Campobarro Boxed Wine

I found this boxed wine at Whole Foods, and thought I should give it a try. I love the idea of a boxed wine thats actually GOOD, because then you can just have a little here and there without worrying about finishing the bottle before the wine goes bad! The franzia I tried was not very good, but it was only $11 for the equivalent of 7 bottles of wine. This tempranillo was $20 for 4 bottles of wine.

It was pretty decent - a few interesting flavors, but mostly just a good table wine to have around. It actually went pretty fast lol, and I guess it was worth the $20 I paid. It still comes out to about $1 a glass though, and for a little more than that price you can probably find a few wines that are more interesting than tasting the same taste for 4 bottles worth. I would be willing to try other similar wines though, just for the experience.

Most Popular White Wine in the World

Yellow Tail Chardonnay is the most popular white wine in the world apparently, so I had to see what all the fuss is about. I remember having Yellow Tail in college, and it was probably the first wine I ever had. I think its not considered very high class among real wine drinkers, and its so cheap that there can't be too much to it. So then why is it so amazingly popular, selling I BELIEVE around 20 million bottles a year? I had to find out.

I found this wine on sale at HEB for an unbelievable $4.99 and decided to test it out. As I poured myself a glass, I cringed at what would be coming, basically expecting the worst. However, on first taste it wasn't that bad at all! It was not oaky or buttery, or anything that I would expect a chardonnay to taste like. In fact, it was a little sweet and fruity - very drinkable! I couldn't really pick out any distinct tastes, although it did smell like grapefruit and oranges. Then, the more I drank it, the less I started to like it. It's not a wine to savor. In fact, it started to just taste like alcoholic apple juice.

Overall, this wine gets like a 4. Its not good or really bad, but is a little unpleasant and something I probably wouldn't buy again. It was only $5 but for $6 or 7 you can actually find a few decent wines. I also bought the Yellow Tail Shiraz (most popular red wine in the world) and will be trying that as well soon! :)

Cork and Co

SXSW is in town, and we went out to see some day shows Thursday. We were a little early, so decided to stop by Cork and Co. I loved it so much last time, I wanted to go again! We went for happy hour (3 - 7 on weekdays), and got some great deals on our drinks. They have a few drinks for $5 instead of the normal 7 or 8.

The first thing I had was something called the Velentin Bianchi New Age, which was some sauvignon blanc on ice with lemon and it was GREAT! It tasted like a really delicious lemonade and was extrememly drinkable. Im going to have to try this style at home sometime. We also got a really weird wine ( I think from Hungary) called Monte Volpe Tokayi Friulano, and I didn't like it. It was very dry and almost bitter.

For only $5 you can pick a cheese, so we picked manchego and I was surprised by how much other stuff came with it! Not only was it the cheese, we had dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, crackers, and bread!

We decided to each have a second glass of wine, since a nice wine was probably cheaper here than a gross drink at a bar later. On the menu it said they have a south american specialty every day and so I ordered that - turns out it was a malbec. I didn't even think to ask what kind it was :(. It was pretty decent, but just tasted like your average malbec - nothing too special about it. Our other drink was a   pinot noir, and I wrote down it was a R. Merlot... but that doesn't seem right lol. So basically I don't know what either of our second drinks are.

Antonelli's Cheese Shop

I have made my way to Antonelli's, and must say I am impressed! It's about time Austin had its own cheese shop, and I will do everything in my power to make sure it stays here. Its very small inside, and there are only maybe 50 - 75 cheeses. The owners will let you sample anything you like, as many as you like! :) They also get in new cheeses all the time - they sell out of everything about every 3 days, so all their cheeses are super fresh. :o The atmosphere there is very relaxed, and they let you take your time finding what you want. The first time I went, I came out of there with 2 cheeses, a gruyere and a weird clothbound cheddar.

The prices are a little higher than you might find at HEB or a similar store, but you are definitely are paying for premium cheese here. The second time, we got 3 cheeses, an ossau iraty, a goat cheddar, and some mariekas gouda... ALL were amazing! Pictures to come soon.

Engagement Wines!

Everyone who knows me is already aware of this, but I am now engaged!!! :) This actually happened a few weeks ago but Im just now getting around to writing about it here because I wanted to review the wines I had that night. It wasn't really a big surprise, because we custom made the ring, but the actual date and time were surprise enough! The ring is AMAZING...

We went out to dinner at McCormick and Schmick and got some amazing food. Of course we had to have wine to celebrate, and we had just picked out our glasses when we noticed they were now serving wine flights! :o I LOVE wine flights, because then I don't have to commit to just one! They are actually a really good deal, because you get 3 glasses of 3 ounces each, although it seemed like way more than that to us! It's $12 and you can pick from any wines that are served by the glass. 

We decided to each get a flight, which would give us 6 mini glasses to taste :o. When picking, we generally went with the most expensive glasses on the menu, and wines that just seemed interesting. 

The three wines I ordered were the Crossings Pinot Noir, 14 Hands Cabernet, and J Vineyards Pinot Grigio. The Crossings Pinot Noir was really delicious, and we rated it a 9 and 8 out of 10! The 14 Hands was the wine I was originally going to get and it is amazing, we both rated it a 9. I ordered the pinot grigio just to try something new and because it was one of the more expensive ones. It turned out to be ok, but not great - we rated it a 7 and 6. 

Stephen ordered the best one of the night - I would have gotten it if he didn't. It was the Nautilus Sauvignon Blanc, and I don't know why it was so good, but it just was... delicious. We both rated it a 10, and I looked up it and its about $17 a bottle at Specs so I might get it sometime! He also got the Don Miguel Gascon Malbec, which was pretty good (rated 7/8), and the Bonterra Viognier which was pretty good too (rated 7/8). 

We topped off the night with some creme brulee. It was so amazing, and we are both so excited about the engagement! The wine was delicious, and I love the fact that I can get reasonably prices wine flights there. I will definitely be back! :)

San Angelo Pinot Grigio

I was babysitting some kids for 3 days straight and was amazed to find that the family had left a wine for me in the fridge! It had a note that said "Don't want this to go bad, please drink if you like"! Wow - now that is just thoughtful! I must say after a long day looking after kids, a glass of wine is a nice way to relax. :)

The wine itself is not my favorite type. Usually I think pinot grigios taste a little watery without much flavor, and this one was not an exception. It was definitely drinkable though, and I find myself liking dry whites more and more.

Also... this is my 100th post!!! :) Hooray!

Dry Creek Sauvignon Blanc

I went downtown for a Flaming Lips concert (which was AMAZING, by the way) and we were a little early, so stopped by a bar to have a drink. We went to Ginger Man, which is pretty cool if you like beer since there are tons of beers on tap there. Unfortunately, I hate beer but they also had a pretty decent wine and port menu. Lately I've been getting into sauvignon blancs because I've found a few I haven't hated, so decided to go with the Dry Creek Sauvignon Blanc for $7 a glass. I looked this up on Specs just now and its about a $15 bottle, so their prices are NOT BAD considering it was a bar. The wine itself was just ok... it was pretty dry and bitter to me like most sauvignon blancs I've tried, but it definitely was drinkable. It tasted a bit watery to me, but I would have liked to try it with some food. I'd give it maybe a 6/10.

Ewephoria and White Cheddar

This Ewephoria cheese is probably one of my new favorite cheeses. Its a sheep gouda, and has a deliciously nutty flavor that reminds me a bit of Parrano. I bought this at the last Specs tasting and have been eating in in tiny chunks to make it last!

I also have an amazing organic white cheddar from Whole Foods that they have sampled the last few times I've been and it taunted me until I broke down and bought it. I really like the flavor of this cheese - its really sharp - but the texture is a little weird. Its really soft and a little gooey, which I've never experienced with a cheddar. Still, its delicious and less than half the price of the Ewephoria!

What a terrible picture, but you get the idea!

Chisholm Trail Dessert Wine

I can't believe I forgot to write about this wine! I actually had this delicious wine the very end of February at a "Death by Chocolate" event at Cafe Monet. Cafe Monet is a place where you can go and paint your own pottery and then pick it up a few days later after they glaze it. There are a few places like this in Austin, and they're really cool. Well they were holding an event where for $10 a person you could eat unlimited chocolate while you paint! They allow drinks and food to be brought in, so we thought it would be a fun way to spend the evening.

They had tons of chocolate cake, cookies, brownies, chocolate covered fruit, and just plain chocolates! It was all amazing, and I had brought a sweeter wine that I thought would pair well and it DID. I have had the Chisholm Trail Dessert Wine for some time now, I think I bought it when Grapevine was closing. Its actually a cabernet, 18.5% alcohol, and yet sweet and delicious. This reminded me a bit of a port and was very smooth and VERY drinkable. Its a 2/3 size bottle and about $19 and well worth it... it is SO delicious.

It was so much fun to paint and relax while eating tons of chocolate and enjoying such a delicious wine. There are lots of things to paint at Cafe Monet, but most are kinda large and a bit expensive. I decided to paint a small dinosaur, since these were super cute, only $15 each, and there were 3 different ones to choose from.

After they were glazed they came out a lot darker and very shiny and are such a cute way to remember the night!

Antonelli's Cheese Shop

All I have to say is... WHAT!? I just found out Austin has its own cheese shop... is this new? How long has this been here and WHY have I not been there yet? Don't worry, I will be going there asap to check it out and will for sure be back with tons of cheese!

February Shiraz - Indaba

I am behind again on the shiraz drinking! This is now the 3rd shiraz from the Christmas 13, and its a 2008 Indaba Shiraz from South Africa. We are drinking the red wines in the new huge glasses, so I am definitely smelling a lot more from the wines we drink. My first impression of this one was that it STUNK! It also tastes a little weird, although I couldn't put my finger on exactly why. The winemaker's notes say "This fresh, juicy Shiraz flaunts lively flavors of ripe blackberry, blueberry and dark chocolate, with hints of white pepper, licorice and spice.", but I definitely didn't taste all of that. I thought it was pretty good, and I tasted some cherry and spice, but to me it wasn't THAT complex. Comparing the 3 I have tried so far, I would have to say the first one was the best. 

Birthday Wine

My mom's birthday was the other day, and I'm always trying to get her to try new things, so of course I had to get her some wines! I went to Specs to get some recommendations and left feeling a little disappointed. I didn't really want to spend a lot on a bottle of wine, since my mom is so picky and might hate it. I also didn't want to get something cheap and disgusting, so it was tough trying to find a balance. My wine guy tried to help me find something and I ended up getting 2 wines for her to try.

The first one was this Spier sweet white, which was a little stronger than she was used to (about 12%), but supposedly still sweet and delicious. It has sugar added actually. This wine turned out to be a BUST! It was pretty terrible, and tasted like pineapple and even I thought it was pretty bad. Never one to waste wine though, I found that when mixed with orange juice, it was actually quite delicious. I took this one home since my mom hated it so much, and had it a few days later with my boyfriend and we agreed it actually wasnt so bad anymore. It was only $8, but I would never get this wine again.

The other wine was something I was a little unsure of. It was a Lambrusco, which is a sparkling light red wine which is pretty fruity and a little sweet. It was only around 8 or 9% alcohol, and only $5. Since it was so cheap, I figured it was good to try just to get a sense of what kinds of things she may like in the future. Guess what... she actually LIKED it! No kidding, this wine was actually pretty tasty! It was refreshing and slightly interesting and best of all, inoffensive.

I told her if she likes this, she may want to try some white zinfandels and wines of that nature. When I first started drinking wines, Im not going to lie, my favorite was white zinfandel. It tasted like a delicious sweet strawberry drink. That could be slightly embarassing, as these wines are not very highly regarded among wine drinkers, but I forgot that they are commonly drunk by people just getting used to wine! I don't know why I didn't think of it before. Now I have some ideas about what she should try next.

Poll Results!

Thanks to everyone who voted in my poll this month, "What is your favorite type of red wine?". The winner was pinot noir with 7, followed by shiraz/syrah with 5, with the rest of the results pretty evenly spread. I was a little surprised by the shiraz, and the fact that only one person voted for cabernet! :o Very cool! The new poll is up, and as you could probably have guessed, it involved white wine.