Hunt for a Delicious Red Part 2 | A Taste of South Africa

Hey friends,

I was looking for some new red wines to try and I found these. The prices were amazing as well so I had no reason to give them a try.  They both had twist off tops which at first alarmed me slightly, but not too much.Twist off cap wine doesn't seem to have that stigma like it used to. Honestly, if it brings down the price of the wine, I'm all for it, as long as it taste good!

Wild Girl Sweet Red, regular price $14.99, on sale for 2/$10 (12% alcohol) - A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot make this a bright red wine with fruity flavors. While it was fruity in general, I had a hard time picking up specific flavors in the wine. It was to muddled to tell what's in it.  I drank this with a slight chill on it. The wine was in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes prior to drinking it. I also left it open for a few minutes before pouring as well.  It was gorgeous in the glass, but overall all it was decent. I drank it both on it's own and with pizza.  While it was good by itself, found it a too sweet for pizza.  Will I purchase this again? Unlikely, especially for the regular sticker price of $14.99.

Jam Jar Sweet Shiraz, regular price $11.99, on sale for $8.99 (12% alcohol) - Clearly this is a Shiraz, hence the name of the wine. This is a sweeter wine but yet very palatable. It's not overly sweet and I found this very easy to drink alone and with some salty snacks like popcorn or dips and chips. It was very good and really middle of the road when it came to the heaviness of it.  I could also see drinking this with savory food.  I drank this with a slight chill and it was perfect.  Same as the previous wine, it was in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Will I Purchase this again? Absolutely!

If I had to compare the two, Jam Jar's Sweet Shiraz was better. The flavor was more pronounced and didn't seem as sweet, I'm thinking that it comes down to my discovery that enjoy Syrah/Shiraz wines better than blended reds. We'll see, I'll keep trying more reds until I find a favorite.

Have you tried any South African wines? If you found one or two that you enjoy, please share!

~Tamara

Books and Wine | Second Annual Wine Pairing Event - Chocolate & Wine Edition

Hey friends,

I had a blast indulging in chocolate and wine yesterday.  Great conversation. Great wine. Great Chocolate.

Last year we paired a coursed meal and wine. This year our book club founder and organizer decided to pair only chocolate and wine instead of a full spread. She did an outstanding job organizing and selecting the chocolates and wine. Her table was so cute and had an Tuscan feel to it. I recommend this type of themed event, it was a great experience.

We tried three Lindt chocolates; white chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and dark chocolate with caramel bits and a touch sea salt and six wines; three white and three red.   There were also french bread, green apples and three cheese options: Brie, Parmesan and Gouda. These additional items really helped with not only cleansing the pallet, but also were wonderful with several of the wines.

Unlike last year's wine event book selection, a majority of us enjoyed the book this time. Which lead to some fun and lively conversation.

Back to the tasting, my favorites by far were the two dark chocolate selections with the last two red wines. They tasted amazing together.

Review time! What did I think of the chocolates and wines?  Here's my run down. Let's start with the wines. They are in the order that we tasted them.

1. Stella Mia Moscato d'Asti - This is one seriously sweet wine.  With a low 5.5% alcohol level and calorie count on the side of the bottle, this wasn't very appealing to me. It was so sweet that in my opinion, it didn't taste good with either the cheese or the white chocolate and was my least favorite. This may be a fun wine non-wine drinkers or those that just like really sweet wines. Regular price $13.99 | Sale price $8.99.

2. Chateau Ste. Michelle Harvest Select Sweet Riesling - It's crisp and refreshing. While at 10.5%, this wine is still sweet, but not over powering.  I could drink this just because. No food required.  Unlike the last wine, this was good with the Brie cheese, not so much with the white chocolate. On a side note, while I didn't think this was overly sweet when I first tasted it, I did find it extremely sweet after I came back and drank more of this after the other dryer wines.  Regular price $11.99 (not on sale).

3. The Naked Grape Chardonnay - This a middle of the road wine. Not sweet but not utterly dry either. This wine was paired with milk chocolate. I'm not fan of white wine and milk chocolate. I prefer the Gouda and french bread with it.  The wine went wonderfully with that. This is also a great wine for a light meal. I probably wouldn't drink this on it's own. Regular price $10.99 | Sale price $6.99

4. Mark West Pinot Noir - This wine was also paired with milk chocolate. This was my 2nd least favorite wine. It wasn't horrible, but it also didn't really meld with the chocolate.  The Parmesan did cut the dryness a bit, which made it more palatable.  On the flip side, I do think this would be better with heavier food, like a burger.  Regular price $14.99 | Sale price $9.89

5. Robert Mondabi Private Selection Cabernet Sauvignon - This was a pretty heavy and intense wine. I found that the oak flavor was very strong, and being that I don't enjoy a lot of oak, I found this hard to drink on it's own. Luckily I did really enjoy this with the dark chocolates. The dark chocolates really saved this wine. This would be another wine that I wouldn't drink alone, but maybe it would be good with some lamb.
Regular price $15.49 | Sale Price $8.99

6. Layer Cake Shiraz - The Shiraz was pretty good. There was an light oak flavor, but not too much. I wouldn't have even thought to pick this one up on my own, but it really is amazing with the dark chocolates. It was so good with them that I didn't even bother trying the wine with cheese. While it is a very dry wine coming in at 14.9% alcohol, it was very smooth.  I would never serve this as a sipping wine, but I would with an Italian, heavier meal with red meat or polar oppositely, as dessert with really good dark chocolate.
Regular price $17.49 | Sale price $13.49

Now onto the chocolates!

1. Lindt White Chocolate - I don't eat much white chocolate. Not that I don't like it per say, it's just really sweet for my taste. While this chocolate was smooth and rich, I didn't find that it was a peanut butter and jelly pairing with wine.  I preferred the cheeses with both the wines paired with it.

2. Lindt Milk Chocolate - We tried one white and one red with this chocolate. In full disclosure, I haven't liked milk chocolate since high school. It's extremely sweet and didn't really pop with either of the two wines selected for it.

3. Lindt Dark Chocolate - Simple, smooth and delicious. I'm a dark chocolate fan, so this was right up my alley.The chocolate was very tasty with both the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Shiraz.

4. Lindt Excellence Dark Chocolate Caramel with a touch of Sea Salt - Personally, I felt that this chocolate was the star of the show. The crunch of the caramel was a nice surprise. I expected a smooth caramel, but I enjoyed the bits throughout. It really melded well with the lightly sprinkled sea salt.  The chocolate was amazing and was a perfect pair with both the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Shiraz. The sharp sweetness of the caramel and salt really cut the dryness of the wines and brought out the grapes. Just amazing.

Have you ever tried chocolate with wine? If so, what's your favorite combination?

Bon appetit!
~Tamara

My Hunt For A Delecious Red

I've always wanted to love red wine, but so far it's been a goal I have yet to achieve. I've tried a few different ones here and there and I've discovered that I like the sweeter ones. Not the reds that taste like grape juice, but a nice, mild sweeter taste. Since I had an extended weekend over Thanksgiving I thought that would be the perfect time to try out a few more reds. Needless to say I had a great time drinking wine over the course of 5 days!

First up is Sweet Red Wine by Sweet Bliss Winery. I purchased this from Meijer on sale for $7.99. I believe the regular price was $10.99.  The alcohol is 12.5% by volume.  It was nicely sweet and was pretty good.  It was balanced and not overly sweet. It's described as having a ripe red fruit and subtle toasted oak with deep cherry flavors  I could taste the oak, but it didn't bother me like it usually would. Most times, I try to stay away from wines made in oak.

Second up, also purchased at Meijer, is Voluptuous Sweet Temptation, by St.Clair Winery.  I purchased it for $8.99 on sale.   The alcohol per volume is 12%.   Based on their website, where you can purchase it for $10, Meijer has clearly marked this price way up with their regular price of $12.99.  Hopefully this will always be on sale for $8.99, because this was my favorite of the three!  This wine was sweet, fruity and smooth.  With flavors like plump raspberries stacked with tart cherries and sweet strawberries it's perfect to just drink alone. Which I did.  I was skeptical at first because I don't care for raspberries, but I loved this wine. I actually couldn't even taste raspberries specifically.  Side note: I also bought the Voluptuous Mascato to take to my in-laws house for Thanksgiving, and that was wonderful too!

Lastly I tried Rebel Red, by Middle Sister. I purchased this wine from Kroger at $9.99, regular price of $12.99.  It had aromas of plums, blueberries, and blackberries with a dollop of crème de cassis. I did in fact like this wine, but it was my least favorite.  I wanted to see if I would like a little dryer red.  This actually had the highest alcohol level of 13.6%.  And, as expected, it was absolutely not the sweetest.  It was the driest and least enjoyable.  Not bad, just not delicious.

What I learned was spot on. The higher the alcohol content the drier the wine.  Check out this page for some good information.  Wines 12.5 percent and above are considered "dry" wines.  So, in a nutshell, I probably will stick to red wines in the 10.5%-12% range.

What kind of red wine do you like? Care to recommend any to me?

Bethenny Frankel's Skinny Girl White Cranberry Cosmo

I couldn't resist... I had to try another Skinny Girl beverage. Blame it on me watching Bethenny's show!

This drink tastes a little bit odd to me.  The bottle is pretty,  but the Cosmo wasn't good or bad.  It was a little too tangy for my tastes.  The flavor wasn't really cranberry either. Unfortunately I don't know how to describe what it taste like.

I certainly didn't get even the slightest buzz from drinking half the bottle!  Don't get me wrong,  I'm no lush so I should have been seriously buzzed...but I got nothing. 

Bottom line,  I'm done with the Skinny Girl drinks!  For good this time!

Bethenny Frankel's Skinny Girl Margarita

After watching Bethenny talk about this Skinny Girl Margarita week after week on her Bravo reality show I really wanted to see what all the hype was about. Turns out this stuff is hard to find in Michigan. It isn’t in the regular grocery stores or liquor stores. I got it from a store called Plum Market in West Bloomfield Township. Plum Market is high end (aka expensive) store that sells specialty items and foods that are natural, organic, and local. It was pretty pricey for a bottle that isn’t very big. This bottle retails for $16, I got it for $12.86 plus tax.   Actually come to find out, a few days after I purchased it, I spotted a few bottles in the Meijers store.  Same price.

I was able to check this out just in time for Cinco De Mayo!! For those who are obedient about reducing the calories in everything you consume you may want to check out this drink. Here’s the stats: 37.5 calories per serving, one serving is 1.5 ounces. Consider the size of a regular Margarita glass. The average person would probably drink 3-4 ounces in that size glass.  So that would be approximately 75-100 calories for 1 Margarita in a regular size glass.

So here’s the run down. The alcohol is already in it. Just chill and serve. I served it with a lime slice in a salt edged glass so that if felt more like a traditional Margarita and not like drink mix in a glass.  Second round, I added some crushed ice to the mix.

Now on to flavor….well, it’s okay. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not gross or anything, but it’s defiantly not the traditional margarita on the rocks. Not by a long shot. Its palatable but not entirely satisfying. After I had 2 drinks, I only had a minuscule flutter of a buzz. If you’re a social drinker (like myself), you’d probably have to down ½ the bottle before you even feel the effects of drinking it. Sadly, the taste isn’t good enough to be drinking it just for the flavor. Personally for me, a traditional well made top shelf Margarita has me nicely buzzed with only one drink and it taste great. BUT if you’re a light weight drinker, this may be perfectly mild for you.  Or if Margaritas aren't your "go to" drink (I'm a Cosmo girl), you probably won't notice what's lacking if you only drink it once in a blue moon.

Verdict: Will I buy this again? Unlikely. Don’t get me wrong, I did finish off the $13 bottle Skinny Girl Margarita on Cinco De Mayo.  But in the future I’ll just go back to mixing my top shelf liquors w/ fresh lime juice.  I'd rather sparingly drink the traditional top shelf Margarita which taste delicious. I have no problem consuming a few more calories for an above par cocktail once in a while