Get "Envolved" With Bachelor Ben

***For those that know me well, I apologize in advance for an intentional product misspelling, it annoys me too, but I am not the one who chose the darn name and the wine is good, so I will forgive, this time...as long as they don't start spelling Cabernet with a "K".***

I promised a celebrity post, ladies and gentlemen, I present you with Chris Harrison. No, just kidding, our local celebrity Ben Flajnik of the Bachelor.

Yes! I am a lucky girl to have a friend, Jaymee Sire of "E is for Eat", that scored a bottle of Envolve wines, when it was still Evolve wines, and  when did we indulge in this tasty little bottle you ask? On a Monday night during The Bachelor of course!

"What wine would you drink on a hot summer day?" says Ben
"Ummmm...ummm..." says Ben's future wife hopeful

Right. 

I know the answer! So here it is folks!

The 2010 Evolve Sauvignon Blanc.

We opened, I sniffed, I drank...and the first thing out of my mouth was "Yummy, it tastes like grapefruit and lime sour patch kids!" Now, I know people out there that will think it is a bit silly to compare lovely wines to popular artificial sugar gummies- but if we aren't trying to make good wine, as opposed to the "B@@nes Farm variety,  accessible and appealing to the mainstream by alluding to flavors  people know and love, then what is the point of making $20.00 bottles of wine. 

Any way- back to the beauty that is Envolve's Sauvignon Blanc. I LOVE when wine has a crisp citrus flavor without the bitterness of less expensive (aka "cheap") white wines.

*** I feel like when you  can taste the bittereness chances are that you will wake up with a bitter hangover the next day.***

I flip over the bottle and sure enough it reads "It shows notes of pink grapefruit, honeysuckle and lime which make this wine a perfect pair with seafood, poultry, and spicy cuisine." 

Remember those summer days as a kid and you walked by a fence that had honeysuckle growing all over it? I would pluck a flower off, or three, and pull that tasty little liquid out of the bottom, it tasted just like simple syrup. This was the image that the Sauvignon Blanc conjured. 

The night we imbibed in this bottle we were eating a variety of foods celebrating  "E is for Eats" "N" Week. I made the "No Calories Added Gluten Free Chocolate Cake with Drunken Dark Rum Cherries and Dark Rum Whipped Cream.  I can honestly say, this wine went with everything.

For those that like to know these things:

Alcohol: 13.4%
Bottle Date: February 15, 2011
89 points from August 2011 Wine Spectator

The price point is quite reasonable at $19.99 retail with discounts if you join the wine club. 

Here is how you find the wines for retail or they are available online. 

In the end, I received an adult (Jelly Shot) version of the Rose from a great friend and watched San Francisco's Ben battle the crazies with a great group of girls. This wine only enhanced the evening. 

Cheers!
xok

Aged to Perfection?

Yikes! Has it really been 3 months since my last post?

There really is no excuse, except I realized that to keep up with the blog I was drinking a ridiculous amount of wine (if that can even be said about drinking wine); the holidays came and went and I didn't find myself pulling out a tasting notebook at parties and I didn't feel like "Excuse me while I judge this wine you just handed to me" and "Oh by the way, do you mind if I snap a quick picture of the bottle?" was appropriate etiquette.

To solve the "wine is the only option to drink because I have a blog to write..." issue at parties, restaurants or simply watching TV at home, I have decided that from time to time I will also post a cocktail review or recipe. Maybe, just maybe, that will solve my lack of posting.

To gear up the new year I will be posting later tonight with a celebrity tie in! Fun! It isn't a rose' but hopefully after tonight's post I will be accepting a rose.

Cheers!
xok

Date night with "E" is for Eat!

The Swirl

Tonight's post is the first of many weekly posts "paired" with Jaymee of "E" is for Eat.

This week is "Date Night". Jaymee made prosciutto wrapped garlic roasted almond stuffed dates! Oh, and I almost forgot to mention as if the 'wrapped in prosciutto' wasn't enough, she then brushed with maple butter before she baked them. Yum!

It just so happens that dates are often paired with a Syrah or a Petite Sirah. Here is a GREAT article on the difference of those two! Wine guy and I also happened to visit Napa this weekend and found an amazing Petite Sirah from The Hess Collection, vineyard, museum and winery.

Without further ado, I introduce the...

2008 Hess Allomi Petite Sirah

Here are the technical notes:

BLEND: 100% Petite Sirah
APPELLATION: Napa Valley
COOPERAGE: 18 months barrel aging in 100% old French oak

Enough of the technical jargon!

I found this wine to be amazingly clean and dry. I had a hard time putting my finger on exactly what it tasted like and then the light bulb went off! This wine tasted like a cinnamon graham cracker. Some folks say that Petite Sirahs from California can tend to be peppery, I didn't really taste it but I thought it would really go well with salsa  or anything with cilantro in it. Which makes me wonder, would a cinnamon graham cracker taste good with salsa? Back to date night....

When I started thinking of other things to pair it with I kept wanting something that had a savory but sweet taste. What is more savory and sweet than a prosciutto wrapped date. A date has a ton of natural sugar (you can feel it when you bite into one!) and we all know how I feel about wine and salty foods, in this case the baked prosciutto. The Allomi Petite Sirah would bring out all of the rich, decadence that the date has but not be so overwhelming that you couldn't eat 4 (or 5-- or 6) dates for starters and sit down with the bottle of wine.

It does have a slightly higher retail price $36.00, but can probably be found at beverage warehouses at a smaller price point. It is available at grocery stores.

Overall, this wine was great! It would definitely be appealing to the masses, so throw a party, serve some dates and enjoy all the compliments!

Cheers!
xok

All things that glitter...or bubble.

Not all sparkling wines are created equal- nor are they all called "Champagne".

The one I am sharing with you today is just one of the many that I love!

It is:

Francis Ford Coppola's
Sophia
Blanc de Blanc
86% Pinot Blanc, 12% Muscat, 2% Riesling


Yum. Muscat- can you taste the peaches yet?

Available in bottle form, wrapped in a cute pink bag (boys- girls will love this!), or in can form, yes, can form. Did I mention that the can comes with a straw!

The concept for this wine in a can is inspiring for an event planner like myself.

It is said that when Sophia, FFC's daughter, was getting married, that she wanted an individual size portions to serve to guests at her wedding.

"For years, Champagne and other sparkling wines have been served up in 187 ml bottles (about six ounces, or a quarter of a full bottle) known among wine types as splits. Coppola wanted to sell a split of Sofia, but couldn't find anyone to package it in small bottles with corks of the same quality as their full-sized offering, which has been bottled since at least 1999." -MSNBC, Jon Bonne'


Their answer to this? Put it in cans, make it marketable to the "Sex in the City" crowd. Guess what? It worked.


 You can take cans anywhere where glass isn't allowed, think outdoor concerts and beaches. Ingenious.


What I LOVE about the Blanc de Blancs is that you can add almost anything to it and you still get the crisp flavor of the original wine as well as the liquor or juice. One of my favorite liquors right now is St. Germaine's. You should put it in everything you drink. 


Tasting Notes:
Mellow flavors of apples and pears are topped by a hint of citrus and honeysuckle


My tasting notes:
Slight tastes of the original SweeTarts, especially the citrus flavors
Very crisp
Goes with just about anything
It has a slight "earthy" flavor to it, I am assuming that this is the honeysuckle mentioned above


At a price point of $15-$20. it is an easy sparkling to keep in the fridge. I know I do!


Until next time, keep on tasting!
xok

Now more equipped for this blog...in San Francisco!

It's been a while!

I am back and ready to start this blog up in force!

I have relocated to San Francisco aka Northern California, North America's wine mecca, am now engaged and am a thirty something. Now just feels like the right time.

Since moving to SF, I have discovered that I like white wine and that I LOVE sparkling wines. I am still primarily a red drinker but I don't feel bad when I want a nice chilled crisp white.

I hope to post once or twice a week and make winery/vineyard trips and posts at least once a month.

Once a week you can find me doing "pairings" with Jaymee at http://www.eisforeat.blogspot.com. She has a letter per week- my goal is to find a wine beginning with that letter to pair with her recipe or if at a restaurant, finding a wine that we think will complement our mood or feelings that day (of course staying with the letter of the week!)

I am NOT a sommelier and have no aspirations to be one, but rather to just enjoy wine and make recommendations to the best of my ability.

Let's have fun!

The French Fry Theory

Ever thought "This would be amazing with *insert food*!" while drinking a glass of wine or any libation for that matter?

I have. Most often this food is the all American salty carbolicious french fry. There is something about salt that enhances the flavor of most things. In wine, I find that it brings out the sweet flavors that you wouldn't normally pick out on your palate. People that really study wines believe this is why you should swish the wine in your mouth, the wine hits every part of your taste types (bitter, salty, sweet,etc.). I find however that swishing it around in my mouth takes too much time (update- I have become much better at doing this!). So, I choose the french fry route.

What are the foods you crave while drinking wine?

Lots of these to come!

Wine Women
"Men are like a fine wine. They all start out like grapes, and it's our job to stomp on them and keep them in the dark until they mature into something you'd like to have dinner with."

-Kathleen Mifsud

Wine Men 

"You haven't drunk too much wine if you can still lie on the floor without holding on. "
- Dean Martin

HOW FUN!

Welcome to the Swirl!

This idea came from sitting on a couch, drinking red wine and watching a movie, there we were and I said something insightful like "This wine tastes a lot like cinnamon candies!" I don't actually recall the flavor I said but I proceeded to get a look of confusion from my couch companion (updated- now my fiance!) . Feeling at this point I needed to defend myself, couch companion is also somewhat of a wine guy, I spouted off some fact that women have different taste buds from men. I stand by this and so does "epicurious" http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2008/01/chick-licks.html

I don't know how often I will post on here, maybe once a week..can't stay too wined up; I have a job during the week (updated- being inspired by my great friend Jaymee at http://www.eisforeat.blogspot.com/ I hope to post once or twice a week)...but when I do post it will list the wine I am drinking (year, price, label, yadada etc.) and the flavors I taste. I will tell you things like if it is sweet, salty, spicy and/or bitter. I will tell you the first flavor I taste and the last flavor I taste. I will try to stay away from flavors that aren't well known..ever read a wine label that says something like oak-y currants?...right, that is what I will not post. Updated! I hope to have at least once a month winery tastings to recommend and maybe score some vineyard visits along the way!

So wine non-aficionados this blog is for you. A simple opinion of wine flavors, per bottle. We will swirl, sniff, look at it and then enjoy. Remember I am NOT a wine expert! Although I might think about taking a class or two...then again I wouldn't want them telling me what to taste.