d'Arenberg The Stump Jump Shiraz `08 (not TJ's) $14.99 ***

Who knew? I like Shiraz.  This is a good bottle from South Australia. JPH unscrewed the bottle while he was brazing lamb shanks for dinner.  The smell drew me in to the kitchen and I had a pleading look on my face.  Since it would be silly for me to bury my head in the braising pot (I was starving), I appeased my appetite by pouring a glass and starting a review.

First pour:  mmmm a mouth full of blackberries.  Good, fresh blackberries.  No oak to speak of and not much of a finish.  It was mouth watering. There was a bit of an after burn, I looked at the bottle and realized that it was 14.5%.  Yikes.  A good, strong wine - to say the least.

After the Vinturi:  Not much of a difference.  I wouldn't bother.  Just take a big fruity sniff, have a big, fruity mouthful and enjoy this wine.  We pay a Gold Coast premium on this wine, I know that it can be had for a lot less that $14.99.  If you like a nice fresh, fruity Shiraz, I would go for it.

Indaba Sauvignon Blanc `09 $5.99 ***

I like Indaba wines. They are good, economical wines from South Africa. So what if they are screw top?  I was at a tasting earlier this week, and the rep said that 2009 was a GREAT year for South African wine.  (I don't know exactly what he means, I'm not sophisticated enough to really compare years - but it was good wine)

For six bucks, this fruity white wine is a good buy.  Having a chilled bottle on hand this summer to drink with a salad or something light would be a good thing.  This wine adds a crisp freshness, and gives you a little buzz as well.  Win/win in my book. There is a citrusy taste with a slight herbal aftertaste.  This is not a sweet wine. It is refreshing.

Tonight's menu:

TJ's Mixed greens with garlic
French Bread rusks
TJ's butterflied freshwater shrimp sauteed with chorizo, TJ's pepperstrips, tomato and onion

Chateau d'Escurac Medoc `05 AOC (Not TJ's) $23.99 ***

Easter dinner is takeout from La Bussola Restaurant in Glen Cove.  Tonight's wine is this blend from Bordeaux.  Both dinner and wine are brought to you by our sponsor the mysterious man in the yellow Easter tie.

This is a dry wine with deep black current undertones and tannins an interesting flavor for being 50% Merlot, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon.  I never quite understood the draw of black current when I lived in London, Ribena (The blackcurrent drink) was sweet yet tart.  In wine, the black current is dark and substantial. It is fruity, but concentrated, like dry fruit.  I am not at home, so I didn't have a chance to run it through the vinturi, but I now know what to bring as a hostess gift the next time I am in Glen Cove!

Menu:
Caesar Salad
Penne a la Vodka
Green beans with roasted garlic
Veal with Gorgonzola
Linguine fileto pomodoro (sp - it is off the menu only for insiders)

This is a great big THANK you to my hostess, my dining companions, Notorious Nick the Snowboarder, Alex "I want a better i-Touch" (32 gig isn't enough) and our sponsor, the mysterious man in the yellow Easter tie!

Albero Organic Bobal Rose `08 DO $5.99 ***

Organic, vegan.  (umm yeah, I am neither of those, but it is good to know...)

Tonight tapas.

Alone, this rose is kind of astringent - better word, dry. Clean, fruity. Not my favorite Albero, I was expecting it to be sweeter.

BUT

Since I had it with shrimp & Chorizo sauteed with garlic and cherry tomatoes in olive oil, I have to say that is is a nice wine.  I wouldn't have it alone to drink, but it is like a nice light red wine.  Slightly chilled on a summer's day - I could easily see this wine working. With food.  Because it worked so well with the Chorizo and Shrimp, and it is only $5.99, I'll give it 3 stars.

Barbi Orvieto Classico `08 DOC (not TJ's) $11.99 **(*)

There is some sporting event this weekend that involves helmets....Ok, now that we have established my total girliness when it comes to sports, let's talk about wine.

This is a very crisp wine. I tasted citrus and grapefruit with a cutting minerality. A classic off dry .  Hmm, now I recently learned about "off dry", so I'll share... an off dry wine is one where in the fermentation, the most of the sugar is used up.  There is no sweetness (or very little sweetness). And that is what this wine is, a crisp, fruity, clean wine.  I just made a mistake in what I drank it with (and the temperature I poured it at - I over chilled it).  This wine is screaming for a seafood to match with it, I cooked chicken wings -OOPS (hence the two or three stars - it by rights should be three stars, but I docked it one because it just didn't work with my menu....)

Speaking of mistakes... This wine should be had slightly chilled.  I over chilled it, and made it more cutting.  After it warmed up for 30 mins or so, it was a fruitier, fuller wine - less like tart grapefruit and more like just under ripe pear.

I decided that I should honor that sexy male past-time of Sunday Football, so, my cooking event is Chicken Wings...  many many chicken wings (hey, I can bring something to the party other than my lack of knowledge or interest in football). Since I have no beer in the house, I decided to make a lunch of my cooking and open a bottle of wine. I bought this wine thinking that I'd like to have it on hand for take out Thai. I chose it for lunch because I thought it would go well with the spicy sweetness of the chicken wings and the freshness of the spinach salad. OOPS. Spinach Salad dressed with a red wine vinegar (that I made myself!)- not good with this wine... too many conflicting acids.  Lesson learned.

Menu:
Spinach & Mushroom Salad with a warm bacon dressing
Roasted Chicken Wings with Frank's Hot Sauce and Honey

And in a case of you gotta love the world wide web, here is more than anyone needs to know about this wine.

DOC Orvietto Classico: Umbria, Italy

Abboccato: [ah-boh-KAH-toh] Italian for "lightly sweet," indicating that a wine contains a small amount of residual sugar. Abboccato is used to describe a wide range of wines from semisweet to medium-dry.

Casa Vinicola Barbi: Claudio and Marina Barbi run the Barbi(founded in 1932) and Decugnano wineries with different but complementary roles, forming a lively, dynamic team. For them wine is ongoing research, experimentation, cooperation with nature and with technique, achieving truly surprising results. Qualified experts constantly assess the phases of vinification and refinement in French oak barrels, known as barriques, or in steel containers, depending on the type of wine being produced. The end result is a wide range of top quality Umbrian wines - Orvieto Classico DOC, Sangiovese Umbria IGT, and Lago di Corbara DOC. Accredited specialist press has awarded important recognition, including, among others, the Gambero Rosso Quality/Price Oscar, the Gambero Rosso Three Glasses, and the Seal of Approval from the London Int. Wine Challenge.

Clos del Pinell Negre `08 DO (not TJ's) $7.99 ***

It is a cooking and studying Saturday.  (I went back to school... YIKES)

This Clos del Pinell Negre is a wine that I tasted at the New World vs. Old World Event at Bacchus.  I liked it then, so I bought it. Good news, I like it now too!

This is a good, fresh inexpensive wine.  I love the smell when I first opened the bottle and poured it (and the cork is really pretty!). For me, the scent is like fresh blackberries.  Really, I just smelled and smelled and smelled before I drank it (maybe because it is 17 degrees here in a brutal NYC January).  It is fruity when you first sip it.  With a dry finish - and a little burn.  Nice.  It was slightly rough on my tongue, so I'll maybe say that it adds a bit of texture (subtle tannins).

So I found out in my wine class that Spain has a DO/DOA certification.  This wine is certified Terra Alta (South West of Barcelona) in the region of Tarragona (which makes me want to cook something with Tarragon!!) but I digress....

After the Vinturi, I don't like it so much.  The beautiful berry smell is diffused, the taste is muted.  My advice, don't decant it, pour it straight from the bottle and enjoy.

Today, I am making pine nut pesto, so lunch will be Whole Wheat Lavash Pizza with Ligurian Salami, Grape Tomatoes, Shallots, Pesto and Buffalo Mozzarella.  I haven't even tried the pizza yet, but I did taste the Salami with the wine, and WOW!  Fatty, peppery Salami with this wine was GREAT.

I'll use this wine on Sunday (or later tonight) when I make Chickpea, Chorizo Chili.

Rosenblum Vintners Cuvee XXXI Zinfandel $7.99 ***

I have a cold.  Which means that my taste buds are suboptimal. What to do when your head wants to cede from your body?  Make chicken soup and drink wine (in-between book edits for a friend).

First sip of the Rosenblum, I like it.  Lush, berry-like, with a nice, slightly dry finish.  Like I said, my taste buds are off, I am sure that I am missing some nuance, but all in all, I like this wine.  It is a big taste for $7.99.

Wow, this wine has a tech sheet.... That is impressive marketing for a $7.99 bottle of wine.  (I'd pay $15 for it - but don't tell Trader Joe's that)

Now for a run through the vinturi....  even better.  My suggestion, invite some friends over for a nice rich, meaty dinner.  (Or really good crackers and cheese) pop the cork on the Rosenblum and decant it, then have a great meal.

Or, if you are like me, warm up some home made chicken noodle soup, drink a glass or two, keep a box of Puffs next to you, curl up on the sofa of sloth and watch The Colony (a great Discovery Channel staged reality show about post pandemic survival in a decimated Los Angeles...)

Indaba Shiraz ` 08 $6.99 ***

It is a red wine Friday night.

My initial thought on my first sip, was shudder....  But I was wrong.  First impressions are sometimes wrong.  Yeah, if you unscrew the top and pour a glass to drink, you will be disappointed.... But, if you open the bottle and cook a rich meal:

Mixed Green Salad w/Italian dressing
Grilled Hangar Steak
Butternut Squash Risotto w/crispy butter fried sage

This wine is a good lush peppery dinner wine, it is much better when served w/ food - and after a run through the vinturi AND some time breathing - it is a fruity, peppery wine.  Think sour cherries and blackberries with a bite.

Now my cold & I are snuggling up on the sofa of sloth and perusing what is on my TIVO for the evening.  Next week is Thanksgiving - a culinary dream.  I'll be cooking kosher - which is kinda cool for a goy (translation - non-jew) from Maine!

Trellis Sonoma Cabernet $5.99 ***

Decant this wine. My first sip after my shaking hands opened this bottle sent a shudder down my spine. It was very fruity and dry. That being said, let me give you the backstory:

In June, I was suddenly unemployed... shudder in this economy.... But, I am a writer, and what do writers do? They write. So, I wrote and cooked and drank....

Tonight, after a soul crushing week, exhausting, nerve wracking and troubling, I came home to a bound galley of my first novel. It was boxed, sent from the publisher, just waiting for me to open it. I'll never get rich as a writer but I will be published (Westover: Haunted Lives, Spring 2010). With that in mind, I opened the Trellis.

It is a good, rich fruity wine. Really, I wish I had cooked but I was just a cyclone of excitement in a body of sloth.... People called, I gushed. I drank more of the Trellis. It may become my favorite red by default. It was the bottle I had on hand when I realized that I would be a published author - so that is how memories are made...pure coincidence.

A bottle of wine later and some Trader Joe's Mexican White Shrimp ($4.99)- that I cooked in Old Bay Seasoning - it is an amazing night.

Now, back to edits and rewrites. But, for one bottle, it was a great lush red wine and a bright future.

More to come...

Cellier Du Rhone Blanc $5.99 ***

It was a last minute grab. I was due to go to dinner at a friend's place, and I needed to bring wine. Since I am unemployed - I cheaped out and decided to multipurpose and take a bottle of Trader Joe's then I'll get to review it as well... life is about multipurposing lately.

First sip - oh boy - really sour, I thought I blew it. This was a hostess gift wine and I should have spent more cash. By the second sip - not so bad. It is a crisp dry white wine. In an oddly triangular bottle.

So, this is an interesting slightly sour, yet fruity dry wine that grows on you. Get past the first sip, and you'll enjoy the bottle. It is not a chardonnay, and not a voignier - it is somewhere in between. Definitely serve it very cold, because as it warms, the dynamic changes, and it isn't nearly as interesting.

We had it with an informal but delicious dinner of Shrimp & Tofu Tacos.

Panilonco Carmenere `07 Reserve $4.99 ***

Red wine at 9:30 on a Saturday morning is not a red flag, it is just a sign that I have some cooking to do. I can't believe that I am starting a review before I've finished my coffee. But there it is. I am making some Turkey Chili for an off-shore boat trip and today is the only time that I'll be able to get it cooked and into the freezer. I grabbed a sip after I poured some into the chili.

First thoughts - good plonk for $4.99. This is a perfectly acceptable "Wednesday Night" wine. I just read an article about one of the major producers of TJ's Wines  - Bronco, and he spoke about Wednesday night wines v. Sunday wines. I am definitely a Wednesday night wine person.

The Carmenere is a light, slightly acid wine. It cleans the palate, and isn't overpowering. I am pairing it with lamb sausage for lunch today.

It took a lot of sips between us to make adequate comparisons pre and post vinturi. There is something a bit off about this wine. It is not a stand alone drink. The vinturi smooths it out, but then the off taste is more prevalent. I'd just drink it straight, and serve it with a spicy/fatty food. It went well with the Gorgonzola, and then with the Sausage. Even though the wine is kind of fruity - sour cherry notes, it is just a basic table red that no one should hate, but no one should go running out to buy. A "Wednesday Night Wine" served on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Lunch Menu:
Candied Walnut Gorgonzola Salad
Merguez Couscous
Angel Food Cake with Strawberries and Limoncello

Bear's Lair Viognier 2007 $ 5.99 ***

It is a BEAUTIFUL Saturday in NYC. I planned lunch as I was coming home from the Y, and I decided that I was nostalgic. I used to spend some vacations in Newport/Portsmouth RI, with some amazing friends of the family, the Ferrerias. The are a close knit Portuguese family who celebrate hard work and food. John made his own wine, and Aurora made some of the most amazing meals that I have ever eaten.

I decided to do a Portuguese riff on a classic Sausage and Broccoi Rabe sandwich. I made Chorizo, Kale and Cannelini Sandwiches on fresh french bread. Paired with the Bear's Lair, and for dessert homemade grape sorbet. Yesterday, the ice cream maker made it off the shelf and into the freezer for the season.

On first sip, this wine is thick, sweet - yet dry. It has a fruity taste. It was perfect for the slightly hot, slightly fatty sandwich.

I would drink this wine with anything that makes it work. - meaning that it balances sharp or fatty tastes. Don't serve it with anything cloying. Because the crispness of this wine can cut through a heavy (i.e. sausage) flavor, and just adds to the profile. - translation, it makes the wine refreshing. But for $5.99 this is a good wine to have on hand. I wouldn't serve it with an egg dish, but anything meaty or salty or cheesy - go for it!

Lindemans Bin 99 Pinot Noir 2008 $5.49 ***

This is my fourth outing with a Lindemans wine. It is all things Australia today, Australia in the bottle, Australia on the TV (way too long a movie - but not AS awful as the critics said). I am skipping the Vegemite though (shudder). Since I have enjoyed all of the Lindemans so far, I am expecting that this Pinot Noir will hold to the status quo.

First sip as the pilaf is simmering and the steak is sizzling on the grill, this is a perfectly adequate wine. Fresh, fruity with a dry bite as an aftertaste. No tannins. For the price, I'd keep a couple of bottles on hand for those nights when you want wine but don't want to open up an exceptional bottle. There is a sharp aftertaste. Next glass will be with a run through the Vinturi - and I am curious to see what the change will be.

Well, I have to say that the vinturi is still my best purchase of 2009. It brought this wine to a new mellow level. The weirdness is, now I can taste some tannin (furryish tongue) but the wine is ever so better. Totally quaffable. I'd serve it for a dinner when I want to impress people (and still be cheap).

Menu:
Caprese Salad
Skirt Steak
Broccoli Pilaf
Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream

The wine was GREAT with the Steak. Lindeman's, even your fake cork is a good one. A good utilitarian way to save some money and enjoy a good wine. Trader Joe's Wine Shop and the Linedman's Winery are a good match.

Oh, and if you are reading this blog because you are trying to save some money and still live well, I have a tip for you - regarding chef's knives. Ditch your ego and forgo designer knives (and knife sets). I invested $13.10 on a Victorinox 8" Chef's knife and $25.42 7" Victrorinox Santoku along with the 3" Pradel Inox that I bought in Paris at a grocery store, are the knives I use the most - and I love them (my other designer knives languish in their Wustoff block). My guests care about the food that I serve them, not the label on the utensil that I prepped the food with. I've found that keeping my ego in check has saved me thousands - well worth it!

La Ferme Julien Blanc $5.99 ***

I am a sucker for any wine with a goat on the label. After my positive experience with Goats do Rome, I am hope that with La Ferme Julien I am still batting .366% (get it - Baseball metaphor - it is Spring after all - and that it all of my knowledge of Baseball summed up in one metaphor)

My first glass is well chilled and tart. Granny Smith Apple tart. With some acid. I am also using it in the poaching liquid. It would go well with some cheeses as well. I think that it is a good appetizer wine. Or a lunch wine. Buy one bottle, serve it to a group of people, and then move on to the main course. It is great with the risotto. A solid three stars. I still keep my shelf stable vermouth as my stand by cooking wine, but I could easily keep a bottle of this on hand to cook with, and sip along while cooking.

I think that I had the wine over chilled when I first tasted it. During brunch, we noticed that as the wine warmed a little, it became lusher. So I would say don't over chill this wine. Give it 10 mins after taking it out of the fridge before you pour. It is a solid fresh white wine.

Today's Menu:
Steamed Asparagus
Mushroom Risotto
Poached Salmon in a lemon, dill butter sauce

Home made Vanilla Ice Cream with lavender shortbread cookies
Demitasse of white chocolate Italian coco

Disclosure: I had a goat named Socrates when I was a teenager. He was purchased to keep my horse company when we traveled. Socrates did not know that he was an animal - because I got him as a kid, bottle fed him for a month. He didn't get moved to the barn until my Grandfather insisted that I keep him out of the house. I have a soft spot for goats.

Chateau Auguste Bordeaux Merlot 2007 $7.99 ***

One thing about taking a butchering class, my freezer is full of meat. Even though it is officially Spring in a few weeks, I'll be able to move the herbs outside. My gardening plans have already started. But today, I am doing a riff on a traditional Sunday Roast Supper. I am making Merlot Pot Roast using this wine, I poured myself a glass as I was searing the meat. I am excited to see how this turns out.

It is a light, dry wine, with simple straightforward flavor. I may even use the pretentious word sophisticated because it is subtle (no harsh after taste) and clean. The dryness is evident and the wine is smooth, easy to drink - not George Clooney, maybe Clive Owen. Because I liked the flavor profile so much, I added garlic and thyme to the roast to see how the flavors meld in cooking. Next, let's see how the wine does when run through the vinturi.

After the Vinturi: This is a good wine. (Jason (in the comments section of his blog), was so on the money!). Decanted, it is smoother, and you taste the youth (it was bottled in 2007) I think that with a year or more on the wine rack, this could be a great wine. I think that I am going to do that, buy two bottles, rack them, and mark to be consumed in March 2010, and March 2012. Then I can go back and see if I was right. Now, it is a 50 degree sunny NYC day, I am going outside to do some yard work before my company arrives.

Menu:

Iceberg Salad with Italian Vinaigrette
Merlot Roast Beef with Carrots, Porcini Mushrooms, Garlic & Onion
Egg Noodles

Dessert
Fresh Pignoli Cookies
Coffee Ice Cream and Amaretto whipped cream

The wine was perfect with supper, I had just enough left over from tasting an cooking for each of us to have a glass (wish I had bought a second bottle - but maybe it was a good thing that I didn't - it is a work/gym night).

Sigh, my only lesson learned today is that I wish I had a dishwasher. Good wine (which I hope will only get better with age); amazing roast, good company and a lot of dishes.

Michel Leon Gewurztraminer $7.99 ***

This is a nice fruity wine. It would go great with a curry (a masala or something mild) or a Thai dish (maybe a pad thai or a green curry or a panang) - can you tell that I am currently obsessed with curry? Lately, with work being so busy, I just don't have the time for prep and cooking when I get home at the end of the day.

I of course had the Gewurztraminer with a chicken pot pie from Westside Market. Still good, not nearly as exotic as the wine deserved.

Fruity, deep and sweet with a nice acidic after tones. I like it, although it is not my favorite Gewurztraminer from Trader Joe's. (update: my favorite so far is the JW Morris Gewurztraminer $3.99 -The price is the prize it is half the cost of the Michel Leon and just as good)

And as this is the second night I am having a glass of it with my supper of fresh popped Parmesan popcorn. (It was a heavy lunch day).

Finally, I want to extol the virtues of Parmesan popcorn (my favorite snack). If you eat microwave popcorn, THROW IT OUT! A bag of unpopped kernels is cheap (.89 cents at my local bodega) throw it in a pan with some hot canola oil (or if you are decadent, render some slivered bacon, then add the kernels) Pop the corn in a few mins, then while it is popping, microplane some good Parmesan, then as you transfer the popcorn to a bowl, sprinkle the Parmesan on the popcorn in thirds. Drinking a cold glass of this Gewurztraminer with the popcorn while watching the Top Chef Finale - PERFECT!

Albero 2007 Organic Monastrell Jumilla $6.99***(*)

I guess that I never realized how deeply the weather affects my mood. I've been pretty down lately, but a walk through the Union Square Farmer's Market in 61 degree sunshine made it a pretty amazing afternoon. There were spring flowers for sale, and a glimmer of hope for good weather to come.

In keeping with my Albero taste test of late, I picked the Monastrell to have with the everything foccacia that I bought the Farmer's Market, and a simple mixed green salad with balsamic dressing and shaved Parmesan. A quick nice supper for a faux spring day.

I also made an impulse purchase this week. Based on a recommendation from Slashfood, I bought a Vinturi. So, armed with my bottle of Monastrell, and my salad and hot focaccia, I drank my first glass of un aerated wine. It is good. A bit sharp, fruity, with a lingering taste. Albero proves again that they produce a good Spanish wine, it is a heavy red that worked really well with the salad, and cheesy foccacia.

For my second glass, I ran the wine through the $33.00 (plus shipping) Vinturi. Honestly, I was expecting to feel stupid, BUT I WAS WRONG. The wine mellowed and got even better. Now, this was my first test (of many) but I'll be blogging all along the way. The wine is a solid 3 star, and with a run through the Vinturi aerator, the wine is a solid 4 stars for $6.99.

So, I learned a lot today. A stroll through the greenmarket on a sunny day can lift your mood. Albero really knocks it out of the park with their wines, and the money I spent on my second wine gadget (my first was a plunger/stopper set) was well spent. If your budget dictates buying inexpensive red wine, take the time to properly decant it, or buy a gadget that decants it for you. You'll taste the difference.

From now on when I review a red, I'll do the first glass as poured, and the second after a trip through the Vinturi.

Robert Mondavi Napa Fume Blanc, `06 $10.99

Summer Union Square Farmer's Market and Trader Joe's.

I come from Maine, the land of white. White snow from November until April, and white caps on our ocean waves, even our predominant indigenous foods are white (on the inside), Lobster and potato.

So, today I am cooking outside of my roots. While at the market last week, I picked up the parsley, mint, Hallumi and lamb sausage from local vendors. And while I was at Trader Joe's, I grabbed a bottle of Robert Mondavi. I spent more than I usually do, just because I wanted to make note of his passing earlier this spring. And what better way that enjoying a glass of his fume blanc. Mondavi truly changed the landscape of modern wine.

Menu:
Mixed Green Salad with pear & gorgonzola
Pasta tossed with Parsley & Mint Pesto,grilled Hallumi and Lamb Sausage

Dessert:
Pear Sorbet

My first impressions, this is a clean, crisp wine. $10.99 is a bit much, it doesn't stand out, but it really cleans the pallet.

The acid of the wine cleanses with each sip, giving the next bite a chance to burst with flavor. Garlic, mint and lemon in the pesto are a great combination, the subtleness of the lamb and the saltiness of the Hallumi make this a very flavorful pasta dish, and rather than having each bite be overpowering, the wine allows you to alternate the flavors with each forkful. This really was a case of the wine enhancing the food.

Robert Mondavi made his name in creating fume blanc - his marketing of a Napa Valley sauvignon blanc. So, this is my Greek inspired lunch, made with homegrown NY produce and California wine. Ethnic flavors using American ingredients (even my Parmesan for the pesto was made in Wisconsin). Which just goes to show what a melting pot we have here in the USA, all these cultural influences making a refreshing Summer lunch.

Lindemans Bin 65 Chardonnay 2003 *** (not TJ's)

In NYC, I have a couple of bottles of TJ's waiting to be quaffed, but I actually took a mini vacation to Seattle - and there was wine involved, so here is a review.

Getting to Seattle was a two day event. I now have a deeper respect for the original settlers of the west and the wagon trains.

Now, on to the wine....

Because of the outbound disastrous series of delays, I was upgraded to first class from Laguardia to Chicago and with my meal, on offer was Lindemans Bin 65 Chardonnay. I recognized the name from some of my more enjoyable bottles from Trader Joe's, so I went for it.

Menu:
Brie and crackers
Grilled Chicken Salad with blueberries, cheddar cheese and pecans
The wine is a smooth, fruity chardonnay - not too sweet. It went really well with the brie and added a nice tang when I took a sip after a bite of salad.

In these terrible days of airline cost cutting, whoever buys the wine for American got it right.

I had another glass on my flight from Chicago to Seattle. No food, just a glass of wine. It was a nice treat on a long arduous commute.

Oh, and when I finally got to Seattle, the journey was forgotten, and I had a great time.

As an added bonus, on the way to the airport, Bill took me to a Seattle Trader Joe's. One of the clerks told me that Washington State has a different policy regarding wine sales so there were some different varieties.

Now that I've been to Seattle, I can say I get it. I totally get it.

Black Mountain Malbec $5.99 ***

Scene: Cozy apartment on a rainy Friday evening in NYC, me snuggled up in recliner, Dr.Who on telly..

C & I went to a late afternoon showing of Iron Man - this is why I love movies, it was smart, fun and wholly enjoyable. There was a terrible accident in Harlem, so my trip home was a couple of hours. Sigh. The curse strikes again.

So, here it is, I am settled in at home, and I am cracking open the Malbec, pouring myself a glass and settling in to a new episode of Dr. Who.

First pour. Hmmm not a sipping wine. Good smell, makes me think of Thanksgiving. So, some spice and dried fruit I guess, if I were going to go for flavor profiles. I'll enjoy this glass, and have decided that tomorrow will be a classic spaghetti & meatball day, so I'll serve the balance of the bottle then. I'll write how this pairs with the spaghetti tomorrow.

Saturday Menu
Caesar Salad (I've discovered fresh anchovies in oil...WOW)
Pasta Puttanesca
Black Mountain Malbec

Verdict: good. The wine held it's own against the robust sauce. (I also used the wine in the sauce) Nice smooth wine.