Last night we met up with some friends in town for supper.  The reservation wasn’t until 7:30 so we had some time to kill beforehand.  We headed over to Stella, an adorable bar/restaurant in the South End.  All decked out in chic Italian white, this is a great place to hang out and people watch.  We selected a bottle of J. Lohr Gamay.  Kind of random, I know, but you know how I feel about lesser-known varietals.  I couldn’t recall having a 100% Gamay wine before and I was very intrigued by the soft tannin and jammy flavor.  Tons of blackberry and raspberry.  There were strong alcohol notes on the finish (I know, all wines are alcohol, but some have more alcohol essence than others, it’s a real thing in the wine world, I swear!) and overall I really enjoyed the wine.

Well, you know what’s funny?  When I looked up the wine on the J. Lohr website, I discovered that it is actually NOT a Gamay but a Valdiguié!  I hadn’t even heard of the varietal so I didn’t think anything of the fact that it was printed on the label of the wine.  I guess I figured it was something to do with the vineyard.  But anyway, I looked it up and apparently the wine makers thought it was Gamay until U.C. Davis testers determined that it was actually Valdiguié, an even lesser-known varietal with roots in southwest France.  I guess the folks at Stella didn’t get the update, oh well!  Doesn’t change the fact that we really enjoyed the wine.  We also enjoyed the price, only $28 for the bottle!  And, of course, we  enjoyed the fried artichoke hearts in a caper-laden sauce that we nibbled on while we were waiting.  Yum.

We’re gearing up for Battle Magnum here at More than Merlot, just a few more days until we’re ready to begin!  So in the meantime, I want to tell you about my new favorite wine, Evodia Grenache from the Calatayud wine region in Spain.  I first tried this wine when I spotted it at Fresh Market.  For $11.99 this balanced, smooth, and incredibly juicy wine was a great deal.  You know how I fee about grenache/garnacha (like Las Rocas, yuuuum) after all…  So anyway, you can imagine my immense delight when I spotted the same bottle on sale at Whole Foods for only $7.99!  And even better, if you buy 6 or more bottles you get a 10% discount, oh happy day!  This wine has become my new Pinot Noir, light and delicious enough to go with anything and drink any day of the week.  A bit more sweet than a traditional Pinot, but I’ve really been feeling wines that are not so bone dry lately.  So buy it, try it, and love it!  Hope your week is off to a good start, more to come soon!

(photo credit via Sansibar)

So after 2+ hours of shoveling (of which I actually did about 30 minutes myself, in addition to taking out the trash, making coffee and putting lunch together!) I finally made it in to the office today to find it empty.  One other person showed up about an hour ago, so needless to say it’s been pretty quiet.  Not that I mind…  And I also finally have a good wine to tell you about this week!  I saw Li Veli Primonero Salento, an Italian blended red wine, on sale at Whole Foods for $9.99 and decided to grab a bottle.  I made home made spaghetti and meatballs last night (yeah, in the food processor, I put in whole chunks of meat in with bread and herbs and stuff and it made it into meatballs, crazy!) and thought a nice Italian would be the perfect dinner guest.  The wine consists of 50% Primitivo and 50% Negroamaro, two varietals that I had tried before but never in a half and half blend.  Let me tell you, they are on to something here!  Less abrasive than I find some Chianti’s can be, not particularly fruit forward but very soft and subtle.  I’m not always a fan of floral bouquets (I don’t like feeling like I am drinking potpourri) but this wine had pleasant floral notes that complimented the flavor nicely.  I would absolutely recommend this wine, you can pair it with food or drink it on its own, very versatile.  Yeah, new wine WIN!  Thank goodness, I really needed a win after the past few bottles we’ve had this week…  TGI Thursday!!

(photo credit Li Veli)

(Nina’s Mexican Rice)

(Black Bean Soup)

(Bootleg Red + Wine Chill Drops)

Ah, so I cracked open my interesting looking red last night after all…  I also whipped up a couple of fantastic Eating Well recipes, Black Bean Soup & Nina’s Mexican Rice (not my Nina’s rice, some random Nina, but it was good all the same!), click on the links above for the recipes, they were super yummy and quick, too!  The wine, however, was a bit of a disappointment.  I picked up the bottle of Bootleg red because I thought the sleek, faux-leather wrapping was clever.  Als because it was a blend, and I love blends!  The wine consisted of even parts of Primitivo, Montepulciano, Negroamaro, and Uva di Troia.  Like the first two, unfamiliar with the last two.  So at first I was hoping that the rather acidic taste would soften as the wine opened up over time, but not so much.  It was good we were trying the wine with food because this is definitely not a sipping wine.   It got a little better by the second glass, overall I didn’t hate it, but I don’t know if I would buy it again.  Oh well, my streak of loving bottles I buy for the label couldn’t last forever I suppose!  Today has been a rough day, I have a sneaking suspicion that more wine will be had this evening, so hopefully I’ll have more reviews to kick off Friday and a much needed weekend!  Until the next time, ciao, bella!!

Ok, not really, that would mean something bad has happened, right?  Well trust me, all is well in Merlot-land,  apothecaries need not come a’ running…  A little play on words for a nice little wine I discovered, Apothic Red from California.  I found Apothic on sale at Fresh Market for $9.99.  Of course I always pick up a right-priced blend, so I grabbed a bottle of this Syrah, Zinfandel & Merlot mix to try at home.  For three strong varietals, this blend turned out to be much smoother than anticipated, particularly notable was the sweet vanilla on the finish (the fiancé attributed the sweetness to the fact that the wine label described the blend as a “smooth red,” like the last “smooth red” blend we tried…  Are the wine makers onto a new adjective trend of which I am not aware?).  Full bodied and delightful, I would totally grab this bottle to sip on its own after a meal.  I could also see using this in a marinara sauce.  You know that old trick of putting brown sugar in your sauce to neutralize the acid?  I feel like the sugar in this wine could serve a similar purpose.  But that’s just a thought, not science.  If I remember to try this the next time I make sauce I’ll report back on my findings…  Anywho, I enjoyed Apothic Red and I think you will too!  Until the next time, happy-almost-Friday!!

(Inkberry wine with Italian bread and rosemary olive oil)

(Salumi platter that will make your head spin)

Alma, the Italian (and Spanish) word for soul, also the name of the restaurant we just happened upon last night in an effort to check out the new Hingham Beer Works at the Shipyard.  Looking to grab a quick drink after work we tried to squeeze in at the bar at Beer Works but eventually gave up and walked into it’s neighbor, Alma Nove.  This place is going to be a gold mine.  Quality menu items (and unfortunately prices) that are competitive with downtown-Boston without the hassle of driving into the city, Hingham-ites (and of course their neighbors such as ourselves) are going to LOVE Alma Nove.  We started off with a reasonably priced bottle of Inkberry wine, a 50/50 blend of Cab and Shiraz from Central Ranges  Australia.  It was great!  It took a bit to open up, but by the time we were through with our amazing salad of arugula, blue cheese, San Daniela prosciutto and port-soaked figs (DIE – notice we inhaled this and thus no picture) the wine was perfectly balanced.  We then moved on to the salumi platter with italian cured meats, MORE blue cheese, homemade eggplant, tomato and fig tapanades, shaved parmesan and crispy Asiago toasts.  Just dig a hole and tell the wedding diet to lay down and die now, will you?  But we split both apps so there was some portion control going on at least.  Oh, and did I mention out bartender was like the most adorable little man in the world?  Oh my goodness.  The service was great, a tad eager perhaps, but it’s a new place and they need to make a name for themselves!  It’s fun being in an environment where everyone is so excited and seems happy to be there, it’s refreshing!  I will definitely be going back to Alma Nove, next time after pay day so I can dig into their delectable looking entrées…  Salute!

Ok, so not really “Girls night out,” more like “Girl (singular) night in.”  Last night the fiancé was out at a work function and I, after a rather miserable day for a variety of reasons, decided to indulge in a little cheese plate  (indulge responsibly, notice the smaller portions of cheese and larger portion of grapes!) of a stinky aged brie, a mild blue, fig jam and of course membrillo for dinner.  I also watched “Percy Jackson and the Olympians – The Lightening Thief,” and I must say it instilled quite a sense of Greek pride.  I totally plan on raising my kids to believe they are actually descendants of the Gods.  If you ever knew my Greek grandfather you would know that the claim isn’t too far off…  But anyway, great girly night cuddled up on the couch with my blanket and my kitty.  So what, you ask, it that bottle of wine I picked up pictured above?  Well, I literally walked into the liquor store, looked at the bottle, saw it’s busy-ness and Ed Hardy-like illustrations and said, “Ugh, I would NEVER buy that wine.” And then I immediately stopped and realized that for those very reasons I HAD to buy that wine!  How many times to we buy a wine because we are attracted to the label?  It is often how we come across new and exciting products, so I wanted to see what would happen if I bought something I was rather put off by.  So I bought three bottles of Bear Flag wine, two reds and a white, on sale 3 bottles for $25.  All three are blends from a collection of vineyards in central California.  I started off with the “Smooth Red Blend,” a blend of tempranillo, touriga, zinfandel, and alicante bouschet.  Now, in blended wines one traditionally lists varietals in order of their prominence in the wine, leading me to believe that this was primarily a tempranillo wine and thus would share some similarities to other tempranillos that I know and love.  Well, I was WAY off.  This wine surprised me, it was actually on the sweeter side!  At first I didn’t think I was going to love it, but after sipping my first glass slowly and nibbling on my cheeses I really started to dig it.  It was a great compliment to the strong flavors and I feel it almost acted like the fig jam or membrillo by adding a level of sweetness to the palate.  I could see this wine being great with spicy Indian food or thick, creamy comfort food like mac & cheese or lasagna.  A cool feature on their website, they actually have a “Find Us” function where you can plug in your zip code and get a list of stores in your area that supply Bear Flag wine.  How cool is THAT?  So all in all, I think I would recommend this seemingly off-putting selection to those brave wine drinkers who are looking for something a little different!  I will report back on the other selections I picked up, in the meantime check out the “Find US” function and see if you can find a bottle of your own to try!  Happy Friday to all!!

Hello, all!  Phew, still recovering from this most recent wedding weekend.  What a FANTASTIC time!  I may or may not have had a bit too much wine, but even if I didn’t make it to the after party at least I DID start off a pretty great fight song sing-a-long on the bus ride back to the hotel…  Anywho, in honor of my recently married friend (a college friend with whom I studied in Spain oh so many ages ago), I picked up a new bottle of Spanish red last night.  The wine I selected was Terra Unica Reserva, 2002.  This wine is a Tempranillo-Monastrell blend from Valencia.  I found the wine to be delightful!  Medium bodied, hints of tobacco and light tannins – a great find for only $8.99.  I must say, this was MUCH better than the 99 Euro cent boxes of Don Simon Sangria we used to pick up for botellons back in the day.  Did you know that botellons are illegal now in Spain?  You can be ticketed if you are found with an open drink in public while congregating with more than one additional person.  While this has been illegal pretty much everywhere in the US for ages, I am thoroughly offended at this new Spanish law and can only hope that it does not too harshly impact the lives of study-abroaders in the future.  Somehow I think they’ll be just fine…  Oh, and you know what’s scary?  In the Wikipedia link to botellons that I included above it says that the average age of one who enjoys in a botellon is 14-28.  Again, I am THOROUGHLY offended.  We’ll give them a piece of our minds when we finally manage that study-abroad reunion we have in the works, you’ll see!  Until then, arriba, abajo, al centro, ‘pa dentro!!

And because you KNOW I love a good wedding photo, here is one of my favorite shots of one of my most favorite people on her big day.  Congrats again, Rubia!!

Hurray for Thursday!  So last night, as I mentioned previously, we went to my parents’ house for a lovely dinner.  Of course I called dibs on picking out the wine.  On the menu was a baked shrimp, artichoke, garlic and lemon bake served over angel hair pasta.  A white for sure, but I also wanted to pick up a red to tide us over until dinner was ready.  We started the evening with Tutto Bene Toscana Rosso, 1996, primarily a Sangiovese varietal wine from the Tuscany region of Italy.  My father is partial to Italian reds and I thought this looked like something he would enjoy.  Delicious blackberry, hints of chocolate and spice, this was a phenomenal sipping wine and went great with the fromage forte I picked up to nibble on before dinner.  Moving on, for dinner I discovered the delightful Saint-Peyre, a white wine made from the obscure Picpoul grape in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in France.

Since Languedoc-Roussillon is less well known than its neighbors Bordeaux and Burgundy, you can get really incredible wine for a lot less money.  Get this – the wine was even a TWIST-OFF!  Yes, a French twist-off!  A good sign indeed…  Fabulous lemon & grapefruit and well-balanced acidity – the perfect wine for a seafood dish!  I bought both wines at Whole Foods, the Tutto Bene for $11.99 and the Saint-Peyre for $8.99.  Excellent deals on two excellent wines!  Keep an eye out and let me know what you think!  Cheers!

(photo credits: wine.com & secondglass.com)

Relaxing at the bar at Alba, sipping a nice glass of red, enjoying a delicious antipasto platter…  These are my memories of last night, my last happy hour for some time.  This morning I underwent wisdom tooth extraction and will be off wine, solid food, and general happiness for some time… I’m not sure how long it will take to make a full recovery but I am hoping to at least be off pain killers and back on spirits by mid week so that I won’t be a total light weight at the wedding of my dear friends on Sunday!! So soon, so exciting! Thank goodness I have do much to look forward to  But in the meantime, at least last night I was able to send myself off with an old friend - Dehesa la Granja 2003, a wine I came to love years ago when managing a restaurant in Las Vegas. I have always had a soft spot for Spanish wines, but Dehesa is a particular favorite and I’ve had trouble finding it around here – until now of course!   Dehesa is a rich tempranillo full of blackberry and chocolate notes with a hint of coffee.  And the great news is that I purchased the bottle at the bar for only $33!  Excellent deal for dining out.  Ok, back to frozen peas and melted ice cream for me, enjoy your weekend!!