6 awesome and 7 lucky

  
So, shall we suppose that a wine named 667 is almost wicked awesome and but instead just very awesome but also lucky? We shall. And so shall we suppose that this is a fine balance of the simple joys? We shall. We shall suppose it balances awesomeness and luck.

Noble Vines 2013 667 Pinot Noir from Monterey, California

The first number refers to the year, duh. 2013 BCE. The number 667 speaks refers to the specific clone of the pinot noir grape. It is a grape that enjoys a cooler climate. Because awesome wines are also supes cool.

It is so cool. As cool as saying you like pinot noir is.

667 is a newer French “Dijon” clone.

It is darker (like my soul).

It is 14.5% alcohol. Who knows about me, that depends on time of day for my soul (12-97%).

It is structured (very like my soul–sometimes unfortunately–for my soul and not unfortunately for the wine).

It speaks of plums and dark cherries to my taste buds (unlike my soul which does not speak to my soul).

Deliciously dark in color for a pinot noir.

Cocoa and plum on the nose.

More more more plum and plush cherry on the tongue.

Oh so slight tannins.

You could drink this wine until kingdom come.

So if the Kingdom of Vino comes, feel free to try some other things, but this wine will offend not a soul. Maybe serve with a meal like, say, a holiday meal with gajillions of flavors. Neither a soul nor flavor could object. Not even Aunty Esther or her Brussel Sprouts Surprise.

It is a Good Wine. Very Good.

a wee cocktail

Nothing says fun like a girl and her chard frond.  
I made a drink. I finally made a drink I liked Chartreuse in. So that is exciting. And I also made a drink using this scrumdiddlyumptious ginger limeade that the lovely people of Evolution Fresh sent me.
I mean, I like the lime aid on its lonesome too. It is fresh and spicy and I could guzzle it. Or I could add booze. I added booze.
Gin-Gin Lime
2 1/2 oz. Evolution Fresh Ginger Limeade
1 oz. gin
1/4 oz. green Chartreuse
1/8 oz. Fernet Branca
ginger ale (preferably Vernor’s in my household)
Shake up all but the ginger ale. Strain into a glass and top with ginger ale to your taste.

whisk(e)y wednesday

  
I went to a whiskey tasting! I went to a whisky tasting! With and e and without! Actually they called it a whisk(e)y tasting. Just to cover all bases.

Diageo hosted a lil’ shindig on the Jimmy Kimmel backlot with Adam Perry Lang tending to food, and quite a few brands of whiskey tending to the alcohol: Bulleit, Blade and Bow, George Dickel, Crown Royal, and I.W. Harper.I got to taste a pretty marvelous blade and Bow 22-year-old bourbon. Master of Whisk(e)y Ed Adams was there to guide my tasting. He had me swish it about in my mouth around 10-15 seconds then swallow and immediately exhale. The exhaling really keeps you from getting the burning sensation. And brings a lot of flavors to the forefront. The surprise of the night was the Crown Royal Hand-Selected. It is a coffey rye, and if I am recalling correctly the “coffey” has to do with the type of still they use. It was one of my favorite things I tasted all night.

They sent us home with a bottle of George Dickel Rye which was super since I was about to run out of rye. I thanked my lucky stars.

  And kissed the bottle.

I tested it against my most recent rye of choice that I can get at the supermarket: Templeton. My most-favoritest rye of choice in my limited rye tasting was Woodinville Whiskey’s rye that was 100 percent rye. Then Templeton. And….I think Dickel may be my fave more than Templeton. It is thicker than Templeton and rougher, but in a good way. There is a wee bit of honey upfront and then some spices on the finish. I really wish I had better notes to give you. Lemme just tell you I’m down with the Dickel. 

bright cellars: wine RIGHT NOW

  
This wine, “The Present” Merlot 2014, is from another one of those subscription services that I am digging.

By all means go to this link and take the quiz. Take the quiz it is fun. And quick. And you will get a discount on your vino n stuff, yeaaaaaa. Bright Cellars was founded by MIT grads who developed an algorithm to guide you towards the right wine. And the more you rate the wines you try, the more refined that algorithm gets. I love nada more than mixing nerdery with booze. Well, I love acting and my family more but booze nerdery is high on the list.

This is Merlot YES! Merlot. The wine Sideways made everyone hate.

This wine is approachable, which may be why Merlot got a bad rep in the first place.

I’d say actually that is the MAIN reason why.

Think about it! In relationships, the more elusive and hard to get a person acts, the more we want them. Probably why I’m single. I never want the ones who want me. Grapes like Pinot Noir can be more elusive, delicate, and hard to decipher.

Merlot, however is more friendly. More in your face. Easy going. Merlot is happy as long as you are happy. And so wine snobs decided they’d had enough of overly eager Merlot. I mean, Merlot was texting us like, all the time! And like, never had an opinion of its own! It’s like “Oh, you like berries and vanilla? Then I do too!” So we shunned it and chased after Burgundies who turned up their noses at us with notes of cat piss and tar.

Forgeting all else here are my musings on The Present.

There is a juicy, nummy, sweet presence that makes the snob in me say no. But thing is, it is fucking delicious. And unlike the sweet wines I don’t like this is sweet in an un-cloying way. Maybe it isn’t sweet so much as fruity. There is a difference!

The berries: raspberry, strawberry and mmmmmmmmmberry. You taste it and say mmmmm berry!

It is smooth. It is pleasant. There is some vanilla and a wee bit of spice I couldn’t figure out so then I checked Bright Cellars’ notes, to see what they said. They said green pepper. I am not sure about that but there is a wee bit of pepper of some ilk in the finish.

This grape was from AWD Cellars in Santa Rosa, CA. So I am not sure precisely where in CA the grapes were grown but I’d like to think that my adopted home state can produce some tasty grapes. We are at least good at putting them in bottles with yeast.

Mourvèdre moves

  
I need to move my life. In some direction.

Not for lack of trying. But c’mon.

I’ll opine less about personal life and move on to the metaphorical wine in my life right now: Mourvèdre.

Specifically:

2012 Carhartt Mouvèdre

From Curtis vineyard, Santa Ynez Valley. So there. Made by Carhartt where my papa and I had a super-duper wine-tasting experience. It was more super for me due to the fact my pops was driving and the pours generous. So thank you for the fams that have higher tolerance and only take one sip of your 1.5 ounce tastes. Who will drive.

They will forgive you for the driving when you are back in LA eating the queso at Bar Ama. Pro tip: queso is the perfect way to soak up alcohol. Also the cauliflower dish they have there. Holy heck. But I’m getting sidetracked.

I am not usually so into funk in wine. But this has some in the PERFECT way. 

Maybe I am into funk because I say that a lot these days. Huh. Like I said maybe I am making movement in life! Exciting.

The deets: 

It is 100% Mouvèdre which I dig. Purity. Not that a blend can’t be great but when it comes to a rarer grape, tasting it on its own is interesting.

It is aged 20 months in 30% new French oak. Beauty in specifics. Or as I heard an actress chum in college say “we need to live in specificity city”. 

So to be specific about this wine:  well let me see. Butter but like maybe browned butter on truffles? So essentially all life’s perfect stuff in one thing. One bottle. The finish has bracing spices: clove and cinnamon followed by…I don’t know. A pleasant lemon lingering? Like, you are eating spiced cake with a thin Meyer lemon sauce but the sauce is not creamy, it is thin but perfect.
WHICH IS CRAZY FOR ME TO SAY AS A POSITIVE THING BECAUSE MEYER LEMONS ARE THE DEATH OF GOOOOOOOD FOOD EXCEPT WHEN USED AS A METAPHOR FOR THIS WINE’S FINISH! EXCLAMATION POINT, dang it.

But also picture that those lemons had some dirt clinging to them. Hence said funk.

I don’t even know.

Looky here. You. Reader of this. I don’t taste wines at tasting rooms and decide to buy a bottle too often. I mean I tasted MANY wines at Carhartt and needed to settle on wine to bring home (I wanted to grab more but ya know budgeting and bull) and this was the one which most surprised me. As I said I did not think it was typical of wines I dig. BUT I DO!!!!!!! Which means probably a lot of people might? Who knows. Wine is particular.

Try this if you aren’t looking for sups-dupa sweet fruit-forward non-tannic wine. Get into it.

G’night Lovahs. Gonna go try on my great-great(?)-grandmother’s wedding dress that my family just passed along to me. Gonna find A REASON to sport the parts that fit. Wedding or not. It is a very pretty dress.

Love you! GO GET WINE