Wine 3: Garnacha De Fuego

Cool name. I still buy stuff based a lot on name and lable. It's "of Fire." I'm sold. It was pretty sweet but not too bad. Not my first choice but it was OK. The spaghetti sauce I made that I drank this with was pretty spicy so it was a nice counter balance.



On the bottle it describes itself as:
"The best vineyards of Calatayud are situated high on the hillsides, 3000 ft. above sea level, where, despite the poor gravelly soil, the old gnarled vines produce the finest grapes possible in this arid, desolate region. Only the ripest clusters are chosen, thus producing a wine of considerable depth and finesse. The wine exudes intense aromas of sweet cherries and dark plums with an exotic spicy finish reminiscent of white pepper."

OK, so that's what it says. As I said, it is pretty sweet and I will say there is a spicy after taste. White pepper? I suppose. It's OK. I certainly would drink it but it isn't my favorite. I am finding I like dry reds.

One thought, although I didn't have any, the reds in the Canary Islands were supposedly not too good. Those were also grown in an arid, gravelly environment. Coincidence or do reds do badly in very arid areas? I don't have the answer but it makes me wonder.

Wine 2: Giant 47 Lb Rooster

It was a shiraz. It was the second bottle of wine that was left over from Christmas. I didn't record much about it (see below pic). What I did isn't very enlightening. I did drink the whole bottle in two meals though.


What I know about wine is if it tastes like vinegar or it doesn't. This one is a little dry and rather bland I think.

Wine 1: Mad Housewife

This past Christmas I was going to my brother's in-laws for Christmas Eve dinner. Mom was in town and was heading out with me. For the past couple of years the gift exchange has become a simple grab bag. Everyone brings one item and we draw straws to go pick a gift. Well, there was a $30 limit on the gift cost this year and it was being enforced some what strictly. Mom and I had over bought our gift bags so I was quick to remove some items. Since there are some under age people still in the group I pulled the two bottles of wine to save them for later.

Come Easter, I was headed back to my brothers in-laws and wanted to take a bottle of wine. I still had the two from Christmas (remember I wasn't really drinking wine yet). I looked at the two bottles and one was "Mad Housewife," a Cabernet Sauvignon. The M-I-L is a good sport so I grabbed it. When I gave it to her I introduced it as the "house wine." She loved it just for the label. Which, to be perfectly honest, is why it was bought to begin with.


It was opened at dinner. It is dry. Not sure if it is a standard with Cabernets, but that has been my experience so far. I made sure to get a glass and my first sip I felt the inevitable head ache. But, I had resolved to drink through such issues and that's what I did.

I write this from memory but it was dry. My sister-in-law all but cowered from it. But it was a huge hit with everyone else that drank red wine. If I recall, it has a bit of a spicy after flavor. Muy yummy!

After Easter I bought a couple more bottles of it. One for me and one to give to my brother's in-laws. That latter hasn't worked out yet. I drank one over the course of a couple dinners and took the other over to see the "new girl" this past week. She also loved it which I think gives it some credence. I don't always think that my brother's in-laws are the pickiest of wine drinkers. She I think is probably more discerning and I don't think she was just humoring me.

Final verdict! A good, dry cabernet with a great label. There's one under the bar waiting for me.

Learning To Love The Grape

For as long as I can remember I've not been able to drink wine. I get headaches. Not the "Oh! I drank too much," headaches. No, it was much more instantaneous. A sip of wine and it felt like a 5 man Streets and Sans crew was jackhammering on my temples.


Because I never could drink it, I never learned to like it. Wine tasted bad to me. Then in February I went to the Canary Islands (all the pics) with a group of friends. They have a little winery industry there. The land is very, very arid and the soil -- well there is limited soil -- is covered with volcanic rock. So what the vineyards do is to create these arced walls facing the sea that collect moisture and direct it into the ground. They then plant their grape vine in that arc.


Well, everyone I was with was drinking the local wines. They knew a lot more than me and said the local reds were bad. So we were just buying whites. At the bars we drank beer but at the rental villa there was just a boat load of wine. The second night we were out of beer, I had bought a couple bottles of white with the intention of bringing one back and one being for the group. Well, me and Mike, the only guy still awake, cracked open that bottle of white. I was going to drink through the headache come hell or high water.

But there was no headache. At least not like I was used to. Just a minor little tinge in the back. What was this stuff?

Malvasia Blanco from the Bodega Tasca Los Almacenes.


I don't remember enough about this wine to tell you much about it. I have one bottle left (pictured) that I plan to save until Christmas dinner. Which, if all goes as planned, will be the first holiday dinner at my new condo (which I've yet to find). Through the rest of the week I drank quite a bit more wine and I still didn't have any severe negative reactions. I resolved then that I would learn to like the grape.

I've been snapping pictures of the bottles I drank and for myself and anyone else that stumbles across my little corner of the blogosphere will record what I think of them. Remember, I'm a neophyte when it comes to wine. I've brewed dozens of batches of beer and try just about anything I come across. Consequently, I could tell you loads and loads about beer, but wine is new to me. So if you find this and wish to comment, be gentle. Or not. Just comment and that could be cool.

So far I've had about 4 different kinds. All reds besides my Canary Island wine. I'll throw up my thoughts of those as time goes by.