Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season! This is by far the best picture I have ever taken of Vegas, hell, the best picture I have EVER taken, so I had to share (again)!
Welcome to the next installment of WWHBD. As in previous posts, since we are true believers of “Drink what you like and everyone tastes differently”, rather than including our tasting notes I have included basic information about each of the wines. If you are interested in reading what we thought about each wine you can follow us on Delectable. We can be found @Dracaenawines.
If you ask an oenophile what was their epiphany wine, they will be more than happy to tell you what was THE wine that turned them into a wine lover. For me, Ferrari Carano 1992 Chardonnay is that wine. It was love at first site (taste.) Although tonight’s wine is a 2012 Fume Blanc, Ferrari Carano is near and dear to my heart. When Mike is, lets say not in my highest regard at the moment, he knows that if he produces a Ferrari Carano wine for dinner, I immediately change my mood. Well, tonight there was no “need” for FC, but he pulled it anyway- who am I to complain!
Mike is in Paso this weekend. I told him to pick some wines that I can drink when he isn’t around. His response was the correct one, “pull whatever you want.” For all you husbands out there, that is a perfect answer, however, I did want some direction since I didn’t want to choose something he really was looking forward to having. He chose three, and I chose the 2010 Niner Boot Jack Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon. All I can say is “HOLY SH*! This wine is amazing. I immediately texted Mike to tell him to BUY MORE! As for the picture, I “stole” the concept from @d_razzi on instagram. I saw the balancing cork last week and had to try it.
While Mike was in Paso doing business, I had a holiday party to attend. It was a great get together and it was fun. Alcohol was not a priority for this group, so the choices were slim pickings. The wines available were from Rex Goliath. I have never heard of them, nor do I want to ever hear from them again. The fact that Coors Light was my libation for the evening should tell you all you need to know. But the story behind the wine is interesting. According to Rexgoliath’s website, Rex Goliath was the treasured attraction of a Texas circus. People came from all over to see this 47 lb. bird, who was supposedly the “World’s Largest Rooster.” The wines are a tribute to Rex’s larger-than-life personality, with bold, fruit flavors. Their motto is “Bold Wines. Fun Times.”
As I noted earlier, Mike has just returned from Paso Robles after spending some time at the winery and checking that all is going well. Of course, while he was there he did do some “shopping.” But in addition to his purchases, he brought back some barrel samples for me. So tonight we sat down and enjoyed a glass each of Dracaena Wines 2013 and 2014 Cabernet Franc.
It’s #WineWednesday and this elf knew what he wanted. Mike and I selected a Trivento 2011 Armado Sur Malbec. It is 78% Malbec, 12% Bonarda and 10% Syrah. We have had several wines from Trivento and we really have never been disapointed. It is a solid value wine. The Reverse Wine Snob rated this a bulk buy in April of 2013. It may have lost a bit from then, but it is still worth the money. It has an 87.8 Cellar Tracker Rating also. So this may be one you want to pick up. According to Trivento’s website this wine received a 91 with Wine Spectator stating “This ripe red delivers jammy cherry boysenberry and spice notes, backed by fresh acidity , light tannins and a zesty finish of spice box, licorice and smoke.” if that interests you. (we had a very different taste analysis- other than the smoke)
William Shakespeare wrote “Go girl, seek happy nights and happy days.” Who am I to not listen to good old Will. He spoke the truth. I met three girlfriends at a wonderful restaurant in Oakland (NJ) Cafe L’Amore. Several wines were brought and several were consumed. The food and service were fantastic. When the waitress came to see if we wanted any coffee or dessert, she noticed there was still more unopened wine. She asked “Or would you like for me to open another bottle?” There was a unanimous “YES!” The waitress laughed and opened the Justin Cabernet Sauvignon. Before I knew it, we had been at the restaurant for over 3 hours. The only hint that was given that we should start packing it up was when the valet came over to our table and said he was leaving and handed us our keys.
It’s been a busy two weeks for wine drinking. I know, poor me. After a night out with the girls, tonight we had dinner at a neighbor’s house. We brought spinach cheese crescent rolls and a Bianchi Cabernet Sauvignon. We wanted our friends to experience wine from our region, since they were unfamiliar with the Central Coast. It turned out that both were a hit as the spinach rolls disappeared and the bottle was emptied quickly. After dinner, we weren’t ready to call it an evening, so we decided to travel north up the coast a few hours to Napa and opened a bottle of Andretti Barbera and continued the wonderful conversation.
Saturday night brought us a 2006 Vincent Arroyo Winemaker’s Selection Petite Sirah. We have been fans of Arroyo for a very long time. We were lucky enough to discover Arroyo early on in our wine loving history. On our annual trips to Napa/Sonoma we would stop at Arroyo and Mike would taste while I would play with Joy. Sadly, Joy passed away some time ago, but they now have JJ (black lab) and Bodega (chocolate lab.) We fell in love with “Joy’s Blend” and of course their signature wine, their Petite Sirah. We have been on their mailing list for what seems like forever. Arroyo was one of our first loves and we have stayed true to him and his wines. Vince is a farmer by heart, and that is what makes his wines so fantastic. He nurtures his wines from bud break to bottle. His motto is “take what you have and do the best you can with it.” And he sure gets the best out of his vines.
Hope you had some great wines this past two weeks. We would love to hear what your favorite was.
~Slainte!
