misa en place

Cari amici,
I like rhyming my days: hence, Monday Mung Beans. Tuesday Tofu. Ok, that schedule is sort of over because certain people in my life miss meat. Monday might have to be meatballs or meatloaf. But at least I will try to keep my varietals in line. So, Tuesday = Tempranillo. RAIMAT 2003. Well, to be honest, I drank the bottle while I was cooking pollo al parmigiano: a nice Spanish wine for a savory poultry serving. It is estate bottled and I do taste the dark plum. 6 bucks? Please purchase! Tomorrow… what rhymes with Wednesday? Wine?
A presto!

Cari amici,
Los Angeles is on fire, literally, and the autumnal November days are feeling more like the end of days. With all the smoke in the air, it’s better to stay indoors and cook up some spicy food to make you sweat it out. White wine was on my agenda, seeing the HANDLEY SAUVIGNON BLANC at the reasonable price of $6 and keeping in mind a recommendation (despite my initial skepticism) for COLUMBIA CREST TWO VINES RIESLING for $5. Honestly hated (ok, maybe too strong a verb) Handley. Found it flat and lacking grassiness. The Riesling was a better bet and went well with my homemade Pad Thai. Will Riesling be my new reason for drinking? Not sure: going through a general period in life in which I don’t know what I’m craving and even after buying several bottles of the coveted Franc/Merlot Wine Party I was not as ecstatic. Just waiting for a wine (that will probably be more than 10 bucks a bottle) to win me over.

Cari amici,
The streets are filled with protesters – an amazing and inspiring view from my roof as Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles is virtually shut down. And that means there is no point in driving: better to take a walk down the street, see the commotion/emotion, and pick up some wine to enjoy the energy.

Tonight I’ve picked up an old favorite and trying a recommendation from the wine merchant at World Market. He recommended the CONO SUR PINOT NOIR 2007 from Chile for 8 bucks. It labels itself “environmentally friendly” because of its CarbonNeutral delivery status. Che?/What? It “means that CO2 emissions from the shipping of Cono Sur wines have been measured and balanced to net zero through high quality Greenhouse Gas Emissions reduction projects.” So I support that. The wine, however, doesn’t give me any of that burnt cherry flavor that I like in a Pinot. I know: “burnt cherry”??? Yes. Give a good Pinot a taste with this ridiculous phrase in mind and you’ll see what I mean. Here I am tasting more cranberry. I prefer, as mentioned in the last entry, the CASTLE ROCK PINOT NOIR – though I need to specify that it is the one from Mendocino (NOT Monterey).

But let us go back to my favorite wine from World Market that I have neglected to mention here. BORSAO 2007 (6 bucks) from Spain: 75% Garnacha & 25% Tempranillo. Used to be five dollars, but I would even pay ten for it: it’s a fantastic wine for those who don’t want to go all the way with Grenache but want to get pretty intimate.

Anticipating some wining this weekend, so lots more news to come.

A presto!

Cari amici,
Looking at my last entry and realizing that the baseball season ended, the football season started, and hockey is back I realized that I need to get back to my favorite sports: drinking and discourse. Plus I was reminded by my ever-so-kind friend and much more experienced enophile Jessica that I had promised to send her the link to this blog (this was over several glasses of wine, including a Barbera that we both found blah). So all I needed was a push and it is not as if I haven’t been drinking wine… and lots of it. I’ll try to recap some wines in the next couple of entries, but for now I’ll stick with the bottle I am finishing off tonight after breaking into it for a historic election night and homemade chipotle chili. Needless to say, the CASTLE ROCK 2006 SYRAH did not meld well with spicysoupiness – but tasting it again tonight I’d say it is a decent wine (not amazing): still peppery, a bit leathery but nice for a slightly cooler november evening. Having tried the Castle Rock PINOT NOIR over the summer and thought it great for 10 bucks, I also tried their MERLOT ($5 bucks like the Syrah) and thought it was fantastic (for a Merlot, which is saying a lot!).

And in case you haven’t read this elsewhere, if you are at Trader Joe’s and find the California Wine Party CABERNET FRANC-MERLOT, buy a case of it. I can’t find it anymore and it truly is one of the best wines I’ve had in recent months…

I think I’m over Grenache. I will keep you updated on the next varietal obsession.

A presto!