My, my Manina!

Oh girl. This Sauvignon Blanc was deeeeeeelicious. Picking a wine for the bottle worked out this time around.

Manina

Valle Central, Chile

2012 Sauvignon Blanc

Bought at Kroger on sale for $11

They Say: Let yourself get caught up in the reverie of Manina, with delicate notes of pineapple, mango and grapefruit. Light in style, this wine whisks one's senses into a state of splendor, abundant with crisp citrus fruit flavors.

I Say: This wine was so deliciously fruity without being super sweet, I think I died and went to wine heaven. It was crisp and clean without being sour or bitter. I drank it alone and I'm glad that I did. I even left it in the fridge for a few days and drank the rest later, and it only got better and better. The trick of finding a fancy wine on sale served me well. I'd definitely drink it again and I wanted to keep the label because it was so darn pretty.

The Bottom Line: Yes. Yes. I'm in love.

The Cellar says hello.

We struggled with these ones. Not because they weren't good, but because my friends are still saying wine smells like laundry detergent and paint thinner. However, it was a nice tour of Sonoma County.

First up!

Leese-Fitch
Sonoma County, Napa Valley, California
2010 Sauvignon Blanc
Bought at The Cellar on 1/29 for $15

They Say: The 2010 Leese-Fitch SB is a crisp and refreshing wine. [It] has a high-tone citrus zest aroma with minerality reminiscent of a brisk ocean breeze. There is a hint of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and tropical Pina Colada. The palate is zippy and alive with Lemon grass spice, but balanced with a touch of creamy tapioca to round out the mid-palate. This is a perfect wine for sipping on lazy summer afternoons and is equally prepared to stand up to a creamy pasta dish, spicy Thai soup, or a simple dinner of fruit, cheese, and a fresh baked sourdough loaf.

I Say: My bad for not having it with a simple dinner of fruit, cheese and a fresh baked sourdough loaf. Honestly, it smelled like a clean white wine and laundry detergent. It tasted a little bit sour, especially once we started eating. We did catch the ocean breeze in there, there was a bit of a salty tang to it. It was the color of ginger ale; a very pale yellow that was almost white.

We ate it with the spicy Crab & Shrimp dip and cheesy curly fries (this blog is really going to make you judge my eating habits).

The Bottom Line: It was not fun to gargle. It was a good wine but we definitely didn't eat the right food with it, so that made it taste a bit sour.

Snow day? Wine day.

This past Friday, we had a sprinkling of snow courtesy of Jack Frost.
Sledding? No.
Shoveling the snow? Definitely not.
Stay in with comfort food and wine? Hellllll yeah.

Santa Alicia

Reserva - Maipo Valley, Chile

2010 Malbec 

Bought at Kroger for about $9

They Said: a well structured, rounded and complex Malbec with an intense aroma of prunes, flowers and cinnamon as well as tannins that give a pleasant sensation in the mouth. Best with cheeses or barbequed red meats.

I Said: It smelled very deep, almost like bread. It is a very husky wine. Tasted dry and full with a little bit of a bitter taste on the back end of the sip. It was very good, I like Malbec's but I had a hard time pulling flavors out. 

Ate it with Mac & Cheese with hot dogs for lunch and Chili and corn bread for dinner (it was a snow day, OKAY!?). Checked what the website said just before writing this post so apparently we nailed the food pairing without even knowing it. 

The Bottom Line: Tasted great, killed it in a day. Great price, worked well with food. Drink up, Malbec lovers, drink up.

First post!

Ahhh why hello there, Mr. Boyer and accompanying Teaching Assistants. It is going to be a great semester in Geography of Wine, I'm already enjoying it immensely.

Wine so far in my life! There has been a decent amount of it. My Mom has taken me to wineries a lot in the past few years (before I was 21, shhh) but it has actually been very beneficial. I've tried a lot of different things and I've definitely started to figure out what I like and what I do not like. I'm very into Malbec's right now, they're buttery enough without being bitter or too sweet. I like white wines that are dryer and not as sweet. Moscato makes me want to die with every fiber of my being. Dessert wines are definitely not my thing.

I drink wine probably 2-3 times a week, often with food. My friends and I have started a tradition of "Winesdays" and on Wednesday evenings we get together and drink a glass of wine or two. I try not to buy wine at 7-11 which opens up one's palate significantly. I'm guilty of picking wine based on the label but I also do a lot of guessing. I like to see which normally high priced wines are on sale and buy them at the lower price.

I'm excited to learn which wines to pair with which foods, how to pull flavors out of taste (I can't break down a flavor bouquet to save my life) and I'd also like to be exposed to new wines I'd never get to at this time in my life otherwise. I'm sure there is plenty of information I won't even see coming --- like opening the champagne bottle without it exploding! How cool was that? I'm excited to keep learning this is already one of the best classes I've taken at Tech and it has been a week. My compliments to the Boyer team.