The focus is red wine and to get right to it without distraction, click The Wine Commonsewer Speaks. The rest of the enchilada is just enough of an
eclectic mix of commentary on culture, food, tax, and econ 101 to
distract from the focus on red wine.
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Michael R Snell & Associates
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The B&G Bistro is yet another illustration of the TWC premise that price isn't always the best indicator of what to expect from a wine. At ten bucks US this is an excellent buy and is better.....stop me if you've heard this before.....than many Pinots costing twice as much.
As Pinot Noir goes, this one is pretty good, actually I'd say delightful.
Much better than this one.
Winemakers Notes:
In France, the local bistro is where folks go to relax, socialize, drink wine and dine in a casual, friendly setting.
This Pinot Noir has all the right qualities of a good bistro wine: it
is simple, delicious, fun to drink, and pairs well with lots of
different foods and flavors.
Soft and round on the palate, this wine is chock full of ripe, wild
berry flavors and aromas that culminate in a long, supple finish.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. Definite Strawberries on the back side as well.
We paired this wine with (gasp) crab cakes, Waldorf salad, medium rare filet mignon, and crusty bread with olive oil (seasoned with balsamic vinegar, rosemary, and roasted garlic).
TWC Rebate Red Blend is a private label specialty wine made by Darryl Heirendt of Sunset Ridge Vineyards and a couple of friends. Yes, TWC, is, precisely, exactly, The Wine Commonsewer. Is that cool? Or what?
It's a blend of Petit Syrah, Petit Verdot, and a little Cabernet. Naturally, since we were grilling steaks the other night, we popped one of the bottles. Yummy stuff indeed. The Rebate Red is drinking nicely now and easily clobbers many of the over-the-counter reds you'll run into at Bev-Mo or Trader Joe's.
This is just a hobby for these guys, but this is marketable wine. TWC is grateful to be on the short list of those who've shared it.
Thanks guys. My UPS guy is jealous.
Wondering about YOUR rebate? I guess it's a stimulus check. Wait. A stimulus check? Isn't that something Eliot Spitzer gives the hooker?
All the skinny on the retroactive tax cut here. Dave Barry's take here.
Not much else to say, except that the picture isn't staged. Mrs TWC brought home some sustenance. It was stuffed with care into the first available box by the clerk at the local Big Box Membership Store.
Pretty sure Mrs TWC calls it insurance. Betty Ford probably has a different name. TWC calls it like it is.
Cabernet, take me away. Yes, that rhymes. No coincidence, neither.
Now a word from Calgon, proud sponsor of The Wine Commonsewer.
For Father's Day? 1997 Chappellet Cabernet Sauvignon. For the record, this is not the Pritchard Hill Cab.
Parker's words belie throwing an 89 at this wine. Is there cognitive dissonance between his otherwise glowing review and an 89?
This is an impressive Cabernet Sauvignon. The color is a dense ruby
purple. The bouquet offers up tight but promising aromas of minerals,
smoke, and black currants. A Bordeaux-like austerity greets the taster,
but as with Bordeaux, there is plenty of density and concentration in
reserve, which is particularly noticeable on the back of the palate.
The wine is pure, promising, tannic, medium to full-bodied, and nicely
extracted. Chewy tobacco, spice box, and black fruit characteristics
emerge with airing. It is good to see this winery turn out a wine of
this quality. It's an ager however, and patience will be required.
Anticipated maturity: 2003-2018
Agreed, patience. The Chappellet is definitely good for another decade. I've another bottle and I'll wait. Patiently.
With the ensuing time in the cellar since Parker penned his review, the austerity and the need for decanting is gone. It is a rich wine, and paired with medium rare, mesquite grilled top sirloin and the smoked asparagus, it was excellent.
However, considering that 1997 was one of the three excellent 90's vintages for California Cabs, TWC expected a little more WoW. I wanted died and gone to heaven. I got pretty dang good. And here is precisely where the subjective comes into play. And if I've said it once.....
This is a fifty dollar wine in today's money. I've had twenty dollar wines that smoked it. I've had even more expensive wines that.....
Amphetamine Annie was a regular at the now-defunct 4th of July Bashes. She'd acquired a bit of a taste for red wine and one year Jim brought an expensive Bordeaux that wasn't ready yet (along with some other great wines). He and Kent and one or two others would hide the good wine from the Coors-swilling rabble and we'd sneak a glass here and there. Sometime during the afternoon, TWC called Annie off to the side.....
TWC: Want to taste a $100.00 wine?
Annie (enthusiastically): Yeah!
TWC: Okay, but keep your mouth shut.
I poured her some of that Bordeaux in a clean glass. She sipped.
Annie: HE PAID A HUNDRED BUCKS FOR THAT!!!??? (spits it back in the glass)
TWC: Shhhh! Shhhh! Shhhh! Shhhh! (LOL) Jesus Chrysler, would you shut up?
Amphetamine Annie? Ain't seen her in a while. Heard she quit shoveling snow, gained some weight, got off the booze (I'm gonna tell you what, she could drink YOU under the table, and right got dam now), quit smoking, found AA, Jesus, and a lover of the female persuasion. Wayne figured that was coming but he's gone and don't know.
Talk about the Tallahatchie Bridge. I'm with the much reviled Mr Hearst. Truth is stranger and far more interesting than fiction.
Headed back to Phoenix at the end of an exhausting business trip to Northern Arizona, Michelle spotted an elderly Navajo woman walking on the dusty shoulder of the road. As the drive was a
long and lonely, she pulled off and asked the Navajo woman if she would
like a ride.
With a silent nod of thanks, the woman got into the car.
Resuming the journey, Michelle tried in vain to make small talk with the
Navajo woman. The old woman sat silently, staring intently out the window, studying every little detail of the passing landscape, until she noticed a brown bag on the seat.
What in bag?
Michelle glanced at the brown bag and replied that.....
It's a bottle of wine that I got
for my husband.
The withered old Navajo woman was silent for another moment or two, then nodding her head solemnly while speaking with the quiet wisdom of an elder, she intoned.....
Good trade.....
I've got a couple ex-girlfriends that fit that bill. Wish I could have traded them for a bottle of decent red. One sordid tale here, buried in an obit (pun not intended).
As inexpensive wines go this Argentine Malbec isn't bad. It's a little medicinal up front with plenty of fumes on the nose. Don't spark up a fat boy or a cigarette anywhere near this stuff or you'll have flambé in a glass. The tilt toward alcohol fumes tends to be one of the drawbacks with some less expensive Malbecs. Letting the wine breath overnight didn't make any discernible difference.
This wine is fairly bold with black and red fruit, currants, raspberry, blackberry and maybe cherries. Show of hands? How many of you have filled an apothecary jar with cherries and vodka and then let it sit for a few weeks. Remember how the cherries tasted? Okay. That's the kind of cherries the Kawel boasts.
My main gripe is calling it Reserva, a term typically reserved (heh) for the best of a vintage. The implication of a reserve wine is that it is aged longer or in some other way is a special wine. It is regrettable to use Reserva as a marketing ploy aimed at selling wine to newbies. Besides, if this is La Celia's reserve, the regular Kawel Malbec gots to be kissing cousins with Two Buck Chuck.
Hot Tip: Typically, the more reputable the winery is, the more likely the term reserve is an authentic descriptor. Ain't that just like the market? Competition for Reputation.
TWC is a Malbec fan and although this one isn't a rave, at six to eight dollars US, it's worth a try. Ideal for a midweek break from the treadmill. Serve it with hearty Italian red dishes, stews, or game.
Just wanted to take a moment to tip my glass and say thanks to Alder Yarrow at Vinography. This morning I was delighted to find a link to TWC under
Wine Blogs I've Newly Discovered.
[blushes and scuffs his Keds in the dirt]
Vinography is top shelf, an award winning wine blog that consistently ranks numero uno in the wine blog standings. I can't prove it, but when TWC opened for business I'm pretty sure that Vinography was the very first link posted in the sidebar under Wines by the Glass.
You have no
idea how strong your brand is: Just now, as we are preparing dinner,
my wife (name changed to protect the innocent) heard a TV ad for Time Warner Cable, using the acronym, TWC.
She said, TWC - they mean the The Wine Commonsewer!
The gratuitous self-promotion is included in the package at no additional charge.
The answer to the so-called French Paradox may be found in red wine.
More specifically, it may reside in small doses of resveratrol, a
natural constituent of grapes, pomegranates, red wine and other foods,
according to a new study by an international team of researchers.
Red wine may be much more potent than was thought in extending human
lifespan, researchers say in a new report that is likely to give
impetus to the rapidly growing search for longevity drugs.
It's the resveratol. Did I already say that?
.....red wine contains many other resveratrol-like compounds that may also
be beneficial. Taking these into account, as well as mice’s higher
metabolic rate, a mere four, five-ounce glasses of winestarts getting
close to the amount of resveratrol they found effective.....
Emphasis mine. That's for my doctor, Julie-Ann, whose only piece of dubious advice was to limit red wine drinking to one glass per day.
And for diabetics......
In April, Sirtris reported that its formulation of resveratrol, called SRT501, reduced glucose levels in diabetic patients.
Please Note: Red wine is what all wine would be if it had a choice. White wine has few of the health bennies that naturally occur in red wine. Yet another reason to avoid white wine.
Lips that touch white wine, shall never touch mine.
Words to live by. Probably why all my friends nip a little Chardonnay now and again. Especially the ladies.
When That Chick Bent Over I Forgot My Name This section is rated 'R' and requires a password to click through. To obtain a password send an email to: password at winecommonsewer dot com
Good Morning Gentle Readers,
Story inspired by an email from Laurie G 
Good Morning Gentle Readers,
Good Morning Gentle Readers,
