October 2011
12 posts
Cheap Wine - #3 Las Rocas Granacha 2007
It’s Friday night and after a few “cheap”, but unknown wines to me, I think a more familiar wine is due. Tonight Las Rocas Granacha 2007 is swiped from my wine rack and gets center stage to cap off the work week. Though this wine registers $9.99, I still think it fits in the “cheap wine” category because of the Quality to Price Ratio (QPR). At least that’s...
3 tags
Cheap Wine - #2 Monte Campo Montepulciano...
Being a resident of the GREAT state of New Jersey I must admit that my wine tastes fly in the face of many of my Garden State brethren. Yes, I do not drink a lot of Italian wine. There, I said it! In my area, a Fiasco of Chianti is often accepted while a great bottle of Chinon is sneered at. So get in the spirit, I have another cheap bottle of wine; Monte Campo Montepulciano D’Abruzzo...
5 tags
Cheap Wine - #1 Vina Borgia Granacha 2010
I know the polite way to classify this category would be to say inexpensive, value or “everyday”, but cheap is appropriate. I’ll save those other descriptors for better wine. I figure there is a time and place for the cheap stuff. Desperation is top of the list. A close second would be a late night, “we’re already bombed but we should actually have a night cap...
4 tags
Basil Hayden: Small Batch for a Big Win
There are a few things in life I take seriously, and I think most of them would be filed under “silly” by most reasonable people. In no particular order it goes like this; Wine, Whiskey, East Carolina Football and family. Yes, it is silly, but true none the less. On Saturdays throughout the Fall my mood is definitely predicated on my relationship with these four things. Today is...
3 tags
Girard Russian River Chardonnay
It is a rainy and chilly night in NJ and in my infinite wisdom I stared down on a bottle of Chardonnay in the bottom of my fridge and said “you’re next”. I guess that’s how simple the wine selection process goes here at Vintage Troy! The choice is Girard Chardonnay to be precise and it’s a 2007 from the Russian River Valley. The Russian River Valley is in Sonoma...
3 tags
Pinot Noir: My Three Sons agree, it's MacMurray...
In the endless search to find good wine there are so many choices. This time around I grab a bottle of 2007 MacMurray Ranch Russian River Pinot Noir. Yes that is MacMurray, as in actor Fred MacMurray from “My Three Sons” fame. Actor, rancher and patriarch of a California wine company, pretty impressive resume but what about the wine? Not sure if this gets an Emmy, Certified Angus...
3 tags
Cocktail craziness: The Dill-icious
So the NY Times article on Vinegar in cocktails prompted a friend to post on Facebook about her desire to calculate the mass percent of the acid in the drinks with her Chemistry class. That sounds cool but I don’t speak Chemist very well, but it stirred my memory. I created a cocktail with vinegar in it! It’s called a Dill-icious and it was a big hit especially with pickle lovers!...
5 tags
Domaine de Gournier Merlot:
Back in a groove for wine. After an extended hiatus I feel it’s fitting to bring back a recently malinged but classic varietal, Merlot. Ok it’s not Pomerol, hecks it’s not even Napa or Bordeaux. I’m rocking 2008 Domaine Gournier Merlot- Vin de Pays Cevennes. Today is a week day and I’m going value pricing.
Color: This is a 2008 and the brightness is fading....
3 tags
Perrier-Jouët "Pops"
It’s not everyday in a wino’s life when a mundane Monday can be transcended into a celebration. Well that happened last night at Park Avenue Club in Florham Park, NJ. The occasion was a 200th Anniversary celebration for Perrier-Jouët replete with Chef du Cave, Herve Deschamps!
The night was a strolling cocktail party with tasting stations around the beautiful restored barn that is...
