Wine Wednesday – 2011 Bridlewood Blend 175

Hello, hello!

Sorry I wasn’t around for Tasty Tuesday yesterday.

Thing 2 had a major party in her mouth at the oral surgeon’s office and I played “mommy” to my baby who isn’t so little any more.

If only she were old enough to drink, she could totally take part in Wine Wednesday!

Alas, she isn’t and, if she were, she shouldn’t be drinking wine anyway while she’s on her pain meds. So, I’ll drink some in her honor. 🙂

Anyhoo, we went to a party this past Saturday and swung by the grocery store to grab a bottle to take.

I found this super interesting sounding blend from Bridlewood Estate Winery and you KNOW how I feel about blends! ❤

It’s a blend of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Zinfandel and rings in surprisingly low on the alcohol scale at 12.5%.

The home of the party hostess is old (like super early 1900s), absolutely beautiful – probably should have taken some pictures, huh? – and superbly decorated.

The cabinet and those glasses made me feel like I should have been drinking a super expensive French wine. But, unfortunately, she didn’t have any. 😉

This wine was beautiful and definitely an excellent choice for this party.

It was potluck (I brought my triple chocolate avocado brownies – YUM!) so there were quite a variety of dishes.

I should add that this party was with all my CrossFit peeps so … there was lots of meat and bacon, etc. #winning

The wine paired fabulously with everything!

It was jammy but soft, oaky with some toasty spice, and smooth. Bridlewood uses the word “graceful” in its description and I would have to agree.

Some wines like to pack a punch or be super jammy and chewy or be extra “hot” (high alcohol content) – this one is like going to a club/bar/wedding/party/etc and the older married couple takes the dance floor and waltzes every wannabe dancer into submission. 🙂

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The low alcohol content (which means less residual sugar from the skins) kept the wine from being too big and tannic and made it quite lovely to enjoy.

Actually, if you’ve never tried a blend, this would be an excellent first choice because it is so soft and muted and flavorful.

Cheers!

Talk to me: What do you  normally bring to potlucks? Do you have a “signature dish” that you rely on?

– jennifer

Wine Wednesday – 2011 St. Supéry Cabernet Sauvignon

Hello, hello!

Guess what day it is?!

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During my normal trip to Harris Teeter, I just happened to be down the wine aisle (surprise, surprise) and I came across these in the Cabernet Sauvignon section.

I know my normal grocery store budget is $20 or less but look at those discounts!!

It was definitely a sign!

So, which one do you think I took home? No peeking!!

Did you guess correctly?

You probably think I picked it because it had the biggest discount but honestly, it was the label that really drew me in.

I know, I know. You’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, or a wine by its label, but I do. I’m guilty. I’ll buy a wine with a boring label but it I think the label is ugly or ridiculous, I probably won’t grab it.

I need to not do that because I’m sure I’m missing out but…..there are just so many with really attractive labels AND if their marketing department is any good, they’ll make the label nice looking anyway because people really do grab wine based on the label!

And, we’ve actually been to Beaulieu Vineyards and I was meh about their cab and the tasting room experience. Haven’t grabbed a bottle of BV since. *shrug*

Anyway, I went with the St. Supéry and brought that baby home.

I knew my sailor would be happy because he loves him some cab! 🙂

We got the grill lit and ready to throw on a pork tenderloin and some sweet taters and we popped it open.

One day, I will find the BEST spot to take this picture. Clearly, this is not it.

 

I’m going to do something new.

I’m going to give you the tasting notes as written on the winery Web page and then tell you what I thought/smelled/tasted. This way, instead of just my pedestrian opinion, you’ll have the winemaker’s notes as well. Besides, my taste buds are just that – mine – and you may pick up on different nuances than I do. I don’t want what I taste to potentially prevent you from trying a wine if you don’t like “earthy” or “cherry” or whatever. 🙂

So, per the St. Supéry page: “This Cabernet Sauvignon presents with bright hues of purples and red. Vibrant, youthful aromas of blackberry, plum and raspberry mingle with notes of chocolate laced with hints of vanillin and toasted oak. Fruit forward flavors burst with blackberry and black plum and are balanced by graceful, structured notes of oak combined with cocoa and a dusty sense of Napa Valley terroir. This is an elegant Cabernet Sauvignon that is finely textured with a solid frame.”

 

I just have to say – I didn’t smell raspberry one little bit which is good because I would have probably put the glass down and never even taken a sip.  I am so NOT a fan of raspberries. What I did smell was plum, vanilla, and oak. YUM!

After swirling and sniffing (I should totally do a video to show you how to pretend like you know what you’re doing when you go wine tasting! We can all swirl and sniff together!!), my first sip was not overly fruity (they say fruit forward – I thought the fruit was more mellow than big and jammy, which is how I define fruit forward) but I definitely tasted berry, and I tasted the toastiness from the oak (think of toasted marshmallows).

At 13.5% alchohol, I was pleasantly surprised at how not “hot” it was. Wines with higher alcohol content can often taste “hot” and can leave sort of a burning sensation in the back of your throat. You’ll know it the minute you taste a high-alcohol wine. It’ll taste good and then when you swallow, it’s like it sucker punches your throat. Still delicious, though! Just be careful with the “hot” ones! Wine hangovers are zero fun. Anyway, this one didn’t have any of that – it was smooth, silky, and just right.

 

And, it wasn’t too much for our pork tenderloin although I wouldn’t make it a regular pairing. You definitely want to pair a cab with heartier meats, like steaks, lamb, and some chicken dishes, stews, hearty pastas, and even a meat pizza.

Or, you could always do just Brie and a baguette and hang out on the front patio and watch the traffic go by. 🙂

Cheers!

 

Talk to me: What’s your favorite dish to pair Cabernet Sauvignon with?

– jennifer

Wine Wednesday – 2012 Josh Cellars Cabernet

Hello!

Guess what day it is?!

(and boy oh boy, am I glad about this cuz it’s been quite the Wednesday, indeed!)

My sailor went on the grocery run with me this past weekend and he spotted this little gem at the Harris Teeter.

I’ve trained him well! 🙂

He’s a big Cab fan so that’s why it caught his eye.

I was totally down with grabbing it because I’ve grabbed a few other wines from Josh Cellars before and haven’t been disappointed at all.

So, we adopted it.

I’ll tell y0u what – this bottle is pretty heavy duty.

Not that wine bottles are flimsy or weak but this one just seems more substantial.

Like the contents really need to be protected.

 

We certainly weren’t disappointed when we uncorked it and poured it out.

Such a lovely, deep almost inky color!

On the nose, we were greeted with wonderful rich fruit and spicy oak.

 

The first sip was was delicious, all full of rich fruit, oaky spice, some vanilla and some smoke.

But, it’s not so tannic that it smacks you in the head – it’s subtle, and smooth, and approachable.

And very drinkable.

Very drinkable, indeed. 🙂

We enjoyed this Cab with grilled sausages, bell peppers, and some homemade Dutch Oven bread.

And some front patio time. 🙂

Cheers!

 

Talk to me: Do you like Cabernet Sauvignon? Do you prefer subtle Cabs or big, powerful, Napa cult cabs? Have you been enjoying the beautiful and slightly cooler summer or are you just patiently waiting for fall?

– jennifer