Ménage à Trois Midnight 2012|California O kay, so I fell for a cheap headline. I felt I deserved it. It’s been a rough week. I feel like the “Hard Time Losin’ Man” that Jim Croce sang about: “sometimes they say you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.” That reminds me, we are coming up on the 41st anniversary of the death of Jim Croce. There are only a few special dates outside my own birthday and Mrs. Dan’s that I can remember. Sept. 20, 1973. That’s the date the music really died. I believe if Jim Croce had not died in a plane crash that day he would have become the greatest American storyteller of all times. This week the bear got a good chunk of me. I don’t want to relive all the details. I’ll just mention the last 2 which include breaking the same tooth…

Bodegas Elena Red Blend 2013 | Mendoza, Argentina M rs. Dan loves me. She saw this on sale for $7.99 (or something close to it). It was $2 off at Publix. I haven’t really reviewed a Cheap Wine Bastard level wine in a while. Under $10, that’s me. This wine has bold very fruit forward flavors when you first open it. Bright cherry…. not dark cherry… flavors. This wine was featured at tastings at Vineyard Wine Market tasting in April 2011 and again at the old Ninth Street Wine Market in Feb. of 2013. I sipped some tonight while I pretended to help Mrs. Dan in the kitchen as she prepared some nice Pad Thai and some baked rangoons. (even she says the fried rangoons taste better but hey, we’re trying to eat healthier). This wine might be undrinkable for some because of its super fruit forward nature….. at least…

Amathia Garnacha 2011 | Calatayud, Spain M y first review of the year…. well sort of. My first wine review of the year. Mrs. Dan and I are committed to having a healthier 2014 in all sorts of ways. I’ve actually ridden my exercise bike 8 days out of 9 and eaten a lot more fruits and veggies. Mrs. Dan got a Ninja food blender… Ninja food thing… it does lots of stuff and has now filled the cabinet with more parts than the last food processor ever had. (so much for the New Year resolution of reducing the clutter). I digress. Mrs. Dan broke out the Ninja and made some very nice chicken salad using lots of low fat/low calorie stuff. She also stopped at Fresh Market and bought some spicy tuna sushi roll made with brown rice. She also bought a bottle of Amathia, a Spanish garnacha. The…

Vin Vault Red Blend I first tried this wine at the Columbia County Wine Festival back in October. I tried the Cab and I think the Red Blend. It was pretty good but after sampling 10 or so wines anything tastes good. I wanted a box of wine for several days of sipping but also Mrs. Dan wanted to try a beef burgundy recipe that needs some red wine. I decided to give this a try during a stop at The Vineyard. I was going to buy my usual Botabox but saw the Vin Vault. This is a nice wine if you want 4 bottles that are pretty consistent over several days or even a week of sipping or serving. I bought the Red Blend because I figure if a decide winemaker spent the time to make a blend he would pick the best of several varietals. That philosophy could…

Santa Rita 120 Carmenere T wo Carmeneres in two nights. I must be living right. Actually I didn’t plan it that way. Mrs. Dan opened them when she found the cupboard bare so to speak. Must have been the first two wines she found in the rack. I had been waiting to review them but she kind of forced my hand. Two nights in a row? I found this wine at $8.99 at Publix. The 120 series of wines are in honor of 120 “Patriots who helped lead Chile to Independence” Nice full body. Very smooth start that trails off to a slight tannic finish. I could sip this wine all night. After it’s been open a while the finish starts to be a bit sweet. I had it tonight with some good Lutheran German brats cooked in beer and finished on the grill to perfection then topped with onions…

La Crema Pinot Noir 2010 I spent the afternoon cleaning out the food cabinet. Out with the pancake syrup that expired in 2003. Out with the salsa from 2009. I even found a can of jalapenos that was ready to explode. Can you say botulism? I also found a can of jalapenos that actually rusted through at the top and the liquid evaporated. I was ready to sip on something. I pulled out La Crema Pinot Noir. Off the bat I commented that this was a typical Pinot Noir. Or at least to me it is. I tried this wine at a wine tasting but I can’t find in my notes which one. I seldom buy Pinots unless I was really impressed with them at a tasting. Pinots to me are too light in flavor and mouthfeel. I’ve grown to attached to over-the-top cabs and red blends. I taste a…

Geyser Peak Uncensored 2010 O kay, it was for Valentine’s Day. Yes I sometimes buy wines over $10. This one grabbed my eye as I was looking for something for Mrs. Dan for Valentine’s Day. Face it, sometimes wine is better than chocolate. This wine was featured at Ninth Street’s First Inshop tasting of the year. I wrote it was the winner of the night. It was the winner tonight as well. I bragged to Mrs. Dan that I bought something more than $10 and she said “and so you should.” It was delivered with “that look.” I like this wine. It’s a red blend and a well made one t that. I’ve already liked Geyser Peak’s wine. This though is a bit off their normal path. Most of their labels are white but this one is black and name “Uncensored” is tilted looks like it was exposed after the…

Italian Christmas Red I wanted to review some Christmas wines that could be used for Christmas presents or simply enjoyed during the Holidays. I picked up this bottle of Italian Christmas Red at the Vineyard. Roger had it on sale for the Holidays for around $8.99 if my memory serves me. I got into the Christmas Spirit early this year. Something a bit unusual for me. After Thanksgiving I was hot to hit our storage unit and pull out the artificial tree and start decorating. I bought this wine during those early days. Back to the tree. It’s one of those that already has the lights attached. The sequence to hook up the lights is more complex than explaining to a six-year-old why the lights have to be all white instead of different colors. (My mother lost that argument many years ago). After some a couple glasses of wine and…