Wednesday's WineSSSSSSS

So I know I've been away for awhile (see previous post for excuses...er...reasons). I still don't have a replacement for my personal laptop. Today being a snow day at school, but having the work laptop at home, I decided to catch up on wine reviews! Lucky you, my three remaining readers, I have seven wines to cover. Yeah, just because my laptop died didn't mean I stopped drinking wine. Though, I must admit I've rediscovered my liking for vodka tonics and beer...heh. A reminder before the reviews. All of these wines can be had for about $10.00 or less and generally (though not always) have very high ratings (mid 80's and higher) than would be expected at those price points. I get great deals on wine at both 3S Liquors and at Applejack Wine and Liquors.

Starting in my own state of Colorado, I bring you a Rose (yes, it's PINK), but Rose's are still better than White Zinfandels which are still PINK, not white. And actually, I found this Plum Creek Palisade Rose, 2008 quite tasty. For those of you trying to imagine where in Colorado any vineyards might exist, the Palisades are on the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains and known for their peach trees. In other words, the Palisades are on the western edge of the state. Warm summers and cool nights make for pretty decent wine. Here's what the winemaker's at Plum Creek say about their rose in 2004 and I think it still applies to their 2008 vintage:

"Palisade Rosé is a light, semi-sweet Colorado wine made in the traditional style of great Rosé. The grapes are pressed as soon as they arrive in the cellar. The juice is left a very short time in contact with the grape skins in order to give the wine a delicate color.

Merlot grapes from our Somerset Vineyard give a fruity and lively character to this handcrafted wine. A rich viscosity enhances the wine’s silky smoothness. Luscious strawberry and cherry tones abound in the nose and on the palate."

I don't remember what I had for dinner with this wine, but I'm pretty sure I had some really spicy green chile one evening. And a rose with it's fruit forward flavors is a nice counter point to the spicy heat of green chile.

Speaking of white zinfandel's. I did manage to force one down. The label on this La Famiglia Guadagni White Zinfandel, 2007 from California might look familiar (and as Syd would say...looks like...well you know...heh) because I reviewed another wine from this vineyard awhile back. Anyway, I admit that I bought it for the label and because I liked that other wine too. While I was looking for a picture of the bottle I found this short description on the Western Importers' website:

"This bright and lively White Zinfandel comes from Lodi California, the heart of the California Zinfandel region. The nose is bright and inviting with aromas of berries, citrus blossoms, and strawberries. On the palate it is more of the same with a crisp refreshing style of wine that finishes with the heart of a Zinfandel."

I actually liked this white zinfandel, though not enough to make me like ALL white zinfandels...heh. In the past, I've found that white zinfandels go well with ham, pork and spicy dishes.

Moving on to the white wines. I actually got talked into trying this
Louis Latour Ardeche Chardonnay, 2006 when I was looking for a wine from France that was under $10.00. Just as with white zinfandel, I'm not a big fan of chardonnays. However, instead of an overly buttery feel, this one was a bit more crisp. It still had notes of oak and vanilla as with many chardonnays, but I liked it much better than most. I recommend pairing chardonnays with poultry dishes, especially a Thanksgiving turkey dinner. This will go well with any poultry dish I think. I might even be likely to buy it for this coming Thanksgiving now that I think about it...heh!


More along the lines of white wines I like is this Angeline Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc, 2008. Nice and crisp with mellow fruit flavors. Wine Enthusiast rated it a 90. That's a big value for the price and style! This is what the winery said about their wine:

"Fresh floral, honeydew melon and bright tropical aromatics lead to crisp and lively green melon flavors. This wine finishes soft and light with a lingering touch of citrus."

They recommend pairing with shrimp or a spicy halibut. I think it went well with salmon too.

I know this is a tiny picture but, yes, that is a leopard on the label...I think. I pick this Herding Cats Merlot/Pinotage from South Africa at 3S Liquors at the suggestion of a fellow patron. She left the store with several different Herding Cats wines, so I figured, "What the heck!" I also pick up another one of their wines for a later review. In the meantime, I found this red blend pretty good for the price and you seriously can't beat the name. Also, bonus, a wine from South Africa (home to Charlize Theron I might add). Internet Wines.com provided this description:

"This wine is smooth and supple with aromas of cherry, vanilla and mocha tones. The palate is soft and velvety with a lingering aftertaste following though."

They also recommended serving this wine with spicy beef dishes. I would agree, but then I love pretty much anything spicy...heh.

Of course these days I'm rather preoccupied with many things Italian...okay a specific Italian... Anyway, why not have an Italian wine too!?! This Falesco Vitiano Cabernet Sauvignon Sangiovese Merlot, 2007 blend from Umbria, Italy seems vaguely familar. Oh that's right, I reviewed the 2006 vintage...heh. This red blend was dark with a mix of fruit flavors including some notable plummy flavors. I enjoyed it quite a bit...which is why I've had it two years in a row to review. Of course, I had it with spaghetti and, later, with a great steak.

The last wine for today's review is another of the Gallo Twin Valley line: Pinot Noir. I last had their Hearth Burgundy which was surprisingly really good, but apparently I forgot to post it here. Anyway, their Pinot Noir is pretty good too. I've had better and I have had worse when it comes to pinot noirs. But for under $10.00 for a 1.5 liter bottle it's a great value to have around as an everyday table wine. If you like pinot noirs and are having a big party, a few bottles of this will definitely fill the bill! Serve it with heavy o'dourves or a nice steak dinner.

Enjoy! And check back in this location in a few weeks for pictures and a review of my cruise with Sweet.

Preoccupations and a Dead Laptop

I mentioned in one of my last posts that I was on a journey. Have to say it's kept me rather preoccupied. Work, too, has been very busy...just like this time last year, but far less stress. Then there's the matter of my laptop. Alas, the motherboard burned out at the battery recharging component. I don't quite get the process of that, other than it appears the battery was drawing too much electricity through the motherboard due to failing to hold the charge for very long. The moral of that story is, when your battery becomes toast (usually within about 18 months) buy a new one. I'm currently back online via my old desktop. It's rather slow. In the meantime, I have been trying new wine almost weekly, but haven't found time to blog on them...see reasons above. I promise to get to them as soon as the RAM I ordered from EBAY shows up.

Sunday Surf - Happy Birthday to Me...heh

I know y'all (15 of you by the looks of the follower's list) are wondering why I haven't been blogging very much. In fact, I'm pretty sure you're dying for some wine recommendations. Alas, I'm still working on a few of those, so none today. But I did think I'd share what I did for my birthday this year. Of course, today is actually my birthday, but Saturdays are more fun...heh

So yesterday, I went to Water World for Girl Splash 2009. I was going to go when the park opened at 10am, but it was chilly and partly cloudy all morning. I decided to do some house work and run some errands. By around 1:30 the sun was more out than not and I decided to finish my last errand and go. Earlier in the week, I bought a Resident ID for where I live because Water World gives discounts to residents of two cities that share one recreation district. It was $6.00. An all day pass for Water World is $15.00 this summer. So for the same total cost as a Girl Splash ticket, I could also have discounts for two years to all the other recreation offerings in the area...heh. I'm cheap, I know. As it turned out, it only costs $7.50 if you show up after 2pm. YAY! I had a bunch of fun with some of the local lesbians who aren't afraid to show some skin, AND I got a lovely hat from Carve Designs!

Later I went to dinner with my friend K. H. She wanted to try a new restaurant in the Highlands area just due west of downtown Denver. It's called Julia Blackbird's. Kind of Californian style Mexican food. K.H. and I rated it an 8 overall. We liked the patio dining option and it was actually too cool inside anyway. We started off with margaritas. K. H. had a Pomegranate margarita which was so good, she had another later. I had a regular margarita, but it was so-so. I've had better, but it wasn't bad. Then we had chips and salsa...mmmmm. The salsa was spicy and had good flavor. They followed this with guacamole made table side. They used two whole avocados, tomato, garlic, green chile, lime, etc. The guac was yummy. The only thing it needed was either spicier green chile or some jalapeños.

Later, our en tree's were delivered. K. H. ordered a shrimp burrito with green chile and avocado garnish. She said it was pretty good. It looked fresh and yummy to me, but I was too stuffed from the guac to care about trying it. Plus, I didn't want to be disappointed that I hadn't order it instead of the Chicken Cordon Green. The chicken was supposed to be "stuffed" with green chile, but instead it was over grilled and a bit dry with a green chile laying on top. It was also swimming in a soupy green chile gravy. The grill flavor was good though and the green chile also had nice flavor. However, the dryness of the chicken and the watery consistency of the green chile gravy made the en tree rather disappointing. I took most of it home to doctor into something better for dinner later this week.

The last thing I did was go to Her Bar (see link in the right hand column) for drinks and mingling. They charge $5.00 to get in the door, but you get the first drink on the house. They should really put some restrictions on this (like only wine, well, or beer) because I got an $8.00 drink (Grey Goose and tonic with limes)...heh. My office assistant also found my gift certificate (thanks Tammy!) So I bought another Goose and tonic later on in the evening. By mid-night I'd met a gal (a girlfriend of a long time acquaintance who shares my same birthday). The owners of Her Bar (also friends) offered to buy each of us a shot to celebrate. We had one of my very old favorites: A Screaming Orgasm! HEHEHE! Because I know y'all wanna know, it's made of vodka, Kahlua, Bailey's Irish Cream, and a splash of Amaretto (that's the part that makes it a Screaming Orgasm instead of a regular one...heh). Later I had a coke and then I went home.

So there ya have it...how I celebrated my birthday. Well that and some texting through out the evening. BTW...there sure are a lot of people going out to socialize at bars, yet spending the evening texting instead of TALKING with fellow patrons...heh. Guess the world is much bigger than a little ole bar now...

Saturday Surf - Facebook

I set up a Facebook account last fall...or maybe winter. I don't remember exactly, because I didn't really want to set it up at all. My sister in law recommended it a few times and then she told me she posted pictures and videos of my nephews there. Then the folks at work were toying with it and I thought about it some more. I think I figured out that one of my good friends was doing more posts there than on her regular blog. Anyway, at some point, I figured "What the heck." I'd just use it as my family and old friends connection site. I used my actual given name and said my main purpose is networking (keeps the riff raff away...lol). And I'd keep it very neutral and clean...no raunchy jokes and links...heh ('cause you never know when you're going to be googled).

Then slowly over months I was "friended" by family and old friends from high school. I only have real world friends on my Facebook account. Which means I've either met them in person, or have spoken with them by phone over the course of more than a year or so (actually only one friend falls in that category...heh). I get regular requests for "friends" who do not meet that criteria. I suppose I could start a TheWeyrd1 Facebook account, but really isn't it enough to have a blog for my fun pop culture and gay community pursuits and leave the Facebook for my boring real world stuff?

The one really nice thing that has happened as a result of my Facebook account is reconnecting with a friend from high school. Apparently, she "knew" I was a lesbian and she is too. I'm like, "Dang, why didn't you tell me!?!" In my head I'm thinking, high school would have been so much more interesting! But she had things to sort out. I guess timing is everything in life and it's been really nice having someone to chat with that "gets" where you're coming from because they were literally THERE. Course, I don't know where this "new" friendship will go, but the journey could be interesting...

Wednesday's Whine - What I Did This Summer

I worked extra duty on and off at the J.O.B. from which I should have taken an extended break. I did this so I could pay for:

1. Remodeling my bathroom and starting the remodel of my kitchen.

Bathroom before...notice the ugly tile and old toilet:

















Bathroom After...notice the new bamboo floors and low flow toilet, but try not to notice Tucker's unmade bed under the counter...heh:
























Before and after pics of my kitchen:















































2. The trip I took to Oregon but not for vacation exactly. I went to take a class so I can renew my license. But while I was there I did manage to visit my half-sister for her 60th birthday and meet my new great half-niece (which means I'm only half old, by the way). I'd post pics, but I don't post individual pics of my family.

3. The whole day I spent at the Denver Pride event. Actually, since I was in Oregon, I missed the Women's Pride Party. As a result I didn't spend that much money.

Total attendance estimates depended on who was reporting. The GLBTCCC (PrideFest organizers) said Denver's event is the 7th largest in the country with 300,000 in attendance. The city put the number closer to 100,000. I'll play the odds and say it was about 200,000 over the two days. Here's a crowd shot at the end of the parade:



















4. The spur of the moment opportunity to go to an Indigo Girls concert. I think I spent about $30.00 or so, but the big expense was the time spent on a bus getting back to the parking lot from the remote location of the actual event. The actual location supposedly holds around 900 people, but I think the crowd was smaller than that...yet it was sold out.

This is a picture of the stage (with the opening act playing) which backs onto the Poudre River (which was running high, by the way):



















My replacement camera for the one that stopped working after a week, doesn't take good pictures at night. Of course it was identical to the first one and also stopped working after a week. I've since upgrade to a slightly better one. But in the meantime, here are the girls and their guest keyboardist (whose name I don't recall):



















Now for the WHINE:

1. Tomorrow I finish another continuing education class so I can get one of my many licenses renewed.

2. Friday, I take another class to renew another license...this one's so I can keep my J. O. B. There's more whine in there somewhere, but I'm just too tired to whine about it now...heh.

And now for some WINE:

I did have that bottle of Harlow Ridge Sauvignon Blanc recently. It was crisp, as I like my white wines and as most Sauvignon Blancs tend to be, but not particularly exciting. Nevertheless, for $6.00 it was very good buy. However, it wasn't so great that I would serve it to a dinner date...heh. I would serve it on a hot summer night to pals hanging out around the swimming pool though...

Saturday Surf - What Kind of Lesbian Are You?

I'm home on a Saturday evening. How depressing is that? Then I'm noodling around on the net and find this quiz in the forums on AfterEllen.com:

Which type of Lesbian are you? The Undefinable You just like ladies, and that does nothing to affect your lifestyle or appearance. You are you, and you are unique! In fact, you're probably bi. You should check that out.

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Sheesh. I am so NOT bi. I already checked that out in college...like everyone else does...in reverse.

Wednesday's Wine - Other Ladies' Recommendations

So today I'm doing something different. I'm sharing a drinks link, an old friend's spirit recommendation, and an online/email buddy's wine review (because she doesn't have a blog). So first off, you may have noticed my extra long list of links and blogs that I like or follow. One of them is the relatively new De-Cantation in which she reviews three wines with two under $10! Go check them out.

My new old friend (HS friend who I re-connected with via Facebook) loves her some Grey Goose Martini's. I prefer vodka tonic when I'm not having a glass of wine or a cold beer. We decided to have a text toast of Grey Goose, and I must say it's SMOOTH!

My online buddy, Kath wrote to share about a Malbec she tried since she was inspired by another recommendation she found on this very blog:

"Having my first ever Malbec tonight.......Black Mountain Vineyard, 2005. Watson's Grove, CA. $3.99 at Trader Joe's. I'll let you know how it is..."

Later (and not that long later...heh), she wrote to share the following review:

"The bottle reads:

"With an intriguing cross-section of flavors that range from fruit to floral, Black Mountain Malbec offers a very pleasing experience. Notes of violets and orange pekoe tea join with raspberries and plum. The finish is velvety as soft tannins delight the palate. Take advantage of this wines depth and complexity.It pairs nicely with a variety of cuisine...

"Very nice, indeed. really smooth and subtle. I will definitely seek out more Malbecs in the future. Thanks for suggesting. ;) "

Just a suggestion, but understand if you don't LIVE IN California, their wines might cost a tad more somewhere else. In other words, a $4.00 bottle of wine might run closer to $8.00.

ENJOY!