Wine at Olive Garden

It’s my brother’s birthday today! Not only are we celebrating his birthday, but he just graduated college and just got a job offer ON HIS BIRTHDAY! My family’s favorite restaurant is Olive Garden so we decided to go there for a late lunch to celebrate everything.

We had a really nice waiter, Josh, who gave us some wine recommendations and I FINALLY got my mom to order a glass of wine! She got a sample of Chateau St. Michelle Riesling but ended up not liking it THAT much, so she got the Castello del Poggio moscato, which she loves. This wine is all over the place recently! Its super sweet and only 7% alcohol, so it’s just perfect for everyone. I tried the red wine sample, which was a Rancho Zabaco Zinfandel and I liked it pretty well. I don’t know if its as good as the Cline Zinfandel I like but it was still yummy so I ordered that for lunch. My mom hated it btw (no surprise there).

I’m still not sure about pairing wines with food, because I’m pretty sure my zinfandel would have gone well with a steak or beef of some sort but I don’t like those things so I had it with shrimp. To me, I like the wine and I like the food so that’s enough for me. Perhaps it is something I will develop later on though.

Shannon Ridge Syrah

Time for the first Syrah/Shiraz from my Christmas present! I started with the Shannon Ridge, which was the lowest price one from California coming in around $12. I’m really excited that there are so many syrahs and shirazes to taste, because it’s a type of wine I don’t know very much about, and haven’t tasted much of.

I thought this wine was great! It was a bit spicy and bold yet really fruity and delicious! On the bottle it says blueberry flavors  but I didn’t taste that. I had this wine with some of the leftover gouda from around Christmas and it made the wine even better. If this is supposedly the worst of the 13 wines, I can’t even IMAGINE what the others must taste like! Too bad I have such a long time to wait.

Christmas Presents!

Wow people really do know me... I got a lot of wine and cheese related presents this Christmas! :) First, I got a wine aerator which I've always wanted to try,

and a set of cheese tools including specialty knives!

I also got some special stone serving trays for cheese, including a chalk pencil to write what types of cheeses I serve on the stone!

I also got a book about cheese, which pairs with another cheese book I have! :)

I LOVE everything! :o

I also got the most incredible present ever, I couldn't even believe it. It was a case of shiraz and syrah wines!!! :o 13 total! They vary in region and price point.

There are 13 so that I can drink one each month for the next year starting with this December and going until next December.

December, January, and February...

March, April, and May...

June, July and August...

September, October, November, and December...

Christmas Gewurztraminer

As I have mentioned before, my parents do not really like wine that much. They will try it only if I bring it over, and are very limited in what they think is good. Basically they like rieslings ok, and are not very interested in trying much else. So for Christmas I decided to bring a gewurztraminer, which I thought would be a little different, yet still delicious.

The one I picked was the Helrich Gewurztraminer. I tried a Helrich pinot gris at a tasting a while back and bought the bottle and LOVED IT! I have also been told the riesling by that brand was amazing, so figured the Gewurztraminer would be excellent as well. I went to Specs and asked for a recommendation and that was the first one shown to me - so why wouldn't I get it?

The parents ended up thinking it was ok, but not really great. It definitely was not as sweet as the riesling and was more citrusy and sour. My mom and dad said it tasted like a grapefruit! I thought it was a little better when it wasn't so cold, but it still wasn't something I liked. :/

Christmas Wines and Cheeses

My boyfriend's family is hosting a Christmas party and needed some wine and cheese, so I was sent out to create (another) cheese plate and pick out a few bottles of wine for the event. Again, I tried to vary cheeses that were pretty simple and easy with more challenging and interesting ones.

Because the aged gouda went over so well at the work party, I decided to get some more for Christmas. I also chose a manchego again since it was popular as well. I saw a mushroom brie that I actually thought was a bad idea but decided to get it as well as a swiss with herbs on the rind which I tried before and was great. For wines, I wanted a red and a white that most people would like but something a little less ordinary than chardonnay and cabernet. One of my favorite whites is the Crios Torrontes, so decided on that along with the Crios Malbec. For 14 people, I spent about $25 on cheese and $25 on wine.

The malbec was a big hit! It sounds like a lot of people had a glass of it with lunch, but the torrontes was not as popular. Maybe people just didnt really want a second glass after lunch? Also, the mushroom brie was the most popular! Really?

Work Party Cheese Plate

My boyfriend and I were going to to a party with some of his work friends and everyone was supposed to bring a snack, so we decided to bring a cheese plate! Apparently he told his friends that I was really into cheese, so the pressure was on. What could I pick that everyone would like, yet would be a little out of the ordinary?

I was already at the Specs wine tasting, so I figured I would just get the cheese from there. The first cheese was easy, as they were sampling a very delicious sharp Irish Dubliner Cheddar. Cheddar is always a good staple to have in a cheese plate because everyone knows what it is. The next one I picked was a 6 month manchego because its one of my favorites, its a sheep cheese, and whenever I bring it for people to try, I always get a good reaction. I thought it would be cool to have a cows, sheep, and goat cheese for variety, so for the final cheese, I really wanted a goat gouda, but couldnt find one :(. So instead, I got a very aged "Vintage" gouda. It was really hard and crumbly and I thought this might be the least liked of the 3 cheeses, because it has such a strong flavor.

We got to the party and the cheeses were a big hit! Much to my surprise, aged gouda was the favorite of the night! Next was the manchago, and the cheddar was last! So maybe the flavor wasnt too strong? I think we bought about $11 worth of cheese, which was probably 3/4 lb or so and there was still about half of it left over.

Champagne

I have only had a small amount of champagne in my life, almost exclusively on New Years and I usually hate it. Its bitter mostly and I don't really like carbonated drinks. However, I was babysitting this Saturday and the family was about to go out to a party and had a glass of champagne and offered me one. Never turning down a sample, I figured I'd try it.

I don't know if this was actually "champagne", as that is a specific type of sparkling wine that comes from Champagne, France. Either way, it was some sort of sparkler. At first it was the same old bitter bubbly, but I gave it a chance. Then... it started to get better! It started to taste fruity and the crisp bitterness was almost refreshing! I even loved the carbonation! They said I could have a little more when they left, so I poured 1/2 a glass and found some strawberries and decided to try the classic combo of champagne and strawberries.

WOW! What a difference! The sweetness of the strawberries paired SO well with the champagne! How have I never tried this before? It was amazing! Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the champagne or really know anything about it. However, Im inspired to try more champagnes and other sparking wines in the future!

Franzia Boxed Wine

I've been hearing about Franzia for years and always thought it would be terrible and a disgrace to wine, so never tried it. However, I figured the time had come! I wasn't expecting much, but wanted to try it just for the experience. At HEB, you can buy a 5 liter box of Franzia, which is equal to about 6 bottles of wine, for about $11. I figured at that price, I could throw it out if I didn't like it. There are like a million flavors, and I chose the Crisp White, thinking it would be hardest to screw up.

The wine is in a bag inside the box, and supposedly stays fresh for up to 6 weeks! Its got a spout, so you just keep it in the fridge and open the spout when you want some, like a water cooler. So if the wine is good, this is AMAZING! 6 bottles of wine... for 6 weeks... for only $11. Ok time to try...

Not bad! I mean its not GOOD, its pretty plain and uninteresting, but its definitely not bad. In fact it tastes almost like regular apple juice. The Crisp White is only 9%, so its very light and I can barely taste the alcohol at all. Its kinda cool having it in the fridge and not having to worry about it going bad. I can just have a little at a time and stretch it out.

Im not sure that I LIKE it, and after having it for a little bit its kind of boring. However, I would also be interested in trying other flavors just to see what they're like.