Tom and Melody’s wine blog

Tonight I have a pot roast in the oven with an array of vegetables and a sauce of beer and cream and mushrooms. It smells and looks wonderful.

I chose this Château Les Ragottes Bordeaux 2005 for this dinner. This is a beautiful black in the glass. On the nose is cloves and spice. On the palate it is dry and astringent with hints of blackberry. The finish is medium long with oak and metal.

This is a wonderful French wine; it is not a fruit-forward wine like we are likely to taste from Australia, but it is complex with many layers of metal and fruit. Superb!

This Sienna Cellars Petite Sirah 2006 is excellent: tannic, chocolaty, and complex. Very tasty and drinkable. Air seemed to help it, or at least didn’t hurt it; the last sip was as pleasant as the first.

We have a second bottle of this (from a wine club). I think we’ll hoard it a while as a special treat.

This Domaine Monpertuis Cuvée Counoise 2005 is made from the French grape Counoise (which is usually a blending grape). The nose is black pepper and ripe fruit. In the mouth it is acidic and alcoholic but in a good way with spice and a peppy finish.

I will serve this wine tonight with leftovers and a fresh salad — it was a long day at work. And, it is my birthday and Tom chose this wine especially for me. What more could a girl want? Cheers!

This Black Fox Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 from California is a fruit-forward red. I tagged it as both over $10 and under $10 because we paid over $10 for this wine through a wine club but I did a search for it online and discovered it sells for $8-$10 in wine shops.

Despite the fact that I overpaid to get this wine, I think it is good. It is certainly fruity but it is simple, lacking the complexity of better wines. Yet, it is Monday night and this will go well with our meatloaf, squash, potatoes, and sauteed spinach dinner! Cheers!

We really love this Agustinos Carmenère 2006 from Chile and I believe this is our last bottle from out rack. It is a Sunday evening and I am making spaghetti for dinner. In fact, I am simmering my last batch of sauce that I made last summer with tomatoes from my garden. This deserves a wonderful wine and this is it. The color is inky black. The nose is fragrant with oak and cherries. On the palate is plum and raspberries. The fruity finish lasts an exceptionally long time.

I think this may be one of Tom’s favorites. He is a huge fan of Carmenère. If you can find this wine, I can’t imagine that you would be disappointed.

This Robert Mondavi Private Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 from California is bursting with plums and subtle spices. The finish is predominantly oak with black dirt. This wine cost $10.99 but was on sale for $8. There is absolutely nothing not to like about this wine.

I have made a kettle of chicken soup for tonight’s dinner. It will be sure to help the cold that Tom seems to be catching. I started the soup by sauteeing garlic, onions, carrots and potatoes, then adding shredded chicken and the homemade broth that I had from cooking the chicken. It will be a savoury and medicinal dinner, I think! I also have a loaf of bread rising on the counter.

Although we received this Terre Nuove Primitivo Puglia 2006 from a wine club and paid over $10 a bottle, I have this tagged at under $10 because I believe it is available for around $9 a bottle at wine shops (based on a quick search).

This Italian red wine is soft in the mouth with smoky spice and fruit. The Primitivo grape is known as Zinfandel here in the U.S. I like this wine very much. For dinner tonight I have made a casserole of ground beef, unpeeled cubed potatoes, onions, pinto and black-eyed peas, and salsa. It’s a weird recipe that I found and seemed like a good idea for a Friday night. I think this wine choice is perfect for tonight!

This Iglesia Vieja Reserva 2003 from Spain, a blend of 68% Mataro, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 11% Tempranillo, is just my style. The color is purplish in the glass. The nose is a refreshingly soft spice. And the taste is fruity and luscious with a peppery finish. This is really a delicious wine. And probably too lovely for a Thursday night, but oh well!

This is a beautiful Michigan evening; children are all out romping around the neighborhood because it is 48 degrees! We can smell spring and we are all giddy about it. Trigger had an active day outside today and now she is sleeping soundly by my side.

Tom: This a great big red: chocolaty and tannic. Some fruit taste, but not fruit forward. Very nice.

Melody is still out of town, Trigger is dozing in Melody’s chair, and I’m trying this Saliero Montepulciano D’Abruzzo 2006.

It’s a pleasant Italian red table wine, with medium body, medium dry, with a mild berry-fruit taste. It has the yeasty, musky nose and taste that many Italian reds have. Quite different from our usual big reds, but pleasant.