Wild Rock 2008 Pinot Noir

I guess bad memories are stronger than good ones, because even though I drank this one a while ago, I still remember exactly what I thought of it. Or it could be that I didn't like it, so I only drank one glass, so my memory is unclouded... you be the judge.

For a Pinot, this wine was just plain too sweet. The flavors themselves weren't unpleasant, but sweet and Pinot just don't mix. Not liking your wine is sad enough by itself, but it's a double shame because the food we had with it would have gone beautifully with a more traditionally dry pinot. We had pasta with tomatoes, spinach, and a gorgonzola cream sauce, more or less based on this recipe. If you like a sweeter wine this one might be good for you, but with so much else to drink out there, I wouldn't go for this wine again.

Alamos 2009 Malbec

Where the heck have I been? I have no idea, and no good excuse except that I tend to drink beer a lot more than wine in the summertime. But I'm back, and I'm still on my Malbec kick, though it's waning a touch.

This Argentinean Malbec was a blind Costco purchase by Eric, and all he can tell me is that it was probably around $15. In turn, I guess I'm living up to my forgetfulness, because all I can tell you is this wine gets a thumbs up. What—specifically—did it taste like? Not a clue... What did we pair it with? Couldn't tell you... Would I buy it again? YES!

Getting a little philosophical, I think this whole wine blogging thing is a learning process. I started this in the first place because I couldn't even remember the varietal I was drinking, let alone the name or year. I'm making progress, but I do need to actually write down the specifics if I want to remember anything more than whether I loved it or hated it. I promise to at least attempt to do better next time. In the meantime, I guess I just need to buy this wine again so that I can refresh my memory!

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!

Apollo Creek Riesling and Pino Noir

Numbers 2 and 3 of our $6 wines, these are grouped together because I don't have much to say about either one.

The Riesling didn't taste a whole lot like Riesling to me. It didn't have the scent of citrus or honey, the bright fruity flavor that I look for in a Riesling. On the other hand, at least it wasn't sweet. I can forgive a lot in a $6 Riesling if it isn't sweet. This one just tasted like a nondescript semi-dry white, a little acidic without much else going on. I used about a cup of it in some homemade lobster and crab ravioli, and those came out fantastic, so I guess I don't have much to complain about here.
The Pino Noir reminded me why I only sometimes like this varietal. I can handle a mediocre Cabernet or Carmenere, but a so-so Pino is pretty undrinkable for me. My overwhelming impression of this wine was dry dry dry. Duh, it's a Pino Noir, it's supposed to be dry, but it didn't seem to have anything else to it. A little research at http://www.wineanorak.com/tannins.htm confirmed my hunch: this wine was, for me, too heavy on the tannins without other flavors to balance it out. I wouldn't go for this one again, probably not even for $6… maybe for $5 tho…

Vinho Verde

Let me start by saying that this is the first of 3 wines Eric got at Pino's $6 wine sale, so the bar is a little lower when the bottle costs less than a Tastee-sub. My first interest in this wine was linguistic—it says white wine, but its name translates to "green wine"…very confusing. It may have been that power of suggestion, but the first and strongest flavor I got was green apple. Coming from me, this means it's pretty powerful, because I NEVER taste the fruit / chocolate / earth that I'm supposed to taste in a wine. It's not exactly "Pucker," but the flavor is unmistakable, which made it really interesting. Other than the apple, it has a fresh, crisp, not too sweet taste. It went beautifully with the jarlsberg (or maybe gruyere?), olives and bread we had with it. I don't know if this is a wine I'd reach for all the time, or to go with a wide range of foods, but with something that goes well with the apple flavor, it's a tasty wine and a nice change of pace.



EDIT: Had a little bit of this again last night at a party. It tasted WAY sweeter than I remembered it being last time. I'm not sure what causes differences like that: temperature probably plays into it (the wine last night wasn't as cold as when we had it at home) but it's gotta be something more. For now I'll just chalk it up to my highly uneducated palate. From the way it tasted last night, though, I wouldn't necessarily go for it again. Way too sweet.