Red

Barnard Griffin Cabernet Sauvignon

Barnard Griffin Cabernet Sauvignon paired with Pancetta Deli Sandwiches
September 25, 2019

You can really tell the seasons are changing when one week you’re reviewing Rosé, the next week it’s Sauvignon Blanc, and the next it’s Cabernet Sauvignon. This Cab is another out of the box one from our wine club with Barnard Griffin. This marked one of the first nights that it actually felt a bit chilly. It was rainy most of the day and by the evening; we were just looking forward to some comfort food. Luckily, we had some Pancetta and my husband felt like frying it up. Cabernet Sauvignon feels like a comfortable old stand-by at this point,…

Red

Anemoia Cabernet Sauvignon

Anemoia Cabernet Sauvignon paired with Pork Country Ribs and Roasted Broccoli
August 7, 2019

Seeing this deep red cab in the middle of the summer made me almost long for chillier days. Almost. It’s been a fairly wet summer here in Seattle so it wasn’t fooling me yet. I’ll be honest; the label on this one was kind of throwing me off. It looked kind of like an earthworm and not in the least bit appetizing. But, once the country ribs were on the smoker, I was more than excited to crack it open. While everyone knows of Cabernet Sauvignon, I thought I might do a bit of a deep dive on this grape…

Red

Barnard Griffin Merlot

Barnard Griffin Merlot paired with Steak, Sweet Potato Fries, and Parmesan Green Beans
May 29, 2019

With visitors in town and steak on the menu, I knew it was time to pull out a specialty wine for the night. Fortunately, my Barnard Griffin shipment had just arrived, so I reached for the 2015 Merlot that we had tried while on our visit to the winery in March 2019 and knew that it would be the perfect night for it. Cody and I visited the Barnard Griffin vineyard while we were in Richland, Washington, for his Badger Mountain 50 mile run. After his race on Friday, we went winery hopping on Saturday and Sunday and we absolutely…

Red

Little Vineyards Band Blend

Little Vineyards Band Blend paired with Chicken Fajita Burrito
May 1, 2019

This week’s wine looked like it would be a lot of fun. The label resembled a ticket to a live show of some sort. It gave off those festival vibes just in time for the start of festival season. I was expecting something easy drinking and ready to share with friends. This “Band Blend” was actually a red blend of 57% Zinfandel, 32% Teroldego, 5% Petite Syrah, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 3% Petit Verdoh. I knew of Zinfandel, Petite Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon; but Teroldego and Petit Verdoh were new to me so I started my research there.  Teroldego is…

Red

Raimat Family Vineyards Garnacha

Raimat Garnacha paired with Spicy Pork Trashcan Fries
April 10, 2019

After hosting a housewarming party the weekend before, I knew I would have to be creative when fixing a pairing up for this week. All that was left from the festivities was a bunch of random foods. All little bit of barbeque here, a little bit of veggie tray there, some frozen foods, and some half eaten cheese blocks. Fortunately, the wine this week was a Garnacha, so I knew pairing just about anything would work out ok. The Garnacha for this week was also a fully organic wine, so I decided to look into organic wines a little bit.…

Red

Jean Marc Barthez Bordeaux Rouge

Jean Marc Barthez Bordeaux Rouge paired with Sharp Cheddar
April 3, 2019

Do you ever buy cheese and not stop thinking about it sitting in the fridge? I mean it’s just sitting there all delectable looking and ready to be eaten. How am I supposed to get anything done with deliciousness like that in the house? It’s just me? Haha! I’m fine with that.  This was exactly what happened to me this week. I picked up some sharp cheddar at the grocery store and I could not wait to pair it with an equally delicious wine. I picked up my research there to see what I should be looking for. Wine Folly…

Red

Poggio Anima Nero d’Avola

Poggio Anima Nero d’Avola paired with BBQ Nachos
March 13, 2019

To be honest, this wine label scared me a little bit. The howling wolf with bat wings made me think more about scary stories and the No Sleep podcast more than wine. I was really hoping the research into the why behind this label would pay off and provide some sort of explanation for this strange little creature. It turned out; the little creature had quite the fascinating backstory. It represented Asmodeus, the offspring of the first of mankind, Adam, and the demon, Naamah. Asmodeus represented the physical description of lust. Adam left Eve for 130 years and during that…

Red

Sidekick Merlot

Sidekick Merlot paired with Smoked Chicken and Sweet Potato
March 7, 2019

At this point, I feel like I’ve tried most of the wines that the Sidekick brand, Iconic Wines have produced. The labels always get me pumped with the depictions of female superheroes. I feel like I should only be tasting them when I’m also doing something badass, but then I realize that living as a woman in Trump’s America is on it’s own badass and I move on from there. This bottle was labeled as Merlot, but is actually a blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc grapes. I am generally a big supporter of Cabernet Franc, given that…

Red

J. Bouchon Cabernet Sauvignon

J. Bouchon Cabernet Sauvignon paired with Ribeye and Roasted Broccoli
February 20, 2019

I was so stoked about trying this wine that I went out with my husband in search of the perfect steak to pair with it. It was noted that this wine was practically made for steak. Since we are a steak-loving household, I just knew this would be the wine for us and that it would round out one of the first great meals in our new house. We procured a couple of well-marbled ribeyes and once I had the sides in the oven and my husband was working with the steaks, I sat down for some research. Most Cabernet…

Red

Vylyan Portugieser

Vylyan Portugieser paired with Pulled Pork Stuff Sweet Potato
February 14, 2019

The label for this wine made me think more of Halloween than the Valentine’s Day that was so close at hand. I’m a big hater of V-Day though, so for me this seemed like a perfect fit. The black cat with the quizzical stare had me a bit quizzical about what this bottle might hold. I had never tried a wine from Hungary before so I started my research there. It turns out that Hungary is mostly known for sweet wines, notably, Tokaji from Tokaj, Hungary. While other varietals are grown on a smaller scale, they are all equally difficult…