South American Travels

I just got home from an amazing trip to Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. The main reasons for this trip were to visit my dear, lovely sister and to drink good wine with my dear, lovely sister! And, we definitely consumed a lot of vinho!

Somewhat ironically, the most vivid moments from my trip are those that took place over glasses of wine! I love how wine can bring you back to that very special moment in time. Three particular varietals made a lasting impression on me: Malbec rosé, Malbec, and Tannat.

1. Malbec rosé: It was my second day in Brazil, and after being at the beach all day, nothing sounded better than a nice dry, crisp, glass of wine. My sister and I ended up ordering a bottle of Malbec rosé from Argentina at this little Italian bistro in Ipamena. The wine had the color of ruby red grapefruit and the smell reminded me of strawberries and the sea. It was the perfect wine to sit and catch up with my sister whom I hadn't seen in seven months. We laughed, we cried, we drank another bottle. Enough said.
2. Malbec: It was seriously cold in Buenos Aires, and the best way to warm up was with a huge piece of red meat and a full glass of Malbec. My absolute favorite cut of meat was the Lomo. Think beef tenderloin but better, and wrapped in bacon. The meat melted in my mouth. Then after taking a sip of Malbec, I was left with a rich velvety texture that I have never experienced before. I was in a food coma and the only thing I could think was, "I just consumed some of the world's best beef and wine".

3. Tannat: A friend of my sister's recommended that we stay at this cozy bed and breakfast right outside Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay. La Casa de los Limoneros is located in the place they call the "Tuscany of Uruguay." We stayed right next to vineyards that produce the nation's most popular varietal, Tannat. Coming from California, I was excited to learn about a varietal I was completely unfamiliar with. Apparently, Tannat was brought over by the Turkish, and now Uruguay is one of the only places in the world where the varietal grows and thrives. Tannat will forever remind me of the wonderful stay we had at La Casa de los Limoneros.


I know that the next time I am able to savor my new friends--Malbec Rosé, Malbec and Tannat, I will instantly be whisked away to South America with my dear, lovely sister.

Bubbles!!!!

Yesterday after work a couple of co-workers and I stopped in at SPQR to get a glass of wine. We decided that it would be best to share a bottle, and we all agreed bubbles were the way to go! Sparkling wines are just bottles of fun waiting to happen :) First, we tasted the Coffele, Soave Spumante Brut. It was light, crisp and vesty. Something I would love to make a toast with on a special occasion. We were feeling a little more saucey so we decided on a bottle of sparkling rosé. The Col de’ Salici, Brut Rosé, Veneto NV is a blend of Prosecco, Raboso, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. It's color was beautiful, a crystal light pink. The color reminded me of a clear rose quartz--rocks you can get at gift shops in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The rosé had a nose of light strawberries and freesia. The taste was crisp, a little dry, and finished with a soft note of grapefruit. This wine is perfect for a girl's night - sitting around in pajama's while drinking and singing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"!!! We just couldn't get enough and got two more bottles to prove it....

Great wine + great friends = priceless

Introduction

I just finished an eight-week course that covered different wine regions of the world and popular varietals within each region. (Let's just say, there was a lot of information to take in and I still feel like I have so much more to learn.) Each class was divided into a lecture and then we tasted about 12 wines. Of course, I enjoyed tasting wines from all over the world, but I also learned that it's challenging to come up with creative tasting notes. Therefore, I am creating this blog to talk about wine in fun and familiar ways. Let's just say it's my approach to bring a little more life into the wine I am drinking.

So to get started, I thought it would be fun to see what I already have popped open. I am am pretty sure this wine is past it's life expectancy, since I got it from class a week ago, but why not? Let's see if there is any life left I can suck out this this 2006 Barbera:

My initial smell is dishwasher detergent. Note to self, it's a good idea to buff the glass first. Anyhoo, my second whiff after a few good swirls I get floral bouquet with a hint of light spice. I think it's giving off the floral nose because it has been in contact with to much oxygen. After tasting the wine, I can definitely tell it's been open for too long. It's a little watery and has a soft finish of over-riped huckleberrys. Unfortunately, I can't get much else out of this wine. Looking back at my notes from a week ago, I described this Barbera as "Posh Spice", spicy but the dry finish and notes of berries that made it kinda sexy and naughty. Also, I wrote that I wanted to pair it with the red pepper chicken curry from Pakwan. Obviously, this wine was much more fun and enjoyable the first time around.