My most recent vacation was a long weekend spent in Minneapolis, MN, and . . . it was pretty awesome. I have driven through the southern portion of middle America, but I had never actually been there for a vacation before—yes, that means I’ve been bi-coastal only. I couldn’t have ended up with a better
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Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Rose 2009 Napa Valley, CA It’s a gorgeous soft gold and pink rose color. Smells pleasingly of artificial raspberry flavoring—-this is not a bad smell; think of Chapstick or Fun Dips. The wine’s taste, however, has almost no character whatsoever. It’s very thin-bodied. Raspberry and strawberry notes flee so fast you’ll
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Press releases are running rampant lately! Triangle Restaurant Week is nearly here, and we’ve both a huge wine event coming up in February and the opening of a new butcher’s shop in April. First up, dining! The 4th Triangle Restaurant Week will run from 1/24 to 1/30, which has moved up to January from March
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2 Copas Red 2009 Mendoza, Argentina The spice of this tempranillo and malbec blend comes on too strongly at first but quickly mellows as I drink it (isn’t that somehow always the case?) Raspberries and strawberries round out that very spicy profile, which may be extra strong because it tastes young. Cardamom and vanilla come
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Darien Tempranillo 2008 Riojo Logrono, Spain This Spanish red rises to the roof of my mouth right away. There’s some pucker for sure, too much for me. I taste orange, currant, and leafy bitter greens. I don’t like drinking it; it’s not full enough or balanced enough for me. No nose to speak of.

Alexander & Fitch 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley, CA This red was really dense on first sip, with lots of chocolate, spice, and fruit. Those are all things that are good. The nose had the same qualities, except there was a light element of menthol as well. It was tart but in that great, jam-like
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Black Opal Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 Southeastern Australia Nose: Plum and spice—most notably, paprika. The spice definitely comes to the forefront when tasting, but it’s much more peppery, though the paprika is still there. For fruit, there’s raspberry and prune, with some of the dense molasses-type of sugar that comes with that dried plum, but not
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Wine: Taylor Marsala Region: Finger Lakes, New York The color of this dessert wine is fantastic. It’s like looking at a blood red rose, with a copper hue around its edges.  It smells like port, with rich, dense, scents of overripe peach and tamarind. The flavor is smooth and definitely has peach notes, but the
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Sarah Findle, with the Frankie Lemmon Foundation, sent me an e-mail to let me know about the Triangle Wine Experience 2010, thinking it would be an event right up my alley. She was right! Unfortunately, I’m going to be out of town that weekend, so you all need to go and enjoy yourselves on my
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Wine: Cribari Cellars California Madeira Region: California This is my first madeira, which I accidentally bought instead of marsala for a recipe. My quick googling informs me that Madeira is a fortified sherry wine with some Muscatel thrown in and is used as a dessert and cooking wine. It’s heated up to reproduce oxidation that
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