M.I.A....The Final Excuse

Okay, so I meant to blog last Sunday.  Really, I did!  I had it all planned out.  I'd get home for my overnight trip to Portland in the early evening, have a little dinner, and still have time blog.  But I got home late from my trip and everything else just fell apart after that

Lame-O, I know.

But I promise this will be the last Sunday I miss for at least the next two months or I owe my friend Amy her pick of wine from Grocery Outlet (which I will then blog about!).

Speaking of wine, today is the first day of Grocery Outlet's 5-day, 20% off, wine sale.  I'm going to use my winnings from the Grocery Outlet "Win What You Save" drawing I won in February to stock up on wine for a special get together I'm in the process of planning, a sort of budget wine and cheese soiree for my family and friends.  I bet that will give me lots of fun things to write about!

Until Sunday...
-Kami  

M.I.A.

Opps, I was missing in action on Sunday (one of my two regular blogging days).  Actually, I wasn't missing.  I was on a mini-vacation to Portland and got back too late to blog.  My bad.  But to make up for my lameness, I'm reviewing two wines today!

The first one is a sauvignon blanc called Patianna Estate Vineyards.  I bought it because it says it's made with biodynamic grapes...I'm not sure what that means, but it sounds intriguing!  (From reading the description on the back of the bottle I deduced that biodynamic has something to do with how the grapes were grown and it's apparently good for the environment.)

Cheers to wine tasting!

Anyway, my friend Amy was over, so she got to be a taste-tester too.  I thought the wine was fine, maybe a bit tarty, but nothing particularly special about it. Amy, on the other hand, thought this wine was, "crisp like an autumn morning," and it reminded her of, "liquid Pop Rocks."  (Again, I'm not sure what that means, but it sounds intriguing!)  With that being said, if I were you, I'd give this wine a try.  It's definatly worth the $4.99 price tag.

The second wine I'm reviewing today is a pinot grigio called Queen of Hearts.  I give this company two thumbs up for great packaging!  The graphic is eye-catching (especially considering I found it the day before Valentine's day!) and I love the extra touch of printing a heart on the cork.

The wine was refreshing and easy to drink.  It wasn't too sweet and it won't overpower your meal.  This fun and tasty bottle of wine would be a great "just because" present for a friend or loved-one...especially considering it only costs $2.99 a bottle!  Pick up a bottle or two before Grocery Outlet runs out of them!


Cheers!
-Kami

Another One Finds The Drain...

I bought this bottle of red wine a few weeks ago to give to a friend as a "classy" housewarming gift (Nothin' says classy like a foreign name written in shiny, gold letters!).  It's a 2006 Zinfindel from California called Dios Triumph.  I'm happy to say though, this bottle never made it to her!

What happened to the bottle?  My good friend Amy and I decided we needed to cleanse our palates after a bad experience with a South African wine (There's A Reason Why South Africa Isn't Known For Wine Making).  We decided to switch to a red wine, and the Dios Triumph was the only one I had on hand.

Why am I happy I didn't give this bottle as a gift?  Because this was another yucky wine destined for for the drain!

Maybe it was a bad bottle, the cork did look a little weird, but I'm not going to risk trying another bottle of Dios Triumph to know for sure.  The few sips Amy and I took were more than enough for us.  You're on your own if you try this one!

Until Sunday,
Kami

There's A Reason Why South Africa Isn't Known For Wine Making

I was intrigued when I found the 2008 Fairhills South Africa Chardonnay at my local Grocery Outlet.  I had never seen a bottle of wine from South Africa, and I was eager to try it.

I liked the fact that it was Fair Trade Certified, but that's about it.

The first couple sips seemed strangely bubbly and had a sort of musky aftertaste.  Yuck.  I immediately  began to question if wanted to keep drinking it (for the sake of the blog) or if I should put it in the fridge and hope someone might stop by so I could pawn it off on them...

Enter my good friend Amy.  The poor girl was enticed to come over for some wine when I told her she could be a guest blogger.  We've been friends for over twenty-one years, but little did she know what I had in store for her.

After her first sip she declared it, "Tastes like rotten cheese, dirty socks, a barn cow with a lot of manure."

That's bad.

Against her better judgement, I convinced Bobo to give the African wine at least one more taste.  After a sip, a cough, and a sputter, a disbelieving Bobo moaned, "It gets worse.  It gets worse."

Sorry Amy.

So if you're ever at Grocery Outlet and you see this international bottle of chardonnay for $4.99, don't get it!  It may claim to be, "Embraced by the winds, Kissed by the sea, [and] Guided by the stars," but it still ended up being poured down the drain.

-Kami