by Christine | Wine Friday
In these days of high unemployment and global financial crisis, it’s nice to relax with a bottle of wine that doesn’t break your pocketbook. I’m here to sort out the memorable from the truly awful, and each bottle is under $10. Please note, however, that the prices I quote are what I paid at my local store; your pricing will probably differ.
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I’ve got empty wine bottles all over my desk; I guess it’s time to get cracking on a couple more blog posts! So today, I’m focusing on the whites I’ve had. The temperatures here in Southern California have been going up – then they dropped a bit, but as usual in September, they’re headed back up. So here are some whites to cool you off when the temperatures outside soar.
Kenwood Vineyards, Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Sonoma County, 13.5% alcohol by volume. Check out their website . $10.00; on sale at Vons for $8.99.
On the Label: “Sauvignon Blanc continues to be Kenwood’s most popular wine. This refreshing wine is superb as an aperitif and excellent with seafood, pasta and poultry dishes.”
My take: I totally agree. This is a refreshing, crisp and tasty wine that won’t break your pocket book. We had it with a roasted chicken (I’ve GOT to tell that story!), broccoli and rice and it was fabulous. I have a long-standing affection for the Kenwood label, and was thrilled to find one within my price range. On their website, Kenwood is promoting their 2010 Sauvignon Blanc which apparently comes with a screw-top. The wine I had was a 2009, and had a cork.
My Rating: ~ Very, very drinkable ~ I should stock up on a few bottles.
~ Now my roasted chicken story. I’d purchased a nice, fat, fresh chicken for roasting the next day, quite forgetting that I was a working girl. That next afternoon, as the clock crept toward five, then five thirty, I totally regretted not being able to walk my son through prepping the chicken over the phone.
So when I got home that night, I dragged my first born into the kitchen. “I need you to be able to roast a chicken. Consider it good training for when you’re on your own,” I said. “Take the chicken out of the package. Then take out all the giblets. Now rinse the chicken really well.”
He did all that, with a slightly distracted look on his face. Earlier, I’d wrestled with dug out a roasting pan. “Now, plop the chicken into the pan. Good. You don’t want a pan too big, or it’ll dry the chicken out too fast. Here,” and I thrust two lemons into his hands. “Cut these in half, and stick them into the cavity. Oh, wash your hands. And the lemons.” He did, still not saying much, and stuck them into the cavity.
“Now what?” He leaned against the counter, looming over me, all long, curly hair and reddish goatee, looking like a poet who belonged wandering the Pacific Northwest.
“Now separate the skin from the breast, like this.” I showed him how to create that pocket between the skin and the meat. He did the other side. “Now, stick as much dried tarragon as you can, spreading it out, under each side of the breast.” It took some doing, but he got it done.
“Sprinkle the whole thing with salt and pepper. Add two cups of chicken stock to the pan, put it into a 350 degree oven, and let it roast for two to two and a half hours. Baste every 2o minutes if you remember to; that’ll help keep the chicken nice and moist. If we had more time, I’d say keep the temp at 300 degrees and roast for three to three and a half hours, but we don’t have that kind of time.”
The chicken in the oven, I dismissed my kitchen help, poured myself a glass of the Kenwood and relaxed, knowing dinner was all but done. We ate by 8:30, not bad timing for our family, and the chicken turned out, according to my husband, “surprisingly good”. The best part? Now my eldest son knows how to roast a chicken, for the next time I’m running late and there’s a whole hen in the fridge.
Rodney Strong Chardonnay 2008 Sonoma County alcohol 13.8% by volume $13.99 regular price $9.99 on sale at Vons
On the Label: “Our 2008 Sonoma County chardonnay displays lemon and apple aromas with hints of toasty oak, pear and pineapple. It was grown in cooler areas of Sonoma COunty, where Rod Strong was among the first to plant chardonnay in the gravelly soils just twenty miles from the Pacific Ocean.
Rodney Strong Vineyards is deeply committed to being Green. We are the first carbon neutral winery in Sonoma County, we practice sustainable and fish friendly farming and use soalr power to produce our wine. To learn more, please visit www.rodneystrong.com/green . Place matters.”
My take: I really enjoyed this wine. It’s another winery I am fond of, having visited there in the 1980s. This Chardonnay has a nice balance of fruit and oak – not heavy on the oak, but definitely adding flavor there. You can’t go wrong with a Rodney Strong product, in my opinion. This is a wine I’d buy even if it weren’t on sale, especially if I were having a special dinner or a celebration.
My Rating: ~ Very, very drinkable ~
Okay, one more…
Beringer Pinot Grigio, 2009 California Collection alcohol 13.0% by volume. Visit their website. $6.49; on sale for $3.99 at Vons.
On the Label: “This carefully crafted wine has bright aromas of tropical fruit drenched by the California sun. It is lively and refreshing. If you enjoy our Pinot Grigio, make sure to try our Chardonnay. Serve chilled.”
My take: Fabulous sipping wine. At $4 a bottle, it beats the pants off a lot of other, more expensive Pinot Grigios. It doesn’t need food to make it sing, but it also complements food quite nicely. This is almost the perfect summer sipping-by-the-pool wine. Even at its regular price, it’s a terrific deal.
My Rating: ~ Very Drinkable ~ Pick up a few bottles of this before the price goes up!
As usual, this is just my honest opinion and depends entirely upon the weather, if I got enough sleep, how many proposals I retyped that day, and what cycle the moon is in. Your taste buds will differ.
~ Until the next time, cheers – and remember to drink responsibly! ~
Demon Soul is available for the Kindle and the Nook! Go and buy it now, lol!
by Christine | Wine Friday
In these days of high unemployment and global financial crisis, it’s nice to relax with a bottle of wine that doesn’t break your pocketbook. I’m here to sort out the memorable from the truly awful, and each bottle is under $10.
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My head is still spinning from the work-week (I’m EMPLOYED! YAY!), so I’m dipping into the wine archives (my little black book, where I put down my impressions of wine and etcetera) that I haven’t already written about. It’s a bit of a grab bag – I’m never sure what I’ll find in the depths of the book, but I guarantee it’ll be interesting.
Folie a Deux Zinfandel, 2008 Amador County Regularly $16.99, on sale at Vons for $9.99. Alcohol 14.5% by volume…website here.
On the Label: “Soft and smooth, this Zinfandel offers aromas of plum and cherry with just a hint of pepper and spice. This wine is an ideal pour with almost any meat entree, from haute cuisine to barbecue.”
First taste: Oh yeah, bay-bee! Spot on to the label. It’s got a BIG alcohol content though, so be careful! The plum, cherry, pepper and spice are all there, and it’s got that big flavor that I love. I served this with a thick vegetable/chicken stew Italian-style with tons of added garlic. Plus some rosemary bread. The wine paired perfectly with the meal, and it was a wonderful, congenial, warming evening.
My Rating: ~Stay away! This is MY wine, you slut!~
Folie a Deux also has the Menage label, which are blended wines. I remember being enthralled with a couple of their white wine blends, but it’s been awhile so I really must do another tasting, yes? Hmmm…
Triada Malbec 2010 Wine of Argentina / La Rioja Two bottles for $10 at
Walgreens, Scottsdale, Arizona ~ 12.5% alcohol by volume ~ screwtop (That was in June – don’t know if the wine is still available at that price.)
The label: “Medium bodied, juicy red with soft red fruit aromas and flavors. Delicious glass of smooth juicy pleasure. This wine is best served at 65 degrees F. Once opened, it will remain in good condition for up to two days if resealed and stored in a cool place.”
Okay. We were in Arizona to see family, and whenever my brother-in-law and I get together, we like drinking wine. Whatever time of day it may happen to be. He’d seen this wine advertised and chilled it – way below 65 degrees F, but you know? The wine NEEDED to be chilled.
That said, it was as claimed – a juicy pleasure. Not something I’d reach for if I had another choice, but on a HOT day in Scottsdale in June, with all the stresses that accompany seeing elderly family members, that wine hit the spot. I won’t deny that my pleasure in the wine had everything to do with Dave (the BIL).
My Rating ~ Drinkable ~ especially when chilled.
It does, however, bring up a point. You never know where you’ll find a good bottle of wine (okay, a DRINKABLE bottle of wine) for a very good price. And every now and then, especially when the heat kicks your ass, chilling that bottle of red can be a wonderful thing (especially if it’s an inexpensive bottle). So keep your eyes open, and check out the drug store, the dollar store, and other stores that just may have something drinkable around for a price that won’t make your wallet weep.
As usual, this is just my honest opinion and depend upon my mood, the weather, and what cycle the moon is in. Your taste buds will differ.
~ Until the next time, cheers – and remember to drink responsibly! ~
Demon Soul is available for the Kindle and the Nook! Have you read it yet?
by Christine | Life, Writing
It happened like this. I was preparing for our vacation the day before we left. I’d been running errands all day, dashing hither, hopping yon, and it was a hot day so I was in lime green shorts, a black tee shirt, and a fine layer of sweat.
I’d just gotten back from my umpteenth shopping trip when the phone rang. It was a very good friend of mine. Here’s how the conversation went down.
“Hi Christine. Do you still need a job?”
“Um. Yeah. I guess so.” (Wary – I love my girlfriend, but sometimes…)
“Then take down this number. Call him right now. He needs someone right away as his secretary is retiring.”
Now my brain is kicking in gear. “Where are they, what do they do, how much do they pay, yada yada?”
“They’re in my building, five geologists who deal with water, $XX, and they’re all really nice guys. They’d be thrilled to have someone like you.”
Decision time. Even with a broken leg, I do need a job and I don’t want to go back to retail.
“Give me the number. By the way, I have a broken leg.”
*shrieks* *gives me the number* “Call RIGHT NOW.”
“Okay, okay. I’m calling.” I hang up. Sheesh. It’s two-something on a hot Friday afternoon. After fortifying myself with a cup of coffee, I call the number and am soon connected.
“Hi. My name is Christine, and my friend T. told me to call you about a job opening.”
“Wow Christine. I just got back upstairs from talking to her.”
*Cut – we did a lot of jabbering about the job, and about my quals. I tell him about the broken leg, and that I’m going on vacation the next day, but if he wants to see me this afternoon I’d come down, lime green shorts, sweat and all. He agrees.*
So I print out the resume, wash my face, and head on out. To Studio City. A 40 minute drive. Once I get there, I can see what my friend meant when she said it was a cozy place – a smattering of offices, conference room, tiny kitchen and bathrooms. Barely big enough to swing a cat in, but still, nice with a buzz of busy.
The interview goes well. What REALLY makes my day are the huge empty wine bottles (jeraboam (sp) size, I think) scattered around the office. We knock off all the important stuff about the job and then settle into a wine discussion, and one about chocolate, and how every now and then he has “seminars” on Friday afternoons involving cheese, crackers, and one bottle of wine shared out amongst whomever is in the office…
When I left, we were mutually delighted with each other. While I was on vacation, I heard from my references that they’d been contacted that Monday; on Tuesday I received a call asking me to come in on Monday the 15th for a second interview. My girlfriend T told me to be prepared to stay all day.
Upshot? I walked in Monday, we zipped through all the info, he made me a job offer, and I started working that same morning. As day jobs go, I landed a beauty.
I haven’t had a steady, 8-5, M-F job since – Um…2001??? BEFORE I became a writer. The challenge now will be grabbing the time to write, and not letting that part of my life just slip away. It means too much to me now.
I guess I need to study for my Super Writer Powers of Time Manipulation…
Tomorrow is Friday, so another wine blog is coming your way. Cheers all, and remember – drink responsibly!
by Christine | Life, Wine Friday
Hi, y’all. I’m on vacation. And I’m tasting wines. Lots of them. All under $10 – okay, I lied. I’m taking some winery wines with me, so not all of them are under $10, but a whole lot of them are.
We’re going camping – yep, even Ms. Broken Leg here. Up to Mammoth Mountain. As a matter of fact, when this gets posted, I’ll be headed home. Sigh…hate to leave the place…
But when I come back, I’ll have lots to talk about and lots of wine to share. And if I get a chance (read: internet connection) to update you, I will, I swear. In the meantime, there are books to write, chipmunks to blast with the super soaker 5000, and wine to sip by the fire.
Not to mention, getting myself lost in the night sky. There are so many stars visible up at that altitude that it fills me with wonder. And tonight the Perseid meteor shower should hit.
Update: Because of the nefarious hackers who cyber-raped me yesterday, I’ve got an update on a wine for you.
Firefly Ridge Syrah 2008 Central Coast (Livermore and Ripon) Alcohol 13.5% by volume. $9.99 on sale at Vons.
On the Label: “Our wines are a symbolic tribute to the mysterious and romantic firefly. The firefly’s brilliant luminescence is reflected in each vintage of Firefly Ridge wines.
“Firefly Ridge Syrah is a smooth red wine with exotic aromas and flavors of blackberry, spice and pepper. Velvety tannins, a hint of smoke and long, spicy finish make this an ideal pairing to grilled steaks or hearty pastas. This Syrah is delicious now or can be put down for up to 5 years to develop additional complexity.
My take: Definitely smooth. It goes well with campfire smoke, the sounds of a guitar, and sons squabbling good-naturedly as they play horseshoes. This bottle, however, was destined for great things.
I took a glass to the hubby to sip between songs. His eyes lit up, however, and he proceeded to transfer all the wine from the bottle to a plastic water bottle. The neck fit his finger – he was eyeing it as a potential slide for his cigar box guitar, as he’d left all his own slides at home.
(To break the neck of a wine bottle: douse approximately 7 inches of twine in lighter fluid. Wrap twine tightly around neck of bottle, tie off. Light the twine on fire, and twist bottle to make sure all the twine is burned and the bottle heated. When the flame goes out, dunk bottle into bucket of cold water for up to 2 minutes. If it cracks, good for you! If not, the bottle won.)
The bottle broke, instead of the neck coming off smoothly; and so we drank the wine in homage to the lost bottle. Being in plastic did nothing to mar the wonderful flavor. We had it with chicken-apple sausages, roasted potatoes with onion, and green beans.
My Rating: ~Very Drinkable~
So, summer’s almost over and I’m finally getting a vacation. If you want more of me today, head on over to Flirty Author Bitches and see my post, also hitting today. You’ll find out just why my family hates chipmunks.
Peace out people, and remember – drink responsibly!
~ Have you read DEMON SOUL yet? Head on over to Crescent Moon Press and pick up your copy today! ~
by Christine | Wine Friday
As usual, I’m here tasting cheap wines so you don’t have to. I’ve got a couple of winners below – white wine drinkers, rejoice!
With a broken leg, I treated myself and the family to more salmon sausages for dinner. Pre-dinner, however, the hubby and I needed a booster shot – and we decided to sip a wine we hadn’t heard of before.
Ironstone Obsession – Symphony 2010 Ironstone Vineyards, American Canyon – Napa Valley, California. Alcohol 12.5% by volume. $11.99 regular price, $6.99 on sale at Vons – they’re pimping it on an end cap.
On The Label: “For four generations, sustainable viticulture and farming have been our way of life. Our family invites you to share a glass of this seductively aromatic, refreshing Obsession Symphony wine. Symphony is a modern grape variety which began development in 1948, in California. It is a cross between a Muscat of Alexandria and Grenache Gris. The first wines made from this grape were declared they showed “a symphony of aromas and flavors,” which is evident with the first taste.
“This delightful wine is at its best when served fresh and youthful. We like to have a glass on its own, but it is an incredible accompaniment to any spicy dish or summer salads.”
Since the label mentioned Muscat, I decided this would be a good before-dinner drink – and am not disappointed. The flavor of Muscat is strong and lovely, a nicely grapey taste that I don’t often get in a white wine. Better? It’s very faintly sweet – reminiscent of a true Muscat wine, but not overpoweringly, gaggingly sweet. Which makes it a perfect summer sipper, in my book. It is also, very faintly, effervescent. Not a sparkling wine, but it has a lively zing to it that would, I expect, go very well with Thai or Chinese foods, or crisp salads. Perfect for ladies and gents who lunch under a summer umbrella, shading them from the heat of the sun.
Unfortunately, since I’d just brought the wine home, it wasn’t chilled. So I poured it in a short glass over a few ice cubes – and it was lovely. Run, don’t walk, and get a couple of bottles of this for pure summer enjoyment.
The hubby likes it, too, and has approved purchase of this wine to take camping with us. Huzzah!
My Rating: ~ Very, Very Drinkable!~ I have yet to find a white that inspires the slut in me. But this came extremely close!
Regarding Salmon Sausages…
While I was there today, walking awkwardly in my boot, I talked to the lovely owner of OceanFresh (who I recognize by sight but, alas, always manage to forget his name), and told him of my pimping out his salmon sausages in my blog a few weeks back. He told me he’d been getting calls from all over, wanting him to send the delectable items. I believe he’s working on that. I do know that they were such a hit that first weekend, they are a staple now at the fish counter – YAY! PLUS, they’re still $5.99 a pound. Folks, what a deal – sausage that’s GOOD for you! Plus it’s one of the tastiest ways to cook salmon – in the casing, it stays nice and moist.
Recipe for Salmon Sausage: 1 per person. With a fork, poke the sausages three times on one side, then three times on the other. Put all the salmon sausages in a frying pan large enough to hold them all (or two pans). Add 2 tlb water per two sausages, squeeze half a lemon over all if you wish; put heat on medium low, and cover. Cook for 5 minutes, watching pan every now and then. After 5 minutes, take the cover off and continue to cook, allowing the water to cook off. Brown sausages until desired color.
Remove, and eat. Yum! I pair this with smashed potatoes and green beans, plus the wine highlighted below.
My Rating: ~Stay away! These are MY salmon sausages, you slut!~ Seriously. If you live in Simi Valley, or the San Fernando Valley, and you HAVEN’T come out and tried these, you’re a fool. Those of you who live more than an hour away are exempted from this pronouncement.
Kenwood Chardonnay 2009 Sonoma County 13.5% alcohol by volume. Regularly $13.99, but cut to $8.99 for fast sale (?!!) at Vons.
On the label: “This Chardonnay is made with fruit grown in select cool climate vineyards. The wine was partially barrel-fermented in small oak barrels and aged on its lees, giving it an appealing balance of fruit and oak.”
From the website, more informative than the label: “Combining grapes from the cool climate regions of southern Sonoma Valley and the Russian River Valley, Kenwood’s Sonoma County Chardonnay nicely balances the classic fruit flavors of this varietal with subtle notes of French oak aging. Fruit aromas of Pippin apples and Meyer lemon combine with gingerbread and vanilla notes, lush and viscous mouth feel with a crisp mineral quality to the finish.”
First off, I must confess I love Kenwood. That’s all wrapped up with the 1980’s and the guys I worked with (see My Wine Credentials, to the right), plus going to Sonoma and visiting the winery way back when. So I am predisposed to LOVE Kenwood wines.
So…it’s all there. The fruit. The Meyer lemon. (For my money, there is no other lemon. Meyer is king.) Okay, maybe the gingerbread is missing, lol…but the subtle oak is there. Is this a huge Chardonnay? No. Is it deep, fruity, with oak and a nice finish? Absolutely. The French oak is the perfect touch. THIS is the under $10 bottle of Chardonnay I’ve been looking for – and Von’s is dumping it? WTH? Okay. So I go back tomorrow and pick up a couple more bottles. I can handle that. Summer, after all, is half over.
My Rating: ~Very, Very Drinkable!~ Again, it’s not a heart-tugger. It doesn’t convert me to slut status. But it’s close!
Remember, these are my opinions based upon the phases of the moon, which bone is currently broken, and whether my cat is by my side or not. Your taste buds will undoubtedly vary. Please drink responsibly!
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Have you read DEMON SOUL yet? You can find it at Crescent Moon Press or Amazon.com. Happy Reading!
