Talking White Wines

Talking White Wines

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!


Fetzer Sauvignon Blanc, and A by Acacia

Fetzer Sauvignon Blanc, and A by Acacia

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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First up is Fetzer. Here’s what I know about Fetzer – it was one of the first wineries I personally visited, and therefore is close to my heart. I haven’t tried many of their expensive wines, and haven’t been there in 20 years, but still. So here goes.

Fetzer California Sauvignon Blanc, 2009 The Earth-Friendly Winery, Mendocino County  At Vons – normally $5.99, on sale for $3.99

On the Label: “In 2009, Fetzer converted all bottles to lightweight glass, reducing the bottles’ weight an average of 17%. This also reduced the carbon emissions of our bottles – the equivalent of 70,000 trees growing for ten years. While reducing the impact on the environment, we still deliver quality wine.

Pure varietal flavors of lemon, green apple, and a hint of mint are captured in this refreshing, food-friendly Sauvignon Blanc.”

At first taste: The smell is fresh, light and citrusy. The taste is also fresh and light. Still, Sauvignon Blancs are mostly a food wine. When I paired it with pasta pesto and a big garden salad, this wine really came into it’s own. The freshness of the wine deepened my appreciation of the food, and the food really pointed up the beauty of the wine.

Fetzer is a workhorse – they’ve been consistently putting out drinkable and affordable wines forever, which make them even more dear to my heart.

My Rating: ~ Drinkable – Very ~ especially due to the price! Stock up now while summer is still going strong, and for those hot days in autumn.

A By Acacia Red Blend, 2007 Sonoma, California Visit their website here. Alcohol 13.5% by volume $9.37 on sale at Vons.

On the Label: “At Acacia, we’ve been making wine since 1979. With decades of experience, we remain committed to producing the finest wines from California’s most ideal growing regions. Our A by Acacia Red Blend is made from a delightful combination of grae varietals, blended to create a truly delicious and enjoyable wine. Rich and well-balanced, the wine showcases flavors of plum, raspberry, blackberry and vanilla. If you like Pinot Noir, you’ll like our Red Blend!”

My take: Okay, full disclosure here. I love Acacia wines, and have ever since I was introduced to their 1997 Pinot Noir. Acacia wines have, sadly, gone out of my price range. (A quick check of their website shows one bottle for $24, one for $25, a whole bunch for over $30, and a few over $70. Gulp.) So imagine my pleasure when I found this one for under $10! It is definitely one of my new go-to wines.

At my first taste, I fell in love. The wine is rich and has depth, and would be terrific to sip while having a relaxing conversation about existentialism next to a fire simmering in the fireplace. Instead, for dinner I paired it with a baked eggplant parmesan, garden salad and garlic bread, and it complemented the meal beautifully.

I just recently bought another bottle of A by Acacia, and it was below $9 on special at Vons. Just in case you wanted to know.

My Rating: ~ Stay away! This is MY wine, you slut! ~ No, seriously. Get your own.

Remember, the above is my opinion based upon my taste buds, which can act up depending upon how much sleep I’ve gotten, how many times I’ve typed “water level” or “groundwater” that day, and whether or not the novel is close to being finished. Your taste buds will vary.

~ 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?