Port for the ladies?

Britain's Marks & Spencer announced this week that they are releasing Pink Port. Hoping to attract women who may not have previously been exposed to Port, the wine is--as the name suggests--pink.

I imagine that they are trying to capitalize on the appeal of rose and blush wines. But I would also imagine that if a woman--or any wine drinker, for that matter--wanted to drink something pink, she (or he) would pick regular, unfortified wine. Even white Port has a heaviness to it from the additional amount of alcohol, and though I haven't yet tasted this Pink Port (Marks and Spencer, if you are reading this and want to send me a sample bottle, email me for my mailing address), reviews I have read online lead me to believe it tastes a bit more like vodka and cranberry than port. Fruity? Yes. Sippable by a fire on a cold winter evening (how many people, including myself, like to enjoy Port)? Perhaps no.

But maybe they will find a market for it. At the very least, Marks & Spencer could take a cue from other wineries and donate part of the proceeds towards breast cancer research.

Rioja? Priorat? Guess again...

Most of the Spanish wines I drink either come from the prolific Rioja region, or the more recently trendy Priorato. So I was intrigued this past weekend when my father-in-law pulled out a bottle of wine from Montsant. This appellation became official in 2003--before that, it was just considered part of Tarragona. It almost completely surrounds the more famous Priorat region, so the climate and grapes grown are similar. (The area is named for the nearby Montsant mountains.)

He had a bottle of 2004 Fra Guerau. The label said it was a blend of seven varietals, but it didn't tell which. I figured Tempranillo, Garnacha and Carinena would figure into the mix, and a Google search told me the breakdown: 23% Syrah, 19% Garnacha, 17% Merlot, 16% Carinena, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Tempranillo and 3% Monastrell.

Unfortunately, I was hit with a nasty head cold last week, which rendered me completely congested, and made wine tasting almost impossible. The wine tasted decent to me, but I couldn't pick out any particular notes, so my sisters-in-law filled in the blanks for me. It had a nice tart cherry finish, and any tannins present were smooth. There was a touch of a woody/spicy flavor, but it was pretty subtle. Overall, it was a wine that could have paired with a number of dishes. The best part was that the bottle was sold as a "Chairman's Selection" in PA Wine and Spirits stores, so it was $8 instead of $16.

Corked? Cooked? Just plain yucky...

My tastes have really been leaning towards Old World reds lately. I've just had a lot of American and Australian reds lately that were too sweet or too fruity. I picked up a bottle of Mouton Cadet 2005 at Harris Teeter the other day to enjoy this past weekend. (Their wine department is decent overall, but their selection of French wines is pitifully small.)

I've had this wine before, and while it's obviously not a great example of a "fine Bordeaux,"it's usually a decent basic Bordeaux/house wine for the price (9 bucks or so.) I just wanted something dry, with a bit of a backbone, for around $10.

I stuck it in our wine refrigerator yesterday morning, so by dinnertime it was a nice 58 degrees. When we tasted it, though, we were taken aback by a hot sensation, and the feeling that the wine had been "cooked" or madeirzed--maybe it wasn't stored properly.

Luckily, we had a bottle of 2001 Chateau Fourcaud from St. Emilion to enjoy with our big rib eye steaks...

Anyway, I returned the open bottle to Harris Teeter this morning, and the manager happily returned my money, even without a receipt.

More "Happy Hearts Day" cocktails

Here are two cocktails created by mixologist Jim Hewes, and currently featured in the Round Robin bar of the Willard InterContinental hotel in Washington, DC:

The Chocolate Cherry Kiss is made with Stoli Vanilla, Godiva Chocolate, Cherry liquor and is garnished with chocolate covered cherry.

The Passion Flower is made with Champagne, Triple Sec, a hint of mint and a splash of Parfait Armor, a super secret love potion created by Jim.

Both drinks are priced at $12.00. I think the Passion Flower sounds especially intriguing...

Have a great weekend!

Virginia Wine Showcase

The Virginia Wine Showcase will be held February 9 and 10 at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly. I'll be doing a Wine Appreciation Basics seminar on Sunday, February 10 at 11:30 AM. Tickets for the show are $25 online and $35 at the door, and tickets for the seminar are $10. We'll be tasting and discussing six of Virginia's most popular varietals (Chardonnay, Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc for the whites, and Cabernet Franc, Norton and Merlot for the reds.)

For more information, go to their website. Looking forward to seeing you at the seminar!

Keepin' it Cool

Amazingly, I've only recently gotten a wine refrigerator. I have always wanted one, but I though it better to wait until we redid our basement so I had a decent place to put it. Since my husband and I do enjoy our reds chilled just a bit, we have relied on either 20 minutes in the fridge, or the Vacuvin Wine Chiller sleeve, to get our reds the temperature that we like to drink them. We had been perfectly happy doing that, though if we forget to chill a bottle ahead of time, and just grab it off the rack before dinner, it's just not. as. tasty.

Drinking wine at true cellar temperature (my wine fridge has 2 zones, and I keep the "red zone" at 58 degrees) does make such a difference. Big reds don't have that alcoholic burn, and lighter reds taste darn refreshing.

Just like my Vinturi aerator, I don't know how I lived without one for so long.

Drink on fire

I'm a sucker for dishes or drinks served en flambe. Whether it's bananas foster, crepes suzette, or even the Bob Marley shots my husband and I enjoyed while on vacation in Negril, Jamaica a few years ago (which, incidentally, are made with creme de menthe, banana liqueur, 151 rum and grenadine, layered to look like the Jamaican flag, and consumed while on fire. Here is a recipe.)

DC's Morrison Clark Hotel is currently featuring a Valentine's Day-themed cocktail called the Flaming Passion. Visit the restaurant to give it a try, or concoct it at home. I feel warm and tingly just thinking about it.


Flaming Passion
Simple syrup
A dash of Angostura
Splash of Brandy
Splash of Grand Marnier
Sparkling Wine
Orange peel to garnish
151 Rum (splash, just to light it up)

Beat the winter wine blahs

This is a tough time of year. The holidays are over, and those of us who live in a temperate climate have to deal with cold, snow and overall dreary weather (though you wouldn't know it the past few days here in DC...), without a foodie holiday in sight until spring brings us Easter and Passover.

It's very easy to get into a wine rut anytime of the year, but especially in the dead of winter, when it can be a bit more difficult to get inspired in the kitchen, and familiarity and comfort make us fall back onto the same old tried and true dishes and bottles. Check out page 20 of the February issue of Wine Enthusiast for some tips on beating bottle boredom. You can also see a link to the article on my website.

360 heads to Sundance

I just got a press release that 360 Vodka, which I reviewed in this blog a few months ago, has been named the official spirit of this year's Sundance Film Festival.

Anything green and eco-friendly is all the rage right now, so I'm not surprised that it has received this honor. You can feel good about drinking this vodka, since it's made in an eco-friendly way, right down to the postage-paid envelope that's include that allows you to return the closure. The company will give money to environmental causes for every closure returned. Pretty classy.

However it's made, 360 Vodka makes a mean martini. Almost gin-like in it's aromatics, it still finishes very cleanly.

For more info, go to http://www.vodka360.com/.

Addicted to Vinturi...

An update on my Vinturi wine aerator...

I am addicted to it. Plain and simple. We enjoyed a bottle of 2004 Clos du Bois Merlot that was sent to me a few weeks ago as a sample bottle. It tasted OK without being aerated, but much softer and quaffable after using the Vinturi...

For our second glass, I forgot to aerate it and poured it directly from the bottle into our glasses. For shame. When I tasted the difference, I had to pour the wine out into a water glass, then aerate it, before putting it back into my wine glass. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. I mean, I love the fact that it makes a difference in my wine enjoyment, but I'm pretty sure that dinner hosts and servers at most restaurants won't be pleased if I pull it out before sipping a glass of wine...

Santa was good to me this year...

And brought me the Vinturi aerator that I mentioned on my blog a few months ago. I couldn't wait to try it out and see if it lives up to the hype...and I wasn't disappointed.

The first bottle we used it with was an Angeline Russian River Valley Pinot Noir from California that we were serving with seared duck breast with a fig reduction. Perhaps not the best example to test aeration, since it's already soft and pretty fruity. I had my husband aerate one glass of wine using the Vinturi. The other was just poured into the glass straight from the bottle. He waited until the bubbles dissipated until he handed me the glasses. One glass smelled "tight" to me, and when I tasted it, it just wasn't as soft or easy-drinking as the other one. I correctly surmised that the one I preferred had been aerated. We were impressed.

Last night, we tried it with a bottle of Clos du Bois reserve Merlot, with the same results. It's amazing to me that I could tell, without even tasting it, which wine had been aerated. The proof was right there.

I am looking forward to trying it with a young Bordeaux that really needs ageing. That will be a true test, in my opinion--to see if the Vinturi can simulate in just a few seconds the years of ageing often needed for Bordeaux.

This cool new gadget was sold out nearly all over before Christmas--my husband had a really hard time finding one, but wine.com came through for him. I'm sure the inventories have been replenished by now.

A tip if you plan on purchasing the Vinturi--be sure to rinse it out with warm water right after using it. There really it no good way to get in there to clean it, and once the wine turns to sticky residue, I can't even imagine how difficult it would be to get it clean.