Tom and Melody’s wine blog

This lovely Argentinian Elsa Bianchi Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 was included in one of our wine club shipments. I have been saving it because I had a feeling it was going to be a wine we would very much enjoy.

Well, I was right, natch. It is a delicious cabernet. The nose is pine trees and blackberries. In the mouth it is full bodied and bursting with black fruit and structured tannins. The finish is moderately long and quite lovely.

Tonight I mixed up a meatloaf (ground beef, ground pork, oatmeal, eggs, onions, tomato juice, spices) and put that in the oven. Because I had the oven on, I also cut up an acorn squash. Also, my neighbor Michelle, who belongs to a food co-op, brought over Swiss Chard and two large beets. So I washed the beets and they are roasting in the oven with the meatloaf and squash. When the beets are roasted, I will remove the skin and dice. I will steam the Swiss Chard. This should be a delicious dinner by the smells in the kitchen.

Tom: This is a great wine with a powerful, chocolaty nose and a very nice tannic taste of berries with hints of vanilla. Very nice, very interesting.

Tom purchased this Jacob’s Creek Cabernet Sauvignon at our local grocery store for around $6. I like this wine; it is a good Australian, fruit forward hearty red.  The wine is silky smooth with an oak and pepper finish. A great Wednesday-evening quaff! I have been battling a lower-back-spasm issue so I am sitting here with a lot of pillows behind me and Trigger is comforting me on my lap. It is also our anniversary! I am so, so lucky to be married to the love of my life!  But, we aren’t celebrating tonight; we will celebrate this weekend so stay tuned!

This Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2005 from southeastern Australia is normally over $10 a bottle but Tom found it on sale today for $8. This wine is purple in the glass with a nose of oak, black cherries, bing cherries, and a touch of smoke. The finish is robust and lengthy with licorice and oak.

I made us a rather healthy martini tonight because I have an end-of-the-winter cold and Tom told me that “gin is the answer.” I’m sure he is right! Now we are having a glass of this lovely wine while I finish making our dinner. Cheers!

Okay, everyone. I know that I tend to be a very positive wine reviewer. But that is because I appreciate most red wines. But THIS wine deserves accolades. The Nine Vines Shiraz Viognier 2006 is an unusual combination of 94% Shiraz and 6% Viognier. Viognier is a white wine that tastes much like a red. This combination is shockingly delicious. On the nose I note fruit and flowers. In the mouth the wine is juicy apricots and black pepper. It has a delicate feel with moderately-grippy tannins. This wine makes me swoon, quite frankly.

For dinner, I used the leftover roasted chicken from two nights ago and assembled a chicken casserole with broccoli and pasta. This wine will be perfect for this dinner. I highly recommend this wine.

We are enjoying this Red Heads Studio The Red Sedan 2006, a blend of Shiraz and Malbec, on a Monday evening. This is the third time we’ve tried this delicious wine from Australia. Tonight we will have this with sauteed chicken, brown rice, and a green salad.

It is a very cold night in Michigan and we are thankful to be warm and cozy. This red blend is big and fruity with hints of woods and a lovely, long finish.

This Red Heads Studio The Red Sedan 2006 is a blend of Shiraz and Malbec from the southeastern region of Australia. This is our second bottle of this wine. We had this last month and I loved it. Who wouldn’t love a blend of Shiraz and Malbec? The color is purple and dense. The taste is very fruity and rich with hints of woods and shrubs and the finish is long.

It was -9 degrees (F) this morning and not much warmer tonight. I have the leftover beef barley soup heating on the stove. This wine will pair perfectly with soup, bread, and cheese and will warm us from the inside out.

This Red Heads Studio The Red Sedan 2006 is a blend of Shiraz (77%) and Malbec (23%) from the southeastern region of Australia. I was excited to taste this wine because it is a combination of two of my favorite red varietals. Sure enough, I am not disappointed. This wine is fruit forward and filled with brush- and briar-tasting wood flavors. The finish is long with a spicy, coffee-flavored savoriness.

For dinner, I have brown rice simmering. I have two boned chicken breasts (which I have cubed) to stir fry in my trusty cast-iron skillet with fresh broccoli. I will mix this all together for what I hope will be a tasty and nutritious meal.

On Saturday night we attended a party at the home of Tom Crawford. His home was decorated absolutely beautifully! And he had prepared delicious food. I was so impressed with his cooking skills. He is a superb host. He also had many lovely red wines on hand. He is the host extraordinaire. It was an absolutely enjoyable party! It was fun meeting Lisa and Frank, Karl, Boyd, and Brian! I hope we will see them all again.

Tom: This Red Heads Studio The Red Sedan 2006 is a fruit-forward blend tasting of chocolate, coffee, and berries. It’s very appealing and drinkable, on the soft side with noticeable fruit.

This Noble Road Cabernet Merlot 2005 from Australia, a blend of 75% Cabernet and 25% Merlot, is a bit unusual. My first sip was a jolt to my senses, but after swirling a bit and airing, I find it to be a lovely, big, and bold red. While the nose is delicate, the palate is quite zippy! It has a fizzy quality with a mouthful of fruit and a bit of caramel and vanilla. This wine has a long finish of wood and bramble.

We will have this wine tonight with leftover turkey, dressing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, yada, yada, yada. . .I just need to make room in my refrigerator!

Tom: This Noble Road Cabernet Merlot 2005 is very pleasant. It’s fruit forward (in true Australian style). Its fruit flavor is cherries, with a bit of vanilla. It’s soft and not very tannic; the merlot side seems to mellow out cabernet side. The soft, fruity taste will go well with our leftover turkey.

This Lindemans Bin 99 Pinot Noir 2006 is pleasant, soft, grapy, not tannic. Fruit tastes of berries and cherries. An easy-going quaff.

Here are Tom and Trigger, each leaning on their elbows while listening to Melody during cocktail hour.

We had this Lindemans Bin 50 Shiraz 2006 as a mid-week quaff. It is a pleasant, fruit-forward shiraz with hints of spicy cherries and vanilla. Very pleasant and drinkable.