Grilled Pizza and Chilled Pinot

 What better way is there to cheer up a sad face than by stuffing some pizza in it? Last week fancy dinner night included grilled pizza, which was actually really easy and delicious! I'm not sure what the correct pairing would be for a pizza without red sauce, but that night was Pinot Grigio from Trader Joe's. Its name is on the bottle, but basically it was an italian import Pinot Grigio. Not too complex, but decently dry and fairly tasty. I'd rate it about 3/5 for taste, and 4/5 for value. Trader Joe's does have wine for good value.
The pizza on the other hand was AWESOME! Try it the next time you can. I cannot wait to try it again.
Alright, BBQ time here again.

Weekends are Always more fun!

 

This picture might look awful classy, but it was just at the sober end of a really great Cinco de Mayo BBQ. (Great job Hermes!) While not quite in the spirit of the holiday, this Beringer, California Collection Chardonnay was way better than i remember the last California collection wine i had being. I think this bottle was about 7 dollars, making it a 3 or so for value out of 5. For taste it gets a solid 4. Light, refreshing, not overly sweet or dry; it was a great wine to enjoy with chips and salsa. Followed by margaritas and banderitas, of course.

Last weekend was an awesome trip to the red river gorge in KY. Sitting around a campfire is never quite complete without something yummy to drink, so we stopped on the way before we hit the dry counties and stocked up for the weekend. I found the lovely juicebox packaged Bandit wine. While a Pinot Grigio is not my top pick for camping, the box noted that this wine would be a great option to take outside camping and hiking. I had no choice but to give it a try. 

The box, weighing in at 1.3 times the normal wine bottle size would have been great to save and pack with me if there had actually been any left after it was passed around a few times. I'd give it at 8 dollars for the box a 3.5/5 for value and 4/5 for taste.

Please don't judge the picture. No one is pretty after 6 hours hours in the car followed by camping in Kentucky.

When we do it right...

I'm a little behind on my blogging, I spent some time recently at a conference in San Diego, followed by a mini climbing vacation in Kentucky, so I haven't been devoting too much time to drinking and talking about it. There are a few things I do want to back up and post on, though.

Last Thursday following one of the worst headaches I've had in a while, I went over to Mike's for some much earned R&R. It was his turn to cook some delicious food and pair it with some possibily tastier wine. We are working on his cooking for future dates. I am the lucky beneficiary of his culinary practice. On the menu for that day was grilled salad with balsamic dressing and feta cheese.

Following the salad we threw some seasoned whitefish in a tinfoil packet on the grill and paired it with a light Meridian Pinot Grigio. As you can see, the fish didn't last too long, it was realllllllly good! The wine was middle of the road, nice, light, and not overbearing. I'd give it a 3.5/5 for taste, and 3/5 for value since I liked it, and honestly can't remember how much it cost. It paired nicely with the fish and made for an overall enjoyable evening. Date approved, Mike! Add it to the list of possibilities. 

After dinner, Mike got all fancy and made icecream with a blackberry sacue. AMAZING! Blackberries are my absolute favorite and we paired this with a bottle of blackberry wine I've been saving for a special occasion, but Mike wins! and got to split the bottle with me. The blackberry sauce and the wine, an Oliver Winery mainstay, tasted almost the same. Except one gave me a great buzz. Both were overall amazing. The blackberry wine gets a 5/5 for taste, i really do love the stuff, but a 4.5/5 for value, since its on the high end of my wine budget at 15-20 dollars (I bought it in October, so i don't recall).  

More to come, including sangria in San Diego and boxed wine, made to drink around the campfire!

Dealing with my problems

This was from my ever so happy Monday. After a lovely 5 hours of sleep I was greeted to an equally enthusiastic breakup. Fun. in order to keep the day going I enjoyed a nice bottle of Trader Joe's Chilean Savignon Blanc (not pictured). I did share at least at the 3rd barbeque of the season at a friend's place. Of what I could taste, that bottle was delicious. I'm pretty sure in my state it could have been radiator fluid and I still would have finished it, however. I'll give it a 5/5 for being there at the right place and time, and a 4.5 for value. It was 3.99 I believe.

Later on in the evening Mike came by  to make sure I was still alive (albeit curled into the fetal possition on the couch). He brought another of his sale bottles from the local liquer store. This particular wine was a Pinot Grigio from Blue Fish Wineries. While we were expecting a nice dry crisp wine we were greated with a lightly bubbly sweet wine. 1/5 for flavor. 3/5 for value since it was only a few dollars on sale. At regular price (about 13 dollars) it would not be worth it at all. As it was we barely made a dent in it. I'll try it again when I'm having another dissapointing evening I supose.

All in all, these helped me through my day, on to bigger and better things!

Catching up

Its been a little while and i've been a bit bad about emailing pictures to myself from my bricked out Iphone. For a quick catchup- about a week and a half ago Patrick's roommate Marissa treated a few of her awesome friends to a delicious homemade Italian dinner of stuffed pasta. In addition she provided a very tasty and well matched cabernet savignon from Livingston. For 6 dollars, this giant bottle made its way around the room. Sadly, i was not there when the bottle was drained, but it was definitely empty the next time i came by. I'd give it a 4.5 for value (giant bottle!) and a 3.5 for yumminess!
 Moving on to last Thursday! Date night! We didn't get around to eating until about 8pm, and pizza salad was on the menu. We baked some Pillsbury pizza dough up with some freshly grated parm. Then when it was done topped it with salad and some veggies that were sauteed in a fairly tasty pinot from Jacob's creek that was left in the fridge after the classy party (3 for yummines and ? for value... I . We drank some Trader Joe's Costal savignon blanc.Very tasty! Another 4 for taste and 5 for value at 4 dollars.  After dinner we enjoyed some delicious rootbeer floats spiked with vanilla vodka. A great way to top of a relaxing evening. A very filling and relaxing evening. I'm sure there will be more floats this evening since we are celebrating all things Patrick for St. Paddy's day! And while i might be a little Irish via Boston, I too cannot resist celebrating every holiday that employs drinking as its official celebratory act. More to come!

A Lovely Spring Break in Indiana

Its Spring Break! After destroying myself on a massively strenuous backpacking trip, or what others would call a meander through the woods, it was definitely time to settle back to my spot on the couch for a little R and R. The California Collection lingering in my fridge needed to go, and its not risotto season anymore, so down the hatch! Mike came by for some post work TV and brought along his last bottle of on sale Beringer from the Thanksgiving of Awesomely cheap wine. ( I say that with nostalgia since i miss being able to buy these in bulk at such low prices.) It was a lovely Pinot Grigio with a nice smooth mellowness. It was a touch sweet, but it contrasted nicely to the slightly drier, fruiter Savingon Blanc I started the night with. I'd give this bottle a 4.5 for value; how can you beat $2.50 a bottle? For taste its more of a 4, probably a 3 really, but I can't get over how yummy it is for how cheap it is. Or Indiana is just messing with my wine pallet, they do love their sweet table wines.
On a completely unrelated note, tonight is going to be our very own bicycle brewery tour! There might only be one brewery on the tour due to laziness, and my lackluster appreciation for the Lafayette Brewing Company: Peoples. There should be some good photos to come!

Sometimes there is food, too!

After a long weekend of sleeping as much as possible, running almost 12 miles (I know! There is a little bit of an overachiever in me.) and grading papers, a relaxing Monday night was definitely in order. I decided ill-advisedly to try my hand at some vegetarian Moussaka, which while delicious took FOREVER to assemble. Yes the photo is me showing off. 

Charles and Patrick meandered over to try some of the outcome and watch some bad television, my entertainment of choice. Patrick showed up with a bottle of Fontana Candida Pinot Grigio. With low expectations we wrestled the cork from the bottle and were pleasantly surprised. This 9 dollar bottle was purchased from the Village Bottle Shop across the intersection from house. Officially, this is now the only wine we have ever gotten from there that I would consider drinking again. In a quick search of other reviews this wine is labeled compelling. While this may be true for some, I find this wine a decent deal, maybe a 3/5 for 9 dollars, putting it in my mid-range price category. Light, refreshing, and overall, doesn't have anything that stands out as bad or horribly wrong (that standard being set by home brew of course.) I'd give it a 3 for flavor. 

Just a note on my current price categories:
Category 1: $6.99 or less
Category 2: $7-15
Category 3: Things I cannot afford.

If only we were still in Venice...

Just another chill evening (over a week ago) sipping on whatever white wine is left in the fridge. If only I were still in Venice enjoying my wine with some delicious Italian food! Or on a beach somewhere, which i would take even without the wine.... Spring break is on its way!
So... back to wine... this approximately 6 dollar bottle was a great find by Patrick until I tried some after drinking my favorite wine ever, when i noticed its over dry taste, and unbalanced flavor. While it is drinkable, Rosemount Pinot Grigio is not on my must buy list.
As a side note, the other writers and I have been discussing a rating system for our wines. Since we are trying such a variety of types of wines and possibly other drinks, as well as bottles of differing values, it might take a little while. In regards to this wine, using an untested rating system, out of 5 (1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest) I would give it a 2.5 for flavor, and a 3 for value. It wouldn't be bad paired with food, but I'll take something else for sipping next time.