Public Service Announcement

To My Readers -

Beginning March 9th, 2011, I am officially giving up alcohol for Lent. (No, not crazy; Charlie Sheen's crazy.) I apologize for not being able to keep you updated on the latest & greatest wines, but I do promise that when I return, there will be more amazing wines to come. So sit back, hang tight & try not to miss me too much. I'm sure Mr. Sheen will keep you entertained until I return.

Cheers!

Sober Kate

2006 Olvena Garnacha-Syrah, $17.99

OK. It's bad to admit this, but I bought this wine for the bottle. It's a cool, almost cushion-cut (if you're into diamond shapes) bottle with actual edges, reminiscent of a high-end olive oil bottle. And it comes packaged in a box. A black box with an orange interior. Way cool. I normally have to pay over $100 to get a wine packaged in a box, so for under $20, I was game.

I love the smell of this wine. It's like grape jam, fresh strawberries, black pepper & sugar-free strawberry-kiwi Jello-O all hit my nostrils at once. There are lots of legs on the glass, denoting the heaviness of the wine's body. The color is a red-purple, clear, almost clear like a pinot noir (which is fast becoming one of my favorite grapes, but I digress).

This wine goes down my throat like water, it glides down so smooth & easy. On my palate, I'm tasting tannins, but mellow tannins, mellow like a little baby. On the finish, which lingers for a few seconds, I get strawberry Jell-O flavor on top of those tannins. Interesting side note: I can't taste or smell a lick of alcohol, despite its 14% alcohol content. It reminds me of the time I went to a bar with my sister, when she ordered some tropical drink that tasted like it had no alcohol in it, so she proceeded to order them & ended up tanked after the 3rd drink. You could get seriously sloppy on this wine if you're not careful.

Grenache is not my favorite grape (it's Julie's), but I could really get into this bottle. SSSH! Don't tell Julie I'm getting her a bottle for her birthday. Learn more at www.bodegasolovena.com, and please, don't forget that there's alcohol in it.

Cheers!

Kate

2009 Pacific Rim Columbia Valley Riesling, $10.99

OK. I am so excited because I've got another Pacific Rim wine to blog about, and you all know how much I dig this winery. It's so funny - I'm not even a riesling fan. But I feel like whatever this vineyard puts out, between the pretty label and the screw-top and the delicious taste, I'm never dissatisfied.

This riesling is, according to the back label, medium dry, just short of medium sweet, with "aromas of jasmine, pear and apple." (It also boasts an 11.7% alcohol content, which is pretty decent for these guys.) Mmm. The best part is that I can actually smell the jasmine in this wine, in equal amounts with the pear & apple. I also smell a lot of honeysuckle in this wine, which moves slowly in a sheet down the side of the glass.

As for the taste, the first thing I think is that this wine tastes like I took the dry & sweet rieslings, mixed them together, dumped them in a glass and drank. They're not kidding when they report this wine as being a nice compromise between the two. Mid-palate, I'm getting some hints of brown sugar cube, along with gala apple & the two aforementioned flowers. The aftertaste is like a soft, warm sugar cookie, but the finish is quick.

I like this wine, though it's definitely not my favorite in a long list of Pacific Rim wines. That's cool, though. I like trying new things & experimenting with all the labels this winery has to offer. And hey, maybe someday I'll be able to blog about a wine of theirs that has higher than a 13% alcohol content, you never know. www.RiselingRules.com.

Cheers!

Kate

2009 Bogle Vineyards California Chardonnay, $11.99

OK. First of all, I'd like to say, Happy New Year! Second, I'd like to say: I love snow days.

It is snowing like a demon where I come from. I've been watching the news all morning, and this storm, the one they're calling Winter Storm Benedict, has pretty much closed the entire state. The snow is falling at 3 - 4 inches per hour & a lot of the state has already seen over 2 feet of snow. That's feet, people. Two feet.

So, since I obviously didn't go to work, what better way to spend a snow day than sipping on and blogging about wine?

Now, I know I'm a little messed up. I know that winter calls for red while summer calls for white. I'm a little backwards. I truly enjoy red in the summer & white in the winter. For me, it's a no-brainer. Cold while it's cold, warm while it's warm. Which is why I lusted over & decided upon this bottle of chard.

This is a buttery-gold chard in color, really beautiful. It's not heavy, falling in a single sheet on the side of the glass. But it sure smells heavy, with its mouth-watering butter & oak aromas. And it doesn't smell like alcohol, despite its 13.5% alcohol content. This wine is making me salivate.

And no wonder! This wine tastes heavy too, though not in mouthfeel (ARGH!!!). In taste, it's a heavyweight, luckily tasting exactly the way it smells. It smells like oak & butter, with a tight alcohol taste on the finish. It's not complicated. Also, it's not smooth the way a buttery, oakey chardonnay usually is; it's sharp, like a sauvignon blanc. There's a little bite to it.

I suspect that if you, the reader, aren't usually a fan of a buttery, oakey chard, this is a great one to try. It's got the body of a sauvignon blanc with the taste of an oak monster. Quite possibly the best of both worlds. I highly recommend it, especially at this price point. It's a better white than a lot of others for the money. Learn more at www.boglewinery.com.

Cheers!

Kate

Cupcake Vineyards Prosecco, Non-Vintage, $11.99

OK. I am not the type of person who saves things for a special occasion. I wear my Agent Provocateur lingerie on a Wednesday night, for example. And I'll drink bubbly on a random night, if for no reason other than to celebrate the fact that I wasn't completely overloaded with patients on the Monday before Christmas.

That being said, tonight I am not in the mood to study my wine, I just want to drink & enjoy. So I poured a glass to do just that.

This wine is crisp on my palate. Bready, yeasty, with a little hint of green apples. The aftertaste is a little sour, with touches of crystallized sugar. The finish is long, and after 30 seconds, I can still taste the sweetness, like hints of honeydew melon.

For the price, I can't beat this wine. And I have to admit I am not a fan of Prosecco. I love bubbles, but I've never been an Italian wine type of girl. This sparkler is a very happy, celebratory wine at a price that doesn't need to have an occasion to open it for. It makes even a Monday night worth celebrating. Find out more at www.CupcakeVineyards.com.

Cheers!

Kate

Channing Daughters 2008 Long Island Scuttlehole Chardonnay, $17.00

OK. This bottle was a gift to me from my dear friend Woman (don't ask why we call her Woman; we just started calling her that our freshman year of college & it stuck). She is probably the only person who tells me she reads my wine blog. Props to you, Woman!

I do love a good chardonnay. Oakey, non-oakey, it doesn't matter as long as it tastes good. Yes, I know that I tend to favor reds over whites, but I still like chard. It's my go-to white wine.

On the nose, this wine makes me fall in love a little. It's dripping with fruit & flowers: green apple, honeysuckle, peach, pear. It's light-bodied, moving slowly down the side of the glass in a single sheet. And the yellow color is so pale, it reminds me more of a sauvignon blanc.

On the palate, this wine is very, very light & clean. It almost tastes like nothing until it hits the back of my throat, then it opens up to reveal the clean taste of minerals and tropical fruits. Remember those Del Monte fruit cups? The plastic ones? It reminds me of a weaker version of their tropical fruit flavor, the papaya especially. Mmm, rocks & papaya. This actually excites me. I get it now, when Gary Vaynerchuk said that nails & spoiled papaya excited him. It's delicious.

The only drawback to this wine is its 12% alcohol content. But this wine is so pleasant & easy to drink, this shouldn't be a deterrent. While I checked out the website (www.channingdaughters.com) and learned that the 2008 vintage is no longer available, the 2009 vintage is ready to go. So please, check out a local vineyard & try something new. Cali's not the only one stirring the pot.

Cheers!

Kate

2008 Block 2 Cabernet Sauvignon, Horse Heaven Hills, $19.99

OK. So I've had Block 2's syrah, which I absolutely adored. And since I like cab better than syrah, I can only imagine what this one's gonna taste like.

Technically, it's not a straight-up cab. It's 91% cab, 4% syrah, 4% merlot & 1% cab franc. It's also got a 14.2% alcohol content. This is a happy-sounding wine. It makes me happy just reading the back of the bottle. Pretty impressive from the state of Washington.

In the glass, this wine looks like a mix of purple grape juice & cranberry juice. I can't see through the glass, but I can sort of see through the top two millimeters. Dozens of chubby little legs spring up on the side of the glass, some moving faster than others, showing off how heavy-bodied this wine is. Excellent. I'm practically salivating already.

This wine is really tight on the nose, smelling at once like rubbing alcohol and jam - grape & strawberry, respectively. At the tail end of the sniff, there's a hint of milk chocolate. It smells delicious.

And if I thought it smelled delicious, the smell is nothing compared to how delicious this wine tastes. On the rugae (those rough little ridges behind your top teeth - FYI, you need those rugae to help make different sounds when you talk), this wine is harsh, harsh, harsh! Those tannins are tight & strong. But amazingly, the wine mellows as soon as it transitions to my mid-palate, tasting like milk & dark chocolate mixed together. And the finish lingers, filling my mouth with the taste of chocolate, almond & coconut - truly, a finish like an Almond Joy. And everyone who knows me knows I LOVE Almond Joys. Ask Julie.

In my mouth, this wine is smooth. And not as heavy-bodied as I imagined. It doesn't glide down like water, but that's OK. I'm still in love with this wine, and for the price, it's the best I've ever tasted. Go looking, people. That's my recommendation.

Cheers!

Kate