We are home from a wonderful Christmas with Tom’s family. We drove 10 1/2 hours today through pouring rain, wind and then snow so we are very happy to be safely at home. We ordered pizza and opened this special bottle of Napa Valley Cabernet. Earlier this month, during a weak moment, I said “okay” to a sales pitch to upgrade our wine club membership to a reserve level and this is our first bottle from that selection. Although I was kicking myself for saying yes, I now see it was a good decision. This is a fine wine. Structured tannins and rich flavor. Very smooth and rich.
Ramsden Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
December 27, 2011 — -The Patriots Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon (2008)
December 4, 2011 — -
It is Sunday night and we have had a good weekend with nothing special but with lots of special nothings! We did our normal things like grocery shopping and laundry and I was able to spend a few hours Christmas shopping for my wonderful sisters- and brothers-in-laws. We also shopped for a snowsuit for a baby boy, whose tag we picked from the list of needs at our church. For this baby boy we bought a very warm snowsuit.
I spent most of the afternoon working on making turkey pot pies in order to use up our leftover turkey. That is a very labor intensive meal starting with making the pie crusts and then the filling. I finally got everything assembled and have been put the two pot pies away for later in the week along with a brown rice pudding that needs to bake for three hours at a low temperature. But for tonight, we had pork loin with potatoes and carrots, asparagus and a fresh salad with homemade bleu cheese salad dressing’ that I made on a whim today.
I chose this Chilean wine for our dinner tonight and it is good. This is different and not our usual. . .this is heavy on tobacco aroma and taste with a vanilla finish. This is a wine that gets better after airing. At first, it is overpowering but after breathing it is tasty and rich but not overpowering.
Looking forward to my last business trip of the year tomorrow. Just a one-nighter. It will be great to be home for an extended time. Cheers!
Villa Farnia di Farnese Montepulciano D’Abruzzo (2010)
December 3, 2011 — -We had a busy Saturday but are now relaxing and enjoying a very lovely happiness hour (or two). We usually have cocktails in our front room but today we are sitting in our living room because Tom is watching football. But he was patient enough to also help me with this week’s Wall Street Journal crossword puzzle. This week is pretty difficult and we have aways to go! What is a six letter word for “stick on the field”?
For dinner my trusty cast iron skillet is on the stove with some homemade spaghetti sauce simmering. I am going to stir fry some fresh spinach.
This is is a solid, rustic wine with a soft texture and thick fruit flavors. This is going to go well with out spaghetti and spinach dinner.
Conquista Malbec
November 24, 2011 — -Happy thanksgiving! We are having a wonderful time with our family! Bill and Linda from Wisconsin brought several bottles of wine including this Malbec from Argentina. Smoky chocolate taste with a silky finish. I thought it was the perfect complement to our traditional thanksgiving dinner.
Alambrado Gran Seleccion Cabernet Sauvignon (2010)
November 22, 2011 — -It is Tuesday before Thanksgiving and I took the day off from work to do some pre-Thanksgiving cooking. It was a fun day for me. I also went for a run but waited too long to go, so when I finally got out there is was pouring rain and about 40- degrees and windy. The hot shower when I was done was my reward.
For dinner, I needed to use some fresh mushrooms from my food co-op . . .and, some beef that had been in the freezer for awhile, so I put together a beef stroganoff. Rich and delicious flavor. The wine I chose for our dinner is excellent. This Argentinian red is bursting with fruit, chocolate and oak with very smooth tannins. Luscious. We love it. Cheers!
Silver Palm Cabernet Sauvignon
November 21, 2011 — -
It is Monday of Thanksgiving week and we are enjoying a spicy bowl of chili with whole grain bread and some white cheddar cheese. It really warms us up. Tom chose this California Cabernet Sauvignon for our chili dinner, which I happily thought to be a bit extravagant for a Monday night (but did not complain). I like extravagance! This is a very nice Cab in a beautiful bottle, decorated with a Platinum palm leaf. This would make a good gift wine to give as a housewarming gift or to give to the host when you are invited to someone’s house for dinner because it is a good wine with a very attractive presentation. The wine is deep purple in the glass, light to medium bodied, a taste of blackberries with a tobacco finish. This is a nice, smoky wine that held up very well with my spicy chili.
Valoroso Cabernet Sauvignon Touriga Nacional Syrah (2010)
November 12, 2011 — -We are having this delicious, silky Portuguese wine with our dinner. I made a beef and potato casserole, fresh spinach, salad and garlic toast. The wine is a bright red in the glass with a strong aroma of licorice and cassis, tastes of dark cherries and cedar. Delicious after a long day that started with a 10k race, a football game and Saturday-night Mass.
Ultima de Farnese
November 4, 2011 — -It is Friday night and we are kicking back, reading the paper, kinda sorta watching a football game, and enjoying this luscious Italian wine. Very smooth with round tannins, this wine is rich with blackberries, spice and black pepper. It is unfiltered so there is a bit of sludge at the bottom of the bottle which we could easily eliminate by decanting (but we didn’t).
We had this wine with spaghetti and something really dark green from the food coop. It might have been kale but I can’t be sure. It certainly made us feel health conscious, whatever it was.
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Domaine du Vallon Cotes du Rhone Villages (2010)
November 2, 2011 — -It is Wednesday night so we are celebrating midweek! It doesn’t take much to initiate a celebration in our house. I had a short night and a long day so I was eager for a comforting meal and a good wine. We had both. For comfort food, I made a skillet chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, steamed spinach and salad. Tom chose this French wine for our meal. Dark chocolate is the predominant word on this one. Dark. Chocolate. Pretty much sums it up. I really like it and it got better as it breathed.
Wente Cabernet (2009)
November 1, 2011 — -We are having a late supper tonight at our local favorite restaurant “The Common Grill.” The wine is spicy with flavors of cherries and red berries. The Chef chose a great wine to complement our smoked chicken and pancetta capellini pasta with plum tomato sauce, calabrese peppers and fresh basil.
Tom and Melody
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