[Wine Log] Medieval Rioja 2005

Wine: Medieval Rioja
Price: $11
Vintage: 2005
Region: Spain

This Rioja is a very dark burgundy, leaning more towards the brown-burgundy end of the spectrum than the plum or purple end. The Vintage Wine's website tells me that it's made from 80% Tempranillo, 15% Mazuelo, 5% Graciano grapes. It has a very sweet and fruity bouquet, with hints of cherry and apricot - it smells very wet and juicy.

The flavour of the wine itself is quite subtle, starting out almost too bland (the nice scent of the wine saves it from being boring, luckily), but finishing both sweet and tart - almost lemony.

[Wine Log] Tin Roof Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon

Wine: Tin Roof Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon
Price: $12
Vintage: 2005
Region: California

I'm in DC for work this week, so what better way to spend this gorgeous evening than curled up in a patch of sunlight with a trashy book and a glass of wine? And, while I'm waiting for it to breathe, why not write a quick review in this poor, neglected blog?

First and foremost, I want to give props to the Tin Roof website - any wine site that gives me recipes for meals that pair well with each of their wines wins in my book. Now, on to business!

This Tin Roof Cab has a very nice dark burgundy color. The nose is one of cinnamon and spices, with a heavy dose of flowery plumb. It has a very hearty flavour and is very wet and rich - very little dryness or acidity for a Cab... though it does seem to be gaining a bit more of both of those as I let it sit. I'm getting a lot of blackberry and cherry, with something a little woody on the end. Overall it's very tasty and quite drinkable - I think it will do well to keep me company this evening.

[Scotch Log] Dalmore 12 Year

Scotch: Dalmore 12 Year
Region: Highlands
Malt: Single Malt
Price: ~$30
Proof: 86

It scored a 92 from wine enthusiast, and they'd know right? Erm, except it isn't wine. Ah well! I like it pretty well. And not just because I'm drunk. It's quite tasty, not too harsh, and overall I'd call it a very acceptable every day drinking scotch. Which is to say, I'd be happy to drink it every day, and it is priced such that such a thing is an achievable goal.

Color: Blonde, with hints of dirty.
Nose: I can't smell nothing! I'm drunk! Durnk even!
Flava: Sweet and reasonably smooth for a 12 year. Smooth that is. Never mind. Fuck you! It's tasty!

Edit: Says the internet: "The malt tones are accompanied by notes of orange zest, cherry and oak. It also strikes me as slightly sweeter than other single malts." It also calls the whisky "delightful", which is both hard to spell when drunk and means "yummy".

Note to self: highland = sweet?

[Wine Log] Bodegas Montebuena Rioja

Wine: Bodegas Montebuena Rioja
Price: $12
Vintage: 2004
Region: Spain

My artistic eye serves me well on this wine! I still haven't really mastered the skill of picking out more than one or so flavor from smelling or tasting wines, but I nailed the color of this one on the head, looking at it and saying "wow, this is a really rich, almost crystalline ruby color!" JD looks at the bottle's description, and sure enough, the exact words the used were "rich ruby color." Damn I'm good.

As for the nose, I was getting something peppery and something flowery, maybe roses? When tasted the flavors detected were spicy and sweet, though very sharp. Looking at a couple of professional reviews, the "pepper" I smelled is more widely described as "herbs" and the "roses" were "red fruits." I suppose that's fairly close. Oh, actually, I just found this review:

"Dark red. Spicy red berries and cherry on the nose, with hints of cracked pepper and dried rose. Crisp and dry on the palate, with spicy redcurrant and cherry flavors, light tannins and a fresh, energetic finish. An excellent value, and surprisingly elegant for this price point."
- International Wine Cellar (July/Aug 2007), 88 pts

So maybe we were more dead on in our descriptions than I expected! How pleasing!

The other common thread in all of the reviews I'm reading is that this Rioja is excellent for the price, which I can definitely get behind. I very much want to purchase this wine again, it was excellent!

[Wine Log] Bogle - Pinot Noir

Wine: Bogle (Russian River Valley) - Pinot Noir
Price: $12
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol Content: 14.2%

I picked up a Bogle Petite Sirah on the recommendation form a very friendly and adorable shop keeper a few months ago (the night of Psiu's last initiation, actually). I liked it rather a lot, so when I saw the Bogle Pinot Noir at Total Wine I decided to grab a bottle.

It was a good call, as it turns out. The Pinot Noir is very, very drinkable... in fact, almost chugable - which isn't necessarily a word that wine-snobs should use, but it's still true. I fear I didn't do a very complete analysis of the wine's color, nose, and flavor, but I did have a couple of observations. Through blue glass the Pinot Noir is a very rich burgundy, which leads me to believe it would have a nice magenta color through a real wine glass (yes, we've been drinking so much wine lately that we didn't have any clean wine glasses, so we drank out of high-ball glasses. Again with the Bad Wine Snobbery). As for flavor, it was very very wet and fruity, with no sting or bite at all. However, it still managed to have a very "winey" flavor - which is to say that it didn't drink like Arbor Mist or a cheap Beaujolais.

My one complaint is that JD and I both woke up with headaches the morning after drinking only 2/3 of the bottle. I'd blame this on high levels of tannins, but wikipedia informs me that Pinot Noirs, Beaujolais and Tempranillos usually have much lower levels of tannins than some other varieties, so maybe this one can be blamed on the Lambic that was consumed later in the night.

I'll definitely be wanting to buy the Bogle Pinot Noir again, for a nice, easily drinkable, sweet wine.

[Mixed Log] Marlow's Winter Spice Martini

Not to be outdone, I also sampled one of Marlow's seasonal martinis. Sadly, mine was not nearly so tasty as Lisa's. Here is their description of it:

Aromas of cinnamon and nutmeg mix with the flavors of chai tea to create a martini that captures all the spice of the season

Like hers, I believe they threw some Goldschlagger into this one, but sadly it did not increase the net tasty of the drink. Although there were some tasty notes in there (primarily the Chai, which I imagine they used the ever-delicious Voyant for) they were almost drowned out by a strong and largely unpleasant alchohol flavor and far too much cinnamon (cinnamon booze mind you, I'm sure real cinnamon would have been quite good).

The plus? The drink was pretty strong. The minus? I expect my girlie mixed drinks to go down smooth, not give me whiskey shudders. I'd pass on this one. If you want tasty, there are better choices and if you want strong you can drink straight liquor cheaper than a $9 martini. :)

[Mixed Log] Marlow's Apple Cider Martini

In addition to having fantastic food, Marlow's Tavern also has some fantastic mixed drinks. Last night, I tried the Apple Cider Martini, which is described thusly on their website:

All the goodness of a warm rum cider in a hot coffee mug but its actually cold and in a martini glass. Did we mention the cinnamon sugar rim?

Really when it comes down to it, the rim makes the drink. I haven't quite figured out what was in the drink... I'm guessing apple cider or apple cider concentrate (based upon the color), some spiced rum, and judging from the golden flakes left at the bottom, Goldschlagger. Yeah - I know, right? I never would have guessed the last if not for the tale-tell evidence of my increasing bodily worth.

Regardless, it was delicious. You should get over there and try it before they change up their menu for spring.