Tag: food and wine

Chateau Ducasse 2015 Bordeaux Blanc

Here I am, still going strong with my French wine kick. A heads up, this is going to be one of my first critical reviews, but it’s all in good spirit I assure you….

I feel like I need to give some back story. When I was I bought this wine I had a specific flavor profile in mind. I wanted something with a soft mouthfeel, something oaked (but not oaky) that would lessen the severity of any potentially dominating fruit flavors. I guess I wanted Chardonnay and Sauv Blanc to have a baby. I had a few different varietals in mind, but apparently they were too obscure for my local shop. Very sad. Now, I kind of knew when I picked up the 2015 Bordeaux Blanc from Ducasse that this wine wouldn’t quite fit the brief, but I took a chance, gave it a go, and here’s what I learned.

(more…)

2013 Tractor Shed Red

True story: I was perusing the wine aisles at Costco looking for my fav generic red blend when a Costco employee stopped to ask if he could help. Turns out they didn’t have what I was looking for. “But,” he says, “if you like that, you’ll love Tractor Shed Red.”I kinda looked at him like he was crazy-go-nuts. The thing you have to know about me is that I find blends — of any kind — hard. In my experience, everyday blends found at the local shops with cute, funky labels listed at under $20 tend to be…imbalanced. Imbalanced in aroma, taste, texture, and ultimately enjoyability.

So the fact that I even had, what I’d call, a “favorite” red blend was kind of a big deal — and I was willing to deal with the fact that they did not have it in stock. But the Tractor Shed Red price was right for experimenting, so I took a bottle home. Now, every time I go to Costco, I take two.

(more…)

Pine Ridge 2014 Chenin Blanc + Viognier

Once again I found myself perusing the wine aisles of Trader Joe’s looking for a the perfect pairing for a mi-week meal. I can honestly say I don’t know what made me pick this bottle up. Maybe it’s because I didn’t know quite what I wanted and the prospect of these two varietals blended together sounded summer-time perfect. Plus, I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for a good back-flap story synopsis (you know…the mini-story on the back of books… and…wine…).

(more…)