Friday, February 22, 2008

Sure, a bottle is nice, but nothing beats the value of my 5-liter box, that's for sure.

Why, oh why do I always give the gifts I want?

Sure, I get that smug self-satisfaction of knowing that I am giving the most awesome gift EVER in the history of awesome gifts, but dammit- I just want to keep it for myself.

I deserve it more. Don't I? I suffered through two- count 'em TWO whole work days this week feeling like my veins, sinuses and lungs were filled with jell-o pistachio pudding (remember that one? The pretty green one with chunks of nuts in it? It was like green snotty evil with shards of disappointment and nuggets of failure suspended in it. Remember that?)

We have a wedding to go to in the lovely metropolis of Duluth, MN tomorrow night. The groom is a looooong time high-school friend of my Mr's. The bride (who we like) is relatively new to us, but she's cool. She doesn't seem to mind that J hasn't taken down the lace curtains and lawn ornaments from the former owners from when he bought the house something like 4 years ago.

She must be a saint.
Or blind.
Either way, we're a.o.k. with her.

We've known J forever. He was one of the few that stood up to me when I was being a "difficult" wife (to put it mildly), and he (like me) lets go of a grudge pretty easily. He is notorious for the "purple teeth" of red wine drinking, and once he dry humped another friend while wearing a construction helmet with antlers, and somehow Sammy Davis Jr. was involved...
I love J. Tons.

I don't know a ton about the future Ms. J, but...
One thing I know for sure: They like wine...and I like wine. Glorious.

So, rather than sign them up for a "wine of the month" club where they get "iffy at best" selections from some wine geek with a ponytail, ill-fitting jeans and a penchant for masturbating to Smurfs cartoons, I signed them up for their own personal wine club.

I bought one of my favorites (Gundlach Bundschu Pinot Noir) to wrap, and I am enclosing a card foretelling the arrival of six other of my personal favorites. (I picked three wineries I love, and chose two wines apiece. It wasn't hard to find two from each. I could have easily chosen 3 or 4 from each one.)

My choices (hey, it's the weekend and if I want to be a wine snob now so be it. Yeah.):

From Roshambo winery:
  • 2005 "Imago" Chardonnay
  • 2005 "Reverend" Zinfandel
I visited Roshambo a number of years ago, they are hip, fun and everything you want wine to be. The fact that they name their stainless steel holding tanks after pop stars should be enough (yes, they have a Prince tank.). No? Well, how about the fact that they sell terrycloth wristbands with the winery logo? O.k. Good.

From Croze Winery:
  • 2005 Smith Wooten Cabernet Franc
  • 2005 Croze' Vin d' Une Nuit
The Smith Wooten cab Franc is one of those wines that makes you forget your own name while you drink it- it's that good. Lush, rich, fruity and deep, deep, deep. Easily one of my favorite all-time wines. And the Croze' is a rose' that puts the others to shame. Drink it often on a warm sunny day. Shamelessly. Naked if you feel like it.

Finally, from L'Ecole #41:
  • 2006 Columbia Valley Semillion
  • 2005 Columbia Valley Merlot
This is an amazing little winery located in an old French-Canadian schoolhouse in Walla-Walla Washington. This Merlot will make you rethink Merlot (fuck you Sideways -though I adored the movie, especially for giving Thomas Haden Church another gig after Wings- for giving Merlot a bad rep). The Semillion is an amazing use of an often underused grape. Richer than most whites and kind of "thick", in a good way.


Damn.

Now I'm thirsty.

Wine will help my cough- right?

What's your favorite wine(s)?

Franzia chillable red? Chateau Latour '58? Thunderbird "grape"?

Don't be shy...(I drink crap too, if it helps. Right now I have a glass of something that cost $7.99/bottle. I'd say it was full-bodied with a hint of aluminum and wood chips, and the lingering flavor of Welch's white grape). Delicious.

Have a good weekend, my little glasses of fermented squirrel sweat wine.

XO

25 comments:

abbersnail said...

Cline's. Usually the Zinfandel, because it's really easy to find and affordable at TJ's. Though the "old vines" ones are deeeeeelicious.

HW and I also recently discovered Bear's Lair Cabernet, which we LOVE and costs a whopping $4 at TJ's.

Flenker said...

please don't think less of me, but I have yet to "acquire" a taste for reds. I think it's probably because I got really really drunk of some bad bad red wine once. Can't really stomach the stuff properly. Whites I can do. And whiskeys.

Wondering Woman said...

My new favorite inexpensive wine is Rex Goliath, 47 lb rooster, Merlot, the name would have turned me off because I'm afraid one's with cute names will taste like grape kool-aid with a hint of kerosene, but a friend brought some over and got me started -- between $8 and $10 a bottle it's much better than many $30 bottles I've tried.

H said...

I'll give any pinot grigio a shot. I love me some white wine. Sadly, most of the time we've got some Franzia around - chillable red and sunset blush are the favorites in our household!

Bonj said...

The wife is the wine drinker. I am more of a beer drinker. As far as wine goes though, my favorite is a simple boxed wine. h already mentions Franzia. The one I like is one of the House Wine Favorites; Fruity Red Sangria. I don't mind some of the wines from Adam Puchta and St. James Winery as well, but that is coming from one that is definitely not a wine snob.

Gwen said...

I like sweet stuff so my fave wine is a Riesling. My current hot fave is a Jakob Demmer called "Liebfraumilch." Yup, I like the Mother's Milk. What would Freud have to say about that one?

I pride myself on being a really good gift giver, too. Especially when I'm shopping for me.

Sean said...

I have been enjoying a Bennet Lane “Maximus” Bordeaux Blend, Napa, California and some really nice pinot noirs from Oregon. You should come try soemm while your here. Have fun

rcubed said...

I just discovered kendall jackson riesling; it tastes like punch. I drank a pint o' it last night (we don't have wine glasses so I was forced, yes forced, to use our large pint glasses.) I paired this with half a bag of my other new found love: country choice sandwich cremes...calorie-free because they're "organic."

Fran said...

Now let me search the corner of my brain...

Why did I not invite WhiskeyMarie to my wedding so that I could score some great wine gift???

I guess the fact that I was two months shy of starting to blog would be one reason.

But damn! The wine would have outdone all that stuff I had to return to Williams-Sonoma!!

Kate said...

I have been much more into white this year than red, even in the winter. Here's why: Dave's aunt and uncle and food and wine connoisseurs and during Christmas Day 2006 I had so much REALLY good red wine that I had to stay home from work on the 26th and puke it all up. It was fun. The real story is that I think I'm sensitive to sulfites, but since I'm also a lush, I usually end up with a splitting headache after 2 glasses of red. So I've been buying organic reds. The selection is a little slim up in Beautiful Blaine, but it works.

My current crushes:

* Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc-Viognier (strong hints of pink grapefruit, a substance I cannot get enough of, EVER).
* Sawbuck Cabernet.
* I really like petite sirah but have had so-so luck. Surprisingly I have liked Bogle Vineyard's PS, and it's a bargain for about $9/bottle. Not the best ever but not the worst (oh now I sound like a Lake Wobegon character).
* I am IN LOVE with any Riesling from the Columbia Valley.
* I bought a bottle of Sebeka Syrah on a whim (my moms hometown is not far from Sebeka, MN) and it was pretty good! I would totally skip their whites though. NOT good.
* Dave bought me some fancypants Gewürztraminer from Germany and I drank the whole bottle in one sitting an wished for a GW IV, but I can't remember the name. So that's helpful.

Butrfly Garden said...

I'm pretty cheap. I buy 4.99 wine and drink it with diet sprite. :) My SIL turned me on to Bartenura. I love it.

I also like to buy random bottles that have pretty labels. I had a bottle of pinot grigio with a ballerina on it waiting for me tonight but company cancelled. :P

Lollie said...

Our red spendy faves are Ferarri Carano Back 40,as well as Caymus, Turley, Twomey, Silver Oak (Alexander Valley, not Napa) Farniente, Spotteswood, Opus, Plumpjack and Cakebread. For whites I'll always wolf a Ferarri Reserve Chardonnay ('cept when I'm knocked up).

El Chepo pinots are Le Crema and Pinot Evil...for chards Kendall Jackson, and the 'Rents have always appreciated a good ole magnum of Woodbridge.

Nature Girl said...

I love wine. We, as a couple, like to go to wineries..do the tour, tastings etc...DH is a bit of a wine snob, but me? I'm a cheap drunk. I usually prefer the sweet wines...desert wines, and white wines..blush is good too, but red? Red goes to my head, fast. It makes my arms and legs all noodley and makes the rest of me very compliable and very Very VERY, dare I say it? Horny. Horny as all hell. You might know, that I've been drinking red wine tonite. HOw can you tell? Because otherwise...I dont' talk about this sort of thing. The hornyness I mean. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with a pack of Double A's.

Tomorrow, I'll likely come back and erase this comment.

Stacie

gorillabuns said...

I'm usually a Vodka kinda gal but since we are broke-ass poor this weekend, we are drinking a fine boxed bouquet called, Sangria.

It might as well be Ripple.

and I have to brush my teeth every 30 minutes.

Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein said...

I want more difficult wife stories soon. And I seem to remember a pictorial was promised me. Get well and get to picture snappin'.

Nocturnal said...

I think you need to blow off fucking shit Frisco (yes I'm an LA kinda guy) when you guys visit Cali and go to Paso Robles.

http://www.pasowine.com/

In case you don't know, the Central Coast is a garden spot of Cali and Paso Robles is the next Napa Valley if not already.

20 bux for this advice WM.

Cheers

P.S. Stay at the Madonna Inn, a bit expensive but well worth it and the unique decor therein.

http://www.tgifhounds.com/2006/01/madonna-inn.asp

punchlinewalking said...

I've visited Roshambo- and had lots of drunken fun there!

My current favorite $10 bottles of red wine are- Pinocchio and Root 1.

Also, I'll second the recommendation for a trip to Paso Robles. I spent a week there during my honeymoon and it was awesome. One of my favorite vineyards there was Carmondy McKnight.

Estelle X said...

Whiskey Marie - you (and every other wine snob out there) should check out the documentary "Mondovino," if you haven't already. I know next to nothing about wine. Given the fact that a vineyard has been in my family since the 1300's, this is BAD, I know, but what can I do? I got to America at the bright young age of 10 - before I could learn. I know that I like most anything with Pinot in the name. How's that?

Toodles, and thanks for the food/drink blogoria!

Estelle

wafelenbak said...

You know, my fella and I need to start saving labels off the wine we drink. Because usually we buy something that looks or sounds good and sometimes it turns out to be REALLY good and all we know is that is some random wine we picked up someplace that was really good. :(
There's also a liquor store in my neighborhood that sells an amazing Romanian wine that was recommended to me by the store owner. I don't know the name of it, either.

Mommy Lisa said...

I had a really good Pinot Girgio that SimonDelivered to me, Thomasi. However, it was on clearance and now they are out of it!

I love me some box wine too. Killer Juice for red and Fish Eye Pinot Grigio for the white.

Jon said...

I know very little about wine, other than it makes me exceedingly witty, charming, and irresistable to the opposite sex.

I'm actually going somewheres this weekend where I need to bring a bottle (or 3) of wine, and I'm totally going to heed your advice. Thanks WM!

diatribes and dish said...

Less expensive Pinot: A to Z (Oregon). More expensive Pinot: JK Carriere. Fun white (which I have a tradition of always drinking when preparing to host a party): Evolution No. 9, Sokol Blosser.

As a former Oregon girl, I gotta give it up for the Willamette Valley.

Way Way Up said...

I'd walk 5 miles over nails and broken glass for a nice glass of Cabernet Franc.

gifts said...

I am so glad to see that thanks to shares us

decanter said...

I want to get something wine related for my sister this Christmas. She's just started drinking wine and loves it groomsmen gifts