Simple Living

Santa Margherita remains my #1 but Italo Cescon is a close second.  What holds it back is higher acidity that gives a sour pucker sensation.  It fortunately is not sweet and on the dry side, 2 reasons I love the Santa Margherita. If it had less sour acidity then it would be the winner as it’s half the price at $11 whereas Santa Margherita goes for $20, but sometimes bulk buy discounts can get it down to $17. But because it’s such a good price I’ll carry a few bottles whenever I don’t want to open my Santa Margherita. Flavor Profile: Dry Not Sweet Sour / Acidity

Finally got around to buying some wines at Costco that were recommended from various online sources.  I already had the St Michelle and it’s a decent Cab. White Wines Kirkland - Friuli - Pinot Grigio Italo Cescon - Pinot Grigio Red Wines Chateauneuf du Pape 2022 Chateau Ste Michelle - Cabernet Sauvignon Kirkland Malbec Thoughts I already tried the Ste Michelle and found it a nice and easy drink when I want a decent Cabernet.  It’s not amazing, but for $10 it’s a good deal. I do love Pinot Grigio as my favorite white wine and specifically the Santa Margherita.  The Italo Cescon is supposed to be as good and cheaper at $11. Finally, I’ve heard of Chateauneuf du Pape and bought it specifically as I wanted to try, and was the first bottle I opened of this haul.  For $19 it’s excellent and I can see why people say it’s awesome.  It’s easily matches wines in the $50-60 range. The Malbec and Friuli were cheap and testing them as I’m seeking basic wines that are still delicious.  As I want to

Im liking white wines more and more.  Sometimes I do want something chilled and I’m gravitating towards those with a dry finish and found the Santa Margharita Valdadige hits the spot with their Pinot Grigio. I’ve learned this Italian wine is from Tyrol in Northern Italy and the grape is identical to the Oregon variety called Pinot Gris.  Oregon’s is a bit sweeter from the few I’ve sampled so I’m partial to this Italian one.  There is also a French Pinot Grigio/Gris and I’ll try some to compare. When it’s on sale I try to buy several as these pair nicely with many dishes from pasta to steak. Flavor Profile: Dry Not Swert Balanced (not sour / low acidity)

My next stop in the world of Champagne brings me to House Tattinger and I look forward to compare it with my previous tastings from Veuwe Cliquot and Bollinger. I’m preferring dry wines with a hint of apple, pear or citrus.  Looking forward to see how this one tastes. Review I’ll rate this below Bollinger, but above Veuwe Cliquot.

My next bottle of champagne I wanted to try a Bollinger Special Cuvée as I learn more about this brand’s history and contribution to the craft.  They developed the riddling process that help usher in the production capacity of champagne. I’ll save it for a special occasion and see where this fits in my recurring rotation. Tasting Review This is a delicious drink and I’m getting hooked on champagne.  It’s better than the Veuwe Cliquot I had previously.  It’s perfectly balanced in terms of dry and hint of fruit. Flavor Profile: Dry Slight Sweet (hint of fruit) Balanced (not sour / low acidity)

I’ve tried enough wines to select a few for my revolving selection.  These are mostly fun, drinkable table wines for an affordable price.  Mostly from Trader Joe’s, Target and Costco. My tastes range from fruit forward slightly sweet reds to dry white wines.  Sometimes I like an earthy GSM or bourdeaux, but typically I prefer nothing too overtly of any taste profile.  I also like variety and mix things up. *BB - Bulk Buy Trader Joe’s Red Wines Rancho Viejo Reserva *BB La Sonriete - Garnache *BB Fruit forward. Campi  Rudi Appassimento Rosso Puglia IGT Passito   *BB Syrupy sweet.  Similar to Meiomi. B by Fonbadet Bourdeaux *BB Revelation - Cabernet Merlot Maison Barboulot - Cabernet Sauvignon & Syrah Sweet. Patroferno Appassimento Puglia Primitivo Sweet. Javier San Pedro Randez - Tempranillo White Wines Revelation - Chardonnay Sweet with slight bitter aftertaste.  Drink first day only. Target Red Wines Meiomi - Pinot Noir Meiomi - Cabernet Sauvignon J Lohr - 7 Oaks - Cabernet Sauvi

Practicing with more white wines and champagnes and picked up for New Years a bottle of Veuve Cliquot. Tasting - Dec 2023 This was my first real champagne I’ve enjoyed outside of a wedding or major celebration and I’m liking it.  I can see now why people love it. For me it was dry like a sake or Pinot Grigio, yet had enough sweetness to make it pleasant.  It has to be served cold and a bit faster on consumption to enjoy the bubbly. Still much to learn but will add more champagne’s into rotation.

J Lohr from Paso Robles has an easy to drink Cabernet Sauvignon.  I tried the 2020 vintage from Costco and paid a mere $11. I wanted to expand my wine experience beyond Trader Joe’s and was happy with this one. It’s easy to drink as a 1st day pour and seems more like a blend between a true Cabernet and a Pinot Noir as it had a lighter color almost translucent like a Pinot. At same time while easy to drink it’s a little bland and lacks much depth or complexity.  I wouldn’t drink this everyday, but when your bored and don’t want to try something uncertain, this is an easy choice.

My first $100 bottle of wine.  And I was impressed.  The Barnett Vineyard 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon was my first real experience of a Napa Valley Red and I’m hooked. What I liked was how balanced it tasted with fruit forward flavors and a perfect dryness that reminds me of some good sake. I’ll reserve these special experiences for worthy celebrations and this was a New Year’s treat to ring in 2023. In hindsight, this was a wine that you’re supposed to wait and enjoy a decade later.  It was still delicious, but as I learn more about wines, I’ll start rotating and leaving these special bottles for future occasions.

More bulk buys.  Some Bourdeaux and Cabernet-Merlot mixes.  Let’s see how they fare as I’ve been impressed by the Garnache, GSM’s and hopeful for Bourdeaux. My wine rack is full at 24 bottles.  Not that difficult with the inexpensive but delicious wine options at Trader Joe’s. Update - 7/13/23 - Fonbadet Bourdeaux is good The Fonbadet Bourdeaux is good!  I’m quite pleased and will bulk buy this along with the La Sonrieta Grenache.  Rounding it out with GSM’s.

I’ll admit becoming a bit of a snob after I discovered the world of wines.  I used to think it was a matter of types of grapes and wine was wine.  So I bulk bought the $4 Charles Shaw red wines and settled on the Cabernet Sauvignon; Pinot Noir are hard to find now. But after a while sampling finer wines in the $30-50 range…I noticed CS didn’t taste that great and shunned them for a bit. I’ve come full circle and while they don’t taste as good and probably never did, I can appreciate that they were the gateway to the wine world and I still keep a bottle of Charles Shaw - Cabernet Sauvignon as a reminder of my humble beginnings. Yes, I’ve tried every version of Charles Shaw and settled on Cabernet’s as the best deal.

The online reviews are accurate and this $7 Trader Joe wine is a bulk buy.  The 2021 - La Sonriente is pure Garnache/Grenache and the main component of many Red Blends like my growing favorite GSM wines.  I also picked up another bulk buy the 2016 Rancho Viejo a GSMT, T for Tempranillo. The Rancho Viejo was delicious and a good Segway from the pure Garnache La Sonriete.  I’m pleased with both and these are worth the bulk buy status at $7 a pop. To round out my growing collection, I went upmarket and picked up a 2019 Margaux Grand Cru from Chateau Giscours.  I’ll try to grab 1 nicer bottle of wine each month to eventually have 4-5 nice bottles for special events. I’ve also mostly filled my 24 bottle wine rack from IKEA.  Paid $60 for the Omar Bottle Rack.  I’ve now 19 bottles loaded and drinking a bottle a week so I can refill now 2-3 bottles every 2 week visit to Trader Joe’s.  And monthly get a nicer bottle.  I’m going to limit this to 20 bottles and keep the top row empty. Update - 1

I’ve been liking the French reds now and especially the GSM’s and Côtes de Rhône’s.  I also grabbed a Cabernet to round out this month’s haul. I got 2 bottles of the Ponticifics GSM as I really liked that one, so doubled up.  I’ll try the others and if I find more labels I like and stock up on those. Moon X - Cabernet Sauvignon - 2021 - 🫤 meh Pontificis - GSM - 2020 - 👍  Laurent Dublanc - Cotes de Rhones - 2021 Vignobles de la Vallee du Collection Rhones - Cotes de Rhones - 2020 Maison Barboulot - Cabernet Syrah - 2021 - 👍    So far only dud was Moon X Cab.  Issue is the finish feels like drinking a sugary juice and hurts my teeth. The Pontificis and Maison are good and I’ll buy more. 

This is a good wine.  I was surprised as I also bought the higher end Reserve version of the Carson Ridge Cabernet and was disappointed, so I wasn’t expecting much from the cheaper version…I was mistaken and never judge a wine by its label. I love the fruit forward bold Napa Valley Cabernet’s and so I expected something similar from the cheaper Paso Robles wines.  It’s been hit or miss so far but I’m starting to find and appreciate several Paso Robles Cabernet including this hidden gem. It’s not an amazing wine, but it’s amazing for the price I paid of $10.  There are better wines at $10, but this one is acceptable and better than some $20-30 wines I’ve felt I wasted money on. Taste Notes Fruit forward, blackberries and dark fruit.  Slight acidity.  Smooth finish, slight aftertaste that has a dryness that I think is due to the acidity. Nose is weak but it’s after a day being opened.  It still tastes fine after a day which is good.

Wow.  This is a delicious wine.  Popped open a bottle and immediately was greeted with a nice nose and then the first sip was sweet and smooth.  A slight dry mouthfeel afterwards, but otherwise a good full bodied wine. For $13 at TJ’s this is a decent deal.  It is on the sweeter side so I would limit this to a rotation vs a regular drink.  It’s similar to a Meiomi Pinot or Cab, but without the syrupy coating texture.  This is actually a better deal than a Meiomi. I can see this pairing nicely with a pork dish. Update - 6/24/23 - can’t find it anymore I can’t find it at TJ’s so I’ll keep searching when they restock.  If not I’ll try search for another recommendation in the  Campi Rudi Appassimento Rosso Puglia IGT Passito.

Here I thought Trader Joe’s only sold 2 Buck Chuck (now $3.99) when they have so much more on their private label brands. There are several tiers from Reserve Grand Reserve Platinum Diamond Diamond seems to be seasonal so I haven’t tried one yet, but I’ve enjoyed multiples of the other tiers in both Pinot and Cabernet’s. The crazy thing is always the low prices.  Reserve and Grand Reserve were $10 or less.  Platinum was $13. The Platinum Pinot was good.  The Reserve Cabernet 2020 was excellent.  I was not impressed with the Grand Reserve so it’s hit-or-miss regardless of tier label.

I've discovered 1858 Paso Robles and was impressed by the Cabernet Sauvignon.  It's from Caymus Vineyard and for the price it beats the more expensive Amici, Royal Prince and Flowers that I've enjoyed in the past. It's more of a mix in texture between a Pinot Noir and a Cabernet Sauvignon, than a pure heavy Cab; I actually like that.  It didn't seem as aromatic as a Pinot, but I only had one bottle and want to try a few more to see what are the consistent characteristics. Caymus also appears to have another interesting choice in Red Schooner that uses Mendoza Malbec grapes from Argentina.  From listening to reviews, I'm starting to understand why I gravitate towards Malbec wines, they have a smokiness that instantly reminded me of my preference for Islay scotch. Very exciting as I start to learn and understand more about red wines.

Finally found a decent red wine under $20.  The Meiomi Cabernet Sauvignon.  It has a nice fruity full body with little bitterness.  It’s delicious, at same times almost syrup like finish. A pleasant table wine and was still delicious the second day after being corked. I have a Daou and giving Josh another go to see if they can round out my budget wines. Update 1/20/23 - Pinot Noir I've also discovered Meiomi's equally impressive Pinot Noir.  Both are amazing and ideal for the affordable category.  I've stocked up on both as they’re so inexpensive relative to their quality.

The door has opened for me to the world of Red Wine's and I'm starting to appreciate the nuances and why it can be appealing to enjoy a nice glass of wine. I still have a lot to learn and for now have graduated from $4 Trader Joe's to $13 Malbec's and now venturing into the $40 options.  There is obviously a huge difference between these price points and unfortunately, I haven't found much in the $20-30 range as they all taste about the same as the Malbec. Thus far most $40 wines I've tried have been amazing and I even tried a $90 Cabernet that was just wow, but too pricey to become a habit so I'll settle for $40-50 wines as I still hunt for decent $20-30 choices to curb my budget. My choices at $40-50 all 2019 vintage Caravan Darioush Amici Royal Prince So far the Amici was the best, followed by the Royal Prince.  Caravan was nice too. I'm finding I prefer a more dry taste or those with lower tannin bitterness.  The dryness helps offset for any bitter t

Moving up to $40 wines and trying the Darioush Caravan - Cabernet Sauvignon.  It was definitely better than the cheaper wines I’ve had thus far. It didn’t impress me as much as the $40 Flowers Pinot Noir, but I’d likely give Darioush another go.