Greetings from the Windy City!  I’m in Chicago for the week on business and while I don’t have a lot of free time I just have to share a bit about my first couple of days in this wonderful city.  First of all, work has put me up in a schwanky hotel right next to the House of Blues – very cool!  Second, they have a wine bar in the lobby.  Ah, good thing this is a business trip because otherwise things could get dangerous.  I stopped in my first night planning to order a bottle to bring up to my room.  After they insisted on pouring me samples of almost a dozen wines, I opted for just a glass instead.  The wine bar is called Bin 36, and to top it all off, Bin 36 has its own cheese refrigerators!  Like, imagine a huge, floor-to-ceiling wine fridge, then picture three of them lined up on a wall, each with 4 temperature controlled zones to keep the assorted cheese at the appropriate temperature.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  I’ll get into more detail later on, but two wines of note that I tried are Massaya from the Bekka Valley in Lebanon, and Windmill, a petit syrah from Lodi.  Tonight I’m going out to dinner with my college roommate who happens to be in Med school here in Chi-town, and since she is fabulous I am sure she will take me somewhere fabulous and that tomorrow I’ll have even more exciting wines to tell you about!  Darn work always getting in the way, there is so much else I’d rather be doing!  If you have any must-see spots I should hit up while I’m in town, let me know!

It’s Friday at last, oh my…  On a gray, drizzly day like today all I want to do is curl up on the couch with a book, a blanket, my cat, a glass of wine, and a tray of bread and cheese.  Of course I am instead at work, and gorging myself on wine and cheese later tonight won’t (or at least shouldn’t) happen since I went 10 points over my daily allowance at a work-required happy hour last night, and due to my prolonged absence from home yesterday my cat will probably be annoyed at me and not want to cuddle later…  But a girl can dream, right?  So dream I will, and I will use my favorite new app, “Fromage,” to do so…  I love this app!  It is a guide to the world’s cheese, and when you drill down on a particular variety the app even gives you a wine pairing suggestion!  It is a couple of bucks but totally worth it.  And it’s great when you’re at the grocery store and want to know about a particular cheese’s flavor or even history!  Take a look and let me know what you think.  Any other great wine or food related apps out there you’d recommend?  I am also loving “Hello Vino,” right now, another adorable wine-related app that’s very handy in the liquor store.

(photo credit: apple.com)

We need to clear something up here.  When you go to a restaurant, you always see that guy who makes a HUGE production out of smelling the cork, swirling the wine, taking a loud, slurping sip, and finally giving a condescending little nod to the server to acknowledge that the bottle wine is satisfactory.  Let me tell you – it’s all a show!  When you are presented with a wine, the only thing you really need to check before it is served is the smell.  If a wine has gone bad, you’ll smell it.  It will either smell like vinegar or rotten mash.  If the wine smells like it has gone bad, there is absolutely no need to taste it.  Just send it back and have the waiter bring you another bottle.  Now, on the other hand, if the wine smells fine, but then you taste it and don’t care for it, there is a very good chance that the problem is… you!  Sending a wine back because it has gone bad is one thing, but if a wine is perfectly fine, but you just don’t care for the taste, sending it back is SO not cool.  We need to take some responsibility not just for being conscious consumers of alcohol, but knowledgeable as well!  If you look at a wine list and don’t know what to get, call your waiter over and talk it out!  Tell him or her what you normally drink, describe the sort of wine you like in your own terms, and come to a conclusion together.  Now granted, not every bottle is going to be perfect, or just as you imagined, but if you put in a little effort on your end to understand what you’re drinking and make an educated selection you’ll enjoy your wine much more.  Does my hint of frustration have anything to do with the fact that I am a somewhat jaded ex-restaurateur who has had to deal with one too many wanna-be wine snobs sending perfectly good bottles back for no reason?  Maybe.  But if I can prevent you from making a wine faux pas in front of the pros, well I feel I have done a good deed for the day.   Have you ever made a wine faux pas in a fancy restaurant?  I have totally mis-pronounced wines, not paid attention when it was poured, and find myself embarrassed and broke when the check arrives…  Tell me I’m not the only one!

(photo credit: www.spiritmeaway.com)

Happy Hump Day, everyone!  What excellent timing that I should wake up this morning with no particular inspiration for today’s blog post and find this delightful article awaiting me in my inbox!  Yelp.com is a wonderful site.  It is a user-generated review website that allows you to search for anything and everything within a certain distance.  GREAT for when you’re new to an area and want to get to know the local joints that may be too small to have proper websites of their own.  We have found everything from the BEST buffalo chicken calzone to our amazing wedding photographer on Yelp!  I recently created an actual user profile so that I may start contributing myself, and I ended up on their weekly email list.  This week’s email features user reviews on some of the most highly-rated Boston area wine bars.  It features some of my favorite spots like L’Espalier (where we got engaged!), and Silvertone, a favorite lunch spot when I worked in town!  Great inspiration for people looking to check out some new places this summer!

Check out the full Yelp.com article, It’s A Wine Of The Times!

Who doesn’t love the little black dress?  Who doesn’t have at least 5 of them in her closet?  An absolute staple, and now an absolutely adorable little French wine!  We received a bottle of Little Black Dress Pinot Noir from my fabulous aunt & uncle and finally opened it up last night to pair with a Greek rice and spinach dish topped with sharp feta cheese.  The smooth pinot held up to the several distinct flavors in the dish without being overpowering (of course this is one of the many reasons why I love pinots!).  Plus, the wine maker itself, Little Black Dress, is pretty darn cute.  They even have instructions on how to host a Little Black Dress Clothing Swap on their website.  Imagine the timing, my friends are hosting a clothing swap this very weekend!  Ladies, you better check this out to make sure we’re following the rules…  So grab a bottle, grab a little black dress, reinvent your closet, and have loads of fun while you’re doing it.  And thanks again to my aunt & uncle for introducing us to this fun, versatile wine!  Cheers!

(photo credit: littleblackdresswines.com)

Happy Monday, my dears!  I hope you had a relaxing weekend.  I attended quite a celebration this weekend, my grandmother’s 89th birthday!  What can I say, we have good genes in my family  :)  To celebrate, grandma requested Chinese food for dinner.  She insists that it’s one of the only genres of food that she can still taste and fully enjoy, but many other foods have long lost their appeal due to waining taste buds.  This really made me stop and think about food, life, and enjoying yourself in the moment.  I know we all beat ourselves up for indulging in the occasional pasta alfredo or hot fudge sundae, but don’t you think we should be enjoying these simple pleasures while we can?  Now, if you’ve read any of my wine reviews you know that for the most part I stick to bottles in the $10 range, but I feel like every once and a while I should save up and indulge in some fantastic, once in a lifetime bottle, even if it means going a week with no wine at all.  What do you think, is it worth it?  I’ll admit it- when I lived in Vegas I had a bottle of 1998 Lafite Rothschild that retailed at just over $1,200.  Was it amazing?  Yes.  Was it THAT different from perhaps a $50 bottle of another Bordeaux?  Slightly – but not enough for me to feel that I would ever spend that much on a bottle of wine again.  (Not that I actually paid for the wine myself, gotta use my big brown eyes to my advantage every once and a while…  Oh snap, I went there!).  So my question to you is this – If it was once in a lifetime, what is the most you would ever spend on a bottle of your dream wine?  Like actually pay out of your own pocket, take out of your savings, remove from your kid’s college fund, go against your mortgage spend.  $500?  $5,000?  Am I nuts for even partaking in the consumption of a $1,200 bottle of wine?  Please tell me I’m not completely crazy here…

We had a few glorious summer days here in Beantown this week, but have now been thrust back into the reality of spring time in New England.  What better way to handle this warm weather withdrawal than whipping up some clever new sangria recipes?   We recently bought a case of Tisdale wine for just such a project.  Tisdale was introduced to us by a dear friend and his fiancée (who happens to be a fellow blogger, if you aren’t familiar with Naturally Nina I suggest you add her to your blog roll immediately and indulge in her daily bits of charm), it’s a simple California wine that is really cheap – like under $4 a bottle cheap.  We find it perfect for sangria, for use in recipes, but it is even good enough to drink on its own!  Great to have on hand for parties when you know there will be a lot of late-night drinking involved, as who really can tell the difference between a $40 bottle and a $4 bottle after drinking a whole bottle themselves?  Anywho, here are my top Tisdale sangria recipes, but they would work with any brand of wine you have on hand!

Pink Berry Basil Sangria

In a tall pitcher, add a cup of whole raspberries, a cup of whole blackberries, a cup of quartered strawberries, and 10 thinly sliced basil leaves.  Pour a 1/2 cup+ of blackberry liquor (I prefer Chambord) over the fruit, stir, and refrigerate for a half an hour.  Add a chilled bottle of white rose wine (White Zin works well if you like your sangria on the sweeter side), pour into glass and top with Sprite.

White Sangria

Add four thinly sliced kiwis, four 1-inch sections of fresh pineapple cut into cubes, and about 20 fresh sprigs of mint to a tall pitcher.  Pour on top 1/4 cup brandy and stir together with – call me crazy but it works – 4 packets of Splenda (more to taste).  Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour, add a chilled bottle of white, and top with club soda and a slice of lime to serve.

Red Summer Sangria

Cut one lemon, one lime, and one orange into wedges and throw into a pitcher.  Pour in 1/2 brandy and a few tablespoons of sugar (or Splenda), stir, and let sit for up to an hour.  Add a bottle of red (any kind works, pick what you like!), mix it all up, and top with a splash of orange soda before serving.

(photo credit: mochau.com)

Earlier today I got a request from an old friend for some suggestions on sweet dessert wines to try.  And although the request came in the form of something of criticism of previous posts, I decided to indulge him (perhaps this is penance for moving back to Boston over 4 years ago without letting him know?  Whoops…).  So, here we go!

First off, I have to give a shout out to one of my new favorite dessert wines, Jam Jar Sweet Shiraz.  This wine happens to be the number one keyword source of traffic for my entire site!  Why?  It’s awesome!  Sweet yet subtle, this smooth Shiraz is perfect with rich chocolates, poured over vanilla ice cream, or served straight up and slightly chilled.  If Ports are too sticky for you, you’ll LOVE Jam Jar.

Now I mention Ports because they are kind of the master of all dessert wines, in this wine enthusiast’s humble opinion.  There is just nothing better than a glass of good port, a leather armchair and some classical music.  But Ports are not for everyone.  Port is a fortified wine, meaning that it starts off as a normal wine but during “wine cycle” it gets a shot of alcohol which stops the fermentation process (fermentation converts the sugar, so by stopping fermentation there is more sugar in the wine and this is why Ports are sweet).  This is also why it tastes more like alcohol than many wines, because it literally has alcohol poured in!  There are a BUNCH of different Ports depending on how they’re aged (in a barrel or in a bottle) and how long they are aged for (more aging = richer flavor and thicker texture).  The most available/popular Ports are Ruby & Tawny.  I suggest you get a less expensive bottle of each, then once you know which one you prefer you can look for finer, more expensive options.  To start your research, I suggest you look for Dow’s.  Dow’s makes both Ruby & Tawny and you can usually find it for around $13 a bottle.  When you’re ready to move up in the world, check out Taylor Fladgate Tawny 20.   It’s pretty incredible.

Leaning towards the whiter side of things?  Grab a Riesling!  I just reviewed a great, light German Riesling called Oh…Schist! which is lovely with a lighter dessert pairing.  I also really like Relax Riesling, it’s similar in style but has a bit more honey.

There are so many more dessert wines that I have tried and loved, I will do my best to get the details and share them with you in the next few weeks.  But I hope you enjoy these lovely suggestions for now, cheers!

Argentina – let the day dreaming begin.  The food, the wine, the tango, the wine, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals – oh, and did I mention the wine?  I have been in love with Argentina for some time now, and Argentine wines have a lot to do with that.  I mean, look around you!  Every store across the country has a section for wines from Argentina.  Argentine wines have downright exploded!  So what is going on down there?  Here is my little snapshot of the wines of Argentina.

Mendoza Region

First of all, the majority of Argentine wines you will come across will hail from the Mendoza region.  Mendoza is home to several native, lesser-known varietals (those make up the majority of the jug wines from the area), but in recent years Mendoza wine makers have shifted their focus to the cultivation of bigger-name European varietals such as Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, & Chardonnay from France, and Tempranillo from Spain.  Malbec has thrived in the climate of Mendoza, and comparatively Malbec is among the easier grapes to grow, and this is why you’ll see so many Malbecs coming out the region.  Malbec has a very distinct, bold flavor profile.  Now in my opinion, there isn’t a HUGE taste difference from one $8 Malbec to the next.  The more refined Malbec’s in the $15 range will be a bit smoother, but will maintain the traditional fruity palate with hints of plum and blackberry.  The Malbec grape itself is on the smaller side, so it will pack a punch in the tannin department, but won’t be quite as dry as a Cabernet.  This being said, make sure to pair Malbec wines with food or cheese that will stand up to it.  Grilled meats & vegetables are a great choice – it is almost summer after all!  Here are a couple of my favorite Malbec’s if you’d like to give them a try, and if you come across any new Malbec’s please let me know so I can check them out myself!  We ARE going to Argentina for our honeymoon after all, so I must research, right?  Salud!

* Agua de Piedra (also comes in a Reserva which is very nice)

* Alamos

* Dona Paula

I kind of don’t want to share these little guys with you, but I feel morally obligated.  We may or may not be “incorporating” these into our wedding day so don’t you DARE try to steal my idea, but have you seriously ever seen a more clever little hostess gift?  I am in love.  Check out other products for sale from Kersplash at her Etsy store!

(photo credit: http://www.etsy.com/shop/kersplash)