Specs Wine Tasting

I went to the February Specs tasting last night, but there was nothing very momentous. In fact, I only found a few things I liked. One was the Mud House Sauvignon Blanc which was really good, and I found some sheep gouda called Ewephoria which was AMAZING. There were some brownies there that were also at the Austin Chocolate Festival which were delicious, so I got an orange liquor flavored one.

Kinda meh overall this time.

Drinks at the Mohawk

I went to the Mohawk a few nights ago for a concert and while perusing their bar area was surprised to find Sake2Me drinks for $1! I don't really like sake, and have never heard of that brand, but figured what the heck for a dollar. What I got was a wine cooler bottle full of delicious flavored cold sake, asian pear to be exact. It was pretty good! Unfortunately, it must have been a short lived special because when I went back less than an hour later, they were all out. So I figured I would give their wine selection a try, even though wine is WAY overpriced almost everywhere.

They only had one wine and it was Robert Mondavi Cabernet. Having no other drink options (I hate most mixed drinks), I gave it a try. It was a tragic $6 for half a plastic cups worth. I later saw the bottle at a Walgreens for only $9. Ugh. Anyway, the wine was not bad. It was drinkable, and had a very strong dried cherry flavor on the finish which I loved. Overall, it was pretty decent.

Vino Dei Fratelli

This is another moscato from my extensive moscato tasting lately! This one is super light.. only 5.5%, so it's barely wine to me. It tastes very refreshing and delicious, but because of the low alcohol, it doesn't have any punch to it. Super drinkable, almost too much so for me. I would recommend this to non wine drinkers, and anyone who just wants a (VERY) light wine.

Relatives, King Cake, and a Wine Tasting

A few of my relatives were in town from New Orleans last weekend, which is great because I hardly ever get a chance to see them. We see each other every other year or so at weddings, but thats about it because of the distance. I used to live in New Orleans when I was younger, and one of the things I always miss this time of year are the delicious king cakes! King cakes are a Mardi Gras tradition from New Orleans, and although they are sold here in Austin, they are NOT the same at all. Well imagine my delight when I see 2 authentic king cakes sitting on the table! :o

This one was bavarian cream and cherry.

This one is the original flavor. Basically king cakes taste like an incredibly sweet cinnamon roll.

They are delicious, but so sweet you can only really eat a little at a time. There is a hidden plastic baby inside, and if you find the baby in your piece, you are considered lucky and are supposed to buy the next king cake.

My mom had bought some wines for my family to all taste, so we ended up having a bit of a wine tasting with our cakes. First we had the Castello del Poggio, which everyone liked (of course).

Then, we had a sparkling sweet red she tried at an HEB tasting. I've never had a sparkling sweet red before, so was intrigued. It turned out that I didn't really like it very much... for one thing it smelled like rubbing alcohol, and didn't have too much of a flavor. My mom said it was better the next day though, I guess after it had opened up a bit.

The final one we tried was one that I had recommended, a Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc/Viognier. This is the wine I tasted on my birthday, and had with my friend Kris when he came to visit. Its delicious! Well most people ended up not liking it, except my uncle, who is a somewhat regular wine drinker. Oh well, I took it home with me, and it too was better the next day.

Im seeing a big theme as I write more about wine and cheese - wines need to be opened and cheese needs to be set out a while before you eat/drink them!

The day was really fun, and we ended up playing Apples to Apples and 20 questions until it got late and they had to go back to their hotel. We also had some delicious goat cheese, that my mom bought plain and mixed with honey and orange peel! I need to take pictures the next time she does that.

Manchego

I always seem to forget to take pictures and write about the cheeses I try, probably because I tend to eat them so fast! However, this is one of my favorite cheeses, so it's pretty noteworthy. Manchego is a sheep cheese, and is super oily and delicious. It goes extremely well with wines, or is great on its own. Around the edges its kind of hard and crumbly, but in the middle its soft (both are amazing!). I eat this cheese pretty regularly actually.

January Shiraz - Koonunga Hill

This was the lower priced shiraz from Australia, and I immediately recognized the Penfolds brand from the last Specs wine tasting. I had tried two Penfolds shiraz's there, one at $10 and one at $20. The main difference between the two was that the lower priced one was made from grapes all over Australia, and the $20 one was made from grapes all grown in the same small area. They tasted about the same to me.

So it was cool to try yet another Penfolds shiraz! I thought this wine was pretty good, but it didn't really blow me away. It tasted a bit like blueberries which was cool, and was a bit spicy but nothing very concrete. I remember feeling a lot more excited about the December shiraz. Basically it was good, but kind of simple.

Franzia Update

I first posted about my box wine the beginning of December. Its been quite some time and I still have the same box so I feel an update is in order. The wine is still in my fridge, and its been... 9 weeks now since I've had it. Basically it is JUST NOW starting to change a bit. The box said its good for 6 weeks and thats absolutely true. I cant even tell a big difference now, but I am definitely getting bored of it. I don't drink it that often because its not that great, but its nice to have on hand for those times when I want some wine but don't want to open a bottle. Overall I'd say Franzia is a mild success for what it's intended to be, and I would consider trying another flavor if I had a recommendation.

Edna Valley Pinot Noir

For some reason a few days ago I wanted a pinot noir… not any other wine. Who knows why, but when I got home there was one on my wine shelf so I thought why not, and opened it. Little did I know, this was the wine my boyfriend’s parents gave me last Christmas to go with a pasta meal, and is probably a bit pricey. Oops! Either way, it’s very good! I had a small bit in the new wine glasses, and thought it was pretty good but nothing too special – it was soft and fruity and light. However, I am having another small glass tonight and its different! I know it sounds weird, but the smell is really cool – its herby and salty almost like… a ramen noodle cup. I actually like this wine a lot, but I wouldn't say I love it.

Moscato Comparisons

When I went to visit my parents last weekend, my mom had a few wines she wanted me to try. One had been open for a few days and was almost finished, and the other one we opened together.

The Rocca Cerrina had been opened for a few days, but I thought it tasted fantastic! It was still slightly carbonated, and reminded me a bit of a cream soda. It was very smooth, slight vanilla flavors, and a bit more complex than I usually find in a moscato.

This one we opened that day, and I must say I wasn't a big fan. It was VERY carbonated and that carbonation masked any smells or tastes I could find. It was basically alright, but nothing special. I let my glass sit out a bit and tried it later when some of the bubbles had gone away and I felt the same way. There wasnt much to this wine except sweet and sparkling.

Of the two, the Rocca Cerrina was definitely better. I will have to try it when it is freshly opened sometime!

House Wine

For our January Wino Divino, a few of us decided to check out another wine bar that I've been hearing good things about. It's called House Wine, and is basically just an old house turned into a wine bar. I actually love the idea behind this wine bar. It has a cute yard where you can sit, but also each room inside the house is a little sitting area.

We decided to sit in the front area (it was like 35 degrees outside).

On Saturday nights, House Wine serves a lot of bottles by the glass that don't get completely finished. So on Sunday, they offer those wines by the glass for 1/2 price until they are all gone, which is a great deal. Their glasses are normally about $7 - 9 a glass, but on Sunday they are only about $4, which is fantastic. I was especially impressed when I ordered a glass of wine and there wasnt QUITE a full glass's worth, so they gave it to me for 1/4 price! :o 

To order, you go into the "kitchen" of the house, where you can look at a list of wines opened from Saturday night. There isn't a lot of service involved - nobody comes to your table and takes your order or brings you things. To me, this made the experience more relaxed and it really felt like I was drinking wine in someone's living room! Our party all got there around 4 and stayed until 12... which is something I would never do if people were waiting on me the whole time. 

The first glass I got was a Cycles Zinfandel which I thought was pretty flat and uninteresting. Then, the server recommended a sauvignon blanc that wasn't even on the regular menu. At first I was hesitant since I usually don't like those, but it was actually one of my favorite things of the night - there was only a 1/2 glass left of it! Another cool thing here... they will let you taste any wine before you order a glass (something I didn't know when I ordered the zinfandel). She also said their rieslings were pretty good, so I was debating between the 2 they had (Milbrandt and The Stump Jump), and ended up getting 1/2 a glass of both to compare!

We also had a cheese plate which was delicious too - I think ours ended up having pecorino and gouda. It came with bread, crackers, almonds, and a pretty good cheese spread also, 

Finally, we saw this on the menu and couldn't pass it up. There was a brownie a la mode with a port sauce and it was STRONG.

This place had a very different feel from Cru and Cork & Co, and its so cool getting to experience the variety of wine bars in Austin. I will definitely be back here to lounge and try other wines asap!

New for 2010 - Polls!

If you're reading this, you probably know a lot of my thoughts on wine, and I want to know yours too! So every month there will be a new poll to answer! Please let me know your opinions! :)