Tom and Melody’s wine blog

We are enjoying a mid-week cocktail hour this June evening. Both Tommy and Tony are visiting tonight and I have big dinner plans — which includes the grill — and 10 minutes ago the rain was pouring down. I thought I might need to resort to pizza to save my husband from grilling in the rain, but the rain has stopped and the sky is bright once again. Yay!

This Château Lucière Bordeaux 2005 is one of my favorites. I purchased a case of it recently. It is richly flavored, dry, and tannic with a big, lusty finish.

Our son Tommy is a member of The Ben Daniels Band. The band played at The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor last night. It was just fantastic. We were sitting close to the stage and took some pretty good pictures. Tommy plays the bass guitar. Their music is very good and original.

It is a Tuesday night in April and we have had our cocktail. Tom opened this Beaumont Des Gras Cotes Du Rhone 2006 from France for our dinner. I can’t remember where we purchased this wine or whether we received this as a shipment in a wine club, but it is an excellent wine. I started ‘mmm-mmmm-ing” as soon as I took in the bouquet and certainly after I had my first sip.

This wine is a lovely red color with a very pleasant nose. On the palate is a burst of berries and spice. The tannins are evident and the finish is dry and satisfying. I appreciate the deficience of fruit forward presentation — this is a more austere and crisp old-world wine. Absolutely delicious.

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 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!

Melody is out of town for work and she’ll be wondering if I posted, so here it is.

I’m trying this Georges DuBoeuf Juliénas Beaujolais 2005. (Juliénas is one of the 10 Beaujolais crus, a step up from Beaujolais-Villages. We’ve also tried the Morgon cru.)

It’s delightful. Light-bodied, medium-dry, tasting of cherries. Much lighter than our usual cabs and shirazes, but interesting and fun to drink. It has a summery taste to it, and after all, it did warm up to the high 30s here today. (I think Melody would enjoy this as a change of pace, but she wouldn’t want to stray too long from our big reds with the meaty bodies and the sandpaper tannins…)

Trigger is sleeping on Melody’s chair, sunken into her afghan.

It is TGIF night at the Werner household. We have both had a demanding week with several late nights and early mornings. So, here we are, a blessed Friday evening, with dinner simmering on the stove and Trigger relaxing in Tom’s lap.

Tonight, we are having this Ginestière Coteaux dur Languedoc 2005, a wonderful French blend of Syrah and Grenache. This is a full-bodied red with a nose of ginger and spice. On the palate are lots of fruit and firm tannins. The finish is rich with caramel and thyme.

For dinner we are having a soup that I made on the weekend — it’s a tasty vegetable soup — along with whole-wheat bread and white cheddar cheese. Cheers!

This Château Saint Martin de la Garrigue Bronzinelle 2004 from the Languedoc region of France was a gift from Tom to me at Christmas. It’s a blend: 34% Syrah, 27% Mourvèdre, 22% Grenache, and 17% Carignan. It is surprisingly fruity for a French wine and has a vigorous, peppy base and an herbal finish. On the palate is cherry and licorice with a sweet, leafy-tobacco aftertaste. The wine is medium to full bodied and so delicious.

I will serve this tonight with a made-up recipe of stir-fried steak and potatoes with green beans and a fresh salad. I have everything cut up and ready to go; I’ll have to let you know how it goes. Cheers!

This Vinsas Côtes du Rhone 2006 is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Carigname, and Cinsault. In the glass it is a very dark violet. On the nose is a flowery pepper and herbs.

It is Saturday night and we are relaxing while dinner simmers on the stove. It is bitter cold today in Michigan. My Saturday-morning running partner and I ran 9 miles this morning. The wind chill was pretty brutal. At one point, I took off my mittens and stuck them in my hat to form “flaps” to hang over my face because my face was freezing! It worked. I tucked my hands into my jacket sleeves and kept my mittens on my face the rest of the run. Our son Tony chose this bitter cold weekend to try outdoor camping. I will be very relieved to hear from him. I’m worried!

This wine is delectable. A perfect end to a wonderful Saturday.

Tom: This Vinsas Côtes du Rhone 2006 is very nice: rich, plummy, tannic. We also had this on New Year’s Eve.

This Vinsas Côtes du Rhone 2006 is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Carigname, and Cinsault. The color is dark violet and the nose is pepper, thyme, and flowers.

This is our New Year’s Eve selection! I am making a nice dinner and we are going to celebrate at home. There is a winter-storm warning tonight so we’ll be grateful to be in our warm, cozy home.

I chose this French beauty just because I decided a French wine was special enough to celebrate the passing of 2007. It is delicious — not fruity but herbal. Very dry with a long, long finish.

Cheers!