Tom and Melody’s wine blog

This Della Flora Zinfandel 2006 from California is complex. It has equal measures of ripe fruit and spice. The finish is long and delicious.

Although it is mid-May in Michigan, we are having a very cool day. I decided to take advantage of the weather and make a pot of bean soup. I purchased a meaty ham shank from the local meat market, sauteed garlic and carrots, added Navy beans and chicken broth to simmer all afternoon. I have a loaf of whole wheat bread rising and will soon put it in the oven. It will be a cozy and delicious dinner. Tom made a good choice with this wine.

This Sycamore Valley Paso Robles Zinfandel 2006 from California is a different and delicious wine. In the glass it is cherry red and the nose is pleasantly minty and spicy. The taste is eye-opening with raspberries, black pepper and well-water metal (like you would taste if you had a glass of well water out of an old, tin glass).

It is Friday evening and we are relaxing after a work week. Last night, I was in Windsor, Ontario with my sister. I won a free night at the Casino last summer at a golf outing, so I invited my sister to enjoy it with me. The free night was only good during a week night so she drove over (from Grand Rapids, Michigan) to see me after work last night. We spent one night enjoying each other’s company and even played a couple slot machines. It was great to see my sister. I am glad to be home. Dinner is on the stove and life is good!

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!

Tom chose this Rancho Stella Cellars Paso Robles Zinfandel 2006 tonight to accompany our spicy sausage and potato stew that is simmering on the stove. It’s a Tuesday night and we both worked hard at our jobs. Trigger even took extra-long walks today so she is resting beside me on my chair.

I like this wine because it is dry with lots of pepper on the palate and juicy, ripe fruit on the finish. It will hold up well with our spicy dinner. This is a good Zinfandel.

Admission: Going to watch American Idol tonight!

This Rancho Stella Cellars Paso Robles Zinfandel 2006 from California is fabulous. Tom chose it for our Saturday night. We are celebrating the fact that our son Tony has returned safely from an “alternative winter-break” trip to New Orleans to work on a community-service project. He hauled junk, painted, and generally helped to clean up flood-damaged areas. Tony was gone for 10 days during his break between Christmas and the start of his winter term at Eastern Michigan University. Tony, we are so happy that you are back!

It’s a gray day in Michigan. The weather warmed up to 40 degrees (F) and our snow has started to melt. A good day for a pot of soup and a loaf of bread. I also baked a batch of oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies for dessert.

I almost forgot to tell you about the wine. There is nothing sweet about this wine (yay!). And it is dry. The nose is pleasantly spicy and the taste is lots of pepper and fruit. This is dry and lip smacking and delicious. Cheers!

Tom: This Rancho Stella Cellars Paso Robles Zinfandel 2006 is rich and jammy, lots of berry flavor. Nicely tannic. A very nice wine and it will be excellent with a spicy soup.

This Il Valore Primitivo Puglia 2006 is a black-plum colored Italian wine with a nose of blackberries and cloves. On the palate is a very grapy fruit (almost like Welch’s grape juice) with a slightly fizzy quality. The tannins are soft and the acidity is high.

It’s a Monday night and we are having a well-deserved cocktail hour. All that shoveling yesterday made my shoulder muscles sore (if there ARE muscles up there)! I think Tom is fine because his arms are strong. . . but it feels very good to me to relax. I have some leftover vegetable soup on the stove with some good bread and cheese for our dinner.

It is Sunday night and we are relaxing after a very productive day. We cleaned closets, moved things downstairs (out of the garage) for the winter, and did myriad pre-winter chores. The lovely part of a hard-working day is getting to relax when it is done, which is what we are doing now. Trigger is on my lap and she is a little jealous of the laptop. She likes to try and move my right hand from the mousepad because I think she sees it as a distraction from me petting her.

Anyway, this Old Moon Zinfandel 2005 from Trader Joe’s, is just fine. It’s from California, with a nose of rasberries and a palate of grapes, pepper, and cherries. The finish is tannic. It is entirely satisfactory and an excellent value, as are many Trader Joe’s wines. At about 2:30 today, I started a pot of pinto bean/navy bean soup. I started with chopped fresh garlic and onions sauteed in olive oil, I then added the rinsed pinto and navy beans and a ham bone. I mixed that around and added chicken broth and it has been simmering all afternoon. I baked a loaf of whole wheat bread, and I baked some oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies for dessert. I chose this zinfandel purposefully to go with this pot of soup. Happy, happy Sunday!

This Il Valore Primitivo Puglia 2006 is a crimson-colored Italian red that has a nose of violets and blackberries. On the palate is black dirt, pepper, and purplish juicy grapes with a nice level of tannins and acidity. This is a lovely zinfandel.

And it is Friday night! It’s been a demanding week and tonight we are relaxing with this great bottle of wine. Trigger is on my lap and we are reading the paper. We are going to get a pizza from Thompson’s pizza, the only (super-delicious) pizza in town!

This Il Basso Zinfandel 2005 from Puglia, Italy, is delicious. The aroma is yeasty and inviting. The color is dark red and lush. On the palate is raisins, plums, and black pepper. The tannins are grippy and the finish is long. For dinner, I am making brats on the grill, sauerkraut, potatoes, and sliced tomatoes from our garden. I wanted a bold wine that would hold up to the strong taste of the sauerkraut and brats. I’m sure this will pair nicely with our dinner.

Two more nights until Tony returns from South America!

Tom: This is Il Basso Zinfandel 2005 is delicious: big, jammy, tannic. (Il Basso means The Bottom.) This will stand up to brats, mustard, and sauerkraut.

Last week we had dinner at The Common Grill before seeing a fun play called Sea of Fools at the Purple Rose Theater. We tried a Mountain View Amador County “Clockspring Vineyard” Zinfandel 2003. It was very nice, very dry, with a rich fruit taste.

We also tried a Clay Station Old Vine Zinfandel 2004. (The grapes are from 30-to-70-year-old vines.) It was quite similar, very good, dry, with lush fruit.