No post doesn't mean no wine!

Whoops, so I haven't been keeping up with things here on the blog but I have definitely still been drinking wine and eating cheese! Here is a recap of the last few weeks:

My Birthday!!!

On July 15th I turned 25 and of course did the obligatory "where did all the time go?? whoa!!!" nonsense. In reality it has been a great year and I feel like 25 is a good round number and will be even better than 24. For my birthday, I went out to Eddie V's which I LOVE. The only thing I really wanted was this amazing, amazing salad and a glass of wine. Seriously this salad is the best I've ever had. Its just arugula, sauteed mushrooms and onions, warm goat cheese and a vinaigrette dressing. Oh. My. God. So good! I usually don't like to get wine in restaurants because it is SO much more expensive that getting it at a store. The price of a glass is about the price you'd pay for a bottle. But since it was my birthday and I was in a nice place I indulged. The cool thing about getting wine at restaurants though is you can ask for a recommendation and usually try a few until you find one you like. So thats what I did, I ended up choosing the Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc/Viognier blend. Since its been a few weeks I don't remember too much about it except that it was DELICIOUS, and I promptly went to Specs and bought a whole bottle a few days later. A glass at Eddie V's was $10.50... guess how much the bottle was... $11. Yep. I will be trying my bottle again soon.

Third Wino Divino meeting-

As always this was a fantastic meeting. I so love getting together with friends and trying many different wines all at once. I really get a chance to compare and broaden my horizons and try things I usually wouldn't. The theme this month was to bring a wine from a place you have never been, yet would like to go. So we had a large variety of wines from Spain, France, Italy, Argentina, and of course California. ALL the wines were just fantastic. I brought a tempranillo from Spain that I was very impressed with, and I wish I had my notes from the night to describe some of the other ones. One of the shockers of the nights was a California Chardonnay that we were all like "whoa! this is great!" and it was only $4... thats what I like to see! In addition, there were tons of cheese and crackers, fruit, and hilarious games. A good time was had by all, and I can't wait until the next meeting!

Cresta Azul "needle wine"-

Also I tried the needle wine I bought from a Specs tasting. I believe its actually a white blend but the bottle was vague about what it really is. Its called a needle wine because it feels slightly carbonated (although Im not sure it is) and the bubbles feel like slight needles on your tongue. I loved it at the Specs tasting because it was so different, and when I tried it again at home I was equally impressed. It tastes like a straight up cream soda... exactly. Its a tad sour, but the carbonation and vanilla and cream hints make you feel like you have a cream soda wine. It was delicious and refreshing, something I would like to drink on the patio on a hot day. However, it definitely has to be ice cold. As it warms up its like... a warm soda... kind of gross.

Messina Hof Muscat Canelli

When I went to Specs to get the truffle cheese I got this wine mostly on a whim. I have been pretty impressed by the Messina Hof wines I have tasted lately. Also my favorite wine from the Austin wine festival was a muscat canelli, so I thought I should give this one a try.

Aside from the Fall Creek Muscat Canelli, I have also tried the Becker Muscat Canelli Amabile - both of which were deliciously sweet. So thats what I expected from this wine but much to my dismay I was a bit disappointed. This wine was really not sweet at all, and was more citrusy than anything. It tasted exactly like a grapefruit with a hint of lemon - which reminded me of a previous wine I had about a week ago - the Messina Hof Pinot Grigio! Seriously they tasted almost like the same wine! One interesting thing about this wine was the smell. It smelled like a white port - sweet and very alcoholic and almost exactly like a white port I have had.

Overall this wine was ok, I gave it a 6.5 out of 10. It was nothing special but it wasnt terrible either.

Gouda with Truffles

Whenever I express my opinions on dogs as anything less than "OMG HOW CUUUUUUUTE DOGS ARE THE BEST", I get looked at like I just chewed up some adorable puppies. I have my reasons. Like take a few days ago for instance. I had tried this super amazing cheese at Specs that just blew me away, but decided not to get it right away. After thinking about it for a few weeks, I went back and got the $35/lb gouda with truffles. This cheese is the BEST. I brought it over for an after dinner treat so that everyone could try it and bask in its amazingness. A few minutes after putting it on the counter, it mysteriously had disappeared! Nobody knew where it was! Seriously cheeses don't just up and walk off do they? Or DO they... finally we found the missing cheese in the MOUTH OF A DOG!!! Apparently, the cheese (maybe) had (somehow) fallen to the floor, and stealthily the dog scooped it up and silently went away to eat it. UGH! Luckily only a corner was nibbled off and it was still wrapped in plastic so most of it was salvageable, but I'd say it took away from the charm.

Anyway, the cheese was awesome as always. It is soooo creamy and had a pretty mild flavor. There is just a small amount of truffles in there, but they add an earthiness and make the cheese a little more robust. In the future, I think this cheese would pair really well with a pinot noir. I think everyone liked it and I will definitely get it again, although I don't know when since there are so many delicious cheeses out there.

Santa Cristina Sangiovese

I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about chilled red wines, which is something I've never given much thought before. In my mind, whites are cold and reds are room temperature. Apparently, reds can be refreshing when chilled as well! The article recommended a few of the best chilled reds the authors found, and I was thrilled when I was surprised with 2 of them!

The one I decided to try first was the Santa Cristina Sangiovese from Italy. In the article this wine was described as having a black cherry flavor, which I definitely found for myself as well. It was a bit bold, much more so than I expected it to be. I definitely had some prejudices going into this wine, as most reds are warm, and if they are chilled its because they are sweet. I thought this wine was good but not great, as it had a nice balance of fruit yet had a definite tannic finish. It also smelled very much like alcohol.

I was intrigued by the fact that it was chilled, yet I didn't feel like this aspect added anything to the wine. Maybe chilled reds are just still new to me, or I just don't like them, but I feel like this wine would be better at room temperature. I will have to see what I think after trying the other wine we have, which was a little more expensive and supposedly goes great with food.

Messina Hof Pinot Grigio

In celebration of a great few days, I decided to open a wine that I've been wanting to try for a few months now. Its like a million degrees outside, so we were looking for a light fruity summer wine and I knew just the one! I decided on a Messina Hof Pinot Grigio, which was one of my favorite wines at the Specs Texas Tasting, and was only about 8 - 9 bucks too!

This wine is light and fruity - the perfect balance of sweet and bitter. It tastes like a grapefruit, with a medium citrusy finish. However, it is just fruity enough to strike a nice balance and make it very delicious. The flavor seems to change as the temperature does, and really opens as the wine warms up. I also sense hints of lemon, and would definitely get this wine again. I don't know that it pairs particularly well with anything, but it is quite delicious on its own!