Oliver Gewürztraminer 2008...

We had this (again) at a recent cookout.  It's been a while since we've had Oliver's Gewürztraminer.

Label: 9.5 - I love all of Oliver's labels featuring wildlife.    This is a painting of a Great Egret by a local artist (Nashville, IN).

Aroma: 8 - nice fruity aroma, a little apple, pear, maybe a little floral.

Taste: 7 - a Gewürztraminer should be a little spicy...in my opinion and this lacked it. It had 'bite' but it seemed to be more from fruit tartness or possibly a slight carbonation rather than an actual spice taste. That spice taste is so hard to describe but you know it when you taste it. It's subtle, but again, absent from this wine.
If you enjoy sweeter wines...like most non-wino Hoosiers seem to...you will like it. It's just not quite what I was wanting out of a Gewürz.

Overall: 7.5 - A little disappointing (read my comments under 'taste') but in all fairness some people really love it. I didn't hate it or dislike it, it was fine.  But I did have to finish my friend's glass...she didn't like it so much.  But at $10/bottle (less if it's on sale locally) it's really not too bad of a deal.


I really have to make another trip to Oliver, it's been quite a while.  Not only do I forget what some of the wines taste like but it changes a little with vintage. I want to try their 'true' wines again to remind myself what they're like.  'True' wines being the merlot, cab, pinot...pretty much everything under the 'dry' category.  Wait...that sounds like I think the others are fake or something...how about...'wino' wines.  I don't know, you know what I mean!  ;)

C.G. Di Arie 2007 Rosé di Arie

Rob brought this one home a couple weeks ago when we finally had a wine & cheese night again.  It didn't stand a chance...

This rosé is a blend of 55% Tempranillo and 45% Syrah. You can read all about the wineries process on making this wine on the rosé's very own page.

The Di Arie peeps have a pretty interesting story...all found on their website. http://www.cgdiarie.com

I'll let you read about it on your own time.

Ok...now for the review...

Label: 7 - It's nice, nothing spectacular but not non-eyecatching. I do like that it leaves a lot of the bottle 'open' to see the pretty color of the wine.

Aroma: 8 - earthy, very subtle grapefruit - I smelled more 'earth' than fruit but it wasn't a turn off. It actually made me more intrigued to taste it!

Taste: 9.5 - grapefruit, moss, earth, peach, watermelon, pear...and yes, that's the order those tastes were perceived.  It was interesting and just plain good.  I haven't had a 'just plain good' rosé in a while and now I want more. But...it didn't stand a chance and didn't last more than 2 hours...if that.

Overall: 9 - Great rosé! And it was on sale for $13.99 - good value. It definitely left us wishing we had more than one bottle.

Razzy Apple Sparkling Wine - Hubery Winery...

We wanted dessert last night but didn’t really have anything ‘desserty’ to eat. So I headed to the wine fridge and pulled a few options out. We settled on Razzy Apple by Huber Winery.

I think we picked it up at this year’s Wine Fair.

Well, it must have been exactly what we wanted last night because we just kept smiling with every sip!

Aroma: 7 – there’s not a lot there but it is chilled and cold wines are more difficult to get a strong scent from. You can smell that yeasty smell that ‘champagnes’ often give off…not offensive…just yeasty. Then you get a subtle sweet raspberry smell.

Taste: 10 – Maybe it was because we were trying to save money and didn’t run the A/C all day and it was quite warm in the house last night and this was deliciously chilled…maybe we were just unknowingly craving an appley-raspberry fizzy flavor…but we just looooved it. It bounces between tart & sweet. Roll it all over your tongue for maximum flavorage. For. Real. It was so easy to finish off the bottle and it was delightful. It is sweet but not too sweet in my opinion. Great for summer! And fall too I think.

We’re kind of sorry that we opened it because it was our only bottle, but we might be able to get it at the grocery store…haven’t looked. And Huber isn’t super far away…and I really want to go there sometime. I’d love to take a bunch of photos and review the experience here.

Look how pretty the color is…

Help me get my DREAM JOB!...

At the risk of thoroughly embarrassing myself I will share the link to my video for the Murphy-Goode Dream Job contest...

I NEED  YOUR VOTES!!!

I originally was never going to link you because I felt like a complete tool making that video and it is way corny.  But I need some votes to get noticed so...here is the link.  

You can even vote and NOT watch my video!!!  YEA do THAT!  :)

http://www.areallygoodejob.com/video-view.aspx?vid=okZuytU-GVU

No comments from the peanut gallery on how cheesy and awkward I am!

I really really really really really really really want this job!  It is so absolutely perfect for me!

Oliver Harvest Flavors - Watermelon...

So Oliver Winery has been doing these 'harvest flavors' for a couple of years and I make no secret that I'm not the biggest fan of the line.  In particular I cannot stand the Black Cherry...it tastes like a cherry cough drop to me....Luden's maybe?

Anyway...I'm willing to give everything a shot and even a second chance.  This year they came out with new flavors...Watermelon & Passion Fruit.

Today on a whim while at the store buying dinner I thought "I'm gonna buy an Indiana wine to review for the blog, cuz I've been very neglectful."
So I saw the Watermelon in the cooler...yay no cooling time! So I'm literally drinking it right now...no lie...check the webcam shot....

I had to drink quite a bit before giving a fair review because I had just brushed my teeth...durrr.

So now that my palate is clean...or at least not minty anymore...here we go...

Alrighty...
It's a very light pink color as you can see from the pic.

Holy sugar it's sweet!  Whew!  I expected it to be, I knew this line was made from honey.  But wow.
Ok...be fair....
You know watermelon Jolly Ranchers?...Yea...in a glass.

Ok...I can see many peeps liking this one, but only if they reeeeaaally like the sweet wines.  Winos will not like it.  Although I can see this being incredibly good very chilled with a little sparkling water as an ice cold spritzer on a hot summer day.  THAT I would like!!!  A little thinned out would be better because although the texture is not syrupy it's so sweet that it seems like it is thick.

But if you are a Hoosier you probably like your wines sweet...lets face it that's the Midwest for ya.  But if you are a wino that happens to be in the Midwest...just know what to expect!!!

Yea, I decided not to do my formal rating scale thing.  I don't know why.  Just didn't.  SUE ME!  :)

Not something I'd buy all the time, definitely a summer thing...and 'emjoy' at your own risk...I would recommend drinking it the spritzer route, but if sweet is your thing and you stockpile watermelon Jolly Ranchers because you can't get enough...you will loooove this wine.

I, however, give it an overall rating of 4, estimating 6-7 as a spritzer.

My absence...

I apologize for the lack of posts once again.

I was laid off about 5 weeks ago and even though now I have more time to post, I just haven't been very inspired to.

But I do want to get back at it. I've also been thinking of revamping the way I rate & review.

Does anyone have any suggestions or things they'd like to see or things they'd like to see differently? I've had no epiphanies so if I don't get feedback it is likely the format will remain the same, at least for now.

Also, I do fully intend on applying for that 'dream job' I talked about in my previous post...in fact I'm making my 60 second video today!

Oh wouldn't it be so great to get that job!?!?!

And hopefully soon I will be incredibly inspired and will keep posting!

If you need some random entertainment to fill your time you can hop over to my personal blog

http://www.stacylastinger.blogspot.com/

Hopefully you don't get a strange error that Blogger is working on fixing! If you do, try back later!

Uberfabulous job opportunity!...

I'm serious!

How does living in Healdsburg, CA in a 'deluxe private home' within walking distance of the square for 6 months for $10,000 per month sound? Yea. All you have to do is taste wine, explore the vineyard, see the sights and blog about it. For real! Murphy-Goode Winery is doing this, you can be the "Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent."

And Healdsburg is absolutely one of my most favorite places in the WORLD! Check it out yourself...
http://www.healdsburg.com/

I am so very tempted by this, you have no idea. But the idea of being away from family and friends for six months is a little much for me at the moment. I could use the money though. If you also read my personal blog you know that I was laid off this week. yea.

Oh, I would love to do this though. But I don't want to be away from my husband for that long! Indiana to California...kind of a hike.

But if YOU are interested please check out the details at the website.

http://www.areallygoodejob.com/