drowning my sorrows

[rone]

The perfect accompaniment to this most excellent T-bone steak is this Summers Knights Valley 1998 Merlot Reserve. Full, a bit tannic, a bit peppery, currant in the nose, a bit acid in the finish. And you probably won't be able to find any.

Comments

[opadit.livejournal.com]

Ron, how do you like Australian shiraz? The wine I took on the plane with me out to Seattle was really nice -- I'm not a very good judge of wine (I don't have the skills or vocabulary of a connoisseur) but this had a balanced taste without that little extra "kick" in the back of the mouth that a bad red wine sometimes has after it's been swallowed. It was -- and here's where you'll make fun of me for not knowing any better -- an Alice White 2002 Shiraz. Maybe it's plonk to people who truly know wines, but I liked it and would recommend a try if you can find some.

On the way back I had Bella Sera Pinot Grigio (I forget the vintage), and that was terrible. I can't say what was so bad about it, except that it had that "fermented grape juice" feel to it, rather than a "fine wine" feel to it.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

I'm not much of a wine connosieur, but i can fake it a little. It helps to have all this wine country within a few hours' drive.

I haven't had much shiraz at all, but the ones i have had have impressed me a lot. My favorite inexpensive wine is The Rothbury Estate's 2001 shiraz, $6. It is really good and would be a good buy at twice the price. The other one i had was a shiraz-grenache blend from D'Arenberg, which dmw brought over to sambushell's while he was visiting. It's called D'Arry's Original. Very good stuff, around $18. I haven't even considered trying any California shiraz (shiraz and syrah are the same grape, but Australian shiraz and California syrah have different characters, so calling a California syrah a "shiraz" strikes me as a marketing gimmick).

It's funny you mentioned the Bella Sera... i did a double take, thinking that's exactly what i had in my fridge, but it's actually a Bolla Pinot Grigio. I like it; it's not fancy, but then i don't expect very much out of my white wine. Sometimes, something will blow me away, like the Domaine Weinbach 2000 Gewürztraminer (http://www.livejournal.com/users/ronebofh/64131.html). That was around $25 but SO good.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

I went to BevMo recently hunting for Bawls and ended up leaving with no Bawls and a bottle of a shiraz-mourvèdre blend for $10. I'll be sure to let you know how that pans out.