Ménage à Trois, 2007, California

Grabbed this wine on the way to a BYO dinner, and in a huge hurry. It's got a pretty distinctive name, so I remembered having had it before, but I didn't really recall anything specific about it.

Turns out it's on the sweet side, with a pretty big, tannin-y taste. It's too sweet for me, so I probably wouldn't go for this one again. But aside from the sweetness, this is a good-tasting wine, so if you're into sweet red wines you'd probably like this one. In the future, though, no more Ménage à Trois for me (tee hee, maybe I will buy it again just for the name :-)

Steele Pinot Noir

Stupid camera phone. Probably need to either get a phone that was made sometime this century, or start carrying a real camera around. The Steele website (www.steelewines.com) tells me they make several types of Pinot. My best guess is that I had the 2007 Carneros, but I can't be completely sure.

What I can be sure of is that after 45 minutes of traffic and arriving half an hour late for dinner with my sisters, this could not possibly have hit the spot more than it did. The Thai food we combined it with might have been a slightly non-traditional pairing, but it worked for me!

This is the second time I've had this wine, and I loved it both times. The only negative is the price. At nearly $20 it's not breaking the bank, but with so many good wines closer to $10, it's hard to justify…unless…someone else brings it to dinner!! (my sisters rock :-)

Mirassou 2008 Pinot Noir, California

Ok, to start off, Pinot has a "t" in it, which I'm more than a little ashamed I missed in the last post. Bad editor. Bad!
Whew, glad I got that of my chest. On to the wine… I'm fairly sure this was an "ooh, pretty label" purchase, but it was a good one. After the last disappointing Pinot, this was a refreshing change. Just the tiniest enough hint of sweetness to drink on its own (which I did!) but with a nice dry, oaky flavor to make it interesting. I drank this quite a while ago, so I can't remember anything else about it, but overall it gets a thumbs up and a "buy again" vote. Plus it has the added bonus that the label is super distinctive and easy to remember, so this one will be an easy re-buy. Delicious and pretty…a double threat!