Winos Anonymous

Friday marked the first time I made it out to First Friday on Abbot Kinney in Venice. As its name suggests, First Friday happens the first Friday of every month  and all stores and galleries on the street stay open until 10pm and serve wine and treats. I was pumped to finally take part and get my drink on… but lo and behold it was a mob scene. This shouldn’t have been a surprise to me, but I was hungry, cranky, and very much in need of a nice glass of wine… and though I am a New Yorker, crowds stress me out- especially when they come between me and food or booze. I’m sure if I had some food in my system I would have had a blast, but that was not the case… so after bopping around a few places, Beau and I bailed and headed over to Whole Foods to grab a wine I’d tried once before and LOVED: the Juan Gil 2007 Jumilla Monastrell:

Monastrell is the Spanish version of Mourvedre, which is a principle blending grape in Rhone blends (and you know I LOOOOOOOVE Rhone blends.) Until trying this wine (more…)

Okay, I have a confession to make. Since this is Winos Anonymous, I feel I should be honest with you all: Monday night I was unable to blog about a wine because… I was drinking bourbon. I’M SORRY! It was cold outside and I had an eggnog chaser and I just couldn’t help myself. I hope you all will understand and forgive my infidelity… I think this next wine will make it alllllll better though. Oooooooh it’s a good one. Fellow winos, this is Las Rocas Garnacha- the best Garnacha I have tasted to date:

First of all, you can find this wine for under ten dollars, which is NUTS considering it got a 90 from Wine Advocate and is so delish and so complex (it’s from old vines, which always adds a nice depth.) The color is a deep ruby, with a nose of black raspberry, white pepper, and a little funk (love it!) That black raspberry and pepper carries over into the palate, as well as some spice and a whole lotta smooth. I was in ecstasy sipping this wine, making quite a fuss. Beau, who is NOT a wine person (see, love really IS blind,) was probably a little jealous of the Garnacha and a little intrigued, so he took a sip. He nodded his head and then got up and POURED HIMSELF A FULL GLASS. I almost died. To date, beau has never once willingly drank wine. I know this act might not mean much to you, but my jaw was on the floor… if nothing else take it as proof that this wine is AMAZING. This wine brings people together, ya’ll…

It is without question one of my new favorites. I can’t rave about it enough. I hope you enjoy this wine as much as I did, dear winos!

I was so excited to finally try the El Coto Rioja last night after my Rueda disappointment on Sunday. Here he is, in all his regal, gold fishnet-wrapped glory (I felt a from-below shot would be more fitting for this bad boy):

I couldn’t get over the beautiful ruby color of the wine:

After drooling over the color alone, I took my first sniff. I noticed immediately the prominent red fruit- cherry, strawberries, raspberries, plus a little funk (which you know I love), and a little earth. Oh yeah, I was into it. Then I took a sip… WHAT?!? Where had all the complexity of the nose gone? Where was the funk? Where was the earth? After building up the Rioja so much in my mind, I was crushed (wine pun not-intended) to discover that though it had a lovely, long finish, something was missing on the palate. It was like finally being set up with that gorgeous guy you’ve been eyeing for months only to discover he has ZERO sense of humor or personality. AWKWARD. Yeah, that’s kind of how this wine tasting was.

Ok, he had some redeeming qualities- I’ll stop using date analogies to describe the wine and give you the actual tasting notes. There was lovely red fruit and stone fruit present, a bit of slate, a bit of anise, and the finish was beautifully long (thanks to the noble, old Tempranillo grapes.) I suppose I was just hoping for a little more roundness, a little more complexity. It was only $10.99 after all, but still… at that price point you should definitely be able to find some delicious, pretty complex wines.

One mistake I made in retrospect was not having this wine with food. I definitely don’t think it’s an easy-drinking wine- it’s so dry it is begging to cut into a NY strip or a ribeye, roasted chicken with mashed potatoes, or even a pizza (yeah, I said it.)

Let’s not give up on Rioja’s, though… there are some AMAZING ones out there. I’ll make it a mission to find one for you all. Does anyone have a go-to Rioja that they are just dying to share? Hook a wino up.

Keeping with our Spanish theme, I thought I’d tell you about a delicious Tempranillo I tried last week:

Paso a Paso Tempranillo is from La Mancha (Don Quixote anyone? Anyone? Just me? Okay then)- an arid, fertile plain near the middle of Spain. This Tempranillo is made from organic grapes from old vines- win and win. It is also aged for 6 months in French Oak, which adds a nice depth to the wine without an overwhelming oakiness about it (ya’ll know how I have an oak problem.) The result is a smooth, simple, rustic wine with tasting notes of cherry, vanilla, and spices and just a hint of earthy funk (good funk.) I would pair this with a drunken goat cheese or a Manchego aged 6-12 months, depending on your preference. It would also go beautifully with lamb, chicken, seared ahi tuna, and hearty pasta dishes. I bought it on sale for $10.99 at Whole Foods, though I’ve seen it sold as high as $14.00 and as low as $7.00 on WineBuyer. The wine label is different on WineBuyer though, so careful with that one… probably best to check with your local Whole Foods or wine shop first.

And listen… Beau liked it (and he doesn’t ever like wine.) If you want a more official rating, though, Wine Advocate gave it an 89. I think it’s a great value for a consistent, lovely wine. Cheers, my dears! Enjoy and let me know what you think!

All day I was struggling with a decision: should I sip a white wine or a red wine with my Sunday supper? I know there are worse quandaries in the world, but I honestly couldn’t decide and it was troubling. You see, it’s very unlike me- I usually know around 10:30am what I’ll be drinking that evening and plan the rest of my day around it (joking… kind of.)

Earlier this evening, Beau and I went to our local Whole Foods to plan our Sunday supper and for me to pick out a wine to blog about. I stood in the wine section for a solid 5 minutes and all I could do was narrow it down to a country: Spain. In one hand I held an elegant Rioja but I knew I still needed (or wanted… whatever) a white. Fortunately, Megan, a wine-and-cheese-savvy employee, must have seen me looking like a lost puppy and came over to lend her services. She gave me a big thumbs up on my Rioja choice and when I told her I was still in the market for a white she suggested the Marques De Riscal Rueda, which is made from the Spanish grape Verdejo (Rueda refers to the region in which the grapes are grown.)

Unfortunately, our Whole Foods has a very small selection of chilled wines and no wine chiller, so when I got home I had to take matters into my own hands. Don’t be jealous of my ghetto wine chiller:

The verdict? Eh.

Now, I’m only speaking for myself and for Beau, who went so far as to say “it tasted like dirty pennies.” But let’s keep in mind that Beau is not a huge fan of wine in general so his input is mainly for amusement. And hey, maybe some of you are into dirty pennies… as we say here at Winos Anonymous: no judgments. Joking aside, I do actually think many people might enjoy this wine- particularly Pinot Grigio and Reisling people (again, no judgments. Okay, maybe a little judgment.) How ’bout I give you a technical rundown and let you decide?

As far as the nose is concerned, there’s a great deal of honey and tropical fruit. As far as tasting notes are concerned, that honey and tropical fruit carries over quite a bit and is balanced nicely by a crisp minerality and a bit of citrus/apple. It’s definitely more fruit-forward than I like and has a bit more residual sugar than I like, but again… a lot of people are into that. I think it would pair beautifully with a sharp, aged Manchego or a Cana de Cabra goat cheese to cut into that slight sweetness (and to keep with our Spanish theme- haaaaay.)

I am a very opinionated little wino and though the Marques De Riscal Rueda isn’t quite my thing, I honestly think a lot of people will like it. Again, take a look at my nose and tasting notes and if it sounds like your thing, go for it! It is on sale at Whole Foods for $10.99 so you can experiment without going broke. Let me know what you think!

Tomorrow I will continue the Spanish theme with a delicious, organic Tempranillo and later this week I will try that Rioja… stay tuned!