Rememeber how I’ve been on that red blend kick lately? Well when was walking down the wine aisle at the grocery store and saw the label on this wine, I had to try it…I’m a total sucker for cute packaging, always have been and will probably always be.

Since I first purchased this wine it has quickly become a permenant fixture in the wines I keep around the house. It also helps that my local grocery store seems to have it on sale for $8.99 on a constant basis.

I was surprised when I discovered there is not a hint of Cabernet Sauvignon in this bottle of Primal Roots Red Blend, but rather it is a mixture of Zinfandel, Merlot and Syrah.

Because I have now had several bottles of this blend, I have determined that it definitely gets better the longer it is open, so I highly recommend giving it some time to breath if at all possible. It’s not a necessity but I can definitley tell a difference even in just 30 minutes of letting this bottle breath.

I’m sure that no one wants their wine to be known as a great 2nd bottle of wine.  But this truly is a great example of a good bottle to have around for those times you finish a bottle (with a friend of course), and still want a little more.

And in case you were wondering, yes, I currently have a bottle of this red blend at my house.  Though this will probably not be the wine I have tonight, because I will not be home.  But I do have it often.  In fact it is the wine that will appear in my photo on Friday’s blog for the day I posted a “Drink” photo.

What will be in your glass this Wine Wednesday?

Technically this is a “Sparkling” Wine Wednesday post…but it’s still wine, and I wanted to try Prosecco to see what I thought!

If I’ve ever tried Prosecco before I didn’t know it, and now I realize that I’ve been missing out…you people have been holding out on me!

Prosecco to me is a million times better than Champagne…please no one get mad…but I really like that Prosecco isn’t as bitter as Champagne.

As this is my first experience with Prosecco, I’m not even going to say that this Ruffino Prosecco is the best out there… it was well stocked and reasonably priced at Kroger, maybe because it was right around Valentine’s Day when I was introduced to it.  But I am happy to venture down this road of taste testing Proseccos; who’s with me??

Luckily though, like Champagne, Prosecco is so pretty and bubbly in the glass. I could sit and watch those bubble rise for hours.  Maybe it’s the grown-ups lava lamp?

So, what are some good Proseccos?  I need recommendations.  I. Must. Try. More!

We had our second Brown Bag Wine Night and this time decided that everyone should bring a Pinot Noir so that we weren’t all over the place like last time.  This time we went to Kozy’s, check out yesterday’s post for details on their delicious food!

There were 8 of us at this gathering, so there were 8 wines:

1. The Four Graces 2009 Oregon Pinot Noir, brought by my sister, Beth.  I can’t remember if I’d had this one before with Beth or not.  This wine was a nice combination of spice and airiness.  It was good, but I think with a little more breathing time, I would have liked it even more.

2. Acrobat 2010 Oregon Pinot Noir was brought by me.  This wasn’t really a sweet wine and didn’t have a lot of spice.  It’s a dry Pinot Noir that definitely needed a lot more time to breath.  This was the only screw cap wine of the night.

3. Windsor Sonoma 2008 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir was brought by Justin.  He had never had this one before and it was a great wine.  It was fruity, had a darker color to it for  Pinot Noir and had hardly any spice.

4. Bearboat 2007 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir was brought by Chad. This was one of my favorites of the night.  It was heavy, spicy and bold.  The flavor was similar to that of a cherry cola.

5. Decoy by Duckhorn 2010 Sonoma County Pinot Noir was brought by Brent, my sister’s fiancé.  This was another one of my favorite wines of the night.  Of all the wines, it was the most like what I think of a Pinot Noir being. It had an almost syrup consistency texture to it; dark and fruity.

6. Chandon 2009 Pinot Meunier was brought by James.  He claims we did not specify Pinot Noir and simply said “Pinot;
not true!  He just doesn’t like Pinot Noir and had to be “rebellious” and not bring one. Once we found out what this wine was, it all made sense.  To me it stuck out like a sore thumb in the midst of all the other wines that night.

7. Nuits St. Georges  2007 Burgundy was brought by Terry.  Terry is a self-proclaimed Francophile and to be honest I’m glad.  I wouldn’t normally try French wines but thanks to Terry I get to!  When I first tried this wine it felt like the flavor was very compact and tightly packed but when I went back and tried it a second time about an hour later it really felt like it had opened up quite a bit, though I think to truly experience the flavor it needed to open up even more.

8. Retour 2006 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir was brought by Melanie.  This was the table favorite; I really enjoyed it but it wasn’t my favorite of the night.  This one was heavy but not peppery, instead had a nice smooth spice with what seemed like a hint of blackberry.

Kozy’s was nice enough to set out two glasses for each of us, but luckily Melanie brought some extra glasses.  To be honest, until this night I didn’t really buy into the whole idea that the glass really could effect the flavor of the wine, but it really did!

Also, if you’ve never done a blind tasting of wines, I highly recommend it.  It is a lot of fun!

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!

This was my first time to knowingly try a Rioja wine.  I’m sure I’ve had one before, but I couldn’t tell you when or which one.  This one was a gift (thanks Gabby & Jeremy) which made it even more fun to try!

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.

Saturday night we had some people over for dinner, hence why we cooked that pot roast.  And everyone was required to bring a bottle of wine.  It was after all a “Wine Dinner.”

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?