merlot.

BEARS' LAIR
Merlot
California 2006

x-fact ~ this wine is one of several from the same winery that brought you "two buck chuck."

bears' lair california merlot 2006
paid; it was a gift!!
reg. 4.99

i know, i know. ANOTHER gift!! again, my big sister brought me with this bottle along with the two buck chuck. i asked for this special, though, on a recommendation from my friend mis!

this is her house wine and she was interested to know what i thought of it.

well, i wish i could show you a label, but, as you might have guessed, many of the cheaper bottles don't have a lot to offer on the web in terms of pr and shelf talkers and reproducible labels.

but, it is a handsome bottle to be sure. in fact, out of all the cheap wines thus far this month, this is the best looking bottle by far.

and, i just realized this is the very first merlot i've reviewed! what's up with that? i LOVE merlot, and yet no merlot on the blog?

at first pour it's beautiful in the glass. deep and rich in color and with beautiful legs.

at first sip it is not smooth. it's got a real sting around the edges, the kind that envelops the sides of the tongue and creates a bit of salivating. oh sure, there's probably a term for that! but you know what i mean! right?

at second and third sip, though, it lost the sting and got a bit more jammy. more complex. but not in a big way, just slightly. and just right.

and then near the end of the first glass it really got its smooth on. it became light on the tongue, gained considerable sophistication, and practically floated down the throat. it's just delicious.

i think it was just the matter of a bit of warming in the glass, and it was really worth the wait.

again, what a delicious flavor.

this is a great wine for the price. it's really more than worth it.

it just needs a bit of time and patience.

which makes me think this would be perfect with a good meal. nothing real intense, like big salt or big spice or big hot, just something good.

a merlot is a subtle flavor that needs a subtle dish to really complement it.

but good lord we all know subtle does not mean boring. right?

a good long cooked risotto, or a simple but flavorful soup with bread and a salad, or a wonderful pork tenderloin with couscous and sauteed green beans on the side. how good do those sound?

i like this wine. i like how it smooths out and stays there. it's a wine that's easy to dismiss at the beginning, but ends up being completely enjoyable and immensely drinkable. all that with just a little patience.

and really, isn't that what we'd like in all things?

the idea that with a little effort and openness you can actually get everything you want?

at the very least, a good cheap wine.

however you measure it, it's the bees knees.

or the bears' lair.

cheers!

x.

cabernet sauvignon.

CHARLES SHAW
Cabernet Sauvignon
CALIFORNIA
2004

x-fact ~ yes this wine is only 2 bucks. and yes, it's good!

charles shaw california cabernet 2004
paid; it was a gift!
reg. 1.99

well, you knew it couldn't be cheap wine month here on the blog without "two buck chuck!"

and in full disclosure, it's one dollar higher outside of california. and. still. worth. every. penny.

because my big sister wanted to support my project, she brought this to me. yea! this girl loves a gift of wine!

what can i say? it's cheap and it's good. it's not the best wine in the world, and neither is it the worst.

and for 2 bucks? it's surprisingly good!

it's real smooth going down at first. it gets more tanningy later on, but generally stays pretty smooth throughout. it's got a nice rich taste without being too sweet. and even as it gets more tanningny, it does in a good way. with a real nice bite.

there comes a point wherein it gets that kinda rotten fruit note to it. eeewww! you say. but! it's not a bad taste when kept in context of the larger sip. and that kinda rotten fruit note has some kind of special technical term and really isn't a bad thing. but i wouldn't know about any of that and hope that you trust me that it's not disgusting.

and, if you think it is, just drink more of it quickly. trust me, it goes away.

now, because this wine is so cheap and sold mainly at trader joe's (i've never seen it anywhere else) people may discount it as just a cheap wine for the college kids.

and it is. but, it's also a fine choice for a house wine for the old folks, too. something to have on hand for casual drinking without spending a lot. and it this day and age, any day and age, that's a good thing.

there's a lot of history around this wine. headed up by some reclusive maverick from a famous wine family, the stuff of a few urban legends, real life wine wars, etc.

but really what it boils down to is someone figured out how to make good wine accessible to the masses. and that's only a good thing for everyone involved.

and, as i hope i've shown, cheap wine need not be bad wine. it can be, but it doesn't have to be.

i've been drinking this wine on and off for years. the lack of a trader joe's where i live is the only thing standing between me and this bottle on a more regular basis. it really is that good.

now, i know i promised y'all a special wine blog with sis in the city, but sadly it was not to be. she went to sleep early and i drank the wine by myself reading a trashy magazine. which was just as wonderful as it sounds. as much as i would have loved to do a blog with my sister, this was a fine way to pass a saturday night.

but really, in retrospect, she and i are pretty well versed and used to the cheap wines. it would be fun and interesting to get a really expensive bottle and let 'er rip!

now, i just need a patron for that! don't all great artists have patrons? is there some sort of patrons.com i can log on to to find one?

no matter, i can wait for the "good" stuff. because this wine is perfect just as is. for dinner, a picnic, hanging out. surfing the internets for an enabl-, i mean PATRON! a patron, yeah.

BUT i think a fine use for this wine is as the stunt double at a big gathering. stunt double? ah, yes. and it would be a fine one indeed.

so you're having a big party. housewarming, landmark birthday, engagement, wedding.

you start the evening off with a few good bottles at the bar and one on each table.

and then, once the party gets going the good bottles are gone and have slowly been replaced by the two buck chuck.

nobody is going to notice. and if they do, nobody is going to care. and if they do? eeewww!

and if you want to go one step further to the clever, and who doesn't, right? steam off the labels and put your own on. you know, your names and date for a wedding, a cute pic for an engagement, a picture of your new house for a housewarming, and hey for any landmark birthday only your very WORST grade school picture.

any way you slice it, it's a good deal and a good wine.

so go buy a case and plan a party. times are gettin' tough all over and apparently are only going to get worse.

why not treat yourself and your friends to a low cost, enjoyable time?

or just put a case in your Y2K2.0 shelter and save it up for that rainy day that's on its way.

cheers!

x.

grenache.

x-fact ~ you can find "cheap" wine in a wine shop. honest.

vina borgia campo de borja 2006
reg. 4.99
paid 7

yeah. you read that right. BUT in my wallet's defense, my research that yielded this bottle at 4.99 suggested i had to purchase this on those pesky internets from any number of discount places and then pay shipping and then wait for said bottle.

this bottle i bought this very afternoon on a delightful walk through the "old town" of our neighboring town whilst killing time waiting for the minors to be done with their art class. i stopped by a wine shop i had seen for the past ten years whenever i had cause to be in the area, and yet had never been in.

so i popped in and met a snarky, charming, funny, down to earth woman, the owner of the shop no less, who just happens to be a neighbor! well, she lives a mile from me. that's neighbor enough out here in the wilds.

i asked "what do you have for 7 or under NOT on sale?" and good lord if she didn't show me at least 6 bottles, more probably if i had included whites in that price!

score one for the wine shop! just one more reason to not be afraid of the wine shop. they aren't all precious, and pretentious, and overpriced, and in fact can quite often be the opposite. wine shop owners are wine drinkers, too. and wine drinkers are nothing if not enablers at heart. plus, they're small business owners. so in this spirit, they're generally gonna offer a wide selection at many different price points.

i knew i liked this woman when she agreed with my assessment of when a rose' should be drunk and went so far to call it a "porch" wine. grin. porch wine. i love it!

and yes, people, rose' is back. has been for a few years. and yes, people drink them. and yes, people also like them.

AND when i asked for any bottles at that what some might deem ridiculously low price she didn't flinch but rather first said "red or white." then, "what do you like to drink?"

and when i said, "it'd be easier to say what i don't like to drink" and she laughed. a real laugh.

i do love it when people find me funny. sigh.

anyhow. so. oh, yeah! the wine!

it's good. but then i do love a grenache. the color the smell the legs. it's a sexy pour, that grenache.

it's fruity and jammy and syrupy. but not in a big overpowering way. the flavor is deep and true, to be sure. but it still dances a bit on the tongue and goes down with a little bump. that bump that says, here. i. am. but not in an obvious way.

i always think of grenache as a date wine. it's so flirty! but it is most definitely not coy. some dates just don't need the coy. coy is so 1985. coy is for when you have more money than sense. coy is trying just too hard. say no to the coy!

in this case it was me and my laptop and the all music channel on the television because i couldn't figure out how to get a cd to play on our stereo. all right, all right, in my defense, it's a new and rather complicated system. well. new "ish"

okay, hell, we've had it a long time now and i couldn't play the damn cd! ever since i stopped using that pink radio i got for my 16th birthday it's been nothing but downhill in trying to figure out any stereo system thus far.

it's a good thing i have kids. they always know how to work that electronics nonsense. plus you can make them pick stuff up if you drop it and don't want to bend over. and make them feed the cats the smelly wet food. and get your glasses from upstairs when you're downstairs and don't want to get up from the recliner.

so this music channel? one minute i've got the shins and the next it's the talking heads. go figure. i can't figure out who the demographic they're trying for is? if it's for those of us pushing 40 (in a few years, but still) but who still feel 12, well then i'd say they nailed it. pre-menopausal aging 12 year olds LOVE it!

bet they don't put that on the ads.

anyhow, so the rest of the family is fullfilling yet one more evening of baseball duties while i sit here with a bottle of wine and a big mac.

WHAAAT!?! don't be hatin' on the mac! a girl needs a grease fix every now and again, and i gotta tell ya, some wines are just. so. good. with greasy foods. the tannins just cut right through the grease and provide the perfect complement. mmm.

okay, i'm lying. oh, not about the beauty that is the wine and grease combo. that part's true. every smacky greasy salty hot sip sip sippy morsel of it. i'm lying about the big mac.

first of all, the big mac is NEVER my grease of choice as far as manufactured burgers go, it just fit better in that turn of phrase. so i'm a writer. writers lie. sue me.

and second of all, that's just what i wanted this evening. what we want and what we allow ourselves, well, hell, you know how that goes.

so, good health, and more importantly a healthy fear of gas prices, prevailed. i chose a home cooked whole bean with a little onion and cheddar quesadilla wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla.

plus, it would probably cost about 11 dollars and some change just to drive my vehicle, which i no longer "ironically" refer to as "the beast", to acquire the aforementioned burger.

so i stayed home. and now i'll live longer (it had better be worth it is all i'm sayin') and maybe get a love letter or some sort of plaque from al gore in the process.

no worries, though. the quesadilla was good and this wine is even better.

so a fast food burger can pair beautifully with wine and a wine shop can yield a delicious bargain.

the world is a constant miracle people. you've just gotta believe.

better yet, in the spirit of the aforementioned wine/grease combo, sometimes you've just gotta make your own miracle.

salud!

x.

cabernet sauvignon.

BAREFOOT CELLARS
Cabernet Sauvignon
CALIFORNIA

x-fact ~ you know this wine. with the footprint on the label. check the very bottom shelf. it's been there for years.

barefoot california cabernet sauvignon
paid 4.49
reg. 4.49-5.99

you may be wondering why there is no vintage on this wine. generally a vintage is a year in which the grapes are grown and the wine produced. near as i can figure, if a wine is grown and produced in a fairly stable region that doesn't change a lot weather wise and is pretty much produced consistently in mass quantities the same way all the time, then a vintage isn't particularly necessary.

but, possessing no "real" knowledge about wine, your guess is as good as mine.

so you've seen this wine before. used to be called barefoot cab, or barefoot chard, or barefoot zin? is it coming back to you now?

so this wine is THE FIRST wine wherein i thought the label was "cute." PLUS it was always good and always cheap. (or, a good value if you must)

so to kick off cheap wine month here on the blog, i've decided to start with the first cheap wine i loved.

okay, i know some of you might be thinking "but wait! her first cheap wine love is boone's! she said so! what about the boone's?"

see now, you would be technically correct. BUT, only technically. first of all, only some boone's can actually be called "wine." and then, only barely. they call it citrus wine or apple wine. basically a step up from a wine cooler. then there are the other boone's labels i wouldn't mess with if you paid me. and are most definitely NOT wines. not even slightly. they are malt beverages. so the the neon colored boone's with the crazy names, no thanks. gag. strawberry hill fo' sho'. maybe the apple if i'm feeling particularly appley, though the apple wasn't really my thing. BUT i'm just not a malt beverage kinda girl.

plus i'm not 19. that helps.

because while i enjoyed the boone's at the time as much as any underaged and therefore perpetually financially challenged girl does, as with many things of great importance in one's life, i did not FULLY appreciate all that is boone's until much later in life. when it was gone.

oh, it's still there. only a few dollars more, but worlds away. there is a time and place for boone's. a trip down that memory lane is a "special" journey indeed.

okay, so back to the barefoot. in fact the barefoot of today is actually closer to the price it was back in the day than boone's is! remarkably, it has grown hugely in its amount of medals and accolades and only marginally in price.

i've got to tell you, i love this wine. nostalgia and a good value, sure. but there's more. a reason to love it. it's got a nice layered flavor, it's smooth, and it's got great legs.

now, it takes a sip or two to get to the layers, the smooth, and the legs.

but hell, all good things come to those who wait, right? and what's a sip or two in the grand scheme of a great wine for under 5 bucks?

it's not a big sturdy cabernet, more jammy and punchy. syrupy, but not too sweet. it's got a nice color in the glass. in all fairness there are two slight detractions. the nose, the bouquet, the SMELL, can be a bit alcoholy at the beginning. that goes away after a bit. and i have to say, there's just a teeny teeny teeny dry streak that goes through it here and there.

what!?! dry streak? i know. i told you i don't know a thing about wine! okay, so just slightly, so much as you wouldn't know it unless you had to think about it then blog about it, there is a bit at the top back of the mouth that gets a bit dry. i don't know what that is, but it's there.

i doubt you would notice it, though. i have been drinking this wine for years off and on here and there and only today did i notice it.

the hazards of a wine critic. ha ha ha ha ha okay, the hazards of an accomplished drinker who's trying to legitimize her "hobby."

this is a great "good" wine. this is a wine for a picnic. to bring to someone's house for a bbq. this wine is just fine to bring for dinner and put right out on the table.

this is a cabernet so yadda yadda yadda with the big sauces and red meats and whatnot. BUT, it's refreshingly light as well, and wine drinking is all about what you like.

drink it with a lightly sauteed filet of tilapia topped with a bit of lemon butter parsley sauce and served over a bed of whole wheat couscous with steamed broccoli on the side as we did tonight.

or, with a two fisted mess of ribs and a platter stacked with buttery corn and a pile of fried potatoes which is what i REALLY wanted tonight.

i have carried this bottle in a backpack for a day hike to a mountain lake and back. mmm, just the reward for what turned out to be a few miles longer than planned. and i have also served it at my first and ONLY vegan/vegetarian thanksgiving. bleh. the wine was the saving grace. well, and the mushroom gravy, which was exceptionally good. the rest? well, there was wine.

(oh calm down all you veggies. this was way before i knew much about cooking and long before my then hippie palate got exposed to that which lies beyond the bland that passed for vegetarian and aack! vegan recipes readily available and being cooked in the early nineties)

the thing about serving a bottle of wine that costs less than most 6 packs of beer is that you can more than afford to be adventurous. and generous. that the "rules" about wine don't really apply.

nor should they.

look, wine is beautiful. it is proof that there is a god/dess, likely more than one, and that they ALL love me and want me to be very, very happy. and you! they want you to be happy, too!

and there is a lot of really good wine out there. value wine. fancy wine. expensive wine. and there's a lot of ideas out there about how to and why to and where and with what to drink this wine.

but you know what? pretty much in the grand scheme of life none of that matters.

life is short. too short for stuffy rules that are less about true enjoyment and more about how we look in front of others.

drink this or any other wine you want with what you want. sure, you may find this one or that one isn't the one you like with this dish or that dish.

but that's life. the tasting and the figuring it out and the carrying on with the evening. with life.

AND, this wine has siblings. there's whites, other reds, bubbly. i've tried many, but not all. but i want you to know the ones i have had have been just as good, and just as much a "value."

so i say grab the 4.50 bottle and break out the good glasses. set the table with the good tablecloth and the candlesticks you never use.

life just is what it is and it generally isn't perfect and doesn't follow any rules. so why wait for the "special occasion?"

i say enjoy your life as much as you can as soon as you can.

and for god's sake, use the good china.

especially if it's just fish and couscous and a wednesday evening at home.

cheers!

x.

red burgundy table wine.

LOUIS JADOT
Beaujolais-Villages
FRANCE
2006

x-fact ~ a bottle of wine wrapped simply with a ribbon tied in a bow is a gift that can never go wrong. and will always be appreciated.

red burgundy table wine france 2006
paid gift...priceless
reg. @9-10

sis in the city brought this to me on easter. the bottle is so very familiar and i know i've had it before. though i cannot remember it for the life of me. regardless, it wouldn't have mattered. i was happy for the gift.

again, about bringing wine as a hostess gift, the host/ess is not required to set it out for consumption that evening. and if he or she chooses to set it aside and serve another bottle, this is not considered rude!

chances could be that there is a set wine the host/ess has chosen for the food being served, or that others before you have arrived with bottle in hand and there is more than enough, OR the bottle you are giving is of a way better quality/label than the one he or she is serving and so it is being put aside for another time.

in this case, my dear sister who is also quite hip to the art of the hostess gift and my love of wine, not only brought this bottle bedecked in a fetching and jaunty red grosgrain ribbon as a gift for me, but she also brought another bottle for sharing at the easter feast.

folks, this is a good woman. if you have friends or relatives like this, treat them well. there should be more people like this in the world. or at least a statue or wall somewhere dedicated to people like this.

i chose to save this particular bottle because we had more than enough for the feast and because i knew there would be an evening this week that it would come in "handy."

in. deed.

and it did tonight. oh, i could go on about the joys of teaching one's young son the art and madness that is borrowing and carrying in subtraction and addition, the havoc that is wreaked on one's calves after two full days of standing at stove and counter chopping and cooking and assembling for a family holiday meal, or the fact that turning on the news these days is about as much fun re-reading one hundred years of solitude or re-watching american beauty.

oh keep your tomatoes! i hated them both and nobody and nothing can make me feel different.

anyhow, where was i?

oh yes. the gift of wine. ah, there is reprieve from the longest presidential race in history and the fact that this country has perfected the art of and as a result is now offering customized one way trips to hell in a hand basket.

this is a beautiful wine. garnet colored and gorgeous in the waning light of a green and wet early spring day.

it had a very nice first sip. needs some warming, but smooth enough for the wine it is. at second and third sip whilst trying to tie up some loose ends on e-mail i didn't notice anything but how much i enjoyed sipping it.

it's got a nice light feel. easy. it doesn't try too hard to be anything other than the red table wine it is and i appreciate that immensely. this is a non-thinking wine.

as i've mentioned before, oftentimes i don't want to have to think about what i'm drinking. am i appreciating this enough? have i paid too much for this bottle? what would i say about this wine if someone asked? how come a 90210 spin-off and not dawson's creek?

oh. wait. where was i?

this is a wine for people who know and love wine, or for people who don't know wine but they like to drink it.

this wine would pair well with eating. hey, i know that sounds weird, but it's a fact that while people think of wine with food as a norm, actually there are a lot of wines i wouldn't think of drinking with food. too soft, too overpowering, too ??? to pair with food.

but not this wine. this wine is a red table wine! all purpose! made for the table! perhaps an afternoon filled with family and friends, a gang of kids, a table groaning with food.

even in this day and age the women all gathered in the kitchen kvetching, laughing, sharing, moving from table to counter to stove to fridge plating and arranging and loading the table with delicious hors d'oeuvre.

generous mushroom caps stuffed to bursting, soft cheeses and crusty baguette slices, small teacups filled with spring pea soup, cheesy olive bread hot and salty and straight from the oven.

sipping and visiting and nibbling and working this wine would pair well with the hors d'oeuvre. a perfect match to such disparate flavors. but the meal is the main event is it not? and yet, this wine, again the admirable hallmark of the red table wine, is just as good with the meal as with the starters.

and what a meal.

fresh ham slow cooked and enrobed in a brown sugar, dijon mustard, and ground clove glaze sliced hot and fresh at table, zucchini gratin artfully arranged, baby carrots steamed and served with a ginger hollandaise, creamy, cheesy, browned just right scalloped potatoes, and a home baked portuguese sweet bread complete with decorative hard cooked eggs nestled in the braid of the loaf.

in and out as the rain allows, it still being very early spring in the pacific northwest, the eggs are hidden and hunted between bouts of showers.

ah, this was easter here at the big red house. and while i kept this bottle to myself and we didn't drink it that day, the fact is it would have been perfect.

a wine like this works so very well for a meal like that. everyone bringing something to contribute, you can't fully coordinate the flavors, you want a real easy going wine to drink alongside.

and you just can't go wrong with a red table wine. going to a picnic or a barbecue or a winter drinks party and you don't know what to bring? bring a red table wine. and trust me, you. really. can't. go. wrong.

it's meant to be neutral in that it just is, and the price is generally pretty easy on any budget. what more could you ask for in a wine?

wrap that puppy in a ribbon tied in a bow and i tell you, watch a girl swoon. or a boy. however it works out in your world, you just can't go wrong.

here's a tip. you want to be a real bad ass when it's a housewarming party? pick one wine and buy two bottles. give one bottle for "drinking together to celebrate your new home tonight!" and one "for drinking on your first year in your new home anniversary!" be really great and label that bottle prettily and definitely with the 1st year anniversary date. (and your name of course)

aannnddd you're a peach! a peach who will likely get an invitation to share said bottle on said anniversary, perhaps with a meal alongside.

people do love a peach. people do love to feed a peach.

wine. the gift that just keeps on giving.

spread the joy. share the wine. be generous.

these are tough times for everyone and i tell ya, it's gonna be the little things that matter most.

so don't skimp when it comes to manners and generosity when you've been invited over to share in someone's home, someone's meal at their table, made with their hands and love. ever.

it doesn't take much, much less than you think, and goes farther than you'll ever know.

because we're all in this together.

and better yet, what you put out, you get back in spades.

better than a one way customized trip to hell in a hand basket, no?

friendship's the wine of life! lets drink of it and to it!

a votre sante!

x.

sangiovese.

x-fact ~ pronounced san-joh-vay-say or san-joh-vez. i've heard both. but, since i'm not an expert, pick the one you like! or the one that sounds the best after a glass or two.

ali sangiovese di toscana 2006
paid ??
reg. 9.99

i've had this before, but the forever designated driver was responsible for procuring this particular bottle. if memory serves, i do believe this has been at my store for 8.99 or something like that for the last bit of time.

it's a pretty bottle, the shape and the label. but, if you look carefully, the character/angel/peter frampton on halloween on the front is a bit creepy. there's a lot going on in that sketch. from afar, however, it is attractive and fetching. fabulous evenings have been built on this premise and even less, so i just say go for it.

this wine is good. a really rich color and smell in the glass. it's light on the tongue and real smooth going down.

despite it's lightness and smoothness, it's got a nice hit to it. it benefits from a bit of time in the glass being held. you know me, i like a wine that's had some body contact.

the thing is though, it's a bit of a lonely wine. meaning, i think it doesn't really like drinking alone.

perhaps it's because it's tuscan, perhaps it's just social by nature, but it seems like it would be a better sip if sipped with food.

in fact, and i could be making this up because i'm a writer and accomplished drinker and therefore given to my own reality, BUT if my addled memory serves me correctly i do believe the other time i had this wine it was with a wonderful italian dish i made awhile ago.

though i do gas on about the benefits of boxed wine in the post that contained the recipe, i do believe the wine i had with the meal was this one.

why do i remember that? how do i remember that? (i remember nothing. the original blank slate)

no matter! a crispy polenta round topped with a delectable and deeply and richly layered in flavor sausage and mushroom sauce. mmmm, boy was that good. oh, and so. very. easy.

just like this wine. it's so unobtrusive, but not in the way the forgettable wines are. but in the way a good companion wine is. a delicious wine, but one that can not only pair well with intense foods, but practically begs to be.

a true tuscan! that most romantic and yet overexposed patch of land. ah! tuscany! like the lindsey lohan or paris hilton or britney spears of vacation destinations, there is such a thing as overexposure even for the classics.

but what tuscany has that none of those other come and gone flavors of the moment have is actual beauty, endless grace, and an unrivaled sense of place.

i imagine tuscany to be the sophia loren of the business. timeless, gorgeous, the start and the end. and everything in between.

bathed in sun and olive oil and wine, tuscany is the gold standard. and when all the hoopla dies down, it will still be as gorgeous and relevant and magical as it was before. century after century.

and so goes the pairing of a wonderful red wine with a fabulous meal.

and yet, not always a given. just because you have a good wine and a good meal it doesn't mean they will pair well.

like most pairs in life, chemistry is key.

without that chemistry, you get harrison ford and anne heche in 6 days, 7 nights. /shudder.

with that chemistry, you get harrison ford and melanie griffith in working girl. /grin.

and if you are very very lucky, you will get meryl streep and clint eastwood in bridges of madison county.

never ever underestimate the lasting power and the lifelong impetus of a great wine and food pairing.

i'm not one of those who say this wine is the only wine for this food. BUT, like each. and. every. one. of. us. good food and good wine both deserve to shine. to be appreciated for their fabulousness.

drowning your meal with overpowering wine or overpowering your wine with an intense meal doesn't do anyone any favors.

appreciating flavor is one of the greatest gifts we are given. let us celebrate that in as many ways as we can.

i wish you great meals and even better wine to drink with them!

chin chin!

x.

syrah.

FIREFLY RIDGE
2005
Central Coast
SYRAH

x-fact ~ wine is emotional.

firefly ridge central coast syrah 2005
paid 7.99
reg. 14.99

(i KNOW, huh? 7 bucks off?)

i do wish i had a label to share. alas.

i saw this wine at safeway several months ago. i noticed the label and couldn't decide if i thought it was sweet or swill. perfect.

but, at 14.99 i passed it by. natch.

today as i went about my errands that concerned the acquiring of provisions for a feverish and throw-upping child and a forever designated driver wracked by body aches and timidness of stomach, i was also thinking of a dear friend who had passed on this weekend 4 years ago.

my mood was somewhat somber, not helped by my trip to safeway. a store i don't frequent a lot and frequently doesn't stock a lot of what i would buy. and let's just let the snob out of the bag and say these are not my people.

oh hell, who am i kidding!?! if there were such a place populated by my people you know i'd probably never visit anyway. /shudder.

BUT, safeway has a respectable wine selection that more than frequently has more than a few good deals.

so, oddly on this day i was drawn to the back wall. a section of fancier and more pricey labels that i don't really check out. ever. and there it was, a bottle i recognized and never really considered. and right then i thought how my dear friend who had passed would have very much liked the label. so i picked it up just to look.

and wouldn't you know it, it was 7.99 down from 14.99? (i never see deals like this at safeway!) so i grabbed it up. the only bottle left.

you know, i like it. at first i was a bit concerned. it went down really easy, but without any kind of real flavor. or body. but very pleasant nonetheless. a great color, though. it looks really inviting in the glass.

at second and third sip it remains just as pleasant, but doesn't gain a lot in flavor. it practically floats on the tongue and feels like nothing at the back of the throat. oftentimes a good tasting wine on the tongue can give the throat a bit of a bracing pass through. this wine didn't. nor did it become any more flavorful.

it had a good smell and wonderful legs too, but pretty much stayed the same taste wise throughout.

i couldn't help but think of my friend while drinking it, though. how much she loved the central coast of california where this wine comes from, something we shared but something she partook of more than i was able to. and too, how she loved the sweet that i usually found swill. isn't the love of friendship grand in that the really good ones can sustain complete chasms of similar taste?

oddly, though, the fact that if she were here with me, we'd BOTH be enjoying this bottle with nary a thought. and so, you know, i wasn't really concerned with all of that other *wine business*. i didn't need the big body and the juice of flavor, i was content in my reverie.

wine is relationship for me. i'm at the age now wherein i have trouble remembering some friends and lovers, but there is cellular memory in wine. like a song or a smell, wine will take me back.

to this day i can't drink a montepulciano d'abruzzo without remembering that it was my first ever sip of a "good" wine. and a better memory. courtesy of a cloudless day, a bend in a nameless river, and a beautiful boy who brought it to my lips. sigh double sigh.

i can't drink a chardonnay without thinking of my first AND ONLY purchase of alcohol with a fake i.d.! HA! so fitting that it would be wine!

oh, and the lazy hazy afternoon that followed with the illicit purchases in my favorite small town with good friends and that endlessly endless way early incarnation of mazzy star as background music. sadly, and you never see it coming because you will always be friends forever, none of them exist in my own universe anymore, except when i have that first cold and perfect sip of chardonnay. sigh.

and lord, did my dear friend who passed love a port. i can't sip port without thinking of her. when she died her childhood best friend who grew into my forever best friend and i shared a bottle of her favorite port. but only 2/3 of the bottle. when she was cremated, the last 1/3 of the bottle, her share, bottle and all was tossed in with her.

yes. you can do that. and mixed in with her ashes you will see these beautiful, "unexplainable" unless you knew better, green *crystals*.

a fine and everlasting tribute to a wonderful wonderful and sorely sorely missed friend.

i can see drinking this wine while having lunch al fresco. a simple table set in someone's garden. a bit too hot. the flies never leave you alone. but the fresh grown tomatoes still warm from the sun they were growing in not an hour earlier mixed with the gorgeous green of the olive oil and the crisp and creamy white of a fresh mozzarella means nothing else matters. not the flies. not the heat.

this wine is a fabulous complement to the lovely yet simple elements of a classically beautiful meal. it's not too bold to disturb the wonderful flavors, nor does it need anything else to hold it up to being deliciously drinkable.

and seriously, who needs remarkable when you have homegrown tomatoes and the company of a good friend?

light and floating, this wine could take you all the way from the lingering lunch to a sliced up watermelon plunked on the table in a great heavy platter. slices are grabbed without benefit of plates while more wine is poured.

and i can say on good authority that i know my dear friend would have really enjoyed this wine, and better yet would have kept the empty bottle long after our lunch and my departure and indeed would have put some odd garden bouquet in it later in the summer. more than once.

while i wouldn't pay full price for this bottle, i'm glad i got to experience it. it's a good if not great wine, but what it lacks in anything it more than makes up for in the fact that it can kinda just go with the flow and be okay.

hey, that's not a bad thing. it's not gonna make you stupid or mask your meal. it's a handsome bottle for the table and the label invokes a playful spirit. plus, it brings to mind wonderful memories of a wonderful friend.

friendship is a moment. to be cherished and celebrated as. much. as. possible.

because it can be fleeting and short lived and all of that.

love your friends. drink wine.

drink wine with your friends and make your own touchstones. life is such that you just may need them more than you know.

all these places had their moments
with lovers and friends
i still can recall
some are dead and some are living
in my life i've loved them all

x.