Wino Blogger

Put your goddam pinky down and drink your wine like a normal human.

Santa Margherita - Pinot Grigio

Producer: Santa Margherita
Varietal: Pinot Grigio
Region: Alto Adige, Italy
Vintage: 2009
Price: ~ $20

The Pinot Grigio from Santa Margherita has a light golden like like nectar and is quite clear. The bouquet comes off as citrus and melon with perhaps a hint of honey. It's a smooth easy drinking wine that quickly finishes after notes of citrus, stone, rain and a little white pepper. It's really light body might turn away some who are used to drinking something with more substance but the flavours are there and well balanced if you take the time to look.

J

       
Click here to download:
Santa_Margherita_-_Pinot_Grigi.zip (1308 KB)

Red Rooster - Pinot Gris

Producer: Red Rooster
Varietal: Pinot Gris
Region: Okanagan Valley, Canada
Vintage: 2008
Price: ~ $17

This pinot gris of the Okanagan Valley has a lemon yellow colour with a crisp clarity. It has a floral bouquet with hints of apple, peach and fresh rain. On the palate the wine is fresh and tangy with flavours of apple, peach, pear and melon. A quick finish that doesn't linger, the pinot gris is a great choice for a hot summer day. Not a bad little wine but for the life of me I can't remember how I came to taste it. Spoils from a get together no doubt...

Nursery? Check. Car seat? Check. Stroller? Check. Awesome wooden rocking chair custom built in Ontario? Booyah! www.offyourrocker.ca. The website isn't that great but the chairs are excellent and well built.

Coming up on 40 weeks! Tic toc tic toc...

J

         
Click here to download:
Red_Rooster_-_Pinot_Gris_Tags_.zip (6211 KB)

Spy Valley - Gewurztraminer

Producer: Spy Valley
Varietal: Gewurztraminer
Vintage: 2008
Region: Marlborough, New Zealand
Price: ~ $20

Merry belated Christmas! If you don't celebrate Christmas don't expect a "Happy Holidays" from me. In fact, you probably won't get a genuine Merry Christmas from me anyway since I'm pretty sure I've stopped celebrating the actual religious holiday of Christmas. Festivus anyone?

More Spy Valley... the bouquet on this gewurztraminer smells of cinnamon, passion fruit and honey with a slight hint of cloves. The rep behind the table said that he could sense a bit of melon too but couldn't get the cloves. A nicely refreshing change to my reds, the palate wasn't too different from the bouquet. It tasted of cloves, cinnamon, honey and a bit of pepper and had a silky clean finish.

Happy new year!

J

   
Click here to download:
Spy_Valley_-_Gewurztraminer_Ta.zip (208 KB)

Spy Valley - Sauvignon Blanc

Producer: Spy Valley
Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2008
Region: Marlborough, New Zealand
Price: ~ $17

At this point in the night I was really diggin' on these New Zealand wines. It really was very refreshing. The bouquet smells of melon and mineral which is characteristic for the area. Also it had a cold wintery crispness to it which was nicely awakening. The tasting had soft flavours of grapefruit, melon with subtle stone and mineral accents. It had a light body with good acidity and finished quickly. Well made!

On a different note, Brittany Murphy died of a heart attack this afternoon. I'm sure that will be hitting the presses tomorrow morning. On Google Trends, 8 out of 10 of the top searches were about her.

Christmas shopping done! Boo yah!

J

PS: Sorry for the shitty pic. Perhaps I'll get an iPhone for Christmas?

   
Click here to download:
Spy_Valley_-_Sauvignon_Blanc_T.zip (198 KB)

Deinhard - Riesling

Producer: Deinhard
Varietal: Riesling
Region: Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, Germany
Vintage: 2007
Price: ~ $15

The bouquet smells largely of citrus fruits with hints of peaches and apricots. The wine is dominated by citrus and mineral flavours complimented by floral notes. A fairly light and crisp body with a silky, mid-dry finish and a slight acidic end. I wouldn't say that the wine is as balanced as it could be. I found that the acidity overpowered all of the other flavours which is too bad. Overall it was okay, but I'd probably pay a little bit more and get a really good Piesporter.

In the meantime, let's check out what the Japanese are up to.

Peace ooouuut!

J

       
Click here to download:
Deinhard_-_Riesling_Tags_Wine_.zip (1406 KB)

McWilliam's - Chardonnay

Producer: McWilliam's
Varietal: Chardonnay
Vintage: 2006
Region: South Australia, Australia
Price: ~ $15

I'm gonna have to admit that I'm not that big on white wines. Unless it's a hot summer day or I'm ordering wine for a table with a lot of chicks, I don't usually drink a lot of the stuff. It may also be that I don't exactly like fruits such as melons and grapefruits on their own so why would I want them in my wine. But then again, I don't exactly like eating earthy bark and moss but I don't mind them in red wine either so who the hell knows.

The McWilliam's Chardonnay has a buttery bouquet of peach, citrus and subtle oak. I hear there's supposed to be a little melon aroma in there too but I couldn't get it. On the palate it was rich and creamy opposite citrus fruit and had a nice balance of acidity. I wouldn't say it was complex but it did feel nice to lather your palate with it. I had a taste of this while our friends Ryan and Rochelle were over for drinks.

Okay, peace out!
J

Pepperwood Grove - Viognier

Producer: Pepperwood Grove
Varietal: Viognier
Vintage: 2007
Region: California, United States
Price: ~ $30/bottle (in a restaurant)
 
For my step-father's birthday we went to this little East Indian restaurant for his birthday called Moti Mahal. Cute little place that was fairly steady even for a Sunday night at eight o'clock. Kinda thought it would be nice to have a cool white wine to edge some of the bite off from the spicy food. The nose on this viognier was fairly crisp and refreshing with a bit of peppery spice. It had a light body with tastes of apricots, pepper and even cloves to tie the indian food together. I'm guessing that at $30 per bottle at a restaurant this wouldn't cost a whole lot at retail. It wasn't a complex wine but when you're searching for decent wine without spending too much you're looking for balance more than complexity.
 
Okay, peace ooouuut...
 
PS: I'm having some wicked Indian burps... Indian "dot"; not Indian "feather"

     
Click here to download:
Pepperwood_Grove_-_Viognier_Pe.zip (76 KB)