Drink The Wine You Love!

I love this wine…. what do you think of it?  In the end, does it really matter?   I read a quote recently that said “Love the Wine You Drink and Drink the Wine You Love”.   My friend Judy always says, ‘Life is too short to drink cheap wine”!  I like to say ‘Life is too short to drink bad wine’.  Price tags are irrelevant – if you like the wine… drink up.

No wine critic, reviewer, Sommelier, or fellow wine drinker, can tell you if a wine is good.  If you like it, it’s good.  When asked can I recommend a good wine, my first question tends to be ‘what wine do you currently like?’  This will give me a general idea of which grape and which country you are currently enjoying.  And if you’re anything like me, I have ‘fads’.  For example, this summer, you couldn’t get me out of the California section.  I go through a California phase every once in a while.  Recently, it was 2 months of Australian wine.  As I headed to the wine store yesterday evening, I had no idea what I was going to come home with… but I wanted to try a wine I had never had.  Here’s the result!

The Valdivieso 2010 Reserva Merlot from Chile.  The reason I chose this particular wine, I had never had it before and I believe its relative won the Best of Show at the Port of Wines last year.    Correct me if I’m wrong.  So this is what I popped open last night.  Earthy is the first word that came to mind.  First of all, let this wine sit for a while, after you open it.  I didn’t at first, and the oak overpowered the wine a bit.  As it sat for a while, it mellowed and I could enjoy the wine.  However, it never lost its earthiness.   At around $25, another Merlot I have had in the past week I found to be much better.

My friend Rayell from NSLC tells me I had this wine after the Port of Wines last year.  I didn’t attend the Port of Wines last year, as I was visiting my parents in Newfoundland.  But she was confident I had this wine before.  Well shame on me for waiting a full year to buy it again.  Except for some Right Bank Bordeaux wines, this one was probably one of the best Merlot wines I have ever had.  At $25 it’s a winner.  This Merlot is exceptionally rich and voluptuous, and although has seen oak, the oak in no way dominates the wine.   When I was enjoying this last weekend, I was thinking Right Bank Bordeaux.  It comes from the Hope Family of wines which also has the Liberty School series of wines.

Rayell told me she had this wine this past week, and it was fantastic.  I am going to give it a try this coming week, it’s the Liberty School Chardonnay, and I will write about it next week.  She tells me it’s 90% Chardonnay, 5% Viognier and 5% Marsanne, and the blend is perfect.  I am really looking forward to trying it.

If you don’t want to spend $25 on a wine, here’s one I’ve written about a few times before.  A fantastic wine, from California, and  comes in at about $22.  One of my favorite Merlot wines.  Again, it’s rich and voluptous and so easy to drink.   With either of these two wines, I found them fantastic with food, or all by itself.

Wow, it’s been all about the Merlot this week.   Take that Paul Giamatti from Sideways.  We are drinking the Merlot this week.

Have you tried a new wine this week?  If so, I would love to hear about it.

Till next week, Cheers

Darlene