnit! And I think this is a good time to announce that, due to my ever-changing schedule, I'm going to move my blogging adventures to Wednesdays at whatever-time-I-get-around-to-it. I hope you find these changes agreeable. :)

We're SUPER excited!

This week, in preparation for Valentine's Day, I'm presenting to you with a nice bubbly that you just might wanna include in the romantic evening I'm sure you have planned for next Thursday: Enza Prosecco. On V Day, I myself will be schlepping it to Personal Wine Cellar, where we'll be having a totally free, baller tasting event from 5:00-7:30. So if you're really into Valentine's Day, come share some wine and goodies with your special someone. If you hate Valentine's Day...just come have a drink and eat some chocolate; you'll feel better for it. The point is: you should come!

Anyway, back to the Enza: if you are even an occasional reader of the CWT blog, you probably know that I am a fan of Prosecco-- particularly Riondo Prosecco. The Enza is a little different, but still a nice wine. It's clean and clear, with no obvious scents or flavors when you first smell and taste it, and nothing that lingers long after your sip. For this reason, it's good with a meal. Or chocolates. Or chocolates as a meal.

The Enza is "off-brut"-- not entirely dry, but not super sweet either. This is a small bubble sparkler with a thick head, so if you or your honey are predominately beer drinkers, this is a good sparkling wine to start out with. Light, crisp and refreshing, this wine is best served cold and would feel right at home with you soaking up sun at the beach. With a forecast of a foot of snow predicted for this weekend, I kinda wish the beach was where I was headed. I guess one can dream...

Yep, there. 

Price: $

My Rating: B

Hob Nob Wicked Red 2011

You may think that here on the CWT blog, I choose wines solely because I want to try/drink them. This is only partially true. I mean yeah, I have a say in what gets tasted, but I also consider other things when choosing a wine, like the time of year and what holidays/events are coming up. You want proof? This week I'm NOT reviewing a Spanish red. SO THERE. Instead, I'll tell you about a red blend from France that will be GREAT with your Superbowl party appetizers: Hob Nob Wicked Red!

I've had some of Hob Nob's other wines, and have been quite fond of them. Why, just last week I recommended their Pinot Noir to someone (yummy!). But I've never tried their blend before, and I was excited because, as a whole, I tend to really enjoy red blends (cue: Apothic, Menage a Trois, and Cupcake's Red Velvet).

This one has some serious color to it in the glass. It looks and smells intense, with a deep, mulchy, autumnal scent to it. This is true of the flavor as well. Unlike California blends, this one's not Zin based, so it doesn't have a whole lot of berry bursting on your tongue. Rather it's very earthy, with a warmth in the sip like pepper or cinnamon, without precisely having that flavor.This is a young wine that needs a bit to open, so let it air or give it a good swish in the glass before your drink. 

For the uninitiated, this is a chicken,
stuffed in a duck, stuffed in a turkey,
with stuffing. Boo-yeah!

The Hob Nob Wicked Red is wicked awesome (heehee) paired with salty foods like cheeses-- in fact, any apps would be a yummy addition (hence the recommendation to class up yer Superbowl party with a bottle). If you'd rather pair it with a meal, let me suggest steak, lamb or my Superbowl Sunday favorite: Turducken. Not even joking a little bit.

Price: $

My Rating: B

Canta Perdices Tempranillo 2008

*What??? It's cute and it took a long time to put up!

Well the Holidays are For-Real over now. Come on, it's mid-January, people! Time to return everything that doesn't fit, get creative with leftovers, and take down the lights... * note to self.

Did you make any resolutions for 2013? I did. I resolved not to make any resolutions. And as such...I'm not up to branching out the CWT blog at the moment, and I'm gonna go right back to the Spanish Reds that I so adore-- don't worry, it can't last forever. But for today, it's Canta Perdices 2008 Tempranillo.




In Spanish, Canta Perdices means "the little bird (or more specifically, the partridge) sings." It's a cute little name for a wine, and the bottle is reflective of it, with its row of music-note birds right on the label.

And, as the label suggests, this wine does indeed sing. Bold in the glass, the Canta Perdices is a deep inky purple. You'll notice some interesting smells, wood smoke, licorice, and dark fruits-- perhaps cherry, as the bottle suggests.The flavor is powerful, with a noticable bite of tannic acid that lingers long after the sip.

Singing birds with my wings!

This wine is definitely not what I would consider a "sipper"-- one to curl up on the couch with while you watch Masterpiece Theater. Nopers, this one's best with food. Bar food even. Meat and cheese platters are a good go to for the Canta Perdices, so you might want to serve it with appetizers. And a good tip from our friend and PWC employee Ben is that the acid in the wine is tempered nicely by BBQ wings. Yum! I think I know what I am doing for dinner.

Price: $

My Rating: B+

Let's all get high...ly rated!

Hello? *thump, thump* is this thing on?

Ladies, and Gentleman, coming at you, for ONE BLOG ONLY... you know him, you love him, you have to listen to him rant on facebook and in emails, and now he's taking over the CWT blog for the week:  Manager of Personal Wine Cellar-- Mr. Ernie O. Darrah!

It isn't obvious that I write my own press, is it?

Lyssa was feeling a bit under the weather, so I thought I'd pitch in.  This week, breaking from the norm, we'll talk about FIVE WINES!  But don't fear, it's going to be painless.  Here we go.

By now, I'm sure most (if not all of you) have visited Personal Wine Cellar, and seen this:

This is the PWC Highly Rated Wine section.  It's at the very back of the store, so if you've never ventured all the way in, you may have missed it.

"What is a Highly Rated Wine?" you may ask.  Well, that's any wine that's been reviewed and rated by one of several different accrediting publications:  magazines such as Wine Spectator or Wine Advocate, and consumer groups such as The Beverage Testing Institute just to name a few.  These organizations taste and analyze the wine, and provide not only a description, but also a score (out of 100 points) to rate the wine.  Naturally the higher the score the better the wine.  And while there is no absolute standard on the grading scale, scores from different sources on the same wine generally tend to be within a point or two of one another.  This can be attributed to differences in the parties tasting, the lot that the wine came from, or many other factors.  While it is in no way exact, the score is a very good barometer of a quality, but not the taste of a wine.  You can give a wine a good score based on it's flavors for what it is, and still not like the wine, so the descriptions on them become as valuable as the scores.

In the PWC Highly Rated section, you may notice this little guy:

This section is for the picks of the good employees of the store.  Each is selected by a member of the staff, and they give their notes to me.  I then taste it (if I haven't--for some odd reason--tried it already) and then I give it a write up and a score based on the training I received as a total drunkard and my ability to count to 100.  That's a joke.  Everyone know's I cant count to 100 while I'm drunk.

Here's a quick rundown of the wines we currently have in our Employee pics:

And we start with our Mistress of the Blogisphere... the Casual Wine Taster herself!

 

A perennial favorite of ours, the Rkats finds it's way into our house for just about every gathering, dinner, or assorted function we can shoe-horn it into. 

Another absolutely loverly selection, my rating was recently justified when Wine Spectator also graced the 2011 Belle Glos Meiomi Pinot Noir with a 92 point score. (2011 vintage now in stock, image right is out of date).

In case you were wondering:  "field blend" is a process whereby the different varietals are crushed and fermented together, instead of being made as separate wines and then blended at a later date.

On a trip to to the finger lakes, we found this little winery tucked away in Interlaken.  If you're ever near there, go and have their wines which are great, and eat at their cafe.  They smoke their own meats and cheeses, so order the Cuban sandwich.  And have their Bourbon Pecan Pie.

Probably my favorite wine in the store, I recommend "Donny Ro" to just about anyone that is looking for a big and hearty wine.  I've had this wine every vintage for nearly a decade, and it's always been fantastic.  



So, I hope you've enjoyed this episode A Hack Attempts a Blog.  Please don't let this taint your opinion of this blog... She's really much better at this then I am.  

Embocadero Tempranillo 2009

Oh my god, I'm so LATE!! The holiday season just caught up to me folks, and I've spent the day in a scramble of present wrapping, clothes laundering and fancy cheese buying. Which has all left me very little time for wine drinking. And so here it is, 4:30, and I'm just now cracking open a bottle to tell you about. On the plus side, this is the first Tasting Tuesday that hasn't started before noon in I'm-embarrassed-to-tell-you how long.

This week, I'm drinking the 2009 Embocadero Tempranillo*, a very flavorful Spanish red, and great sipper for this time of year.

In the glass the Embocadero Tempranillo is a deep red, nearly purple, and it does not cling to the side of the glass when swirled. When you first open the bottle, you'll notice a sweet, grapey smell that is a bit misleading. Let it air for a bit, and you'll get some floral scents in there, which are more accurate to the flavor.

The sip packs a punch of dark fruit and vanilla, with some oak, smoke and baking spices (think spice of the nutmeg/clove variety, not peppers). It's really nice to drink on its own, but I am considering pairing this with some of the hors d'oeuvres (I can NEVER spell that without google) I have planned for our holiday meal. I'm thinking prosciutto and smoked mozzarella would be happy companions to this wine.

just because my leg broke off
doesn't mean I'm not delicious.

For today, since I'm running so far behind, I had the Embocadero with...reject Christmas cookies. Other than that being a truly sorry excuse for an afternoon snack, I rather enjoyed the combination.

Price: $

My Rating: B+

*Spellcheck sez this should actually read: Embroider Temporary.


As a side note: Next Tuesday is Christmas, so I won't be posting a blog. Maybe if I'm feeling some particular gusto about whatever we have with our Christmas dinner I'll put something together for Wednesday or Thursday. More than likely though, I will return afresh in 2013. Happy Holidays to all!

Adventures in Mulling Wine

It's just about mid-December and a frigid 49.6 degrees outside. I know you're thinking: "S#it, I'm freezing! I wish I had something warm and alcoholic to drink. But I don't really want to go to the bar to get it, and my car is out of gas, so that's right out." 

Friends, I aim to please. Over the weekend, Ernie and I experimented with mulling wine, and I've got our hand-crafted (we made it up), time-tested (it was still good the next day) recipe for you!

This guy needs all the mulled
wine he can get...

But first, some infotainment...

Mulled wine goes waaaaaay back to medieval times as a health drink (think Ensure for the peasantry). It's basically just red wine, spices and fruits served hot or warm. Since winters were cold and water disgusting, mulled wine got many a medieval peep through a long, hard winter. 

Mulling wine is pretty easy, and it's a great weekend activity for you and yours. Even if you don't want to drink it, it smells fantastic and will fill your house with holiday spirit(s).

Here are the simple instructions that we just now made up...

Casually Mulled Wine-

You will need:

And sugar. And brandy or cognac. Oh, and a crock pot. The happy, decorative star is optional.

Instructions:

1.) Buy 1.5 liters of cheap red wine. Or good red wine, if you want, but you're just going to add stuff to it, so it doesn't need to be top shelf. Dry is better for this venture. We chose Liberty Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. At $8.99 a bottle, it was a small dent to the wallet.

2.) Pour wine into the crock pot. Place on low heat.

3.) Incompetently shred one medium sized orange. Add to wine.

4.) While you're at it, throw in 10 whole cloves, 4 cinnamon sticks, 2 teaspoons of ground allspice, and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar.

5.) Stir that bad boy up!

6.) Add 30 oz. of Crapple juice (cran-apple). This is best accomplished buy purchasing a 32 oz. bottle and "tasting" approximately two ounces of juice, then dumping the rest in.

Ernie even likes juice BEFORE it's fermented!

7.) Add 4 oz. of cognac or brandy. If you have a truly awesome cognac that someone gave you as a gift, but you don't drink cognac so it just sits there, all the better. Use that one.

8.) Mix it up, cover and leave it alone for at least 3.5 hours. 

You'll notice it starts to smell fantastic, and really, as long as it's heated through you are good to go. Garnish with an orange slice and/or cinnamon stick and enjoy!

Capoccia Vineyards and Winery Noiret 2011

This picture is meant to show you
what a great local holiday gift a
bottle of Capoccia wine would be.

If you're like me and wanted to shop local for gifts this holiday season but haven't even started yet, here's a good tidbit for you-- this week's wine is a true local, and it's available (along with a couple of others from the same vineyard) at PWC.

Made in good ol' Nisky.

Capoccia Vineyards and Winery is located in Niskayuna, NY (which is just more than a stone's throw from my house...in fact I could probably even walk there without being knifed). There are so many reasons why I think this winery is cool. Firstly, it's the only one (that I know of) in Schenectady County. All grapes are either grown on site or shipped from growers in the Finger Lakes area. The family has been making wines for generations, so their dedication to quality is evident-- they are a chemical-free operation. Lastly, for a brand-spanking-new venture (they opened their doors this past July) their wines are quite good.

At PWC you can shop
AND drink local

For today's post I tried their Noiret, which is a pleasingly spicy red. You'll notice its deep red color and warm fragrance right away. I thought I detected a hint of chocolate when I inhaled, but I am still congested so maybe it's just me.

The sip is a little peppery, with some raisin and plum worked in there as well. The bottle says there is a mint aroma, and while I didn't necessarily detect the scent or flavor, my mouth felt oddly refreshed after I sipped*.

The folks at Capoccia Winery recommend that you serve the Noiret with beef, pasta or sharp cheeses. I agree that those all sound delicious. I had a glass with some chef-created ravioli in a light tomato sauce...

don't judge me.

Sorry to disappoint any of you who might have expected the culinary genius you usually find here on the Casual Wine Taster blog, but I'm a grad student and it's the end of the semester, so I don't have time to cook for a few weeks. Thank you, Mr. Boiardi.

*Seriously, if you come to PWC on Thursday for our free tasting, try taking a sip and then inhale deeply through your mouth. Totally wild!


Price: $

My Rating: B+