Tom and Melody's wine blog » Shiraz

Savanha Pinotage/Shiraz (2008)

Tom & Melody — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 00:54:43 +0000

This South African blend of Pinotage and Shiraz is our choice for this hot summer Friday night. This is a spicy, plummy, bold-flavored wine that is an impeccable choice to accompany our sausage-red potato-cabbage skillet dinner. I particularly appreciate the finish — velvety, spicy and crisp. Here’s to a fun summer weekend!

Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet (2006)

Tom & Melody — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:59:51 +0000

It’s been a while since we’ve had the time to blog but tonight is quiet. I made a pot of soup on Sunday to put away for tonight, so that is reheating and I have time to sit, have a glass of wine and stare out the window.

So, we are finishing some dregs tonight. . .I am having the rest of this Penfolds and Tom is having the last bit of a Tempranillo.

I really want to like this because I generally love a blend of Cabernet and Shiraz . And, who can argue with a name like Penfolds? But, honestly, I do have some reservations about this one. First, the positives: It is full of fruit in a characteristic Australian way. It really tastes quite delicious, first sip. The color is deep purple in the glass. Now, the not-so-positive: It is a little thick on the palate. . .not too much nose. . .so fruity as to seem almost like grape juice. . .not a lot of complexity. However, having said this, I admit that I do enjoy this fruit-forward wine on a night like tonight — which is — a Monday. . .and we are just enjoying a glass of wine while we read the paper and wind down for the night. To summarize, I want to be accurate with my taste notes, but also be clear that this wine is a good middle-of-the-week quaff. Enjoy!

The Optimist Shiraz Cabernet (2008)

Tom & Melody — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:39:39 +0000

We opened this delicious Australian blend last night and I am finishing the last couple of swallows tonight. I like this wine very much. I have mostly enjoyed Shiraz and Cabernet blends and this is no exception. On the one hand, you have the very fruity, spicy Shiraz, and on the other hand, you have the complexity and prominent tannin quality of the Cabernet. It’s a great combination. This wine is easy to drink, and bursting with fruit. For lack of a better explanation, it is a happy wine!

A bright purple in the glass, the nose is refreshingly minty. The taste is big fruit on the front with pepper and oak on the finish.

For dinner, I am sauteing shitake mushrooms in red wine (from my food co-op) and reheating a leftover beef/noodle dish (that I had made from a slow-cooked pot roast). I am also stir frying asparagus. . .and then I want to watch House. Gotta see what’s up with my favorite grouchy doctor.

Happy Monday everyone. Only four more days until the weekend.

Red Knot Shiraz (2007)

Tom & Melody — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 01:15:16 +0000

We opened this Red Knot Shiraz 2007 as a big wine to go with the steak stir-fry Melody is making.

We got this bottle as a cool stocking stuffer from my folks at Christmas.

It has big dark fruit — typical of an Australian shiraz — but it also has a pleasant (and surprising) bitter taste (as opposed to the stereotypical sweetness of Australians).

Very nice, and a nice complement, I’m sure, to the steak stir-fry.

Purple Moon Shiraz 2008

Tom & Melody — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:09:51 +0000

This Purple Moon Shiraz 2008 is pleasant and inexpensive (just $4, I think, at Trader Joe’s).

It’s not particularly shiraz-y — not a lot of spice.

But tannic and decent fruit taste.

A nice table wine at a great price.

(We talked to Tony tonight on Skype. He’s currently in a beach town in Peru and doing well.)

Lindemans Shiraz Cabernet (2008)

Tom & Melody — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:09:28 +0000

We have had this wine several times before but I always try to record my tasting notes each time I have a wine. It is my little diary. . .

So, it is a Tuesday evening. We just had a martini while working on the Wall Street Journal crossword puzzle. (In the past, we would have been reading the Ann Arbor News, but now that the newspaper is only published twice a week, we have switched to working on the crossword puzzle.) Now, we are having a glass of this Australian fruity wine. For dinner, I am making pesto chicken with asparagus and red peppers and angel hair pasta. This wine will hold up well to the strong flavors of this pasta dish.

This is a new-world wine with lots of fruits — especially cherries and raspberries. Soft tannins and a timid finish. . .but absolutely fun to drink and enjoy.

Stone Cellars by Beringer California Shiraz (2008)

Tom & Melody — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:55:46 +0000

We have blogged about this wine before. Tom picks it up at our local grocery store on sale every so often.

This is a fun and easy-to-drink wine. Absolutely nothing to complain about here. The price is right. The nose is spicy. The taste is fruity and the finish is fairly complex and lengthy. California certainly does know their red wines.

It is a late-October evening in Michigan. It is very dark out there, cold, and raining. Tom was happy to see me come home because sometimes a Friday night drive in the dark rain can be tenuous for me! (There are some aggressive and angry drivers out there.)

For dinner, I sauteed a fresh, chopped mushroom (big one) [that I got from the food co-op that I belong to] in olive oil and butter. I browned pork chops in olive oil. . .then, combined the chops and mushrooms with some broth and let it simmer. Then, I added some thickener. I will serve this with potatoes and a fresh salad (I still have some baby-lettuce leaves from my garden).

This food co-op that I just joined should be interesting. I split a share with my neighbor and she brings me a grocery bag full of random fruits and vegetables every Monday, which is my share. For example, this last week I got apples, a pineapple, fresh spinach, one mushroom, one beet. . .isn’t that hilarious? But, I like the challenge it gives me to make sure I use everything. (I made a delicious apple cobbler with the apples last night.)And, yes, I cooked and ate the beet.

Cheers!

Lindemans Shiraz Cabernet (2008)

Tom & Melody — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:02:01 +0000

It is Thursday night and we have both had a hectic week. It’s been a very busy fall and I have not been posting our wine tastings consistently. But tonight, Tom is outside grilling and I have a few minutes to spare before I work on the final touches for our meal.

The weather has recently turned much cooler. It is October 1 and last night I had to cover my tomato and lettuce plants with old sheets because we had a frost. Yay, the sheet coverings did the trick! Now, at 8:00 p.m. it is 50 degrees. Rather chilly for being outside grilling. . .thank you, Tom!

Tom must have picked up a couple of bottles of this lovely Australian wine today because they weren’t here yesterday. I really like this blend, in general, and Lindemans in particular has done a nice job with this. Talk about fruity! This is bursting with juicy fruit flavors, especially cherries and raspberries. Although this is considered very “new world” and catering to our new world tastes, I have to admit that I enjoy this wine; it’s so easy to drink and enjoy. Very fruity with soft, gentle tannins. Yes, it is simple, but it is easy on the palate! This would be a great wine for new red-wine drinkers to dip their toes into…

For dinner, I made a rub out of brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. I rubbed this on two pork loin chops and let it rest for 1 hour. Now, Tom is grilling the chops. I am going to serve this with sauteed asparagus, mashed potatoes and a salad with my own freshly-picked lettuce, green onions and tomatoes, plus my “store bought” avocado and peppers. . .tossed with my homemade salad dressing. Yummy! Tomorrow is Friday!

Lindemans Shiraz Cabernet (2008)

Tom & Melody — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:56:56 +0000

It has been a long time since Tom & I opened a Lindemans bottle of wine. We became fans of red wine together while drinking Lindemans’ various red wines. Recently, in our eagerness to try as many new wines as possible, we have ignored Lindemans; but Tom purchased a bottle of the Shiraz Cabernet blend last weekend. What a delightful reminder of why we started out our love of red wine by enjoying the Australian wine! Certainly, it all starts with the fruit flavors. This is typical, Australian fruit-forward wine, bursting with plums and berries on the palate. The finish is very smooth.

For dinner tonight, I have cut up three boneless, skinless chicken breasts into chunks for sauteing. I will be adding onions, artichokes, chicken broth, fresh mushrooms and spices and tossing with linguine. I am also making a fresh salad with lettuce, tomatoes and green onions from my garden.

We are counting down the days until our son, Tony, returns from his year-long job in Paju, South Korea. He comes home this Saturday; I am beyond excited to see him.

Searidge Syrah (2006)

Tom & Melody — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:30:43 +0000

I bought two bottles of this wine for $10 (2 for $10) at a wine shop in Ann Arbor. Now I have found that this wine sells for about $3 a bottle at some other stores. So, I didn’t get the greatest deal in the world, but nonetheless, we think this wine is worth even the $5 a bottle price. We find this wine to have a young nose, despite it’s 2006 vintage. There is nothing unpleasant about this wine; it is just simple. There is plenty of fruit flavors (but without the layers of complex flavors to explore and savor). However, it is a perfectly acceptable bottle of wine for a Tuesday night!

I am looking forward to our meal tonight because I was too busy to eat lunch today at my job. For dinner, I took two boneless pork loin chops and browned well in a skillet. I then put those in a baking dish; to the hot skillet I added chopped onions and green peppers and sauteed. To that I added a can of vegetarian baked beans, 1/2 cup of chili sauce, spicy mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper. . .I think that was all. . .then added that mixture to the pork chops. I covered and put in the oven at 325 and it has been baking for 1.5 hours and will continue to do so until I am good and ready! I will serve this with mashed potatoes and a salad from my garden. Smells yummy.