Monthly Archives: June 2012

Getting Naked on a Friday Night

I have no idea whether this was a bad wine; just because I wasn’t a huge fan doesn’t necessarily mean it was ‘bad’ per se.  This Naked Grape Chardonnay was an oake-y, light, basic wine; refreshing~ in a way, but not really anything to write home about, at least in my novice opinion. At first taste, I thought it might be a bit ‘off’, but as I continued to sip, it got a little better. And I found it difficult to determine what, other than oak, I could really taste. For the most part, it seemed more watery grape than anything else. There wasn’t much depth or complexity at all. In this case, keeping it simple made it drab and colorless.

Perhaps the most interesting thing I can say is that a blackfly actually did end up in it. Isn’t that ironic?

Cheers!

Throwing Caution ~ and a little Cab Sauv ~ to the Wind

Tudal Family Winery '07 Cab auv

Tudal Family Winery ’07 Cab Sauv

When you begin to collect wine, you sometimes find there is a new dilemma: to drink or not to drink. You ask yourself; “does this occasion really warrant opening this nice (and possibly expensive) bottle of  blah blah blah?” Is it wine-worthy?? I found myself with just such a dilemma tonight. I’d gone to my local grocer, had the butcher make up a nice  flank steak Florentine and purchased some roma tomatoes and fresh basil.   We’d all been very busy lately, barely seeing each other, so tonight would be the night we’d sit down and have a long, relaxed dinner together. The wine, I thought, needed to reflect the casual importance of the occasion so I chose the ’07 Tudor Family Winery Cabernet Sauvignon. If you remember from a few posts before, we’d sampled it at the summer wine event. And it was one of the higher-priced wines of the evening. But I remember being told once that wine was meant to be enjoyed. So enjoy it, we would.

The colour was a deep ruby; dark but clear and there was no visible sediment. The nose had the bold essence of blackberry and it was delightfully fruit forward ~  rich black cherry with a nice smoky taste on the finish. When paired with the fresh tomato and basil combination, it came alive with much more depth than I expected.

Steak Florentine with Roma Tomatoes and Basil ~ yum!

Steak Florentine with Roma Tomatoes and Basil ~ yum!

I savored this wine ~ and the slower – paced  dinner and evening I had with my family. It was a wine well spent.

Cheers!

Easy, eh?

wine in my garden

wine in my garden

After an extremely busy few weeks, I wanted to take a few moments to sit back, relax and enjoy.  I’d travelled back to my home and native land of Canada to visit family and have been helping my daughter as she finishes out the waning weeks of school. What that really means is I’ve been chauffeuring her all over the greater Cleveland area with more urgency than usual.

Today, I stole away to my garden; no book, no iPod, no phone. It was just me and the trees…and a glass of wine. I chose  a ’10 Matthew Fritz Pinot Noir which provided just the right amount of warmth on a cool-ish day. The big, bold cherry essence  was foremost on my palate and after a few sips, it transitioned nicely to a finish of sweet molasses. It wasn’t an overly complex wine but nicely straightforward; what you tasted at the start was generally what you’d have at the end. Sometimes, the less complex things are, the better.

This break provided some valuable time to collect my thoughts and get myself ready for some bigger changes on the horizon. Where those changes will take me, I’m not sure. What I do know is that my garden, and a good supply of wine, will always help me regroup, recharge and renew.

Cheers!