This wine is colored yellow-gold. I found the nose to be strange, with apple, pear, and nectarine aromas up front, followed by an odd scent of vanilla and butter. It has a hint of the smell of the butter offered on popcorn at the movies. The palate gives the fruit center stage as well, with oak notes a bit more prominent. The acidity is nice and the mouthfeel is full. It's not a wine I will seek out in the future, even though I rather like buttery Chardonnay.
Monday, February 10, 2025
Is This What Buttery California Chardonnay Was Like?
Friday, February 7, 2025
Blood Of The Vines - Movies About Movies
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell. This week, we pair wines with a trio of films about one of our favorite subjects: movies.
If you think making movies is a dream job, 1995's Living in Oblivion is for you. Steve Buscemi stars as an independent filmmaker who fights problem after pitfall after predicament to get his picture completed. It was the film debut for Peter Dinklage, by the way.
Hollywood may be the stuff that dreams are made of, but dreamy, Living in Oblivion is not, even though some of the scenes turn out to be imagined. Nightmarish is probably closer to the truth.
I think everyone dreams about their job, and it's not always a good dream. During my time in radio, nearly every one of my colleagues has told me of their "radio dream," which usually involves trying to accomplish a complicated feat before the song ends. I'm sure it's the same with accounting, pushing a broom and selling shoes. It's the same with movies, too, according to this film.
There are hundreds of wineries in Paso Robles, and every damn one of them extols the virtues of Paso's wide temperature swing from day to night. It's what makes the grapes so good. Oblivion Cellars jumps on that bandwagon in describing their Cabernet Sauvignon, which is available in most places for less than $20. Dreamy.
Let me start by disclosing that Matinee, 1993, was directed by the Chief Guru at Trailers From Hell, Joe Dante. He is the guy who opens the emails containing my little articles each week, laughs his way through them, hopefully, and sends them off to be placed on the website. So, naturally, I think Matinee is the best movie ever made. Ask me about Citizen Kane and I'll tell you, "Well, it’s no Matinee."
Seriously, Matinee is a great movie, dripping with more movie-buff treats than Cheez Whiz on theater nachos. It has a permanent place on the "must watch" list for my wife and me. But as good as Matinee is, who among us didn't want to see a full-length version of Mant!, the movie within the movie. As half-man half-ant movies go, it's either Mant! or Ant-Man, and I'll take Mant! all day long.
New York state's Fulkerson Winery has a name-check wine for our film. Matinee is a white wine made from the Himrod grape. Yeah, it stumped me, too. Himrod is a hybrid cross of Ontario grapes with seedless Thompsons. It's sweet and special, like Matinee, but it's probably tough to find on the West Coast.
Day for Night is one of François Truffaut's best films, and it's generally considered one of the best movies ever. The 1973 rom-com not only has a great director behind the camera, it's got Jacqueline Bisset in front of it. Any movie with Jacqueline Bisset in it has a lot going for it already.
It's about the making of a movie, and all the melodrama that goes along with such a foolhardy endeavor. The title of Day for Night comes from the photographic stunts used to film a scene in daylight when it is supposed to look like night.
Even as a kid, I could tell when the night scenes in those old B movies had been shot in daylight. I didn't know the tricks of photography that made that happen, but I knew it when I saw it. It was the hallmark of a low-budget film. It was also something I grew to love pointing out when I saw it, to the sorrow of everyone who ever went to the movies with me. "Shut up, know-it-all!"
Commune of Buttons is an Australian winery in the Adelaide Hills. Making my job amazingly easy, they have a rosé called Day For Night. It's made from Syrah and Chardonnay grapes, which is an unusual combination. The winery says it's savory and it pairs well with pickles. I don't know why that made me laugh, and I don't know why anyone would shop for a wine to pair specifically with pickles, but here we have it. It runs about $30, pickles not included.
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
An Italian Red For Your Valentine
Salento is an area in southern Puglia. It is the sun-soaked heel of Italy's boot shape. The wine's name, 12 e mezzo, means twelve and a half in Italian, which is the alcohol level found in the bottle. That's lower than most other wines from Apulia. Primitivo is the Italian equivalent of what we call Zinfandel, and it is a 100% varietal wine.
After malolactic fermentation, the wine was aged in American oak barriques for about three months. Alcohol at 12.5% abv means you can have an extra glass without getting too tipsy. The price isn't too high, either, about $20.
This wine is colored medium ruby in the glass. The nose gives bright cherry, red plum, and raspberry aromas, with a hint of chocolate and a faint herbal note. The tannins are medium firm and the acidity is zippy. This will pair nicely with a spaghetti sauce, meaty or marinara, and should go nicely with some of the chocolates from the Valentine box.
Monday, February 3, 2025
A Delicious Monster Of A White Wine From South Africa
The 2023 Delicious Monster is composed of estate fruit. The mix of grapes is 60% Chenin Blanc and 20% each of Muscat and Chardonnay. Alcohol sits at 12.5% abv and it costs $6 at Trader Joe's.
This wine is pale greenish-yellow in color. Its nose offers abundant lemon and lime aromas, along with floral and herbal notes. The palate shows apple, pear, and peach flavors, along with a healthy dose of citrus minerals. The acidity is quite good and the sip is clean and fresh. Load up on this before springtime.
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