Month: September 2018

…Is All That I’ve Ever Known

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What am I talking about here?   Wait what…

I know what I like and while it evolves, I still know what I like.  While palates change, tastes change, and life changes, your gut is still your guide.  And your gut will never let you down.  It didn’t let me down and I still went against it.  So you can imagine the results.

The first wine was already opened by my friends at a friendly neighborhood bar/restaurant and it was stellar.

The 2016 Black’s Station Yolo County Cabernet Sauvignon produced by Matchbook Wines is one of the lighter variations of this wine I’ve had in a while.  If I did a blind test I wouldn’t know most wines from the other.  Well maybe I would.  No, not everything, but enough.  After drinking enough wine you’re going to pick up some things.  It’s what makes this so fun.  It’s not something to force upon yourself or anyone else.   Am I talking about wine, or anything in general?  That’s up to you and me to decide.  But it’s all relative.

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This wine is great and at around $12, it’s worth it’s weight in so much.  It just felt like the right wine for a transition into the season.  It hurts me to say that but that’s where we are.  It just felt right and while I tasted some spices, and the berries, and maybe some other indescribable hidden gems.

Most of all, it tasted good.  And being in a place that felt safe, felt comfortable, yet a bit of an unknown enhanced that experience.  No food, no loud noises, no shouting over anyone to be heard was necessary.  It was where I was and where I was supposed to be that matter.   I wish I could’ve ended it like that.  And I still might try too…

Things went a little south here.  I wish I could say otherwise.  The Red Blend from Rhiannon just felt like it was there. It was a label I’ve had before, and while I wasn’t sure, the fact that I vaguely remember should have immediately given me a warning sign.

Just because something isn’t so memorable doesn’t mean it’s not great, profound, or heck even memorable.   Sometimes it goes deep into our subconscious for later discussion, or never again.

Well I wouldn’t want to say never again.  I’m not sure what else there is to say.  I think I recall purchasing this bottle for under $10 so I can’t complain there.  And having these bottles at half price on a weekday night is something to be grateful for.   The glass is more than half full on this one.  There just wasn’t much that stood out about the wine.  Like I’ve said before, if a wine is terrible, or if anything is terrible, there might more to talk about.  This makes me sad to say but this is as mediocre as it gets.

I’ll keep the focus on and end with the Black’s Station Cabernet, as it was beautiful.  I’ve never seen it in stores, and now that I’ve discovered I hope to.  I hope you can find it too!  For it’s a treasure alright.  While there’s plenty of amazing wines and even the best ones are never found out, or get lost in the shuffle, this is one worth going after.

That’s all I know…. For now…

Peace Be With You.

Ideen

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A Familiar Image…

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vinhoverde

I had to take a step back from a few things.  I write out more than just this blog (or in the other two universes I find myself orbiting, which you can find here and here), and I love writing.  At times you get burnt out. I know I have.  I was going at it at such a massive clip, that two plus years of consistent posts a week was going to lead to some sort of exhaustion.   I’m tired as I write this out now…

This is a wine blog, but when we write we also tend to get a bit personal.  That’s what we do.  The subject matter hits home with us to varying degrees, and we hope that the reader feels the same.  If not, then it becomes even more transparent and hollow.  And especially for the former, not in a good way.  You always want to be able to cast a shadow.

I like what’s familiar but then I like to feel uncomfortable.  I like to try things that are out of the norm, and may not be easily accessible at your local wine shoppe or any shoppe to begin with.

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What drew me to Seaside Cellars Vinho Verde was the image of the lighthouse.  For I’ve seen plenty of those in images presented to me by family, by virtue of art galleries, picture frames, and from living in Maryland.  There’s sentiment on top of sentiment.  To say it hit a nerve and shed a tear would be an understatement.   With that being said, I hope the wine is great too.

Vinho Verde, which is literally means green wine, is a gift from Portugal.  It’s out barely months after being harvested, so it tastes young and ready to drink almost immediately.  And at around $10, the Seaside Cellars is kind to you in that regard as well.

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This isn’t close to the best wine I’ve ever sipped but that’s not the intent here.  At least that’s what I think.  I just think this is meant for right now, like many things.  It’s about living in the present, enjoying the present, and being the present.  It’s important to just be.  Simple right?  Just like this wine.

Nothing should be taken too seriously.  It’s about having fun and I had fun with this wine enjoying the views off of my friends’ rooftop deck and appreciating the beauty of the day, and the beauty of life.

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I had nature all around me in the forms of plants, flowers, and the shape of many other things to come.  It’s beautiful to see things start from a few seeds and become the beautiful entities they were always destined to be.   I saw these plants from the beginning and they look glorious now.   And the timeframe was similar to the bottling of this wine, a good 3-6 months.  I love the parallel’s.  I wouldn’t call this a coincidence in any circumstance.

I didn’t intend for this post to be a reset of things, but in fact I did.  If I implied it or said it, means that somewhere along the way I thought about it, I contemplated it, and I well, am living it.

It’s still September and it might be time for a few for seasonal wines before we transition into….

Not yet… I’m celebrating a rebirth, a rejuvenation, and a bit of healing.  The healing will be constant and ongoing.    It’s good to have a constant  I’m grateful for this wine, for this experience, and for everything.

As always, peace be with you…

 

I’m Ready For Summer

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I mean that.  Technically on the calendar we’re still here.  We’re all right here…

Fall is wonderful.  It means festivals, a smell and crispness in the air, and still plenty of reasons to be outside and enjoy life.  Yeah that life thing.  It’s alright.

While it’s still hot and there’s still plenty of daylight, the lighter wines, the whites, and of course the rosé.   I’ve got time to talk about more rosé.  See, as much as the seasons all have a place, I love summer.  I’m ready for summer.

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The Lavignone Rosato was amongst the many choices I was looking at.  Actually no, let me know sound so serious.   It’s the one that stood out, because of the label, and because I knew nothing about it.  I don’t know about a lot of these wines.  And I don’t have to either.

Like any other situation, the mood I’m in, the setting, the feeling, and all those other little things that either do or don’t exist play a role in how a wine is going to taste, and how it’s going to make you feel.

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I’m still processing this one.  I’m still processing a lot of things.

At the same time, it’s not that serious.  At $15 this is bit of a splurge, but nothing out of sorts.  If it wasn’t for the flowers, I don’t know what I would think.  Yes I said flowers!

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The whole process of helping plant flowers is similar in how wine become well, a pretty bottle and label such as this.

Now there’s nothing life altering about this wine.  I’ve never looked at rosé in that way.  However, like flowers, the smells of summer is the main draw.  The synopsis mentions strawberry, watermelon, cranberry, and fresh cut grass.  Those would be the aromas, not necessarily the tastes.   I think I tasted grass once when I was a kid and I don’t remember it being good.

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This wine is ok.  I wouldn’t say it’s amazing.  I go back-and-forth on it.  As I’m writing this out, my heart is telling me something it wasn’t when I actually had a glass.  You may love it and that’s awesome.  My mind and heart are in contrasting places, and that’s a good thing, as much as that sounds confusing.

If I spent $10 on this label, I might have a different opinion.   As much as the display of flowers and colors is lively, full of life, and ready for the fall season, there are plenty of other grapes of all kinds that are going to be a bit more inspirational.

I mentioned how I was processing my thoughts on this wine, and my feelings may be unraveling as I share this with you. But I really don’t know what to say. Maybe it’s the change of the seasons and the place I’m in at the moment, but something isn’t completely adding up.   Maybe I’m ready for the medium bodied reds, or more of the whites I’ve grown to like and love.

Maybe I’m just not in love with this wine and that’s ok too.  There’s so many to choose from.  And as much as I or we want to see the good in everything, it’s good to see faults too.  Because those faults are sometimes those most endearing qualities.

No need to over analyze everything.  Some things just don’t need a further explanation.

It’s going to be a great rest of the year, and a great time to try wines (which is anytime) is just around the corner.   I’m all for a roadblock or two here to put things back in perspective.

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The best is yet to come and the best is in the present…

Love,

Ideen