No guestbook for you!

Well, as I said Sheryl and I just got married. You know how you have those crappy guestbooks nobody likes to sign? Well, I came up with a BRILLIANT idea!

We bought 6 bottles of wine - good ones, mind you - that we will drink on our 1st, 5th, and 10th anniversaries. The local wine shop helped me pick them out according to our tastes and when they'd be drinkable. We then took the bottles to the reception hall and had everyone sign them! Yes, it's a stroke of genius. Feel free to use it. If you do, comment and let me know how well it was received.

I'll detail the wines in another post. I just realized I've been neglecting my wiffie for a couple hours posting pics of the honeymoon and writing blog entries.

It's been far, far too long...

And I think I need to get back to doing this. I just re-read my posts, and in IMO, I am one funny son of a bitch. Ok, that's an overstatement, I know, but whatever. This is my blog so I can think what I want... right?

Honestly, I think I was a bit embarrased by it at first and that's why I gave up. Screw it. This really is a good way for me, and hopefully others, to get a grasp on some different wines and what a layman like me thinks. I think I've got a good sense for describing different bottles, so what the hell. If you like it, cool. If not, cool. If you disagree or can add to some more descriptive text, do comment! I'm still learning.

BTW, Sheryl (my new wife!) and I just got back from Europe on our honeymood. In short, Euro wines are very good, especially the Frenchy stuff.

REVIEW: 2003 Sicilia Cantine Colosi

This is the dude I'm sippin' on right now as I catch up on the blog. And hey, I'm happy that this one is what I'm relaxing with tonight.

As can be expected, from what I can tell about Euro wines, this one isn't fruit first. But that said, this is a very, very drinkable wine. Well balanced, not heavy in body, minimal tannins, and a nice dark red hue. The flavor? Earthy, maybe leathery (there is something I taste that's not "normal" to me), with a bright fruit finish. I surely want another bottle of this for later! And at $12, it's well worth it.

The bouquet is pleasant. Sniffing it makes you want to dive right in and drink.

Hey! And The Sopranos is on! Goomba wine while watching a Goomba show. Gotta love it!

Swigs: 4 Bang 4

REVIEW: 2004 Domaine De L'Oratoire Saint-Martin

What bites about not keeping up with the blog is that I'm NOT going to do this wine justice. This was the first white drank (of the two in the case) and to start off, it was fantastic.

We chilled this one, brought it out, and let it sit for a while to get beyond refrigerator cold and more to the "proper" wine drinking temperature of whites... or at least what I'm told.

So we crack this dude, sip, and daaaaaaamn! Yum, yum! Now, I'm not a big white wine guy, so excuse me if you know better, but this was sorta Chardonnay-ish to me, but not all overly woody tasting. Crisp, tasty, refreshing. Some citrus hints in there for sure. A bit grassy and fresh tasting. I wish I could remember accurately the color, but I do think it was yellow-ish, i.e. not super clear and water-like.

Go get a bottle, folks! Fire up some fish dish, maybe some scallops (which is what we had!), or just kick and an drink this sucker. Very good and one of my favorites so far.

Check this out and you'll see why I gave it a 4 (though I thought it was a good value before I read this)
http://www.polanerselections.com/producer.php?pID=844

Swigs: 4 Bang 4

REVIEW: 2004 Domaine De L'Oratoire Saint-Martin"

What bites about not keeping up with the blog is that I'm NOT going to do this wine justice. This was the first white drank (of the two in the case) and to start off, it was fantastic.

We chilled this one, brought it out, and let it sit for a while to get beyond refrigerator cold and more to the "proper" wine drinking temperature of whites... or at least what I'm told.

So we crack this dude, sip, and daaaaaaamn! Yum, yum! Now, I'm not a big white wine guy, so excuse me if you know better, but this was sorta Chardonnay-ish to me, but not all overly woody tasting. Crisp, tasty, refreshing. Some citrus hints in there for sure. A bit grassy and fresh tasting. I wish I could remember accurately the color, but I do think it was yellow-ish, i.e. not super clear and water-like.

Go get a bottle, folks! Fire up some fish dish, maybe some scallops (which is what we had!), or just kick and an drink this sucker. Very good and one of my favorites so far.

Check this out and you'll see why I gave it a 4 (though I thought it was a good value before I read this)
http://www.polanerselections.com/producer.php?pID=844

Swigs: 4 Bang 4

REVIEW: 2004 Domaine De L'Oratoire Saint-Martin"

What bites about not keeping up with the blog is that I'm NOT going to do this wine justice. This was the first white drank (of the two in the case) and to start off, it was fantastic.

We chilled this one, brought it out, and let it sit for a while to get beyond refrigerator cold and more to the "proper" wine drinking temperature of whites... or at least what I'm told.

So we crack this dude, sip, and daaaaaaamn! Yum, yum! Now, I'm not a big white wine guy, so excuse me if you know better, but this was sorta Chardonnay-ish to me, but not all overly woody tasting. Crisp, tasty, refreshing. Some citrus hints in there for sure. A bit grassy and fresh tasting. I wish I could remember accurately the color, but I do think it was yellow-ish, i.e. not super clear and water-like.

Go get a bottle, folks! Fire up some fish dish, maybe some scallops (which is what we had!), or just kick and an drink this sucker. Very good and one of my favorites so far.

Check this out and you'll see why I gave it a 4 (though I thought it was a good value before I read this)
http://www.polanerselections.com/producer.php?pID=844

Swigs: 4 Bang 4

REVIEW: 2003 Sobon Estate Amador County Rocky Top Zinfandel

WOW, what a name!

Yep, this was the one that disappointed me, so don't expect a lot of glowing words on this review.

So I decant this bad boy and can't wait to taste it because, as ya'll know, I am a big Zin fan. Honestly, to me, this reminded me of something more European due to the earthiness and lack of fruit solid, in-your-face fruit flavor.

Even after a half hour+ of decanting it didnt get a whole lot better. If you're a Zin lover, blow your $17 on something else... preferably two Ravenswood Vintner's Blends if you can get them on sale. You'll be much happier.

My family liked it, but I was critical. Deep color, big body, but lacking the chugability or complexity of the Zin's I really like.

One note: do decant this guy. Sediment can be expected.

Swigs: 2 Bang: 3

REVIEW: 2003 Antonin Rodet "Bourgogne" Pinot Noir

Well, first off, let me admit some ignorance. I'll guess Bourgogne is the type/name/something that distinguished this Pino from Antonin Rodet from others. Beats me! If you know, educate me!

Anyway, this was the bottle I was blabbing about that went from yuk to yum with the decanting.

At first, it was very, very earthy and tasted exactly what I remember French wines tasting like (quick segue: apparently back then I didn't drink any that were opened up). To call it tight at first is like calling me squeezing my fat rear in to an old pair of pants tight. Just work with me here!

So at first I was like "oh, this is going to blow". But again, an hour later and it was very, very good.

It wasn't quite as fruit forward as you'll get from a California Pinot Noir, but the fruit was there. Nice body, a lighter red color, but didn't melt off my tongue like I'm used to Pinot's usually doing, which was fine by me. The flavor, which was filled with a lot of berries, some earthiness, and subtle tannins, hung around quite a while on my tongue. Goood stuff and a good intro to French vino! I got this guy for $20

...Can I put an Italian word next to "French"?

Swigs: 3.5 Bang 3

A note on decanting

Well, one thing I've noticed about decanting is that it's a good idea =) I read on damngoodwine.com (which is linked to the right, folks) is that decanting isn't just for old wines with sediment. "Young" wines (which I guess is anything under 5 years old) benefit from it as well.

What I can tell you is that I have to agree. There is a French wine I'm going to blog in a bit that went from utterly undrinkable at first (if you ask me) to sublime, smooth, and damn tasty after an hour of decanting. It was cool how along the way you could literally taste the harsher flavors becoming more mellow while the more yummy stuff became more noticable as time went on.

My point: go buy a decanter! Other point: If you know you're going to kill the bottle that night, decant! Trust me, you'll appreciate this advice.

I guess one other thing to say is that a good plan could be to decant your wine about 45 minutes before your dinner is ready so it's at prime tastiness when dinner is serverd. Then again, I can't wait 45 minutes for that first glass, but that's just me.

I have been SLACKING!

For all two of you out there who read this blog (that'd be me and... uh.. yeah.) I've been slacking hard. I've got 5 bottles I have to do a write up on. Hopefully my mind can recall all the goodness I've drank in the last three weeks.

The good news is that of the bottles I've had so far from the mixed case, there are only two I am not a huge fan of so far; the Shiraz I talked about being one. Unfortunately the other was the Zin (and the ONLY ONE!!!) in the case. It was ok. I've had better. FYI: whatever current Ravenswood Vintner's you can get is my 'benchmark' for Zins. Review coming.

And yes, I know the Ravenswoods aren't great Zins, but I challenge you to find a more tasty bottle for $11 or less. C'mon, I dare ya!