IWhen you're having a bad day, it doesn't hurt to wine about it

[akashiver]

Can I just say how much I like Saraha Mart's wine section? I had a lengthy chat earlier today with the guy who works there and learned not only about some good wines, but also about the papal wine politics of 1408, the German response to the 19C "year without a summer," and the color of rosados. It made me want to put together a presentation / winetasting session on spatial politics and European wine making at the next NASSR conference. One of these days.

I also wanted to put together a quick review of the $10 ish wines I've tried recently. Caveat: I know nothing about wine. I just know what I like, and it's not grape juice.

Juno (South Africa) CS/Merlot 2007 - really good. I bought it to go with Haggard's "She," what with the African Queens and all.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen (Spain) - Jumilla 2006 - Bought to go with Pride and Prejudice. Straight out of the bottle it's not so hot - not bad, but lacking in flavor. Given time to breathe the taste rounds out quite a bit.

Evil (Australia) CS 2006 - Bought to go with evil. A good, solid wine.

Vampire Merlot (California) 2006 - Best served with vampires. A very sharp wine out of the bottle, but after breathing it's decent. Of the two horror-themed wines, go with Evil.

Yeah, I'll do more of these later, because I really should get back to work. Any wine recommendations would be much appreciated though.

Comments

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

I just know what I like, and it's not grape juice.

You can't actually support that unless you've had the grape juice these wines are made from, else you're comparing Concord grape juice to wine grape wine. Having had Pinot Noir and Gerwertschameiner (sp) juices... they're quite good. No one seems to carry them, though.

[akashiver.livejournal.com]

When I say "grape juice" I mean horrible, horrible wines that are over-sugared to hide their poor quality and fail at both being wines and at being grape juice. Like Sky Dog red wine, may it rot in hell.

[ombriel.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommedations!