Back blogging white wine

Call me crazy; it might but true, but I actually bought this bottle of wine for the container it comes in. I needed a second gallon jug to re-rack my homemade cider into... but that's another story.
After a long conversation on the phone with a friend who knows something more about wine than i do, i selected the Carlo Rossi Rhine based on the idea that "hopefully its not as sweet as the zin". As it turns out, its pretty darn sweet and lightly fizzy. A hangover in a gallon sized jug.
I guess i'm not up for a proper review of this stuff. I bought i knowing that it was probably going to be meh, and honestly the 16 dollar price tag was about the same as ordering the jug off amazon, and at least i could get drunk and have a container. If you are ever in the market for something sweet, cheap, and housed in glass, go for it. Otherwise, have some self respect. Buy something in a box next time :).
Also- as a side note, i could have just bought more cider in a gallon jug for 9 dollars at the local Natural Grocers. Sad day. I shall console myself with a large glass of leftover Carlo Rossi.

White Wine or Red Wine?

Overall, when it comes to wine, i really prefer white wine. I know red wine has more health benefits, but for me the only upside is that its harder for me to drink, so i tend to take it slow and enjoy it more. White wine on the other hand, i can pretty much guzzle. 

While I was in Amherst this past weekend, I went to the weekly wine tasting at Amherst Wines and Spirits, a locally run wine shop. Every saturday they do a wine tasting of a different region or type, or both. This past weekend it was Spanish White Wines. While I hadn't heard of most of he varieties  i only ended up liking the first one i tried. I was a lighter, but not light dry white. I'll see if i can't think of what it was called. Amherst wines has a great selection of affordable bottles.

I picked up a 9 dollar italian white wine, since it looked so good. Its Ribolla Gialla, thats the type of grape, bye Ca' Stella. I liked it, and in only a few sittings I had knocked back the whole bottle. I would rate this a 5/5 for yumminess. I reallllly enjoyed it. It was light and refreshing, but not especially dry. 4.5/5 for value, since 9 is still pretty cheap for a bottle i really enjoyed.

When the white was kicked i found this 2003 Marques de Riscal Risevera Rioja. Honestly, i'm not so sure how good this wine is anymore, as in, it may have gone bad. The newer reviews of this spanish wine seem to say its ok, but i'm not so sure. Its mostly tempranillo grape mixed with graciano y manzuelo, and I'm not so sure what my track record is with those. I'm actually going to refrain from rating this one, just in case its a little past its prime. 

*note the cork crumbled when i tried to open it, which may be a sign that oxygen could reach the wine, causing chemical changes.

Cheers anyways!

Thanksgiving week back blogging!

I'll start from the beginning... if i'm getting them all straight, its been a long week or so. On the occasion that I remember to pick up wine from the i end up with something like this: Kalbarri cabernet savignon. This australian red wasn't that exciting all and all. I'm really trying to remember when it was consumed, but it was a solid 3/5 for flavor and 3/5 for value. I think it was 5 or 6 dollars. Solidly mediocre. But hey, it wasn't a california red, like what i usually end up with (cheap!). Online it says this wine won tons of awards. I might be mistaken, but i'm pretty sure it didn't rock my socks. Check out the website if you don't believer me: http://www.kalbarriwines.com/

The next wine i brought to one of those "buy lots of sex toys!" parties, so i only got a glass or so, which promptly spilled everywhere. This blended Chianti from Italy was actually pretty yummy. I picked it up for 6 bucks at the local Aldi. They did good, but hey, they usually do. At the party I also picked up a few toys for myself. I'm excited to use them. My boyfriend, the gym, might be jealous, but i see him everyday anyways. These toys are for special occasion only ;).

Next up are the wines I bought for the shenanigan filled trip to Red River Gorge, Kentucky. Strangely  both  black themed. I bought the first one for the house, a cheap 5 dollar california merlot. This Black Oak had a nice bottle, but don't let it food you. This wine has no flavor profile. Its flat, and not in the ok, i'll drink the whole bottle way. In the wait, why am i drinking this way. 1/5 for flavor. I"m sorry :(. 1/5 for value. No value, not worth attempting a second time.

The other purchase, in a classy, classy box was a Chardonnay from Black Box. I like to buy the wine boxes to pack out to the woods when i'm done adventuring or sitting around and need to warm up. I honestly thought this was a red wine with how much bite it had. Its just a tasty chardonnay, i guess. 4/5 for flavor, and at 6 dollars for the box, 3.5/5 or value. Hey, i'm cheap. :). Definitely a good buy if you are going to be playing in the woods and don't want to hassle with glass.

Cheers friends! 

That wine that starts with a G

I still don't know how to pronounce this, but a friend brought over a bottle of homemade Gewurztraminer on Saturday.

Please note, the color looked nothing like this in person. I was actually a pleasant mellow color, to match its fairly pleasant mellow flavor. The maker, Mike (no not the asshole who dumped me for jesus... i may or may not have relayed that story here) but a friend who works up near Chicago, admitted to losing half the sweetening pouch. He may or may not have accidentally dropped a bunch of it on the floor instead of in the wine brewing bucket. The lack of sweetness was actually quite pleasant in this wine. 

The one downside was a slight off flavor. Mike says the wine may have oxidized a bit, how unfortunate. Overall, not a bad try. I think i'll buy a bottle to see if this type of wine is for me. In its unoxidized form of course. 

Here is your wine knowledge for today:

Gewurztraminer is made from a cool weather white wine grape. Nifty. Apparently it shares some of its aromatic compounds with lychees. If you haven't tired those, you should, they are quite good.

Ok, off to do more work. Sigh.

Happy Wednesday!