Kiss from a Rosé - Clos Du Bois Rosé 2007

My first Rosé! It looked too attractive to pass up while I was at the store - the bottle is too cool! I honestly have no clue when it comes to blush wines, but I decided to give it a shot.

Rosé, 2007
Clos Du Bois, California. $9
Consumed: August 8, 2009
Nose: Aroma similar to a chardonnay. Can't smell any alcohol at all. Palette: Not much flavor (even at room temperature), tastes like a light chardonnay, NO alcohol taste whatsoever! Very dry.

What's there to say? It tastes like almost nothing, goes down very easy, and has 13% alcohol. I fell in love at the first taste, this is probably the lightest I've ever tasted, yet is so easy to drink that you could use it for a party drink.

Final Verdict: Completely worth the $9 if you want to consume a large amount of alcohol painlessly. Flavor-wise, it's probably better not to consider this, as lack of flavor is its weak point.

Merlots Don't Float My Boat - Sebastiani Merlot 2005

Apparently, my roommate's uncle works for Sebastiani. I was curious, so I snagged a bottle of their merlot (their cheapest varietal) at Costco for $9. What a steal - I saw it the other day at Ralph's for $14! I love you, Costco. On with the review:

Merlot, 2005
Sebastiani, California. $9
Consumed: August 6, 2009
Nose: Very pleasant and prominent coconut! Sweet herbal-ish smell. Palette: Buttery aftertaste, quick finish. Delicious mellow tannins.

The flashy, distinctive label makes Sebastiani wines easy to find on the shelves amongst tons of other wines.

Chris said that he liked it - there was a good amount of depth to it, along with nice plum flavors. I personally thought it was better than an average merlot, but I'm not a huge fan of the varietal.

Final Verdict: Worth ~$9-11 in my opinion. Probably shouldn't get it if you have to pay more than that, otherwise, pretty good merlot.

I'ma Buy You A ...Dram? - Laguvlin 16 Year

T-Pain reference, hah. What's a dram?

Wait, what? What's a nice Scotch whisky doing on a wine blog?! Once again, it was Chris celebrating a huge achievement, so he deemed it befitting to celebrate with his favorite spirit (and mine too)! Best of all, he let me review it on my blog:

Scotch Whisky. Laguvlin 16 Year.
Islay (Scotland). $65
Consumed: August 3, 2009
Gorgeous amber color. Peaty, smoky, very smooth! The peatiness is not overkill (unlike the Laphroaig 12 Year that I had at a friend's place a while ago - it was so peaty that it tasted like a bandaid!). Sweet finish. Delicious!

My spirit of choice is whisky, but I couldn't afford Scotch too often, so I just drank bourbon alot before I started getting into wine. That isn't to say that scotch doesn't hold a special place in my heart for being a classy, classy liquor to be sipping out of a glass. Not much else to say, Just enjoy the pictures of this wonderful scotch. LOOK AT THE GORGEOUS COLOR!

Final Verdict: Amazingly good Islay whiskey, get it if you can afford its price tag. Again, a big thanks to Chris: You bought me a drank - a really tasty and classy drank. Cheers!

Merlot Number Trois - Christian Moueix Merlot 2005

One major thing to note: Around this time, I noticed that I started writing less and less about the wine I review, probably because I've become so accustomed to the base flavors of the respective wine that I don't notice anything but what stands out - maybe this is why professional wine tasters always have such brief comments about their wine? Who knows.

Okay, I'll admit that I don't know anything about French, so the title is hilariously and poorly worded. After a period of drinking cheaper wine that didn't really blow me away, I grabbed this slightly pricier Merlot.

Merlot, 2005
Christian Moueix, Bordeaux, France. $14
Consumed: July 1, 2009.
Nose: Great fruit. Hint of something herbal (anise?), especially prominent on the swirl. Peppery. Palette: Rough mouthfeel. Dry. Quick finish. Very oaky and dry. Surprisingly simple. Definite improvement upon opening up for ~30 minutes.

I dig the simple label. Makes it look pretty cool and vintage-y.

Once again, I learn the hard way that price does not always correlate with how good a wine is. It wasn't bad, but it felt lacking for the price.

Final Verdict: Don't get it. Gorgeous aroma, but a bit too boring to be worth the $14. Chris said it best in two words: "very shallow".

A Bit Different - McManis Viognier 2007

While I was at Bevmo a while ago, I grabbed this on a whim because it looked pretty interesting. Let's have a taste, shall we?

Viognier, 2007
McManis Family Vineyards, California. $9
Consumed: July 27, 2009
Nose: Very fruity and sweet, with a hint of anise (aka black licorice). Palette: Very thick honey-like sweetness. Kind of a light citrusy tang too. Hints of oak and smoke on the midpalette. Light aftertaste. Smooth to drink.

Viognier isn't for everyone, but it's smooth to drink. It's pretty heavy, so you can't drink it too quickly. Not very "crisp". Chris says that it's syrupy. I really liked the awesome aroma of this wine!

Final Verdict: Try this for something more "satisfying" than most other wine. In other words, a single glass of this wine can possibly quench your wine thirst for the night. Odd, I know.

What Have You Been Smoking? - Smoking Loon Sauvignon Blanc 2007

I got a webcam. Video reviews of wine, yes/no? Leave a suggestion/thoughts in the comments please!

And here ends my stream of updates for the time being. 4/9 posts done, and the lack of sleep is getting to me. I'll post the next one tomorrow or the day after.

Continuing on my quest for a variety of cheap wine for my list, I picked up this guy. It was on sale - I thought, why not?

Sauvignon Blanc, 2007
Smoking Loon, California. $6
Consumed: July 27, 2009
Nose: Refreshing lemon with a hint of sweetness. Palette: OH GOD IT HURTS. An excruciating amount of bite and bitterness, not smooth at all to drink.

Call me biased, but I stopped after three sips - cringed at the first, tried two more to see if I was imagining how terrible it was. I wasn't. The bottle was promptly donated to my roommate for a better cause - to be used for cooking.

SBs are commonly lemony and grassy in flavor. Some do this basic flavor set really well, but this Smoking Loon exhibits neither aspect. I sure paid the price (though I'm glad I only wasted $6) for experimenting this time.

The only reason I still wrote this review is to show that I have bad luck with choosing wine sometimes too! :( Also, I liked the pictures.

Final Verdict: STAY AWAY. PLEASE. Arguably the worst wine I've had since I started this blog.

Cheapo Merlot - Delicato Merlot 2007

Hey, the title rhymes! Harhar. Having had a good experience with the first merlot a few posts back, I decided to try to find a cheap one, in order to build a list of decent wine in the strapped-for-cash college student range (~$5-7). No, not dirt-poor college student range - there's jug wine/bag wine/two-buck-chucks for that purpose.

Merlot, 2007
Delicato, California. $6
Consumed: July 20, 2009
Nose: Raspberry (characteristic base aroma/flavor of Merlot). Alot of sweetness and sugariness. Chris got a big whiff of vanilla. Palette: Alot of bite initially, but transitions into a nice deep flavor (tannins, but pleasant). Surprisingly smooth! Slightly bitter aftertaste.

Not much to say, it's pretty characteristic of a Merlot, inside and out. I'm not particularly fond of the weak acidity here (which is probably why I personally like Cabs better). Very drinkable!

Final Verdict: Solid merlot, especially for $6. Smooth and drinkable. Get it! This is good enough for the price to make it into my upcoming list of cheap, decent wine.

Italian Two-Buck-Chuck Pinot Grigio? - Mezzocorona Pinot Grigio 2008

It's been a long time since I've drank a Pinot Grigio - the last one was a few months ago around the time of the start of this blog. Seeing as how my palette have matured a bit and I've learned more, I decided to check out a bottle of this Pinot Grigio.

Pinot Grigio, 2008
Mezzacorona, Italy $8
Consumed: July 13, 2009
Nose: Pretty standard white wine aroma, good citrus. Very strong alcohol. Palette: Sweet at the beginning, moves into a heavy acidity that is present to mask the heat of the alcohol, acidic finish. There's alot of bite, but there's a good transition of flavors.

Chris says it should have been cooled, as the lower temperature would help mask the alcohol better in both the taste and smell; I agree with that, but I wanted to try to taste all the flavors.

It seems a bit too high priced for its quality, but I remembered this article I read a while back on a wine blog somewhere. It explained that because of all the middlemen that imported wine of European origin, a simple $8 wine like this one is in fact the equivalent to the Two-Buck-Chuck offered here in the states, quality wise.

Apparently I'm terrible at taking pictures with an iPhone. Blurry second picture again.

Final Verdict: Not bad, but not worth the full $8. If you get this, chill before serving. At the same price point, go for the Meridian Pinot Grigio instead.

Getting My Money's Worth - Grayson Cellars Merlot 2006

Hey everyone, it's been a long time since I last blogged... maybe like 2 weeks? I've been busy with school (making sure I make use of the tuition I pay!) and various other things. Just a word of warning, I have a TON of reviews that I've been holding back on. I'll be pumping those out as fast as I can. Let's get cracking:

First up, a Merlot from Grayson Cellars. This was the first Merlot that I tried since my introduction into the world of wine, so I was pretty excited. I picked up a decent priced one at Bevmo, in hopes of not hitting a low quality one.

Merlot, 2006
Grayson Cellars, California. $11
Consumed: July 11, 2009
Nose: Very fragrant black fruit, reminds me of black cherry or plum. I smell cloves - pretty prominent. Palette: Complex, rough mouthfeel, but very easy to drink - there's no bite! Little bits of acidity, kind of oak-y, superb balance. Dry at the end with a sharp ending. Very dynamic acidity; starts off with the fruit + strong acid > acid peaks and drops off > oakiness comes in briefly > quick finish.

For my first Merlot, I enjoyed this alot. The aroma is really nice, as is the dynamic acidity. Also, ugh - blurry second picture. At least the label picture came out clear! What a cool label too.

Final Verdict: Tasty merlot. Worth the full $11. Wonderful aroma, not too oaky, good acidity.

Solid like a Rock - Talus Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

I've been pretty busy with trying to get alot of various things done recently, so I haven't had time to blog. There's a backlog of notes to clear again, so lets get to work!

I saw this for sale (marked down from $10 to 2/$10), so I thought, why not? On the same day, I was going to hang out with some friends so I brought it along to share (photoshoot location courtesy of Dave/Arun's apartment~). I was expecting it to be bad, but I was in for a surprise.

Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007
Talus, California. $5
Consumed: July 9, 2009
Nose: Very sweet, yet plain aroma. Blackberry, a bit of plum. Palette: Very simple. Taste is of black fruit like the aroma, strong tannins, acidity balances out the tannins very well. Little to no aftertaste.

I was surprised. It had a good balance of the acids and tannins, which reduced the bite significantly; it'd be bad if the balance was a bit off, but it is quite decent. It was really easy to drink. Only downside was that it wasn't complex in the slightest, but hey, what can you expect for $5?

Final Verdict: Get it! Very solid Cab that is characteristic of the varietal. Good deal at $5. Like I mentioned, it's very solid. Not the greatest, but certainly no large weaknesses either. This is one of those wines that is worth more than what I paid. I'd be fine with buying this at it's original $10. This is a great wine to drink when you're not really in the mood to focus on the complex flavors, but still want to drink a decent wine!

More Red than Black - Mirassou Pinot Noir 2008

I picked this up because it was $8. Cheap, and it was a varietal I haven't tried before. When I went to check out, I realized ClubBev gave me a $2 discount on this wine - what a nice surprise. After this wine and another marked down wine I found, I realize that the "correct" value of the wine should be the discounted price. That's the moral of the story for today's review, folks.

Pinot Noir, 2008
Mirassou Winery, California. $6
Consumed: July 8, 2008
Nose: Extremely sweet. Raspberry. Palette: Slight fruit (raspberry from the aroma), goes into strong tannins, tannins fade slowly to a bitter-ish aftertaste. There's some acidity in the middle, but it is largely overshadowed by the tannins. No improvement after opening up ~40 min.

I'm not sure if it's very clear from the pictures, but the wine itself had a very gorgeous ruby color, much lighter than most colors of red wine. The aroma was very nice. Very simple aroma, but fruity and sweet, lighter fruit than other varietals of red wine - it made me think that this would be a very tasty wine. Sadly, I was wrong. The tannins were way too strong and there was something about the wine that made me started to make me feel slightly nauseous as I was halfway down the bottle... kinda how I feel when I chug large amounts of beer quickly.

Final Verdict: Don't get this one. There are better reds to be had for the same price. Liked the aroma, taste was subpar, too simple in aroma and taste. You pay for what you get. Darn you, $6 wine. I need to find a good Pinot Noir.

On the Cheap - Meridian Chardonnay 2007

The window's open and it smells like a nice summer day outside with a refreshing breeze flowing through my window, so I'll keep this one quick so I can go outside and have fun!
This is the first time that I've had two different varietals from the same vineyard, but I was quite impressed by Meridian's Pinot Grigio. I had this right after the Rombauer, so it tasted like rubbing alcohol upon the first sip, BUT! I realized I was just imagining things after two more sips or so, haha. Do note that this one was served at room temperature, like I usually do with all my wines.

Chardonnay, 2007
Meridian Vineyards, California. $7
Consumed: June 29, 2009
Nose: Apples, general citrus, very sweet smelling. Palette: Simple. Pretty acidic and apple-y, has a quite a bit of bite, with it fading away into a very general citrus on the finish.

Very characteristic apple on the palette. The acidity was actually quite refreshing on this one, but it has quite a bit of bite (which should all but disappear if chilled). Everything else was pretty average - nothing spectacular but not bad either.

Final Verdict: Want a solid Chardonnay on the cheap? Get this. Chilling recommended. Alright Chris and Dodge, I give. I admit that whites should be chilled, it's just that I feel the true nature of the wine will be hidden if I did that though. Anyways, this is an average Chardonnay and what I believe to be solid for this price range.

As Easy as Apple Pie - Rombauer Chardonnay 2007

As promised, here's the review of the $28 Rombauer Chardonnay. No, I didn't pay for it (I wouldn't have bought it if it were up to me...), but my friend Chris bought it for his birthday! He was willing to share the bottle with me and let me review it for my blog. Thanks bro. :] He strongly disagrees with my practice of drinking white wine at room temperature so he chilled this one before drinking. I usually like to keep whites at room temperature to get a feel for what they taste like without the effect of temperature, despite the fact that they'd probably taste better chilled. Anyways, on to the good stuff:

Chardonnay, 2007
Rombauer Vineyards, California. $28
Consumed: June 29, 2007
Nose: Apple, hints of longan (a tropical fruit from South China/South East Asia); a very prominent fruity aroma that reminds me of smelling pure apple juice. Palette: Fruitiness (exactly like the aroma), transitions into tannins, tannins disappear quickly, leaving a short-lived, slightly buttery aftertaste. Very smooth, simple, extremely easy to drink.

The only other chardonnay I've had was the Yellowtail chardonnay, and that didn't leave a good impression on me. I've heard that Yellowtail's stuff was bottom of the barrel, so I wasn't surprised. However, this Rombauer was the complete opposite, in my opinion - extremely easy to drink, much more expensive. There's a bit of a catch to this contrast though: the Rombauer was cooled, the Yellowtail was not. Since I drink my white wine at room temperature, a few of my roommates have been telling me that this is the wrong way to go about it. Upon further research on the internet, I've concluded that the coldness simply hides imperfections in the wine, and thus cheaper wines taste better. I'm sure if I chilled the Yellowtail, it would have not been so terrible for me.
The crisp apple is characteristic of chardonnays. The tannins weren't too harsh and they faded quickly anyways. What I didn't like about this wine was that for close to thirty bucks, it was simple. A bit too simple - no depth, no shifting flavors, very straightforward. Chris said it was "high quality simplicity", where the subtleness of the quality really shines. He also said that it had the perfect amount of fruitiness without going overboard, making it delicious and drinkable. He liked this more than I did, but he's been drinking whites for a long time. Maybe I just need more experience with Chardonnays?

Final Verdict: Fruity, extremely easy to drink. Stay away from this one though, it's too pricey for what it's worth... unless you're trying to impress. While quite nice to drink, it's too boring - I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit disappointed by it. I'd pay $15-18 for this wine, nothing more. I'm sure there are white wines out there that are equally easy to drink, but without the price tag.

Summer is in full swing!

...which means I'm going off to another small vacation for a few days. Going to be away until next week, but I have notes and pictures for two Chardonnays! I'll post them when I get back:

Meridian Vineyards, Chardonnay, 2007, $7
Rombauer Vineyards, Chardonnay, 2007, $28 (Gasp!)

Yeah, a $28 wine. It kinda goes against what I try to do on this blog (affordable daily wine for college students), but it was for a special occasion. I also happened to drink these two back-to-back, starting with the Rombauer. It made the first sip of the Meridian taste like rubbing alcohol... but after a few more sips I realized it wasn't too bad. It didn't help that the Rombauer was cooled and the Meridian was room temperature... more on that later.


Bevmo had a wine sale (buy one get one for 5 cents), but I didn't buy any wines on sale because you have to buy two of the same ones. :[ I did, however, score 4 new wines: a Merlot, Pinot Noir, a Cabernet Sauvignon (that one looked really tasty from the description...) and a Viognier. You can also see the empty Rombauer bottle peeking into the picture on the right side. For the time being, I have to study study study for a test (tomorrow) and a midterm (on Monday, right after I get back...).

I should really join some sort of wine blog network to improve my current readership from the current ~6 to a short term goal of ~20 readers...

I'll be back on Monday with some shiny new blog posts! :]

"A tight grape from Iran" - Clos Du Bois Shiraz 2005

New developments for Sweet Child of Wine! My friend Chris is going to be participating in the wine drinking/reviewing. What does that mean for this blog? He's splitting the cost of the wine with me because he'll be drinking when I do, which means we'll go through different wines at twice the previous rate! Awesome, more reviews!

So the title of this post has a short back-story to it. A little over a year ago, some friends and I were drinking a Yellowtail Shiraz. I decided to look up the origins of Shiraz after I had drunk a fair amount of it, and claimed it was "a tight grape from Iran". It's popped up every time I mention Shiraz now, and I've come to like the phrase a lot! :] Onto the Shiraz:

Shiraz, 2005
Clos Du Bois, California. $13
Consumed: June 24, 2009
Nose: Heavy blackberry. Hints of coconut. Palette: First impression - really fruity, of the same blackberry as in the aroma. Fruit disappears, the wine displays its tannins and sharp acidity. Strong black licorice comes in, then disappears with a quick finish. No lingering aftertaste. No bite, easy to drink.

These photos were taken with an iPhone 3GS. The macro looks really good!

$13 wine? Not my usual splurge, but I wanted to hope to grab a nice Shiraz, since my previous experience with this varietal was with Yellowtail, and you guys already know my opinion on that brand... The first thing that Chris pointed out as soon as I poured a glass was the vivid violet color of the wine. I like the shifting flavors, but it's not quite as dynamic as the Nobilo SB I recently reviewed, nor are the flavors as sharp. In Chris's words, not too exciting; I agree.

Final Verdict: Nice aroma with a decent taste, but not worth the price. I'd buy it again if it were under $10 (maybe $8-9 max), but for $13, I'll stay away from this wine.

I Can't Believe it's Not Butter! - Château Meric Red Bordeaux Blend 2006

Let's have a toast, this is the first Old World wine I'm reviewing! Woo hoo!

Alright, so I initially wanted to stay away from Old World wines until my palette developed more, but my curiosity got the best of me. I heard from a friend who knew a little bit about wine that the wine made from grapes of the Médoc region were pretty well known. I shrugged and went for it - I was quite pleased with this buy.

Red Bordeaux Blend, 2006
Château Meric, France (Subregion Médoc). $12
Consumed: June 22, 2009
Notes: On the nose, a vibrant and powerful sweetness of fruit - raspberries and blackberries - draws me in. As it hits the palette, I can get leather, and it's pretty acidic. Suddenly, an unexpected shift to an extremely smooth and buttery medium-length finish.

At first, I thought that I was just imagining the sweetness of the fruit in the aroma. Several minutes later, the wonderful aroma was prominent as ever. It's funny, it smells so sweet to me that I almost want to say that it reminds me of Hawaiian Punch! Maybe it's just me and I'm enjoying the aroma of this wine a bit too much. As much as I'd like to go on and on for pages and pages about the aroma, the buttery finish is an equally big attraction. Despite the initial tannins (the bitterness) and the acidity on the palette, the super smooth finish makes up for it and then some. It reminds me a bit of eating a baked potato with butter (weird, huh?).

Final Verdict: Aroma and the finish are amazing. It costs bit too much for a college student to be buying everyday. Also, I'd try this wine for my own first food pairing suggestion: this wine + steak and potatoes. The buttery finish would complement these foods extremely well. I'll bet you a bottle of wine that there's no way that pairing will fail! :]

Rolling Out the Red Carpet - Santa Rita Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

The vacation's over and it's about time we get back to the good stuff. I've noticed that I haven't reviewed any red wines in the past posts on this blog, so we're going to change that today! Also, a big thanks to Chris for lending me legit wine glasses! Anyways, first up will be the Cab from Chile:

Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007
Santa Rita, Chile. $6
Consumed: June 9, 2009
Notes: On the nose, a very fruity smell like that of a dark fruit. There's also a light vanilla-like sweet smell present in the background. With the first sip, I notice a rough, almost thick mouthfeel, with the taste having the same black fruit that I smelled. Notes of leather. Finishes quickly, leaving a lingering flavor of blueberries and the skin of red grapes.

This is a very simple wine, no dynamic changes in flavor. It would have been wonderful if there were, but I can't hope to stumble upon cool wines all the time if I'm trying bottles randomly from the shelf, right? Despite the simplicity of the wine, I found this one to be very solid, especially for the low price of $6. I found that the fruitiness of this wine was really cool - as odd as it sounds, it reminds me of cola-flavored gummy candies. According to some quick research, Cabs are commonly described as having black fruit (blackberries, black cherries, etc.), with various other flavors that would come from processing. The vanilla hints are apparently from the wine sitting in oak barrels! I'm pleased that I was able to get subtle smells like that - no, scratch that, I'm really excited that my palette for wine is starting to develop.

Final Verdict: Very solid for the price. Pretty cheap, good flavors, a decent everyday wine.

What? A break already!?

Sweet Child of Wine will be going on a short vacation. It's off to Vegas, then to some theme parks with family for a few days!

When I get back, I'll fulfill a short backlog of wines that I've tried:

Jonesy Rare Aged Port
Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007, Santa Rita, Chile
Red Bordeaux blend, 2006, Château Meric, France

I took good notes on these wines, so I'm excited to be able to write about them (soon)! Stay tuned! :]

Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc 2008

For the time being I'm sticking to New World wines because I heard that they tend to be more fruity than their Old World counterparts. Anyways, a wine from New Zealand? How cool, I didn't realize that they made wine. I picked this up at the same time as the Yellowtail Chardonnay. I was a little bit hesitant to grab two wines from a similar area of the world, since I wanted to get a very diverse bunch of wines for that purchase (NZ, Australia, Chile - not too bad right?). This was the most expensive (but not by much) out of the small bunch, and I have to say, I wasn't disappointed. Let's rock this:

Sauvignon Blanc, 2008
Nobilo, New Zealand. $11
Consumed: June 5, 2009
Notes: On the nose, apple, lemon, and grass. On the swirl, the a sweet smell of fresh lemons vibrantly pop. Taste, a strong flavor of a mix of lemon and grass. Not particularly complex, but is very crisp. The lemon sits on the palate for the initial moment combined with a hint of grass. Then the grass kicks in while the lemon takes a backseat. Finally, both flavors fade to a linger for a quick finish.

I'll have to say this is the most interesting wine I've ever had. I have a lemon tree at home and the aroma reminded me of picking fresh lemons! The aroma is wonderfully fresh - I was already quite impressed at this point. The flavors are so... dynamic. They shift like crazy, which is something I've never experienced with Scotch. I was initially hesitant to taste it because I smelled grass, but it's just another flavor, doesn't put me off at all. According to Google, Sauvignon Blancs are crisp and fresh, with a very grassy flavor to it, (the grass intensity differing between producing regions) so this was supposed to be a "standard" SB. Interesting.

Final Verdict: Go for it! Great aroma, dynamic flavors. Not too cheap, but you won't be disappointed. Keep an eye out for other Sauvignon Blancs though, since they'll probably be similar even at a lower price point.

Meridian Pinot Grigio 2007 + Yellowtail Chardonnay 2007

Big first (real) post! Double wine review because I've already built up a backlog of wines to post about even though I've just started this blog... somehow? Oh right, because it's finals week here at UCLA.

Anyways, these two wines were my gateway dru-- err, wines. As I didn't really know what I was doing when I decided to give wine another shot, I just dove in headfirst (upon a friend's recommendation). Walking down the wine aisle at my local grocery store, I snagged the Meridian Pinot Grigio because my friend's father is fond of the Meridian line. I headed to Trader Joe's the next day, I picked up the Yellowtail Chardonnay, along with two other wines...

Now, let's begin with the feature wines... *drumroll*

Pinot Grigio, 2007
Meridian Vineyards, California. $9.
Consumed: May 31, 2009
Notes: On the nose, a very sweet peachy fragrance. The taste is very prominent - peaches, citrus. General citrus, comes during the middle, present during the finish. Citrus in the finish seems to hide the bite - makes this wine very smooth to drink. Definitely a good one for someone just getting into wine (like me, har har) because the flavors are prominent enough for the beginner to be aware of, yet is smooth enough to not make you want to turn away from it. I really liked this one. At $9, not exactly the cheapest, but hey, I'll take any good wine under $10 I can find!

Final Verdict: Awesome, worth getting.

Chardonnay, 2007
Yellowtail, Australia. $6
Consumed: June 1, 2009
Notes: Not much on the nose - just a hint of coconut in the aroma, but almost negligible. It's not complex at all, general citrus. Kind of a bitter finish. Drinkable, but I don't like it. The price could have been a telling sign of things to come, but I was willing to give it a shot - after all, there has to be a reason everyone drinks Yellowtail. Right? Little did I know that Yellowtail is to wine as to what Smirinoff is to vodka: Not terrible, but not great by far. Popular because of good marketing. Bleh, I'm staying away from Yellowtail from now on. I'll gladly eat my words if one of their other varietals is good, but I'm not going to shell out my own money to try them. Anyone care to buy me a (yellowtail) drank?

Final Verdict: Drinkable, but you should stay away.

Oh, and sorry for the blurry pictures. I'm still getting used to this newfangled thing they call photography.

Welcome!

First off, a little bit about me. By day, I'm a third year student at UCLA. By night, I'm a budding wine lover. I started a few years ago by drinking very cheap beer and hard liquor with my friends like your average college student. After a while, I found out that whiskey was my liquor of choice, and soon that fondness somehow turned into love for scotch. About a full year later, after having learned that my palate could improve greatly simply by drinking finer liquors more often, I have finally settled on wine. And thus, the creation of this blog will catalog my foray into the world of wine.... and give me something to do while drinking my wine during this long summer to come!

A few posts soon to come, as soon as I upload the pictures...