Owner: Tastes of Life URL:www.tastesoflife.blogspot.com Join Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2007 11:36:49 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: A site about all that is good in life and where to get a hold of it. Reviews and thoughts on wine, chocolate, cheese, food in general, restaurants and travel. Site statistics:Click here
Nice Budget Chardonnay 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Francis Coppola Diamond Collection, Gold Label, 2004 Cardonnay from Monterey, is a good everyday chardonnay. Eat it with a fish or chicken dish, or sip it on its own. It has a nice creamy texture with some crisp acididty. The color is golden wheat and on the nose you can smell pear and tropical friut. The palate reveals appel, light citus, oak and again, tropical fruit. This is an great crowd pleaser for a budget. The cost is $14 per bottle. This is an easy one to find at the major grocery store's shelves. If you have no luck there you can buy it at www.wine.com or find it for as little as $10.99 at www.wine-searcher.com. Read more:Chardonnay
Pinot Noir 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Last night I had the pleasure of sharing some good wine with a group of friends. One of the bottles we had was from the consistently good quality winery, Siduri. I have through the years enjoyed several great pinot noirs from various appellation from them. Yesterdays wine was not at all bad but a little bit of a disappointment. It was the fairly young 2004 Santa Rita Hills Pinot
Noir. Santa Rita Hills on the central coast has been up and coming for the last couple of years and are now one of the most popular appellation in the area. This specific pinot is 73% from Clos Pepe vineyard and 27% from Cargasacchi vineyard.Looking at the wine it had light ruby color and was very cloudy. On the nose you had spicy pepper and dark berries. Pepper, dark cherries + berries and medium tannins on the palate.What turned me of a little from the start was the heavy cloudiness. Tasting, it did not have the best balance between fruit and tannins and was a little heavy on the pepper. It might improve over Read more:Pinot Noir
Hook and Ladder 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Wow, not bad for a $15 Chardonnay. From Russian River Valley, this 2003 white wine from Hook and Ladder
has a nice balance between oak, creaminess and acidity. The winemaker sais appel on the palate, I say rhubarb. This is a very nice sip-it-by-it-self wine enjoyed in a casual setting with your friends. It was awarded 88 point from Wine and Spirit. Find it at www.candcwineservices.com.
Very nice... 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Qupe 2005 Santa Maria Valley, Bien Nacido Vineyard "Y"-block, Chardonnay is well worth trying. Nicely balanced with pear, tropical fruit and light mineral. Great with or without food. If with food preferably a light chicken or seafood dish. Over all a very good chardonnay for $20. One of my favorites in this price range. Find it at www.qupe.com
Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I am really enjoying RussianRiverValley
Pinor Noirs right now. One of them for the fair price of $23 is Balletto Vineyards Estate Bottled, 2004. It has a nice ruby red color with dark cherry and cranberry on the nose. Those fruit and berry notes carries through on the palate plus a hint of vanilla and quite a bit of tannins. Beeing a Gold Medal Winner at San Francisco Chronical Wine Competition you just have to try it. www.ballettovineyards.com Read more:Pinot
, Valley Pinot
Crisp and cool 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Getting stuck on chardonnay this summer I decided to have another white wine with dinner the other night and decided to try a Sauvignon Blanc. A lot of times I find that Sauvignon Blancs are a little bit to sweet for my palate but the Grgich Hills Fume Blanc promised Dry Sauvignon Blanc so I thought, why not? And it kept it's promise. A great crisp, medium bodied wine with light rhubarb and floral on the nose. Nice acidity and grapefruit on the palate with a long finish. This is one of the best Sauvignon Blancs I have had and truly enjoyed it.Grgich Hill Fume Blanc 2005Napa ValleyDry Sauvignon BlancBuy it direct from the winery at www.grgich.com for $25 or find it for a bargain at www.wine-searcher.com from $10.95 Read more:Crisp
Flagship Pinot 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The Pisoni Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands, Pinot
Noir from Siduri is their flagship Pinot, and rightfully so. The 2004 is full bodied with dark, lush fruit and smooth, silky tannins. One of the best Pinot Noirs I have had from them. Robert Parker gives it a respectable 94 and the Wine Spectator rating is 91. This is a really great Pinot and I truly enjoyed it with a good friend, on its own, over small talk, although it would be a great companion to a meal as well. Get a bottle of your own at www.siduri.com for $55 or for a hint less ($53.99) at www.wine-searcher.com. Read more:Flagship
The Gourmet Wine Cellar event 1970-01-01 00:59:59 What an event
! We had a wonderful night last night at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Gourmet Magazine had their Wine Cellar
event featuring local top restaurants, wine and wineries, cocktails, Wine Lab, demonstrations and great speakers. There was a lot of tasting, talking to wine and food professionals and more tasting. The event only lasted for 3 hours and I think another hour would have been great with so much to do and see.We started of with champagne tasting at Moet & Chandon. They had four champagnes to taste and this was a great start to the evening. Next to them The Dining Room at Ritz Carlton served a wonderful Nantucket Bay Scallop with Sunchoke Puree, paired with Domaine Ste. Michelle Blanc de Blancs. So a lot of sparkling wine to start with.Further down Bloomingdale's served a Sachimi Style Bay Scallop with Micro Greens and a Spicy Sauce, and an out-of-this-world Wild Mushroom Soup with Truffle Oil. This was my favorite dish during the night, and trust me everything
Wine Spectator Great Wine Values 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Last issue if Wine Spectator
had a big report on 100 wine for under $25 that scored 88-94 points. I decided to check out the local "Beverages and More" to see if I could find any of the top scoring wines there. Said and done, I headed of with my W.S. magazine in hand. After about 30 minutes of looking through the shelves (politely declining all offers of help from the staff) I came up with 5 bottles. Tonight I tasted two of them (can't do all 5 during one night considering it is a work day tomorrow...) And following are my thoughts on them.Let's start with the 2004 Antinori, Chianti Classico Peppoli. It get 90 points from Wine Spectator and is one of five Sangiovese to get that score (the highest score given to a Sangiovese in this report). I got red currant and earthy notes on the palate. W.S. says powerful. Powerful to begin with sure, but a little flat and week after the mid palate (at least more so than I expected). They recommend to put this bottle down until 2007 and I agree, a Read more:Great
, Values
Kidnapped to discover a local star 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Last Monday I got "kidnapped" by a friend taking me up to a local winery, Mt Vernon Winery, that I had not visited before. Getting up there we discovered that the tasting room was not open that day. Pulling out of the parking lot a man came up to us asking if he could help us. Turns out he is one of the owners, Jim Taylor. His son Ryan was working in the vineyards and immediately came in to open up and pour us some wine. The two of them are the team of winemakers that opened the winery in 1996. In 2002 they opened the doors to the tasting room at the estate, the first one in Placer County since the advent of Prohibition and the collapse of grape growing and wine making in Placer County.Ryan poured a myriad of delicious wines and after tasting I bought several varieties to bring home, and tonight I opened one of their chardonnays and a barbera.The 2004 Sierra Foothills Chardonnay, Breast Cancer Research ($18) has pineapple and ripe pear on the nose with medium body, light oak and a crea Read more:Kidnapped
Spring Mountain Tasting 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Last week my local wine store had a great wine tasting. Featuring 10 wineries from the SpringMountain
District in Napa Valley this was a great opportunity to taste and compare how different wineries in the same appellation showed their uniqueness through their wines. I did not have a bad wine during the whole night but want to mention a couple of standouts.A new winery to me was the Peacock Family Vineyard. Apart from the label being gorgeous, the 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon was full of wonderful dark fruit and berries with a nice amount of tannins($65). Very much drinkable right now. The 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon was even more dense in the fruit and berries, hiding the tannins, and requires a taste for that expression of Cabernet.Barnett Vineyards poured their well known Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon which was delicious as usual (the 2003 vintage for $65). Two varieties that I have not tasted from them before was chardonnay and pinot noir. Their 2005 "Sangiacomo Vineyard" Car
Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Badge is the new venture of former Sanford winemaker Bruno D'Alfonso. The 2004 Santa
Rita HillsPinot
Noir is his second release of this label and is a small production of only 100 cases. I had the luck to find it in my favorite grocery store in Santa Ynez, El Rancho. (You can also find it at www.wine-searcher.com from $30.) It is a new and very exciting Pinot Noir and was rated 92-94 by Wine Spectator. It is a powerful, rich and fruity wine with nice tannins. Red fruit, dark cherry and blackberry greets you on the palate. I really enjoyed this wine and will try to get my hands on some more of it. You should to... Read more:Hills Pinot
, Santa Rita
A Taste of Luxury 1970-01-01 00:59:59 ...was the name of the flight of three wines I had last weekend at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay, CA. I had it at the Wine Room which serves wine by the bottle, by the glass or in flights. A flight is always a good way of trying different wines and with about eight flights to choose from there was something for every palate. I picked a flight named A Taste of luxury which included Opus 2002, Merryvale Profile 2002 and Lewis Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2003. I'm not usually a big fan of Opus (I think it's overrated) but the 2002 was actually very nice with restrained dark berries, minerals and good tannins. Even better was the Merryvale Profile with blackberry and black currant. The highest score (from me) went to Lewis, Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve with dark berries, raspberry and caramel. Very nicely balanced, smooth and a pleasure to sip.Later that night we went to the adjacent Navio for dinner. We started of with the Yellow Beet Salad and a bowl of the Half Moon Bay Artichoke Ris Read more:Luxury
Teuscher Chocolates 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Valentine is a day I look forward to every year with great anticipation. Why? Its not the flowers, the food, or the champagne (although those are all great to), its the chocolate! For a couple of years now, my hubby has been giving me a box of Assorted Truffles from Teuscher Chocolates
for Valentine's, and this is possibly THE BEST chocolate in the world.Let me start with the story behind these divine chocolates.It all started in the small town of Turbenthal in the Swiss alps a little bit over 70 years ago. Master chocolatier Dolf Teuscher started a small chocolate company that slowly grew over the years and finally moved to Zurich. He uses his very own recipe utilizing on the best quality ingredients, all of them 100% natural. The chocolates are still all made in Zurich to guaranty the quality, and are then shipped to Teuscher stores all over the world.Their most famous chocolate creation is the Champagne Truffel (my favorite a well). Dolf Teuscher is the original inventor of this tr
Two Great Restaurants: Ca'Dario and Elements 1970-01-01 00:59:59 When we were in Santa Barbara last weekend, with friends from the Bay Area, we tried a restaurant we had not been to before, Ca'Dario
. It is a small Italian, intimate restaurant that has been around for a long time and has gotten the rating "Excellent" from Zagat Survey for the last three consecutive years.Starting of with a glass of wine in the small, cozy bar, we were soon seated. We started our meal with sharing the outrageously good Risotto del Giorno, which happened to be Wild Mushroom this particular night. True Italian risotto, creamy, silky and oh so tasty! We continued with splitting the Insalata Ca'Dario, a salad with radicchio, arugula and shaved Parmesan. Fresh, crisp, and light. For main course I ordered Penne al Salmone e Panna. A hand made pasta with smoked Salmon and a white sour cream, dill sauce. Pasta perfectly cooked al dente, tossed with generous amount of smoked salmon and perfect amount of sauce. The pasta was not at all "floating" in the sauce as you so many Read more:Great
, Two Great
Sage and Onion 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Our first night in Santa Barbara we had dinner at Sage and Onion. Chef and Proprietor, Steven Giles, calls his style of cooking "European-American Cuisine with an English Twist".We have had dinner here once before, had a glass of wine in the bar a couple of times, and have always had a really good experience, with great food and excellent service.I know a member of the staff and he always treats us to something extra. This time it was a glass of Champagne to start of our evening. Thanks Sean!After ordering, an Amuse Bouche was served in a miniature cup, a Creamy Wild Mushroom Soup with Truffle Oil. Excellent start to the meal, I did add a touch of salt though, to bring out the flavor. After that I had the White Cheddar Cheese Souffle with Pickled Red Onion and Micro Greens. Wonderfully light and tasty souffle in a Phyllo shell. Parmesan Crusted Halibut with Wild Mushroom Risotto Cake followed. The halibut was flaky and moist, the risotto cake a tad dry but otherwise very good. We finis
Brassfield 2005 High Serenity Ranch Sauvignon Blanc 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I got this bottle of wine after reading about it in the "Special Best of Year Issue" Wine Enthusiast Magazine. With a rating of 91 points, and ranking 27 in their list of Top 100 Best Buys of 2006, at the modest price of $12.99 (at BevMo), I had some rather high expectations on this wine.Very pale in the glass. Hard to detect the aroma. Was it to cold? I let the glass heat up in my cupped hands for quite a while. A new try. A very shy, but fresh, nose with hints of pineapple and tropical fruit. Time to taste. Again, hard to detect flavors. Some tropical fruit, some minerals but overall just plain. Was there something wrong with my bottle? It didn't seem corked to me, and the cork had not been bleeding... Maybe it was in a so-called closed/dumb stage?I was very disappointed in this wine. Not bad tasting, just not tasting at all... I vacuum pumped it and tasted in for three consecutive days. All with the same result.Maybe I totally missed something here. Maybe it is supposed to be so d Read more:Ranch
, Sauvignon
, Serenity
Rideau Vineyard 1970-01-01 00:59:59 RideauVineyard
Tasting RoomDuring our weekend in Santa Barbara we took a little trip up to Santa Ynez Valley to do some wine tasting. Our favorite during this tour was Rideau Vineyard which was founded in 1997 by New Orleans native, Iris Rideau (at photo to the left). The tasting room is a historical 2 story Adobe built in 1884. Through the years it has served as stagecoach stop, a famous inn, a guest ranch, and a working ranch. Iris Rideau bought it in 1995, after the property had sat abandoned for 10 years, and restored it to it's current condition.The estate grows exclusively Rhone varietals and we decided to do the Reserve tasting at a $15 cost per person.The first pour was the 2006 Estate Viognier. It has not been bottled yet so this was a futures sample. Cloudy due to coming straight from the barrel this was a nice Viognier but a little bit to fruity and sweet for my taste. After this we got to taste the 2005 Estate Viognier. A year in the bottle makes a huge difference and th
Weekend in Santa Barbara 1970-01-01 00:59:59 We just came back this afternoon from a weekend in SantaBarbara
, CA. They had some really great restaurants and wine and here are a few of my thoughts and comments...We started our visit by meeting up with my mother-in-law, who lives in Santa Ynez Valley, on Saturday night to go to Brothers' Restaurant at Mattie's Tavern in Los Olivos. I have heard great things about this place but this was my first personal experience. Mattie's Tavern was built in 1886 and used to be a Stagecoach stop way back when. Today it's a restaurant owned by brothers Matt and Jeff Nichols.I started my meal with the Tuna Tartar with Avocado and Yuzu Sauce, served with Wonton Chips. The tuna was fresh and very nicely balanced with nice acidity from citrus juice. A perfect start.For main course I had the Prime Filet with Caramelized Onion Potato Gratin with Stilton Cheese Port Sauce and medley of Green Beans and Baby Carrots (my husband and his mom ordered this as well). The Filet was done exactly according t Read more:Santa Barbara
, Weekend
Lincourt Santa Barbara County 2005 Pinot Noir 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Lincourt Vineyards Tasting RoomReading the latest issue of Food and Wine on our way down to SantaBarbara
on Thursday I spotted the Lincourt Santa Barbara County
2005 Pinot
Noir as one of top four star selections out of 27 bottles in the article, Best American Pinot Noir
. We have enjoyed Lincourt Pinot Noir many times before and since passing the winery on the way through Santa Ynez Valley we decided to drop by, do a tasting and pick up some bottles. Said and done, we walked out of there with a full case of the 2005 Pinot Noir. A great wine for $25 perfect for week night dinners, or bringing over to a friends house.The 2005 is made from grapes from Santa Rita Hills Vineyards. This is a medium bodied Pinot with bright red cherries on the nose, and some blueberries and hints of oak. It has flavors of red berries with some spice and earth notes. The wine is rich and fruity but not a power house. It is more toward the elegant style. Find it at http://www.wine-searcher.com/ for as low as $
Today's bargain 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I had no intention to buy wine today as I picked up groceries for dinner. But walking by the wine section the normally $35 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Napa Valley 2004 Chardonnay caught my eye, being on sale for only $21. I just could not leave the store without taking advantage of this, and so it went into my cart. I have only had the 2003 before which is a great chardonnay. The 2004 does not quite make it up to the 2003 level but is a nice wine if you like your white dry and earthy with green apple, citrus and some mineral on the palate. Find it online for only $19.95 at www.wine-searcher.com.Cheers! Read more:Today
New York Dining 1970-01-01 00:59:59 We usually spend a week in New York
during US Open in September every year (my husband is a tennis freak). Going to New York there's a myriad of fantastic restaurant to try. It's hard to decide which ones to go to when there are only so many nights before you have to leave again.This year we arrived a night earlier than planned and asked the concierge at our hotel (Ritz Carlton for the first night) to suggest a casual but great place. He got us a table just around the corner at Quality Meats. Great decor with a mix of contemporary and old butcher shop. The Green Goddess salad made a great start, fresh and light. We both choose the Filet for the main course and had Corn Creme Brulee with that. All very delicious. For desert a decandent Chocolate Hazelnut Tart. Highly recommended with great food and ambiance! www.qualitymeatsnyc.comThe second night we went to the signature restaurant Fives at the hotel we stayed at the rest of the trip, The Peninsula. Good food (the White Asparagus-Mor Read more:Dining
Stuck on Pinot 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I guess I should start to review other wines than Pinot
Noirs. I think you know by now that it is my favorite grape. I promise I'll do something else next...Let me present to you an excellent every day drinking Pinot. Fess Parker 2005 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir. Yes, this is one of the other bottles we picked up during our recent trip to Santa Ynez Valley. It is very fruity, which I love. It offers cherry, cranberry, red berries, tobaco and a nice set of tannins. $25 @ www.fessparker.com or as a wineclub member only $20. Read more:Stuck
Fess Parker Chardonnay 1970-01-01 00:59:59 One of my favorite Chardonnay
makers in Santa Ynez Valley is Parker
.htm">Fess Parker
(I am a long time wineclub member). We were down there a couple of weeks ago and brought some friends from the Sacramento area for wine tasting. They usually go to Napa Valley and this was their first time in "our" valley, and I believe they really liked it. We both picked up some Fess Parker 2004 Santa Rita Hills, Ashley's Vineyard, Chardonnay. It has nice crisp pear, apple and light citrus, and just the right amount of cream and oak. Rated 91 by Wine and Spirit it is not to bad of a deal for $28, join the wineclub and get if for only $22. www.fessparker.com
Cousino-Macul Antiguas Reservas 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Cousino-Macul is a Chilean winery that just celebrated 150 years in 2006, and is still 100% family owned (by the same family through the years). All wines are estate grown, estate vined and estate bottled, and they take extreme pride in this fact.This CabernetSauvignon
is 100% grapes from the Maipo Valley, and has been made that way since 1926.The wine has a dark, thick inky/red/purple color in the glass. Tons of black currant on the nose with dark fruit, black cherries, and some vanilla oak. It is dark and dense on the palate with black berries/fruit and medium tannins that gives it a nice round finish.I got this at BevMo at sale for $10.99. At http://www.wine-searcher.com/ and http://www.winezap.com/ you can find it from $9.97.This was a nice wine for a good price. Will I buy it again? Hmmm, maybe as a crowd pleaser... Read more:Antiguas
, Cabernet Sauvignon
Long Meadow Ranch 2003 Peter's Vineyard Napa Valley Sangiovese 1970-01-01 00:59:59 This wine has a bright, clear, dark, red color, with a hint of purple, in the glass. Promising on the nose with pleasant raspberry, a floral note, and slightly herbaceous (tarragon). On the palate though, it disappoints. Still some raspberry, tart berries, medium acidity and smooth tannins. This might not sound to bad, but it does miss any kind of punch, and comes across as thin, a little week, and has a short finish. I love Long MeadowRanch
and I am a LMR Corral Club member since several years, and always look forward to their shipments. I really enjoy their Cabernet Sauvignon, and it hurts me to say that this Sangiovese
is not worth the $29 it retails for.I would love to hear from you if you are of another opinion.Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog TopDid you know that you can vote once every 24 hours?! Read more:Peter
, Valley
, Vineyard
Dashwood 2005 Marlborough Pinot Noir 2007-03-02 18:00:00 I picked up the Dashwood 2005 MarlboroughPinot
Noir at Enoteca Wine Shop in Calistoga, Napa Valley. I had not heard of, or had wines from this winery before, but at $9 for 375 ml I figured it was worth trying. Enoteca carries wine from small scale artisinal producers, from all over the world, and they are all hand picked by proprietor Margaux Singleton. Her passion about what she does is obvious as you visit her in the store.The Dashwood Pinot Noir has a dark red/purple color in the glass. Not the typical color of a Pinot. On the nose I got dark cherries and fruit, and the palate revealed the dark cherries again with a spicy note, medium acidity and soft tannins. This is a fruity Pinot upfront but on the back palate it is thin and has a shorter fininsh than I expected.This was only an OK Pinot to me, and lacked the traditional characteristics of a Pinot Noir. For the price of $14.99 at Wine-searcher.com, or at Winezap.com you get a 750 ml bottle. This is not a wine I will purchase aga
Domaine A. et P. De Villaine 2004 Mercurey Les Montots 2007-03-03 18:53:00 Domaine A. et P. Villane is located in Bouzeron, Cote Chalonnaise, Burgundy. All the grapes at the Domaine is organically farmed and has been certified since 1986 by Qualice-France. They are hand harvested and thoroughly sorted by hand. To truly capture the terroir the vinification is natural, they only use a small percentage of new oak barrels, and the wine is bottled unfiltered. The Villaines are also co-owner of the highly regarded Domaine de la Romanee-Conti.The 2004 Mercurey Les Montots has a dark red ruby color in the glass. It has green vegetables on the nose that gives way to raspberry and cherry after letting it sit in the glass for 30 min. On the palate: cherries, tart red berries, earth and a kind of gamey taste with great high acidity and medium firm tannins. This wine definitely will benefit from some time in the bottle, or if drinking it now, decant it an hour or so before enjoying it.I really liked this Burgundy and think the price is fair at $35. After doing some limite Read more:Domaine
TuTu 2005 California Pinot Grigio 2007-03-06 04:51:00 Today I am trying a CaliforniaPinot
Grigio, the 2005 TuTu, made by Jeff Smith of Hourglass (that has an amazing Cabernet Sauvignon!) I paid $13 for this bottle in Napa Valley, but you can find it at Winesearcher.com or Winezap.com from $9.99.This Pinot Grigio is fermented in stainless steel tanks and has not gone through malolactic fermentation, to keep it dry and crisp.At first I got some apple and fresh mint on the nose. After a couple of minutes this changed to soft tropical fruit with a hint of citrus. On the palate it has a little higher viscosity than I expected and a little thin in flavor, but nice acidity. As for the "dry and crisp", dry sure, but crisp (?), I did not find this characteristic in the wine.I enjoyed this wine moderately and do not think I will by it again... On the other hand, I have not had to many California Pinot Grigio and am not quite sure what to expect...If you've had a chance to try it, let me know what you think!Vote for my blog here and help me reach
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