Oh, the hoops we are willing to jump through for a great glass of wine! Thanks for the video, Grandma! 🙂
Happy Friday! Tonight or this weekend, treat yourself to one of the wines reviewed here on The Rambling Vine, and let me know what you enjoyed.
Just remember, Red Diamonds are a girl’s (and boy’s) best friend!
Lasso This Merlot: Red Diamond Wines Shine Brilliantly
Many of you feel dazed and confused when shopping for wine. Rows of seemingly identical bottles stretch along for miles, all sporting cryptic labels with meaningless verbiage. “What does this even mean?” you wonder as you scratch your head and do your best to translate with a limited vocabulary. It’s as though you’ve landed in a rural French village in 1862, equipped with only a week of high school French. You begin to perspire and panic like a straight man in the salon shoes section of Nordstrom. Is that $30 bottle worth the gamble? Maybe, maybe not.
It can be overwhelming, but it need not be intimidating any longer! Here is a wine you can zoom in on with laser wine vision, swoop in for the kill, and get out in time to finish the rest of your shopping. Whew!
This, my friends, is it. This is the quintessential red wine you will want to buy by the case, because it is incredible. Red Diamond Merlot from Washington is one of my personal all-time favorite wines. It happens to be one of the top ten Merlots in America. (PLEASE don’t go up in price, Red Diamond!). It is perfect on its own, but it is also wonderful in sangria, a Spanish punch made out of red wine. It’s dark and fruity, with perfect body and balance. Did I mention it’s less than $10?
From the tasting notes: “Our Washington Merlot opens with a beautifully knit blackberry, cherry, and spice scented nose with a toasty oak background. Sweet fruit on the palate is complemented by medium-bodied but firm tannins. Red Diamond celebrates the personality of Washington’s distinctive red wines. Layers of luscious flavors are revealed in each bottle, exuding style and confidence. Our Red Diamond Merlot is a shining example of Washington’s best varietal – a polished wine with softly spiced black cherry, berry and plum flavors.”
Don’t limit yourself to just the Merlot… they also make other wines, including Shiraz, Malbec, and Chardonnay! I can personally vouch for the Cab, it’s outstanding.
A rule of thumb: any wine you cook with must also taste good. It need not be expensive, but taste good it must! (Like Yoda I speak, expert therefore I be).
Here’s a recipe for Sangria I made recently for a Cinco de Mayo party (courtesy of Better Homes & Garden New Cookbook, 14th ed., with my comments). I recommend using Red Diamond Merlot, as it imparts a subtle cinnamon flavor to the sangria and blends well with the citrus juices.
1 cup orange juice (no pulp)
ÂĽ cup lime juice
1 750-milliliter bottle dry red wine (Red Diamond Merlot)
ÂĽ – 1/3 cup sugar
Ice cubes
In a 2-quart pitcher stir together orange and lime juices. Add wine and sugar, stirring until sugar is dissolved (I like the sugar from Trader Joe’s). Cover and chill for 3 to 24 hours. Serve over ice.
I garnished mine with orange and lime slices, frozen cranberries and Golden Delicious apple chunks. This sangria is fantastic; it’s like winter mulled wine, but for spring.
I hope Red Diamond becomes one of your favorite go-to wines!
Ah, Pinot Noir! In the wine world, saying you’re a fan of Pinot Noir tends to signify you’ve made it to the wine big leagues. Pinot Noir is an enigma; classy, mysterious, shapeshifting. It has soared in popularity since the film Sideways came 
out, which in large part contributed to killing off Merlot production in California. (Just you wait, Merlot’s comeback is just around the corner… if shoulder pads can come back, certainly Merlot can – and to me, Merlot never went out of style in the first place).
At first, I didn’t understand the appeal of Pinot Noir. The first glass I intentionally ordered tasted like fruity water (it wasn’t a good wine – otherwise I would have liked it – and I think it had been open too long, too). But with so many friends claiming it as their favorite wine of all time, I knew I couldn’t throw in the towel just yet.
So, you’re asking, what is all the hype about Pinot Noir and WHO will explain it to me? First of all, a quick quasi-science lesson: Pinot Noir is the picky princess of the grape family, so she demands a very specific climate, weather, sun/rain mixture, careful, painstaking tending, and the list of demands goes on as long as J-Lo’s artist rider. But this lavish TLC pays off royally and can lead to some truly awesome, world-class wines. Once you taste a great Pinot Noir, you appreciate its refined qualities and everything it represents in terms of excellent winemaking craft. It also explains the sticker shock you might experience when surveying fine Pinots in your favorite wine shop.
Fear not! If you’re new to Pinot Noir, let me give you a couple of easy-going, easy-drinking Pinots that are at or under $10 a bottle. While they may not be superstar arena rock concert material, they are still the equivalent of a surprisingly good coffee shop open mic night.
Whole Foods Market has a section of very good affordable wines, and very knowledgeable wine stewards, so always chat them up for their best recommendations. Redtree Pinot Noir is from California and is around or under $10 a bottle. From the tastings notes: “Our 2010 Pinot Noir displays aromas of fresh fruits and strawberries, with a hint of oak in the background. This lighter-bodied wine provides cherry flavors on the palate and more red fruits, finishing with soft tannins.” Not bad, actually. Underwood Cellars Pinot Noir is from Oregon, $10 at Whole Foods Market, and is also quite tasty. From the tasting notes: “The Underwood Pinot Noir exhibits aromas [of] cranberries, red raspberries, with notes of smoke and spice. The palate is filled with sweet raspberry fruit intertwined with warm cinnamon tones. The wine’s bright acidity and fine tannins come together in a fruit laden finish.”
Even if you love red wine, you don’t always want a 10 on the Richter scale of a bold, dark, intense red wine. Be surprised by these light and delicious Pinot Noirs. Let me know how you liked them!
If only hailing a “cab” were as easy as hailing a cab… wave your hand in the air and POOF! A bottle of 14 Hands Cab!
Disclosure Statement: This post contains affiliate links. When you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, I receive a commission at no additional cost to you. All opinions are my own.
14 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon
I’d like to hail a cab, a very special cab (sorry, yellow taxi, not you)… 14 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon, to be specific. So pay attention! This is one of the Rambling Vine’s ultimate, go-to red wines; full of great fruit flavors and exhibiting great, overall harmony and balance. I can’t tell you how many people I have recommended this wine to… even perfect strangers at the grocery store. Then when I see them next week they bow down before me with burnt offerings and… yeah, not exactly. But they gush over this wine, and you will, too!
Now, when I talk about 14 Hands Cab, keep in mind I also hold their Merlot in very high regard, so their Merlot is also a “not-to-be-missed” wine (I am writing about the Cab, selfishly, because I could think of more puns). Whether you like Cab or Merlot is sort of like asking a 14 year-old girl whether she’s Team Edward or Jacob… they’re both delicious in their own ways, just with slight differences. It’s a matter of comparing apples and oranges. So I don’t think you’ll have a problem with either one. Au contraire, they are both fabulous.
For a while the 14 Hands’ single varietals Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot were only available at restaurants. The winery sold their Hot to Trot Red Blend in stores (also exceptional… another post for another day), but fans cried out for their Cabs and Merlots. Hallelujah, these are now also available to the general drinking public! In my not-so-humble opinion, this is the apex of affordable, extremely smooth, drinkable, high quality Washington red wine.
I secretly hope Washington wine doesn’t get too popular and correspondingly expensive (or worse, of inferior quality). That would be devastating. It’s definitely gaining more and more fans around the globe, and for good reason. Until that day comes, drink up! If this is your first foray into Washington red wine, this is my highest recommendation to you.
Cheers!
Disclosure Statement: This post contains affiliate links. When you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, I receive a commission at no additional cost to you. All opinions are my own.
A Fine Chocolate Wine For Your Consideration
Red wine and dark chocolate: clichĂ© Valentine’s Day trappings, or greatest palate-pleasing pairing in history? That is the question….
Enough pondering already. I don’t know about you, but most of my attempts to pair red wine with dark chocolate have not gone so well. They usually result in face scrunching and gagging. You have to consider the cacao and sugar percentages in your chocolate and how those will interplay with the grape type and sugar/alcohol content of the wine you select. With so many factors to consider, who has time to figure it all out?
Well, whoever thought of combining red wine and dark chocolate in the glass was a genius! And he who pulled it off successfully is my hero! You will be surprised how red wine and dark chocolate pair so seamlessly together in a dessert wine when you sip on Chocolate Shop, The Chocolate Lover’s Wine.
What a find! Not sure whether I should be glad I found this or unhappy that I am now addicted to this, but I’m sure excited to tell you about it! This red wine behaves like any other red wine in the glass but with the added twist that it is a SWEET wine; in essence, it is a dessert wine, but without behaving like viscous, syrupy Dimetapp in the glass. Let’s call it a dessert wine for non-dessert wine drinkers.
The first sip is like a mouthful of cherry tootsie pop but better! Real dark chocolate flavoring is added to drinkable and balanced Walla Walla red wine. The fact that there is a good quality wine as the base helps, so the consistency won’t remind you of Aunt Jemima.
Here is what the label reads: “… a deep, ruby red wine blended with rich, velvety chocolate. Inviting aromas of black cherry and chocolate combine in the glass and continue on the palate surrounded by hints of cocoa powder. Nuances of sweet red wine lingers [sic] on the smooth finish. Chocolate Shop provides you with an indulgent wine experience like no other.”
Whether you’re a coldhearted cynic, a hopeless romantic, or just craving a sweet wine, this will win you over.
Here is some further reading on pairing wine with chocolate, and another post I did on pairing chocolate and wine.
(Sidenote: Use an expert to make your life easier. When you do want to have a wine & chocolate pairing party, ask your local wine merchant for a red that pairs well with chocolates. There is usually chocolate available for sale, and they are more than happy to give you a great recommendation.)
Surprise Pick: Alamos Torrontés 2010
These glorious first-taste-of-real-summer days in Washington in April bring the masses out of hibernation, for fear this could be the only Vitamin D we get until mid-July. The folks I always cringe at are the ones that bare as much pasty white flesh as possible in worship of the sun god, then scar our eyes again with a shade of wince-inducing “scorched lobster.” Didn’t they ever heed the wisdom of Baz Luhrmann?
I invite you to be pleasantly surprised by another kind of white… an Argentinian white wine!
I’ll start by throwing you a curve ball of a rare and little talked-about white wine, TorrontĂ©s. Have any of you actually heard of this wine and tried it? I had NEVER heard of it, until it winked at me at my local grocery store (lots of wines wink at me, and I can’t buy all of them). Naturally, I was curious, so I picked up a bottle for kicks. Alamos makes an outstanding Malbec at a terrific value (around $10 or under a bottle), so I figured a white from this label wouldn’t be a total loss. But then again, isn’t Argentina synonymous with juicy red Malbecs? Like Seattle & salmon, or New York & hot dogs? Some things are lumped together for good reason, and shaking up these fixed associations can trigger outcries from the traditionalists.
Evita wants you to understand just how GOOD Argentinian Torrontes is!
Well, phooey on them! Argentina makes an excellent white wine… yes, Argentina, land of acclaimed Malbecs, tango, and Evita Perón!
This is my new favorite white wine! Here’s why: “Torrontés has a unique expression in Argentina and has often been called the country’s signature white varietal. Alamos Torrontés captures all of the explosive aromatic character of this Argentine grape, with lively notes of citrus and peach fruit interwoven with delicate layers of jasmine blossom and fresh herbs. The wine is light and fresh on the palate with excellent balance and finishing with bright, crisp acidity.” It has all the characteristics I like in other whites (fruity, rich, floral and herbal notes) rolled into this one varietal.
Turn to Torrontés for an unusual but delightful crowd-pleasing white wine that’s not Chardonnay (let Chardonnay have the night off for once). Let me know what you think! And if you’re in the Seattle area, wear your sunscreen!
Hello! Welcome to the inaugural blog post of The Rambling Vine. I don’t know about you, but to me the word “blogging” has always sounded a little sketchy, like it might pertain to bathroom functions. Maybe that’s why I dragged my heels for so long on starting a blog? Or because it sounds like Rod Blagojevich? Who wants to read a BLOG? I won’t go into detail here because if I did you would immediately give up on me after one post (please don’t!). Nevertheless, despite the fact that the word “blogging” causes me to wrinkle my nose, I am excited to begin said activity; sharing with you some fabulous wines that will impress your taste buds and make your life a little more pleasant. Here’s to blogs, which let us share the love and spread the wealth!
The Rambling Vine 