This week’s wine was another gift, thanks sis!

Did you know Adam Carolla does wine?  Neither did I, but apparently this one is from him.  He offers a Cabernet and a Zinfandel.

I thought the Sledgehammer Cabernet was excellent.  This is a California Cabernet that I supposed should be deemed a “Man’s Cabernet” with it’s big, bold flavor. 

Since this was a gift, I am not 100% certain how much it cost but at between $10-$15 a bottle I think this is actually a great selection.  And again, I recommend let this wine breath a little before drinking it because the flavors really even out as it sits.

I’m sorry, but I just can’t get passed the fact that Adam Carolla makes wine!  I want to make wine!  Guess I have to figure out how to become famous to make this happen!

While full of flavor, this Rioja is surprisingly light with a hint of pepper.  Almost seems like it’d be a great summer time red because of it’s airy quality.  This reminds me of a Tempranillo.

In an effort to learn a little more about Riojas I looked it up on wikipedia and shocker….Rioja is a blended wine. . No wonder I liked it.

I opened this bottle up a good 30 minutes before trying it and by the time I had my 2nd glass it was perfect.  So I definitely recommend giving it some time to breath before drinking it.

I probably should have branched out beyond my neighborhood Kroger to find a wine, but I didn’t.  Since I shop there all the time, I didn’t want to pick a wine I’d had before.  So, I brought this wine:

Not only had I never had it before but I’d also never noticed it before and figured, if it was a “Top Chef Selection” it had to be good right? And it actually wasn’t bad, not sure it’s a new favorite but I’d drink it again.

My favorite two wines of the night were the wines that Teal & Michael brought.  Teal went out to Sonoma last fall and found some EXCELLENT wines from wineries I’d never heard of before.

Hopefully on my next trip out there I can check them out.  Since she found these wines at the wineries I’m not sure if they are available around Dallas; if you’ve seen them let me know!

The first one was the 2007 Allure Meritage from Williamson Wines. It was delicious and full of flavor.  Though, as I’m sure it is becoming blantanly obvious, I’m obsessed with red blends.  If you can get your hands on this one, give it a try! 

She also brought this 2007 Topel Pinot Syrah.  I don’t know about you but I’d never heard of a Pinot Syrah varietal. I’ve heard of a Pinot Noir and a Syrah…but a marriage of the two…it was amazing.  I’ve got to try this one again!

That is not to say that I didn’t enjoy the other many wines that were brought to dinner, because I did!  I don’t think there were any wines I didn’t like.

Now on to a more important concern…when’s the next wine dinner?

For our venue, we needed a BYOB restaurant. Our ring leader, James set it up at Campania Pizza in Uptown. They also have a Southlake location. If you haven’t checked them out, you should it’s a great little restaurant and I love that they are BYOB. We waited for most everyone to arrive before we began opening the bottles and tasting the wines.

Here are the wines we tasted:

1. Cooper Invencio – 2008 Red Mountain Red Wine
2. Inwood Estates 2008 Cornelius 100% Texas Tempranillo
3. Petalos Bierzo
4. Cahors
5. Mollydooker The Boxer
6. Bodini Malbec – 2010
7. 2009 Toasted Head Cabernet Sauvingnon
8. Haven’s Meritage – 2009 Rutherford, Napa Valley
9. 2009 Domaine Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage Blanc, Rhone, France
10. Pagos del Moncejo Garnacha 2008
11. La Vierge

What I realize now in going back over my “tasting notes” is that I should probably have smaller tastes and I should probably take better, more descriptive notes.  I’m not even sure I have correct list of all the wines.

My favorites were the Cooper Invencio and Haven’s Meritage.  It doesn’t surprise me that those two were my favorites.  I have discovered lately that I really am a big fan of  red blends.  The Meritage reminded me of a Pinot Noir it was very smooth.  And the Invencio was a nice blend of spice, sweet and smoke.  The close runner ups for me were the Petalos Bierzo and the Toasted Head Cab.

Though to be honest I didn’t really dislike any of them…well other than the “secret” extra bottle that James brought as an experiment.  It was the Inwood Estates Tempranillo.  From the start I was thrown off because to me the wine had smell that reminded me of paint chips and it never really got any better.

Here is the aftermath:

To the rest of the Brown Bag Wine Night people, what were your favorites? And if you have better notes on what exactly each wine is feel free to leave them below!

Since I’ve been a bit MIA on this blog lately, you may not know my little sis got engaged back in October. You can read about her engagement here. And Meredith got engaged on the 23rd on her way to Vail, CO. When I say on the way…I literally mean on the way…her super creative fiance, Tate, popped the question on their flight. Big props to American Airlines for helping make it extra special (maybe I can blog about for her since she is blogless).

(that’s me with Tate & Meredith)

Meredith is one of my oldest friends, the way I like to tell it, our parents made us become friends in 2nd grade (please don’t do any math…let’s not count how many years ago that was) and we’ve been friends ever since!

Even though it has been months, I hadn’t had a chance to pop (well technically it’s a screw cap) this bottle with Beth yet…I thought why not celebrate with Beth and Meredith? Sounded like the perfect excuse to open the Mollydooker Carnival of Love. 2 birds, one stone or rather 3 girls, one bottle.

I got this bottle for Christmas last year from my dad with the help of my sister. Needless to say, I was pretty anxious to open it up.

Here are the technical stats: it’s a 2009 Shiraz and Syrah

I may be an avid wine drinker but that by no means makes me a professional wine critic, in case you forget in my absence. I enjoyed this wine, it was very dense and had a lot of body to it. Because I knew we were going to be drinking it I poured it into my fun wine decanter (above), from my sister in law (did you know I have one of those now or did I leave that off the blog too?). Due to the density of this wine it almost reminded me of syrup which then made me wonder if that’s where the name Syrah came from. But I could not find anything online to back up my theory. Anyone, anyone?

Lately I have been on a bit of a Pinot Noir kick so this was quite a change, but I would still recommend it if you can get your hands on it. Locally I have been able to find quite a few Mollydooker wines and many different stores but have never seen this one. So if you find it, let me know!

Cheers

A little over a month ago my cousin Todd got married down in Corpus Christi. The rehearsal dinner was at an amazing restaurant called Vietnam Restaurant. At dinner his (now) wife, Lindsey picked out a few different wines. (Side not so glad he married a wino!) I had never tried the 2008 Hess Cabernet, but I fell in love.

Luckily for me, my local grocery store has had it on sale for the last few weeks and it has become the wine I like to keep around the house for whenever I get…thirsty. It has been hovering right around the $15 a bottle mark, a little more than I used to spend on an everyday bottle but this one is worth it.

Usually I blow off the suggestion to let a bottle of wine breath before drinking it, but with this one it really does get better the longer it is open.

Give it a try and like always be sure to let me know what you think!

Cheers!

After being lovingly scolded by Beau & Melanie for confessing that I do like Barefoot wines, I decided to ask my Twitter friends to tell me their favorite wines under $10 so you won’t break the bank stocking your bar and here are the suggestions I got:

Suggestions I have tried:

Jason (@BigJax34) suggests the Yellow Tail Cabernet or Shiraz

Sarah (@SarahBoswell) Menage a Trois (the red blend) mainly because of the name, just don’t take it to a dinner party with your parents!

Tiffany (@apiphany) Robert Mondavi Merlot but suggests letting it breath a bit.

Debbie (@CoffeeGirlPlano) Mark West Pinot Noir, she says this is a delicious wine

Kimberly (@kizzlethizzle) is not a wine fan, YET, but suggested Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill because it takes her back to high school.

Suggestions I haven’t tried, yet:

Beau (@UCBeau) had a few suggestions: 2007 Folie a Deux Amador County Zin & the 2007 Teague Vineyards 2007 San Benito Cabernet

Whitney (@WhitforBrit) Lucky Duck Cabernet to share with her man from across the pond; be sure to check out their fairytale!

Sara (@PolitoSara) Rex Goliath Merlot or Cabernet

Citimaven (@citimaven) says that the Antano Rioja is a great everyday wine.

Misty (@MSFJones) prefers whites and suggests: Barefoot Moscato, Beringer White Zinfandel & Moscato and Pacific Rim Riesling

Lynn (@lynnsherwood) Altos Las Hormigas Malbec, this is the wine they keep on hand at their house.

Monica (@FabOCGirl) suggests Volteo Tempranillo & for those of you with access, Trader Joe’s VINTJ’s Pinot Gris.

James (@JFTxWine) first became a wine fan because of the Banrock Station Merlot and Cabernet/Shiraz blend.

Jennifer (@txgourmetmom) Llano Chenin Blanc besides it being a Texas wine, she says it is cheap, refreshing and sweet. She always keeps 2 bottles on hand in her fridge.

Cheers & Happy Holidays!

I have been Twitter friends with @politosara and @melanieO for quite awhile now and despite all of us living around Dallas we had never gotten together. Melanie suggested Veritas, which I was excited to try. I always see it and had heard nothing but great things about it but had never actually stopped by.

Beth & I arrived a few minutes late, but luckily we did not keep Sara and Melanie waiting. They had picked out a delicious 2006 Robert Sinskey Vandal Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. I had never heard of Robert Sinskey but thoroughly enjoyed this selection. As we were getting to know each other and enjoying this wonderful Cabernet we were joined by @JFTxWine who braved being the only dude with four women.

Needless to say the first bottle didn’t last too long and we moved on to a 2006 Burgess Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine was equally delicious and also new to me.

Sorry the picture isn’t much better, I snapped it real quick at the end of the night with my phone so that I could be sure and remember the great wines we had.

As good as the wines were the company was even better! I have yet to be disappointed when I meet a Twitter friend in real life and am looking forward to many more glasses of wine with my new friends.

If you are in the Dallas area, I highly recommend stopping by Veritas. Granted I was a little focused on enjoying the wine and getting to know everyone to really explore Veritas, but it only made me want to go back and visit. Brooks, one of the brothers that owns the wine bar stopped by to say hi. The layout is perfect for small gatherings or larger groups. The walls are adorned with amazing artwork throughout the entire space, and wine bottles are on racks up and down both sides offering a wide variety to choose from.

Hope your wine Wednesday was as great as mine!

Cheers!

This is one of the smoothest bottles of Shiraz I’ve had in I don’t know how long! It reminds me why a friend recommended Shiraz as a gateway to developing an appreciation of red wines.

Because I’m not a wine expert but rather a lover of wine…I have no clue what this wine tastes like, I just know it’s awesome and smooth and a wine that gets a high recommendation from me.

I still have a bottle of the Two Left Feet to try and I cannot wait! If you haven’t tried Mollydooker yet, run to the store and buy it NOW!

If you live in Dallas, I found several Mollydookers at Central Market (in Plano) and the Goody Goody in Addison carries quite a few as well.

Go get yourself a bottle I really don’t think you’ll regret it. If you do, let me know and tell me why!

Cheers!

A few weeks back my friend Monica recommended I give the Mollydooker Shiraz a try. I thought I was going to have a hard time locating it but rather ended up having an excuse to go to Pogo’s this specialty wine store I’d wanted to check out.

Sadly, they were out of the Shiraz and all they had was the Violinist, a white, which was perfect for this heat wave we seem to be experiencing here in Dallas. 85 degrees the day before Thanksgiving is not ideal!

The first glass I had was poured straight into the glass, and I must admit it was tarter than I normally like, but at the same time it was smooth. My second glass was poured through an aerator and I was in love in! It really opened up and that tartness was minimized. I can’t wait to have this wine again, though I hope it isn’t for a few more months, because I’m ready for some cold weather.

Tonight after work, I stopped at my typical wine store with Beth to look around and what would you know…they carried the Shiraz, called The Boxer and a blend called Two Left Feet. I of course picked up both, why not? I cannot wait to try them both.

Also, I had to make a run to Central Market to get herbs for my turkey and decided to check out their wine selection. They had all of the above mentioned varietals, plus a Cabernet and a Merlot. I would have looked around a little more to see if they had but the guy working the wine section was trying to talk me into a Layer Cake Shiraz that was on sale…really man? Been there, done that!

Hope you have a Happy Turkey day and drink something great, oh I mean have fun with your family!

Cheers!