Huntington Sauvignon Blanc '06 (and White Sangria Recipe)

It's been a long time since we've posted so I figured I'd drop one in here. The other night I was at work (Bristol Farms) and decided to try out this wine because it was on sale, 2 for $10, can't really beat that right? I figured if it was crappy I'd turn it into sangria. Long story short, it became a really delicious sangria. However, for the price the wine actually wasn't that bad. It was ok at first but then had a bit of an odd lingering flavor toward the end. Honestly, I had kind of been wanting to make sangria out of it in the first place so I didn't pay close attention to all the different notes.

Anyway, for those of you who like to play around with your crappy wines, here's a quick kind of tropical white sangria recipe I made up out of stuff we had in the house:

1 bottle cheap white wine (actually I had a leftover 3rd of another bottle of white wine from a few days prior so I threw that in there too)
1 cup pineapple juice
1 can Kern's Mango Nectar (can also use peach, but I only had mango at the time)
1 fresh peach, sliced into thin half circles
1 lime, half sliced and half juiced
1 mango, cut into small squares
1/4 cup Cointreau (or to taste, can use other triple sec but I prefer Cointreau)

Mix everything together in a pitcher, add some ice and serve.
Don't forget to eat all the delicious alcohol drenched fruit at the end.

Domaine Ste Michelle Cuvee Brut

Sorry we've been slacking on the blog. Sometimes it's difficult to write after throwing back a few bottles...oooor we're just lazy. Anyway, I figured I'd bridge our gap with a post about this bubbly.

I tried this brut last week and found it very pleasing. I had gotten some Fromager d'Affinois to snack on with a baguette and figured I'd find a wine to pair with it. It was suggested to enjoy it with champagne, and while I didn't have that on hand I did have a bottle of Domaine Ste. Michelle Cuvee Brut, so I figured I'd try it out. It was a very good combination, I highly recommend it (the cheese is delish too, definitely check it out if you enjoy brie or other creamy soft cheeses, this one is very creamy and somewhat rich, but has a mild flavor) As for the wine, it had a light pleasant scent and a mild flavor. And of course it was bubbly so that was fun. I find that a lot of the time when you're getting methode champenoise type wines they have a kind of weird flavor or off smell, but this one didn't have any of that, it was rather enjoyable. I definitely recommend trying it out, you can find this brut at Bevmo for around $9.99.

Stella Rosa Rosso Il Conte D'Alba 1917

Every time I would hang out with my girlfriends, they raved about Stella Rosa. One night my girlfriend and I decided to go buy some at Bevmo, but they were all sold out. A few months later, I found Stella Rosa at Bristol Farms for $10.99. The guy that was showing me around the wine arbor claimed Stella Rose is "a wine for pussies!" Stella Rosa is described as a "refreshing red wine to be served chilled and accompanied by fresh fruit and cheese." I drank it chilled and I was pleasantly surprised when I realized there were bubbles! The wine itself was very sweet, with fruity flavors, great for entry level wine drinkers. The alcohol content is only at 5.5%, so you may need to drink a bottle or two by yourself to have a fun night. The color of the wine is also very light compared to other reds I have tried before. Stella Rosa would be great on a nice summer evening when you are in the mood for a light, sweet red wine. So forget the Arbor Mist at the grocery store and go buy a bottle of Stella Rose, you will not be disappointed :)

Geyser Peak Sauvignon Blanc (2008)

I enjoyed most of this bottle on my own last night in our New York hotel room, after having a few vodka crans. It was pouring outside so we figured we'd keep the party inside until the rain let up, and that worked out pretty well. I got it at a little wine and liquor shop here in by Central Park, price: $9.99, I imagine it was a little over priced but it's kind of hard to find wine in our area in the theater district (or it was difficult when we were wandering around trying to find alcohol the other night). I had been deciding between this one and a 120 sauv blanc (and a muscato, but that had a cork while these have twist off tops, and we don't have a wine opener here), and asked the guy at the shop what the differences were, he said this one was more dry while the other was more buttery and crisp. I figured I'd try this one since I already have the other one sitting at home waiting to be tasted.

Now for the wine review, it was definitely one of those wines that make you pucker a little bit, not really in a bad way, it just had that bit of acidity. It wasn't that sweet but did have some sourish fruit flavors. As the back of the bottle says "passion fruit, lime and grapefruit flavors...balanced by clean, crisp acidity." I don't know about the crisp part, but it definitely had the acidity and the lime and grapefruit part. As for the results from the next morning (which is now, as I'm writing this review), I drank this whole bottle myself minus 2 glasses, and I'm feeling just fine, now. I was def a little woozy and dehydrated a few hours ago, but really not too bad, so that's a good sign. Now the question, should you buy this wine? I would say if you find it under $7 go for it, but the price I paid seemed a little much, unless you are looking for a puckery sort of wine.

Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel (2007)

Hello and welcome to the Winers Blog. I just finished sharing a bottle of Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel, vintage 2007 and have a slight buzz going on so sorry if I'm not 100% coherent. Anyway, on to the wine review...oh btw, this blog is not written by professional wine tasters, just by people who love to drink wine (and indulge in other alcoholic beverages). Please do not expect us to detect every slight flavor of oak or hint of raspberry or cherry, our tasting skills are not quite that developed yet...but give us a few years and perhaps we'll be all pretentious and discerning like that. Until then we are just here to have some tasty wine, probably accompanied by some delicious food and good friends. We'll tell you what's delicious, what's drinkable, and what you should probably just save for cooking or to give to the underage kids.

Ok, so on to the wine I enjoyed tonight, Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel, vintage 2007 ($9.99 on sale at Bristol Farms), I thought it was delicious. Not quite as good as the Plungerhead zinf I enjoyed the other day, which I thought had more light fruit flavors, but definitely one I'd like to drink again. It had a pleasant smell (can't recall it enough to describe right now though). As for the taste, it was smooth with some fruit flavor, although not sweet, it had mild tannins and a medium finish. According to the label on the bottle the flavor was of "blackberry, black cherry, and raspberry...wrapped in a smooth blanket of vanilla and oak." I thought it tasted similar to Bogle's cabernet sauvignon, but I had that one a week or two ago, so I can't remember all the details of the cab's flavor. As for the zinf, I drank it while eating some pasta with a red eggplant sauce and a dessert of brownie cookies and a See's candy dark chocolate truffle. I thought it went well with both the meal and the dessert. Oh perhaps I should mention that the wine had a 14.5% alcohol level...so hey, everything seems pretty good once you get a few glasses in lol. But really, to me it was a delicious wine, I'd recommend getting a bottle and checking it out yourself.