The Pepper Pot is an interesting name for a bottle of wine.   I would expect this to be a total fruit and pepper bomb, and hoping it isn’t green bell pepper.   6 grapes in this blend, mostly Syrah.   As soon as I poured it, I could smell how jammy it was.   Smells like Fruit Roll Ups, sugary sweet.   The mouthfeel is ripe with explosive berry, and the finish was reminiscent of raspberry juice chased with a shot of freshly ground white pepper.   If I served this at a party for friends, it would be a hit.   Very easy to drink, with a relatively high alcohol content and no bite on the midpalate or finish.   Hmmm, maybe serving this at a party would be a bad idea.   Enjoy in moderation  :-)

$15.00/bottle

Double

One of the reasons I should avoid buying wine at Safeway is that the wine section is right next to the counter where you can get chicken wings to go.   How would you like to try smelling buffalo wings while shopping for wine and not buying them?   So, I picked up a bottle that can pair with wings  

The Treo is a blend of Merlot, Syrah, and Petite Sirah.   The percentages aren’t specified, but from the nose I would guess this is about 50% Merlot.   OK, Googling it.    45%, I was close.   Plum and cherry on the nose, and it smells sugary.   Smells like Merlot, tastes like Petite Sirah.  This wine has some serious bite.   Be sure to serve at cellar temperature because this would be way too harsh straight out of the wine rack.   I am liking the finish, tangy cherry and cranberry.   Compared to the midplate, the finish is more smooth and soft.   The tasting notes on the bottle recommend to have it with BBQ, and this was a pretty nice one to pair with the wings.

$15.00/bottle

Double

This is a bottle of sparkling wine.   Not Champagne.   It is only Champagne if it is from the Champagne region in France, and the grapes for this wine were grown in Sonoma County.   However, it was produced méthode champenoise – not just carbonated.   This means… millions of tiny bubbles in the glass!

If you enjoy very dry sparkling wines, pass on this one.  However, if you enjoy a wine that starts of sweet but finishes tangy, try Va De Vi.   It is mostly Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with a little Muscat blended in.   I smelled lots of apple, but it tasted more like pear and peach.   As soon as you sip, you can taste a hint of that sweet muscat.   But not for long… the mouthfeel has lots of pear and sour apple, and the finish was a little creamy with nice acidity.   Pairing:   creamy cheeses.   Or very enjoyable on its own.   This wine definitely has substance, and is great for the price.   Budget special occasion bubbly…   I feel it has more character than Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label, and costs less.   If it came in half bottles, I would be in trouble.

$22/bottle.   Yes, over the usual $20 limit but you can probably find it on sale for $19  :-)

Home Run

Confession – I totally fell for the marketing ploy on this one.   I was at Whole Foods and saw that the tasting notes on the bottle said “great value!!!” and the bottle was only $7.99.   Less than the block of cheese I bought, woohoo!

Sniff… cherries, raspberries, flower petals and white pepper.   Tart berries on the midpalate, lots of bright acidity in this wine.   The finish was light and a bit spicy with sour raspberry lingering.   My palate tends to gravitate towards wines that are more robust unless we’re talking about Pinots or certain white wines, but I can appreciate this <$8 wine  - lotsa bite that would pair well with cheeses.   Many wines that are in the same price range are way too fruit forward and don’t have any structure.   Great everyday drinking wine!

$7.99/bottle

Double

This is my first official post on my very own domain – www.grapedeals.com!     And now to change my web address on my business cards, Twitter, Facebook…

My site officially went live today, so I had to blog a new wine.   If this font and format look funny, it is because I am still learning!

I had heard that a new local store Sprouts has a pretty nice selection of wines under $20 so I had to check it out.   Those who are fans of the wine selection at Trader Joe’s will like Sprouts too, in fact… I don’t think they carried one bottle over $20.   The Mouton Cadet is a Bordeaux blend I picked up for 12 bucks.   As soon as I opened the bottle, I knew this one was young and could use more time in the bottle.   But tonight, I was just hoping that some time in the glass would help, and it did.   Black cherries, dirt, and flower petals on the nose – mostly black cherry though.   The mouthfeel lives up to the nose, and is pretty huge – definitely similar to biting into a ripe black cherry… without the pit!   Lots of grip on the finish, which reaffirmed my initial belief that this wine could use more time in the bottle.

I had to pair this one with food because I rarely drink French or Italian wines on their own.   I experimented a bit tonight – sauteed shiitake/oyster/crimini/button mushrooms in a bit of butter and then mixed in some camembert and gorgonzola cheese until the cheeses melted.   The wine was great with the mushrooms and cheese!

$12/bottle at Sprouts Farmer’s Market

Double

I drink different wines for different occasions.   There are my clean, crisp summer whites to enjoy well chilled on my balcony, sweeter whites to pair with spicy food, pinot noir to drink anytime/anywhere (OK, I freakin’ love pinot) and then those red wines that are so big and robust that they can only be enjoyed on a frigid winter night.   I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and it does get chilly here but there are Bay Area winter nights and Vermont winter nights.   Two completely different animals.

This wine is a Vermont winter night wine.   When you come inside from a day of skiing and can’t feel your fingers or toes, open this bottle.   This is a three grape blend, dominated by Shiraz.   And it is big, bold and spicy.   Very dark fruit and lots of spice on the nose… the spices remind me of a dish I had at a Malaysian restaurant.   Coriander and star anise.   Tons of black cherry, plum and blackberry on the mouthfeel and the finish has lots of spice and berry jam.   The fruit in this wine is very ripe and you can tell it has been grown in a hot, dry climate.

This is not a wine to be enjoyed on a warm summer night, unless you’re serving it with a juicy steak.   This is an apres ski, campfire, or “I just shoveled the driveway and I’m FREEZING” wine.    Think savory.   Pair with beef stew or chili.   And give this one time to develop in the glass.   It comes off a bit too “in your face” at first but softens nicely after it has had some air.

$19.99/bottle 

Using my imagination… Triple on a chilly winter night  :-)

I was going to open a bottle of red tonight.   A pinot noir would have paired better with my dinner.   But it has been in the 90′s here in the East Bay, so a chilled white sounded like a better choice for the evening.   I haven’t tried many Sauvignon Blanc blends, but loved the idea of this one because Sauv Blanc and Semillon seem like they can compliment each other well.   Citrusy nose of blood orange, lime… this wine just smells fresh and clean.   The mouthfeel reminded me of an unoaked chardonnay with ripe green apple and I tasted a bit of peach as well.   Powerful finish – lots of nice citrus and great acidity.   This Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend has tons of character, intensity and great fruit.   A nice wine to pair with shrimp scampi, sharp cheddar cheese or grilled veggies!

$17.00/bottle

Triple

Some of my favorite pastimes are drinking wine, watching baseball, hitting the slopes and cycling.   I’ve seen this bottle many times at wine shops and have been drawn to the label – and name!   Sniff….   deep raspberry and blueberry dominate, with some licorice and pepper too.   Dark, chewy fruit on the midpalate.   Lots of acidity on the mouthfeel that lingers on the finish.   This syrah is not easy to sip.    For some reason, I felt I could taste the alcohol in it and was surprised to see that the alcohol content was 13.5%.   Time to take out the wedge of cheddar!

Food pairing taste test results…

Cheese (sharp aged Vermont cheddar) – softens up the wine quite nicely, the creaminess of the cheese helps cut through the acidity

Dark chocolate (Truffle Gateau* Dark Chocolate Coconut) – believe it or not, this wine’s bite overpowers the chocolate!

Dark chocolate #2 (Truffle Gateau Dark Chocolate Expresso) – WIN.   Absolutely loving this combo…   this expresso-laced chocolate brings out mocha notes in the wine and balances it out.    

$11/bottle

On its own – Single

Cheese and Expresso chocolate – Double

Wine in a flask!   Or rather, Flasq.   I love hiking and camping, so wine in a lightweight aluminum container is a pretty cool concept to me.  In addition to merlot, Flasq has a Cuvee Blanc and chardonnay, both of which I’d really like to find and try!   The merlot has big ripe red raspberry on the nose, plum and a tiny bit of cayenne pepper.   As expected, lots of big ripe berry fruit on the midpalate and finish.   The pepper lingers a bit as well, but this is mostly raspberries and blackberries galore.   Would I buy this to serve with filet mignon at home?   It wouldn’t be my first choice.   I like steak with wine that has a bit more of a backbone.   But I would bring this bottle on a hike, kayaking trip (going Sunday, woohoo!) or camping?   Definitely.   And would I pair this with my favorite campfire foods –  hot dogs and S’mores?   Can’t wait!

$6.99/half bottle

Triple

Pinot Noir is my favorite grape, so I always look forward to Pinot Days.   Over 100 pinot noir producers participate, and I’m always happy to visit my perennial favorites as well as discover new ones.   

My first stop was Landmark Vineyards, and I really enjoyed all of their pinots.   My favorite at Landmark was the 2010 Spring Hill – it smelled like raspberries and fall foliage, with sour cherry and clove on the finish.   The 2010 Grand Detour was also amazing…  lots of strawberry and spice.   

Kanzler Vineyards was next, and I had a bottle of their 2009 pinot back in January – it tasted great!   Their wines are small production, and I know that if I like what they are pouring I have to act quickly if I want to buy the bottle.   Sure enough, only 272 cases of the 2010 pinot were produced.   It is a nice one, with cranberry, blueberry and vanilla – big fruit, drinking great now but will be even better in a year or so.   I’ll definitely pick up a bottle and try to keep it for a year.  

I’ve been a Sojourn fan for a while now, and recommend their tasting room to anyone who is visiting Sonoma.   It is right off of the Sonoma square, right near lots of cute shops and restaurants.   They were pouring their single vineyard pinots, and today my favorite was the 2010 Gaps Crown – love the black cherry and creamy vanilla on this one.   I have two bottles of the 2009 Gaps Crown and can’t wait to open them!

Meiomi is another perennial favorite, and I’ve been drinking their 2010 pinot pretty often so I was excited to see that they were pouring the 2011 vintage.   I recommend the Meiomi pinot to my friends and also choose it as the pinot to pour at parties and events since it is in the $20 range.   I have yet to find a better pinot than Meiomi for <$25.   Cranberry, baking spices, and strawberry are the dominent characteristics.   The 2011 is tasting fabulous now, and I can’t wait to see how it evolves in the bottle!

Clouds Rest had a special on PBS called Pinot Noir, the Holy Grail of Wine.    Their property is stunning!   Must plan a visit.   Their 2009 Sonoma Coast Femme Fatale is great – silky fruit, complex spices, simply gorgeous.   The 2007 is also awesome, and I even got to try an ’04 pinot and it is still holding up nicely.

Next stop, C. Donatiello!   I am a big fan of their chardonnay, and their pinots are delicious too.   The 2009 Russian River pinot is rich with cranberry/boysenberry, vanilla and exotic spices.   The finish was dark, and I can tell this one has some staying power.  

So many great pinot producers, so little time!   Check out the Pinot Days website for more information about this awesome event