Red Wines

Update! This wine shit's too hard to write!

Here's the problem. I'm always adventurous in the old Trader Joe's or Safeway or the occasional wine store (tough to take the preschooler to the wine store and not feel weird. Maybe I'll start going more now that the preschool thing is real. probably not). Then I bring the wine home, and it gets drunk (well, I drink the wine and then I get drunk...hubby, too. I'm not a wino). And I suck and drinking and typing, so I don't write the wine up that night. And I suck at remembering to type later, so I don't write the wine up later.

But whatever, it's more about the drinking, after all.

Anyway, I've had reds from US, Spain, Portugal, Greece, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Italy, and South Africa. Not to mention one from somewhere in Eastern Europe. It wasn't good.

So i'm actually going to give this task the pink italics even though my reviews are woefully incomplete and my recordkeeping sucks.

i'm a lush, not a critic.

1. 2004 Sangre de Toro, Miguel Torres, SA, Barcelona.

first off, i'm sad to read that older vintages of this wine came with a little plastic bull...we got no such toy. second, i know nothing about how to write about wine--so bear with me. fairly simple, full-bodied red wine flavor, but without all that "glue taste" that you get from a cab or a merlot. a little bit tart at first, and can feel a touch acidic at the back of the mouth. has a nice, clean, earthy finish--my favorite thing about the one or two spanish reds i've tasted thus far...it's certainly one i'd be willing to drink again.

2. 2003 Malbec, Zolo, Argentina

i don't think i have quite so much to say about this wine. at first it seemed nice and bright, but from about the second or third sip, that "bright" became merely "kinda sour." don't get me wrong, i drank it happily and was glad that at least it didn't taste heavy. still, malbec just isn't my bag.

3. 2004 Carmenere, Casillero de Diablo, Concha Y Toro, Chile

another good, full-bodied but not at all overwhelming red that's contributing to my newfound belief that in the case of a bordeaux, the sum of the whole just ain't as good as the parts.

4. 2005 Cotes du Rhone, E. Guigal Chateau D'Ampuis, France

i have to admit i was already a touch tipsy from wine #3 before i tried this one, so my opinion might be overly favorable. it certainly was heavier than the spanish and south american wines we've been favoring lately, and tasted more of the darker fruits everybody's always talking about: cherries, plums, etc. also, sadly lacked that clean yet oddly gritty finish i've come to love in the iberian wines.

5. 2003 Adriano Estate Bottled Red Wine, Adriano Ramos Pinto, Portugal

this wine was sweeter than any we'd tried thus far, but quite smoothe and easy to drink. it held its own against some pretty intense irish cheese, danced on the tip of the tongue, but settled down for the finish.

6. 2004 Shiraz, Red Knot, Australia