Wine Thursday - Middle Sister - Rebel Red

As I was walking around Target looking for get well goodies for Grandpa Wonderful (he's been a bit under the weather lately), I walked down the wine asile. I LOVE the wine asile at Target. They have some of the silliest labels that I've ever heard of. Then I saw the Middle Sister labels and they all made me giggle. So I chose Middle Sister Rebel Red... mostly because I'm rebellious... HA! not really... secret agents can't really do that. It is a red table wine. And as such is a mixture of all things good. According to the website:

"38% Zinfandel, 34% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Syrah, 2% mixed red varietals.
100% California grapes with 42% from the Lodi appellation."

For those of you like me... that means... hmmm... let's go for some taste description then:

"...a huge mouthful of ripe summer berries. The fruit goes on and on, ending in a luxurious finish."


But really... it reminds me of one of the best berry pies that I have ever had the pleasure to eat. Not bad for under $10. This... I will definitly have to find a reason to buy for Bee. I believe that as a sister in the middle she would definitly enjoy it!

~Emme

Wine Thursday - Layer Cake Primitivo

Layer Cake's Primitivo is their Zinfandel. I'm not sure I would have purchased it had I known. I'm not usually fond of Zinfandels. This is what one finds out when reading the back (which is what sold me):

"My old grandfather made and enjoyed wine for 80 years. He told me the soil in which the vines lived were a layer cake. He said the wine, if properly made, was like a great layer cake, fruit, mocha, and chocolate, hints of spice and rich, always rich. 'Never pass up a layer cake', he would say. I have always loved those words."

You know what... so do I. I love those words. It made me remember seeing the layers of dirt while working at the dig site.

At first glance this red wine from Italy is not what I would look for. It is not from Chile, Australia, or even California. It is from Italy. This wine even comes with a screw top cap... no cork. I'm inwardly really grateful that it is missing a cork. My good arm is killing me still from the hospital run the other day.

It smells like the table wine I drank in England when I was 17. I do not remember what it was, but we had a lot of it. It was a good adventure, complete with rabbit and an opera singer... only one of which was eaten... I'll let you figure out which.

I'm going to have to give this a try some other night to make sure I like it as much as I do. It is not as if I've already had a shot of sake and a glass of that pinot noir from Monday. I'm still waiting for the pain to dull in my shoulder.

Good job layer cake. I'm not sure I would often spend $16 on a bottle of wine... but I couldn't pass up the layer cake.

~Emme

Wine Friday - Pepperwood Grove Cabernet Sauvignon

As I browsed the wine aisle of my local Harris Teeter I spotted one bottle left of this Pepperwood Grove Cab Sauvignon. It is a 2006 vintage and imported from the Valle Central... somewhere in the circled regions of this map:

The label does not give ANY description of what the wine might taste like... but it fit the wine picking requirements Mr. Wonderful gave me:

1. Must come from the Central Valle or California
2. Must be mostly gone
3. Not too expensive

Wait...

Mr Wonderful, I have a question for you:

1. Does anyone else have good wines?
2. What if they just stocked the wines?
3. Have I told you how much I love you?

Mr. Wonderful's responses... no I did not bother asking again... I know the answers:

1. Yes, but you're not likely to pick the right one
2. I can't help you there.
3. Yes, yes you have.

Oh! Back to the review...

Pepperwood Grove did not bother to give a description of the wine so I went into it blindly. Had I gone to their website I would have found this:
"Dark ruby color with a nose full of raspberries, cedar, and subtle savory herbs. After the inviting nose entices you to take a sip, you will experience the flavors of rich blackberry cobbler, fresh raspberry jam, and caramel oak tones with integrated hints of basil and fresh figs."

It is very woody and makes me feel like I should be sitting in a country side farm eating some sort of pot roast. Yes, Mr. Wonderful, I do remember that I do not consume meat from cows... but that seriously is what this wine makes me think of. It would be a perfect wine for cooking some sort of roast (not poultry). At first I was against this wine... I mean I do not consume red meat and I'm not so sure I have ever come across a fresh fig... but the after the bitter sharpness when you first take a sip there is a pleasant raspberry aftertaste that is to die for. It is like you just ate a handful of fresh raspberries minus the seeds. While I probably will not buy this again (Mr. Wonderful does not care too much for raspberries), I would be willing to try some more Pepperwood Grove wines.

Cheers!
~Emme

Wine Friday

Mr. Wonderful and I went to Carrabba's with his parents and we were in the mood for some Sangria.

At Carabba's you have 3 choices for sangria:

Red
White
and Berry

... no joke... I think the Italian restaurant is being patriotic or something... wait that's not Italian colors... hmmm....

Mr. Wonderful's Mom, Summers, was excited to try the Berry. It wasn't bad. It tasted like grape juice with black berries in it... overall not too Sangria-ish... I think it was lacking alcohol.

The Red tasted like cinnamon... I mean... you must LOVE (I don't think I can stress that enough) cinnamon.

The white... the waitress said it was made with white wine... then made a face. If it is that good, why do they even offer it?

BECAUSE IT'S PATRIOTIC!

Oh yeah... I forgot about that. :)

The results... if you're going to get Sangria at Carraba's go for the Berry.

~Emme