Mars and Venus

Today I chose to drink a Sauvignon Blanc. The name of the wine is Mars and Venus. I really like this wine. And the name reminds me of the book Men are from Mars and Woman are from Venus. This great white wine is from Italy, boasting 12.5% Alc. While swirling the vino in my glass I smelled sweet citrus notes. At the first sip I could taste the citrus but with a little pucker. Sauvignon Blanc has always been one of my fresh go to white wines. I truly reccomend Mars and Venus Sauvignon Blanc with a light meal or by itself. 

Cheers!!

Chesapeake Wine Company- A Sparkling Beauty

The other day I visited one of my favorite wine bars in Canton, Chesapeake Wine Company. This place is extraordinary. I love how the shop owner tastes each of the wines and adds a personal tasting note describing his opinion of the vino. Just reading his wine notes made for an exciting experience. I purchased a sparkling wine all based on the hilarious description of the personalized wine note. I am not much of a sparkling wine sipper but when the wine bar owner wrote that the wine was “Stupid” (meaning awesomely great) by then my interest was spiked. The wine I choose was Prosecco Superiore di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene. This sparkling beauty is produced in Italy. At first sip I could taste hints of peaches along with a slight mob of bubbles crawling to the back of my tongue. I truly recommend visiting Chesapeake Wine Company as well as tasting this sparkling wine. I also suggest sipping the vino without being paired, or making Mimosas for Sunday brunch.

 

Cheers!!       

Maryland Wine Festival- 30 years of MD Wine

Today I attended the Maryland Wine Festival. This year they are celebrating 30 years of Maryland vino. There were so many wine lovers at the festival. And it was a great day to celebrate. There was a premier tent, it was very exclusive. Only 400 tickets were available. I enjoyed learning more about wine grapes and the pressing process. I was given the opportunity to actually press and destem red wine grapes. I had so much fun! I'll tell you a secret.... my next venture is to own my wine. I'll be fermenting grapes, bottling and selling my own vino! More details to come. In the meantime, check out the pictures and enjoy. Cheers!

Mysterious Red Blend, Apothic Wine

I have to admit, I am completely surprised by Apothic Red. I found myself in a never before visited wine store in Towson, MD. This place (from the outside) looked like a corner liquor store. I didn't expect the wine experience that was ahead of me. Lesson learned, don't judge a book by its cover. The sales man was so knowledgeable about his wines. The vino he selected for me was a red blend. My first question to him was, "how sweet is this wine"? Most wine blends are just that.... a blend of grapes intended to compliment each other or... hide the original flavor of a particular grape. As you can tell, I am not necessarily a fan of blends. I am very passionate about wine grapes and I enjoy the original taste of them. With all this said, I'll contradict myself by going back to my first sentence, I am completely surprised by Apothic Red. I ended up purchasing the blend due to the fact that it contained most of my favorite grapes, Zinfandel, Syrah,Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. The mixture of these grapes created a fabulous taste. This wine has medium tannins, and a beautiful purplish color tune. All combined to create an essence of black cherry, ripe raspberries, and plum. I was so impressed by Apothic Red that I visited their website. The site equally impressed me. It is a pleasure to share my experience of great wine finds with you. Check out the website at www.apothic.com. 

Cheers!

Sweet Red, A Great Saturday Find!

This Saturday was intended to be a laid back day, spending time with the kids. First stop, my nephew Chance's soccer game. Even though his team did not win, Auntie was still very proud of him. Next stop, the market to gather items for dinner. But not before checking out an impromptu wine tasting at DiWine Spirits in Pikesville. As a mom, I know better than taking two active kids into a fancy wine store but I could not pass up the opportunity. We entered the shop, was greeted by the staff, and then whisked off to the tasting area. Like normal I give the speech to my little darlings..... don't touch, don't touch, don't touch. Now it's time to explore. I had my eye on an Old Vine Zinfandel but this wine was not on the tasting list. I only had time to try two wines, a Sweet Red and Pinot Noir, before kids "don't touch" tolerance level boiled over. The Pinot Noir was very light and delicious. The tannins of this vino were perfectly set.  I ended up purchasing the Sweet Red. The name of the wine is Rock Rabbit Sweet Red. It's fermented in a California Winery, 2009 Vintage. I choose this vino because it surprised me. Rock Rabbit was able to make a sweet red wine with 13.5% alc content. What I like about it is that it's not overbearingly sweet. I taste all dark berries including raisins. I love the color of the wine in my glass, my favorite color purple. This wine is considered a dessert wine so I paired a glass of sweet red with a red velvet cupcake. My thought is that this is not just a dessert wine. I have lots of friends who love sweet red wines but their only option has been Sutter Homes. Well not any more! Rock Rabbit hold on to your vines because here we come. Cheers!!

Have you seen.......

My new wine blog business cards? I am so excited to introduce to you my new and improved introduction cards. What better way to share my love of fermented grapes as well as meet new vino lovers and bloggers. I have made particular changes to the look of the cards as well as added a bit of wine education on the back of the cards. Check them out and let me know what you think! Enjoy!

La Capra Viognier 2009

Today I visited a new wine store named DiWine Spirits and I was enticed by the great selection of wines they had in stock. I may have roamed around the store for about 2 hours. It was a great experience. The owners were very knowledge about the different types of fermented grapes. I was totally interested is learning as much as possible. I finally decided on challenging my taste buds with trying the Viognier grape. This grape variety produces a white wine. I had the pleasure to enjoy a delicious South African wine named La Capra Viognier 2009. This vino was perfect with my scallop and mushroom pasta. I will be sharing my love of the Viognier grape with my friends at the next girls night out. Until then, enjoy the pics. Cheers!!!

Vino Note: In others countries La Capra wines are sold by the glass. Now that's a party!!

Girl Go Lightly- Low Cal Wine

Hello Wine Lovers,
I'm excited to share with you a new wine I have tasted. It's a Unoaked Chardonnay named "Girl Go Lightly". Since I'm a lover of unoaked wines, this Chardonnay was a great choice for me. After I learned that the vino was low in calories I had to order another glass. Just one personal fault about the Chardonnay, it was sweeter than I expected. But with an 11% alc content, who could ask for more? *Check out the cute girly-girl picture of the wine bottle (courtesy of thewinebar.com webpage).      

Wine Calories

Ok, as a responsible vino sipper, I feel that it is important to share as much information I know about wine as possible. Ladies... this topic is not a fun one but is necessary to discuss. Calories hidden in wine. Thanks to another awesome wine blogger, wine folly, we can make a better conscious decision on the best wines to drink at the right times. If you are like me, as our bodies mature we take a closer look at the calories we intake each day. And wow... what a chore this can be. Take a look at the chart created by wine folly. Now lets exhale and enjoy a glass of Merlot. Feel better? Me too! Cheers!

CK Mondavi 2011 White Zinfandel

Tonight I chose to drink a different type of vino, White Zinfandel. Personally I have never been a fan of White Zinfandel because I feel it's a very watered down version of the Zinfandel grape. To my surprise, this particular wine is made up of 83% Zinfandel, 15% Chenin Blanc and 2% "other" grapes. I'm not sure if I'm ok with this mixture. The palate of the wine is very light including a zest of strawberry. After  visiting the website, I received a bit more information about the vineyard and the different wines that are offered by CK Mondonvi. I would love to try a few of the other wines. All in all, I recommend this White Zin to Moscato drinkers who are looking for a new taste. If you have also tried the CK Mondonvi wines, tell me what you think. Cheers! 

La Cabriole 2012 Cabernet de Saumur- Rose Wine

While gathering ingredients for dinner at Whole Foods (downtown Baltimore) I decide to also check out the wine store next door, Bin 604. To my delight they had a wonderful selection of fresh summer wines. My palate felt like a light wine to drink with dinner tonight. I had white wine at home and decided to try a Rosé. Their selection of blush wines are great. The employee (wine lover) was so knowledgeable. I really appreciated the minimum cost of the wines. They were tasty and affordable. I narrowed it down to a fresh Rosé. I have tasted two glass of the vino so far and I am not disappointed. I recommend this blush wine to be served and enjoyed very chilled. Cheers! 

The House of Mondavi

I have been reading a spectacular wine book. It’s titled "The House of Mondavi". This book is about the rise and fall of the great Mondavi family and their ambitious wine empire. I recently visited Barnes and Noble with my two children and of course I always skim pass the wine and cooking section. The House of Mondavi caught my attention at first read. I will not give many details about the book because I suggest that you experience the read on your own. But I will tell you that the ambition of Cesare Mondavi reminds me of myself. He was an immigrant from Italy and work his way through life using strength, knowledge, kindness and respect to build a tremendous life for his wife, children, and community. Unfortunately, this legacy was destroyed by sibling rivalry, and betrayal. This book gets two pinky fingers up and cheers with a glass filled of Robert Mondovi 2009 Pinot Noir Reserve.

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Pictures thanks to www.robertmondaviwinery.com.

2000 Vintage NorthStar Merlot

I'm enjoying a 2000 vintage merlot. I love merlot. It's one of my favorite grapes. The jammy look and flavor of Merlot makes for a great wine. The NorthStar Merlot is a vintage of its own. This 13 year old wine did not disappoint my taste buds. After swirling a swig of vino in my glass I could see the legs crawling down my cup. At the first sip I could taste the deep red raspberry and plum flavors. I feel honored to have experienced such a vintage. I look forward to the next. Cheers to my fellow vino lovers!!

2003 Vintage Syrah

My awesome best girlfriend Denise found a vintage 2003 Marquis Philips Shiraz 9 wine at an auction. Lucky me.... she shared one of the bottles with her girl. This is an Australian red wine that boasts 16% alc. At first swirl, I could see the legs of the unique wine in my glass. At first sniff, I smelled accents of plum and blackberry. It's interesting that the vino had little tannin then expected. I really enjoyed the smooth texture. My pairing suggestion is to drink this wine for a special occasion with beef and potatoes. Cheers to my fellow vino lovers!

Detour Winery 4th of July

I'm at Detour Winery with my BFF and we are having a blast. The band is awesome. Wish I would have brought my bug spray. We are drinking a white wine called Mornin Deux. It's made from two different white grapes, delicious. Then we got a Blackberry wine. This wine is made from all Blackberries, no grapes. The band is still playing and then the fireworks. Fun times at Detour Winery! Cheers! 

The Williamsburg Winery

Tonite is girls nite and I have been dared to try a new wine that the girls have found. By the first look at the bottle I knew that the wine was a port. I like to blind taste when trying new wines. I never read the description on the bottle. I like to conjure my own thoughts about the flavors and textures of the vino. The name of the wine is Vin Liquoreux de Framboise. It's a blend of red wine and raspberry juice. After pouring the wine in my glass, I swirl, then sniff the juice. OMG.... I can smell the raspberries at first whiff. Now lets sip. This wine is very tarty because of the berries. I also taste a slight chocolate finish. All in all the wine is nice but I'm not crazy about it. It's a little too heavy and syrupy for my taste buds. Well ladies.... on to the next one. Cheers!!