Ruffino Lumina 2010 Pinot Grigio

Well, as many of you know it's Lent and that means fish on Fridays. Being the part time Catholic that I am (don't tell my mother), the least I can do is observe the practice of fish on Friday. Tonight I treated myself to a delicious tilapia in parchment and the very tasty Ruffino Pinot Grigio. Steve took the kids to the Monster Truck Mania at the Sears Center and so I have a few precious hours to myself to eat, drink, be merry, and of course to blog.

The Ruffino vineyards are in one of my personal favorite parts of the world, Venice. They have been practicing the art of wine making since 1877. They have lots of wonderful info on their site, including recipes for paring. You can find them here. 

Now for the wine. The color was light yellow and clear. The nose was not overly fragrant, but you could detect the hints of citrus. The flavor was delicate and very pleasant.   It paired really well with the tilapia and I can imagine any white fish or even white meat poultry would be fantastic.  I would definitely buy it again!

We're ba-ack!!! Middle Sister goodie two-shoes Pinot Noir

Well, it's been a while and with moving, two new jobs and two kids I let all of that take over and the blog (and my sanity) suffered.  Lindsay and I have been talking about getting it back up and running for some time now and today, with the small blizzard that blew through Chicago and my desire to make my Grandma Rose's  meatballs and gravy it really seemed like the right time.  I made the pasta and opened the wine! 

I have to admit that the clever marketing of Middle Sister Wines has always appealed to me.  The art work grabs me, but the dialogue on the back of the bottle is what sells it.  The fact that they give a dime for each bottle they sell to women's causes, such as Dress for Success, really made me want to give them a shot.

So, now for the tasting.  The garnet color was nice and consistent.  The aroma had both fruit and wood scents.  I got berries and oak when I sniffed it.   The oak comes through in the flavor stronger than the berry, but the berry wast really present in the after taste for me.  I really thought it was a good wine.  It was very drinkable and went well with my pasta.  What more could I ask for on a Friday night?

Not about a wine but about life!

I know that this blog is all about wine. But, sometimes a girl's gotta vent. People ask me all the time about the choices I make and the way my life is going. I pretend like have all of the answers. For If I look like I have any doubts I'm afraid that people will start to doubt me. So here goes.....

Sometimes I feel like I'm in the waiting room of life. A little lost just waiting to find my own direction. It's tough because you are unsure of which path to take. What if you choose the wrong one? What if you waste your time going down something you felt was the right path? It just gets frustrating when you go down these paths alone. You have to muster up the courage to not give up and keep going and remind yourself why you are doing this.

There are days when I do want to quit and go to something more familiar. Go do something "Normal" with my life. Go out, meet someone, get married, have my white picket fence and three kids and a dog playing in the yard. Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with that lifestyle I think its wonderful. And part of me wants a snippet of that "normalcy" but, which part do I want? I know I want the family part. It's what's most appealing to me. I want to someday have a house filled with noise and laughter and all be it chaos. I want a close knit family.

But, I myself want to lead by example. To show my children if you have a dream, desire and down right need you must follow it. Even if it goes against what society might coin as "normal". If you are lucky enough to figure out what you want to be when you grow up you better go for it. That desire better be just setting your heart on fire and make you crazy if you don't do it. Because without that passion, fire and drive you will surrender. You will give in and just take the easy route. The art of just getting by. The art of existing and not really living. I want to show them that people are going to tell you "NO" or "You will never succeed, or do that" doesn't mean you have to listen. Unless it's their parents saying no to something completely immoral.

So, I guess if you find yourself in the waiting room of life just bursting at the seams make your presence known! Make the journey and the waiting as fun and as educational as possible. For i have found in the waiting we receive humble patience. so when the opportunity of a path presents itself you will have humble courage and extreme desire to walk that path alone hand in hand with God!

A wine you should skip.

I feel bad having to do this, but this wine was really that bad.  Terre Delle Falcole 2003 Chianti Classico.  It is normally $15.99 a bottle, which is more than I will typically spend, but it was on sale for $9.99 so I thought it was my lucky day. Not so!  I cannot tell you how sad it makes me to have to bag an Italian wine, but seriously folks-DO NOT BUY THIS WINE! 

Starborough 2010 Sauvignon Blanc - A rising star!

It was my turn to pick the wine for the week so I was lucky enough to be able to hit the local Jewel-Osco liquor section sans children!  I thought it was time for another white, but was apprehensive about being responsible for picking one after the major hit that we had with the Kris Pinot Grigio.  I thought that I would try another varietal and went for another favorite, Sauvignon Blanc.  I will openly admit that I was drawn to the Starborough Sauvignon Blanc because of the beautiful label...I guess I drink with my eyes first.  Thankfully, I was not just another pretty face!

So, now for the tasting notes!  According to the Starborough website the wine is filtered before bottling and that is noticeable in it's clarity.  The wine doesn't just look good in the bottle it looks good in the glass, too.  When I put the glass up to my nose to take a sniff the first thought that came to my mind was, "YUM!"  It smelled nice and fruity, but not in a, " Oh no, this is going to be too sweet way."  The fruit notes are a little on the tropical side, likely because the wine is from New Zealand.  I thought it has a hint of kiwi in both the aroma and the taste.  The flavor of the wine is a match to the aroma, but it is also very well balanced between the fruit and the acidity that I tend to like in a white wine.  My overall impression of this wine was that it was the total package!  Well priced, pretty bottle and a delicious wine that I will certainly buy again.  I rated it an 87.5 on the Parker Scale, which was pretty much in line with the "experts."  It's a great wine, so go out and grab a bottle and let me know what you think! 

Until next time.  Happy drinking!

A Masterpiece or a Flop?

I feel as though it has been forever since I have gotten to indulge on a full glass of red wine and sit in my thinking chair. OK to be fair I don't have a thinking chair. I have a very small apartment and my only chair I frequent is also shared with a 17lb dog that needs to sit next to me. This occasion would be no different.

I was walking down the wine isle of my local Trader Joe's when I noticed this bottle called Da Vinci. I thought to myself well Da Vinci had created great masterpieces such as the paintings of the Last Supper, The Vitruvian Man, and his most famous on of all The Mona Lisa. But, this man was the jack-of-all-trades if you will. He could do it all he was a painter, he could draw, he was an architect, a sculptor and an inventor. Oh he was also as I like to call a slight over achiever. I'll be happy if I succeed in one thing let alone master five different fields. But, I digress. Yes, I now know they didn't name the wine specifically after him but, they did name the town after him and the wine was named after the town so not a bad trade off. I didn't know that until I did a bit of research so my initial thought was wow these guys were pretty ballsy to call something a masterpiece by naming it after the master himself.

I take back that thought now knowing what I do now. I like a good Chianti. I had never had a Chianti until my family and I were traveling in Italy, Tuscany to be exact. I like a good full- bodied red wine and Chiantis are just that. It's amazing because now I can always tell when a wine comes from that region without knowing where that bottle came from before I take that first sip. As soon as it hits my taste buds it's like they begin applauding. It really is something in the soil that you taste and it's delicious.

Ok back to the Da Vinci is it a masterpiece or a flop?

The cork seems like it takes forever to get out of the bottle and not to sound barbaric but, i have to use my teeth to get it out that last little bit!!! Stupid wine opener. My parents are going to be pissed that i used my teeth considering they paid a lot for these Chiclets (my family calls my teeth)! But, the cork is finally out. That was the most physical activity I have done all day including going to work. I examined the cork and it was moist at the end just perfect. I poured that wine through my personal aerator(yup i got one what am I am amateur?) and watched as it in an orderly fashion filled my glass turning it from clear to a lovely plum color. And I don't know if it was the wine or the tear in my eye from excitement( because it has been such a long time) but it seemed like the wine sparkles in the light.

The scent seems like a deep blackberry with some oak and a bit of earth in there as well. Hey earthy is fine with me. We are all trying to be one with nature especially out here in LALA land so consider this my contribution.

The flavor is just as I had hoped it would be rich and tasty. It goes down easy leaving no bad aftertaste at all. It's one of those tastes that doesn't linger but fades evenly. I do taste a deep blackberry and also a cherry and some oak in there. Just a lovely combination that comes together in this bottle. Its not a complicated wine. It's simply delicious. Honestly, It lived up to the name. Nice Chianti to wash down a rich meal with. I'm not a meat eater but, if I was I'm thinking a good steak would taste just divine. If your a veggie person I'm going to try it with a lovely risotto creation and once my food coma wears off I'll brag on how delicious it was together.

I hope you guys get a chance to enjoy this wine as much as I did. At Trader Joe's you can find it for a mean $9.99. Not a bad price at all for me and I'm poor. So go grab that bottle put on some true Italian music, close your eyes and day dream to Tuscany. I'll meet you there for it's where I go in my dreams every night!

FINALLY!!!! Da Vinci 2008 Chianti - Jennifer's Review

Well, it has been quite the hiatus for the old wine blog, but we are back up and drinking!  Poor Lindsay was really sick for a good long while and was unable to drink with the illness and then the antibiotics.

So, the Da Vinci?  I had my eye on this wine for a few years, but because I am typically a cheapskate I never indulged.  When Lindsay recommended it I was glad and it was also, coincidentally, on sale this week at Jewel-double win!!!

I always follow the Wine Lover's Simple Tasting Form when I do my tastings.  You can find it here.

After uncorking and allowing the wine to breath for 5 seconds (normal recommended time would be 30 minutes, but it had been a long day so cut me some slack!)  I poured it into the glass and took a good look at the beautiful rich magenta color.  Even though it was a red wine, you could see that it had clarity and the light shone through the wine to reveal many shades of reddish purple when I held it up to the light in my kitchen.  The aroma was mostly oak, but if you sniffed real hard that slight bit of fruit could be detected.  The flavor of the wine very much matched the aroma in that the oak was the first to be tasted and that was followed by the fruit in the finish.  I really loved this wine, as I tend to prefer "earthy" reds.  The medium finish was just the right length, in my opinion and left me wanting that next sip.  My final grade, according to the Parker Scale, was a 91.25.  I would definitely recommend this wine and I will certainly purchase it again.