Tag Archives: spirits

My New Toy, Vivino

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This week I’m sharing my thoughts about my new toy, Vivino. Jeff Hollar turned me on to it Monday. What exactly is Vivino? This video explains it.

The app was easy enough to set up and I added 7 wines right away. At first it was so much fun I had to stop myself before I went through the entire wine cabinet.

The app allows you to manage wines from both your phone and the web, a plus. I downloaded the free app, so what I can do on my phone is limited at the moment. I’ve promised myself I’ll try other apps before buying one.

Taking pictures of wine label is a snap. It then scans the label and, in most cases, finds the wine in their database. If it doesn’t find the exact wine, it’s easy enough to change the year and type, or you can search by text for the right wine. The wine info page provides a decent amount of information about the wine and plenty of places to add your own thoughts and opinions. Tonight I learned about our wine choice before we opened it, paired it with the right meat and chilled it to the best temperature. Doing a happy dance. I’m not overly happy with the way you view lists of wines on your phone. I want more flexibility to create my own lists for shopping trips and parties. I guess maybe I could use the wish list. There is a nice section for wine pairing.

You can do a lot more with wine on the app than on the website. Viewing the wines on the website is easy enough though. They provide a list of your wines and the ability to sort them by categories. If a wine is missing information, it will drop off a category sort though. Plus, there is no heading for certain categories, so you can’t quickly find a grouping of a certain grape. The information about wines on the website is equivalent to the app, plus there’s additional vineyard and winery information with a map. I also like that you can look up a varietal and get suggestions. This wasn’t accessible from a wine page on the app. Maybe it’s in the Pro version.


Here’s a link to my page on Vivino at http://www.vivino.com/users/WinO-Wendy. They originally set my account up with the extension wendy-ho, which luckily I was allowed to change.

Last but not least, I have to add a link to The Ultimate List of Beer Apps for Blaze and our beer drinking friends—even though I’m pretty sure Blaze still uses a candlestick style phone.

Twitt

Sexy Wine Lables

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As Valentines day quickly approaches and considering my hubby pulled out a bottle of The Watchers from Fetish Wines for tonight, this post was a given. Hmmm . . . I wonder what he has planned this evening?

Let’s face it, we’re all suckers for a sexy wine label whether it’s the name of the wine or the picture on front. I can’t argue with all the articles I’ve read today, sex sells! And so I searched the Internet for the best of the best of the sexy wine labels and here are just a few that I found.

This is about the funniest one I’ve found today. I’m assuming they’re talking about the way the grapes hang on the vine, right?

I’ve seen this label everywhere. Who doesn’t appreciate pin up girls?

Gentlemen, I’d be a little careful of what this ladies got between her legs.

My passion for pulp fiction would have me snatching this one off the shelf.

And just in case you’re not stimulating enough of your senses while watching porn.

I could go on all night with this post, but we’re almost finished with the Fetish wine and I’m getting the, “are you done with that post yet” look from the hubby. I’m off to put on a pair of boots similar to the ones on this label.

But before I zip up the boots, I’d like to include one sexy beer label for Blaze McRob. Considering all the hard work he does for the Press, I think he deserves a screaming Double Wench tonight.

I’d like to recognize a few of the websites that did a much better job than me, talking about these wines and beers. I suggest you check out these articles for more of the saucy labels:

Is It Ever Too Early for Wine??

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This is going to be a short post this week, because I want to hear from your instead.

I had spent most of today editing The Courier and other Visionary Press authors, which was a bit tiring, so I opened a bottle at 4:00 today. As I twisted the stelvin closure of the 2008, The Footbolt Shiraz by d’Arenberg, I remembered it’s Wine Wednesday and next thought, what to write about.

We try really hard to wait until 5:00 P.M. to open the wine, but some days . . . . I’m sure you understand what I’m saying. So I’m opening this up to all the readers this week.

From special events to stressful events,
share your stories about the times
you’ve opened the bottle early.

Any liquor type applies to this one. I’ll add mine to the comments as well. No surprise, quite a few come to mind right off the bat.

By the way, the wine I’m drinking tonight won a gold metal at the 2010 China Wine Challenge. It’s definitely worthy.

 

Twitt

Kendall Jackson Ain’t Bad Wine

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I missed a few weeks posting because I’m on partial vacation and very busy over at Visionary Press Cooperative. Starting a new business is FUN FUN FUN, but soooo time consuming. I’m so glad I’ve got the support of Blaze McRob and Sue Mydliak through our start up!

This will be a quick one just because I wanted to make sure I posted. In fact, I’ll probably post more of our favorites until after the 4th when things settle down a bit.

Anyways, this week I’m mentioning Kendall-Jackson wines, and the first word that comes to mind is consistent. Their Chardonnay is probably our most favorite.

Vintner’s Reserve is where it all began, back in 1982 when Jess Jackson crafted the first bottle of Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay, which gained immediate attention for its unique, bright fruitiness. The 1983 release of Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay won the first Double Platinum Award ever presented by the American Wine Competition. The heart of the Kendall-Jackson portfolio, the Vintner’s Reserve series has continued to win accolades year after year, becoming perennial consumer favorites.

This is the one wine we always have in the fridge during the summer, and we buy it by the case. You always know what to expect when you open a bottle of Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay, and that’s certainly a plus. We also enjoy their other wines, in particular their Merlot is almost always on the rack. (Don’t be a snob. Merlot is a good wine.) In our house Kendall-Jackson varietals get a 3.75 to 4.5 out of 5.

Twitt

Oops!

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And I don’t mean that I’m posting my wine suggestion late this Wednesday.  That’s actually the name of the wine. I’m pretty lazy tonight, so this will be short and sweet.

We’ve been drinking Oops Wines for a little over a year now and it’s on our regular purchase list. We get them from Safeway, who seems to be the only carrier of the wine in our area. Tonight’s selection was Carmen’re Merlot.

The (oops) 2009 Carmen’re Merlot was sourced from multiple vineyards in two distinctive regions of Chile’s Valle Central, Colchagua and Maipo.

This vintage has been blended for even more richness and texture. Fruit to the forefront and a light touch of oak makes for great food compatibility. Try with grilled, roasted, or braised meat dishes, especially lamb, medium bodied fish such as salmon or tuna steaks, stews, burgers, pastas, and soups.

They are right on about its food compatibility. We had it with spaghetti and Italian sausage, which it went well with as well. In my case, I eat veggies instead of noodles, and broccoli and tomato sauce worked with this wine too. In fact, it’s better if you drink it with food. Without food it leaves a slight sour aftertaste, although that shouldn’t discourage your from trying this one.

All in all, I give it a 3.5 out of 5

Twitt

Vinny No Neck Wine, Spicy and Flowery

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This week I decided to try something new, so I pulled the first wine that caught my eye, Vinny No Neck by Bonacquisti Wine Company. I was then excited to find that it’s a Denver produced wine, which means we can visit the tasting room.

Here’s what they say about their wine.

In honor of our son Vincent (who will be a foot taller once he grows a neck). This Italian style red is a blend of 80% Sangiovese and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. Violets and cherries, sweet spice box aromas and a smooth easy finish that’s perfect with the 3 P’s, pizza, pasta and pomodori.

What I say about their wine… The description alone made my mouth water. Still, I have a bad attitude about wines with fun names and labels despite the fact that I’m drawn to their bottles and buy them repeatedly. I don’t know why because they suck at an equal rate as wines with boring labels and names. Anyways, on to the verdict.

Just like it says, this wine is flowery and spicy when you cover your entire tongue and I have no complaints about that. The cherry flavor is nice…very nice! It also has no sour after-taste like some red wines, which is greatly appreciated. Wendy LIKE!

Only my dinner selection didn’t include any of the 3 P’s. I had been jonesin’ for a bacon cheeseburgers all day, in a really bad way. I went even further and cooked the burgers in bacon fat. A little out of my mind I guess. Anyways, the wine spiced up nicely and I enjoyed a sip with nearly every bite.

Would I buy this wine again? Absolutely. I give it a 3.75 out of 5

Twitt

W. J. Howard Says, Try d’Arenberg Wines

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This week I’m highlighting an Australian vineyard and winemaker rather than an individual wine. We drink more D’Arenberg wine in our house than any other. Check out this page and you’ll see all the labels, making them quite a prolific wine producer. Prices are mainly affordable, and a few higher but well worth it!

The first wine we tried was the Dead Arm Shiraz and and fell so in love with it we had to look into their other wines. Oh, and we were fortunate to share a bottle of the 2007 Dead Arm on Valentine’s Day. The year was limited and absolutely amazing. We managed to find one other bottle and are saving it for a special occasion. I’ve mentioned this wine on some blog, somewhere in the past, and here’s a reminder of where the Dead Arm name originated.

Dead Arm is a vine disease caused by the fungus Eutypa Lata that randomly affects vineyards all over the world. Often vines affected are severely pruned or replanted. One half, or an ‘arm’ of the vine slowly becomes reduced to dead wood. That side may be lifeless and brittle, but the grapes on the other side, while low yielding, display amazing intensity.

Tonight we’ll enjoy The Hermit Crab, pictured upper-left, with Tilapia and a peach salsa over rice. It’ll go well considering, “The characteristic stone fruits of apricot, peach and nectarine are ever present with sweet spice nuances.” It’s a 2009, and I just noticed Wine and Spectator gave it 90 points.

Happy wine sipping to you all tonight!

Twitt

Liked Voss Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc

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Tonight’s wine is a 2009 Voss Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc, and we liked it just fine and would buy it again. Didn’t blow us away thought.

“The Voss Sauvignon Blanc developed beautifully during the warm summer days and typically cool evenings. We harvested for maturation over two nights in early September with the various vineyard blocks giving us a breadth of fruit profile. Our pre dawn harvesting, when the fruit is at its coldest, helps to retain the vibrant Sauvignon Blanc aromas and flavors. Coupling this with holding the fruit on the skins for 24 hours before pressing results in very intense fruit flavors from our Rutherford vineyard. The juice was fermented at cool temperatures in stainless steel tanks over three weeks with selected yeasts that further enhanced the flavors. As in 2010, in 2011 we again experimented with a small portion of the wine fermented in neutral oak barrels (a two new oak barrels), about 10% of the total volume, to add additional mouth feel and texture to the wine. The wine was bottled on March 3rd 2012, using the ‘Stelvin’ closure.”

The description tells me we’ll try the 2010 & 2011 too. Still, we did enjoy this wine and it keeps well in the refrigerator for a few days. The label also says it, “…exhibits classic varietal characteristics of lemon and grapefruit with a hint of pineapple.” I didn’t taste the lemon, but the rest is dead on. Also, this wine is not acidic, a plus.

This is a good one to just sip on the deck in between cooking dinner. It also went well with a light dinner of smoked sausage, corn on the cob and cantaloupe. You gotta give credit to a wine you can drink with that combo.

My hubby and I both give it a 3 out of 5.

Twitt

W. J. Howard Says, Try Unchained Naked Chardonnay

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I’ve decided to restart my wine reviews because there has been more and more talk in our house about starting a vineyard in Estes Park, Colorado. Huge dream that will come true for us. And anyone who knows my hubby and I knows that we have tried over 500 wines, so we already have a few people who think we know something about wine. Or, you could just call us winos.

This week I’m expressing my love for Unchained Naked Chardonnay a wine by Big House Wine Company. They say on their website:

“We veered off the California standard by using steel tank and neutral oak barrels; thereby preserving the true fruit characteristics of the Chardonnay grape.”

Is this why this wine blowed us away? Hell, I don’t know.

“Picked at night or early in the morning, these grapes underwent fermentation in stainless steel tanks and were freed from the common secondary malolactic fermentation, which is a frequent sentence for Californian Chardonnay. The result is a fresh and bright unoaked Chardonnay that is more reminiscent of an aromatic white than its namesake.”

Wow, this interests me, but why did I choose this wine at the liquor store? Combo of the wine’s rating, the name and the label. What else do you expect from a woman. Anyways, when we tried it, we had no idea how the wine was produced, we just loved it. Definitely, give this one a try. We had it tonight with chicken breasts and mushrooms, sauteed in a peach balsamic vinaigrette and this very wine, so cook with it too. YUM!

Twitt