The Friday Wine

Everything, nothing and everything in between but mostly about wine.

[thefridaywine]

Tierra de Vientos

(2009, Tempranillo; Vino de la Tierra, Spain)

Sorry, no website.

[thefridaywine]

Carchelo

(2009, 40% Monastrell, 40% Tempranillo, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon; Jumilla, Murcia, Spain)

http://www.carchelo.com

[thefridaywine]

Chañarmuyo Estate

(2008, 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Cabernet Franc; La Rioja, Argentina)

http://www.chanarmuyo.com.ar

[thefridaywine]

Clifford Bay

(2009, Sauvignon Blanc; Awatere Valley, Marlborough, New Zealand)

http://www.cliffordbay.co.nz

[thefridaywine]

Altitud 1.100

(2009, Garnacha Tintorera; Almansa D.O., Spain)

He said:

Altitud 1.100 was one of the options last time so we decided to go with this one.  What can I say?  To put it simply, we were underwhelmed.  It kinda felt like it was watered down.  You know how drinks would taste if you diluted it with water.  We did finish it so we'll give it that.

To go with this insipid offering is a topic that doesn't really have much weight.  Jersey Shore!  Yeah, we mainly discussed the show and recounted events.  How exciting!  Heh.  We do like to discuss cultures and the nuances with it and Jersey Shore does have that guido culture but this time around we didn't go much further than the surface.  Instead of digging deep for gems we let it go up in the air like a hot air balloon.

http://tintoralba.com/our-wines-nuestros-vinos/altitude-1-100/

Full of hot air or earthly substance?

[thefridaywine]

Tierruca

(2009, Pinot Noir; Lontue Valley, Chile)

He said:

We were looking for something red and light this time so the proprietor suggested a pinot noir.  We ended up looking at Pennywise, Tierruca, and 'that other one' which name eludes us.  Shame, because we are more interested in 'that other one' over Pennywise.  As you know, we went with Tierruca.  Upon pouring, it evoked a happy red color whatever that means.  Just looking at how the red shone in the light gave off a happy feel.  The mouthfeel was light, earthy and wet like a dew filled patch of moss covered trees glowing in rays of sunlight.

If you had the choice to live a second life.  To have an alter ego where you can act on your deepest desires.  To break free of the mold from whence you came from.  Would you?  Who would you be?  With the advent of the internet and with it the technological means to create virtual worlds populated with avatars.  These online worlds range from the fantastical to ones based on current reality.  They number in the hundreds and players from the world over participate.  Some play it as a brief entertainment fix while others invest their life into the game to the point where it takes priority over their real life.  It is an addiction with a huge impact on one's personal and social life.  There are stories of men rejecting the aggressive advances of their naked and mind-blowingly hot women.  Of husbands not noticing that their families left them with the kids until long after the fact.  Of hard core game marathoners dropping dead after days of gaming non stop.  Yet the allure of these online worlds are enticing.  Where else can you reinvent yourself total from appearances to mannerisms.  It also provides a feeling of belonging.  Of importance.  Of actually contributing something.  A break in the monotone of the daily grind.

With the advances in social media and virtual worlds will we see a time when the two conjoin into some new mega addiction?

Sorry, no website.

Discover your worldly pleasures.

[thefridaywine]

Los Ailos

(Syrah-Malbec, 2009; San Juan, Argentina)

He said:

We came across this bottle while perusing the shelves for our next selection.  We didn't have much of a specific category in mind other than that it would be a red......and economical.  I spied the Los Ailos bottle, it had a simple label with what she likened to a tumbleweed as the image, which is a syrah and malbec blend.  60% syrah and 40% malbec.  It was this blend that spurred us to take this pick.  It poured a nice hue of reddish purple, nothing extraordinary.  It had a slight bite at first with a tad sweet finish.  We debated the finish and the consensus we reached was that this wine was interesting and drinkable but not one that we would actively seek.  We also discussed its aroma list; plum, cherry, vanilla and tobacco.  Particularly tobacco.  It made me ponder if there are actually wines that would complement smoking and since we're non-smokers we aren't in the position to experiment.  By the way, the "tumbleweed" is supposedly a feather which we failed to see even after reading this description.  I rationalized that it could be a microscopic image of the feather's tip and she countered that it was a too deep of an analysis for this product.  Is this a reflection that this particular bottle provides intrigue yet lacks depth?

There was a test where you had to identify whether the shown smile was genuine or fake.  You can check out the test here: (link).  The initial question it asks you when you start the test made us think.  Would a largely positive outlook on life lead to the person believing that the majority of the smiles are genuine while a largely negative outlook would be otherwise?  She also admitted that as she took the test she initially was more inclined to categorize smiles on pretty faces to be genuine while less pleasant faces would elicit a fake categorization.  It could be just a personal inclination as I don't follow that line of thought myself.  However I do see how one could come to that kind of reasoning and I should see what my other friends say.

Is homosexuality learned or innate?  We leaned towards learned because environmental factors play a heavy part in shaping who a person is.  I would say that eroticism as opposed to homosexuality is innate.  Each person has different degrees and the limitless influences throughout a being's upbringing no matter how minuscule shapes that degree.  How else would you explain identical siblings going down different paths?  If there were a so called "gay gene" and one twin turns out to be gay then logic would dictate that the other twin would also be gay.  Either that or closeted.  If we applied the innate eroticism theory instead then it we could explain that the twins' degree of eroticism evolved differently.  It is virtually impossible for each to have the exact same influences as they are not in the exact same physical space at all times.  Bi and homosexuality is just a way to expand your scope of sexual gratification that just happens to not roll with current social mores.  Love, empathy, companionship, friendship and all that happens whether you are gay or not.  It is base human values.  Just because a man cares deeply for another man does not make him gay.  It makes him human.  What makes him gay is that man's molded innate eroticism enables him to be open to and take action on the idea of physically showing affection and sharing sexual pleasure with another man he happens to care deeply for.  A man loves his brother does he not?  A woman loves her sister does she not?

Continuing with malleable minds we touched on how our parents leave their mark on us.  By how they included us in the conversation they were having with whomever seems to have an imprint on our conversational mannerisms.  One of us would noticeably ensure other participants are reasonably included in the conversation while the other would tend to focus at the participants that the topic is directed towards.  One would likely inquire in what is being discussed while the other sits back with nary a clue but isn't too bothered.  We were able to trace parallelisms to our childhood and it really makes me think on what I do when my child is within vicinity.

http://www.aylluswines.com.ar/ (Seemingly under construction.  Hopefully this is the correct one.)

Explore the multifaceted depths.

[thefridaywine]

Callia Alta

(Malbec, 2009; San Juan, Argentina)

S/he said:

We had a bottle of wine from Alamos before I left for Puerto Rico for a dear friend's wedding.  As a fan of all things Malbec, I recommended that we have a bottle of Alamos to complement our take out Thai dinner.  We had to choose between 2007 and 2009.  Naturally, we chose a bottle that was a buck or two more than the other for quality's sake.  It was an amazingly smooth ride from the start to finish.  The next thing you know, we could have started another bottle of wine.  However, I had an early flight to catch so it was best to do it another time.  It was agreed that we needed to have Alamos again to compare the differences between 2007 and 2009. 

Hey, it is all about the art of wine tasting and developing the ability to detect the subtleties based on the season of the grapes, otherwise known as vintage.

We were ready to acquaint ourselves with the younger version of Alamos for lunch.  We were unable to locate it.  So, we asked the owner about it.  It turns out that they do not carry bottles that are commonly found in large distributors.  When asked why, she explained that they only carry wines that are lesser known which left us feeling quite sophisticated. It brought us down a notch or two when she went on to say that they could not meet the competitors' prices to remain afloat.  Nevertheless, we love the idea of delving into the world of "lesser known" wines.

Since we enjoyed the Alamos so much, we asked for an alternative wine that has a similar taste.  She immediately pulled out two wines.  One was supposed to be a full bodied wine and Callia Alta was supposed to be good with food.  Since we were having lunch, we chose the latter.

It was a pleasant selection.  It was indeed nice and smooth with a spicy ride from the start to finish... the initial taste was juicy... very juicy completed with a sweet aftertaste.

The entrepreneur in me says that Bethesda could benefit an understated liquor store where you can browse through the selections and have them for lunch or dinner.  The hitch is to remember all sorts of wines that would please the customers based on their request.  We had a brief glimpse on what it would take to operate a wine store like this when the owner instantly picked out two selections for us to choose from.  That led us to inquire on how she knew what to suggest out of the entire inventory.  Long story short, she tasted em all over time via cooking, parties and tastings.  It was natural for her to remember how each wine tastes. 

As much as I love wine, I don't know if I have the stomach to taste wine all the time!

He mentioned he would like to start a company and ideas were floating.  Really a simple idea can be deceptively simple yet generate healthy returns.  One such example would be a mobile car wash securing contracts with large companies with their giant parking lots.  Employees can have their vehicles cleaned while they toil away in their cubicle farms so they have a shiny ride for the trip home.  For a company that has approximately 5,000 employees, it is probably safe to assume about 500 would be interested in having their car washed for 25 dollars while they are working.  That translates into a sweet 12,500!  Hmmm... he is onto something....

Speaking of which, there is a big fuss with the TSA and their new scanner.  Rumor on the street is the employees are abusing it by pulling aside good looking people so they can "check" them out.  I've gone through the scanner in the past... I don't know if I should be flattered or offended... Naturally, the travelers are concerned about the invasion of privacy. Others are concerned about the impact of the radiation which is known to cause cancer.  This is currently a hot topic that we will be hearing for a while. 

http://www.bodegascallia.com/eng.html

Your ride is waiting for you.

http://www.alamoswines.com/en/ourwines/ (for those who are curious about Alamos)

[thefridaywine]

Oakley, FourWhites

(Sauvignon Blanc, Palomino, Malvasia Bianca and Viognier, 2008)

She said:

You could not name a wine more specific than this.  Like the name of the wine, it has an interesting blend of four white grapes.  It was as if they took the best parts of each grapes to combine one complex tongue tasting ride of your life.  It would unsuspectingly enter your palate and as you swish about, there would be bursts of citrous flavors and then the next thing you know, there is a clean crisp finish at the end.

Like the wine we had, we began a topic that unsuspectingly took us several twists and turns along the way.  He was talking about his thousandth conversation with his wife about their baby girl on how to raise her with a delicate sense of freedom and discipline.

Based on his experience, there is no way in hell he would ever allow his baby girl go through what he went through during his "curious phase" as a teenager.  It was agreed that the more strict you are to your kid, the more likely they would rebel.  The more lax you are with the kid, the more likely they will, well, rebel. 

Where is the fine line to ensure your kid has a balance between safe exploration with a good head on your shoulder and innate sense of boundaries when it comes to parenting during the teenage curiosity phase??

It is given that everyone understands the severity of the drugs such as cocaine, heroin and meth.  Yet, alcohol has the most devastating effect of them all whereas mushrooms has the least social impact out of the laundry list of drugs.

Here are the reasons why:

Alcohol is widely accepted. Physically, it affects every single organs of your body including liver, lungs, blood and what have you.  We hear in the news often about a poor drunk sportsmanship, drunk driving as well as drunken assaults. Needless to say, be wary of them drunks.

Whereas, mushroom is a psychedelic drug with effects similar to those of LSD.  It only affects your brain which makes you more paranoid than ever.  It is so powerful that many take them at the comforts of their home so they could enjoy them to the fullest exent.  As a result, they won't bother us while they are trippin'.

That leads us to the next question...if we were to legalize marijuana, how would that affect us?  It has been shown that it has the least physically damaging effect on our body as well as it is considered as the third least bothersome drug on the list.  However, it is considered as a gateway drug to harsher drugs with more severe personal impacts.

Towards the end of our wine, it was agreed that he should just enjoy his baby girl and her innocence for now.

Due to unforeseen circumstances the photos for this bottle was lost.

http://www.clinecellars.com/assets/client/File/labels/OW09CA_F.jpg

http://www.clinecellars.com/assets/client/File/labels/OW09CA_B.jpg

What is your catch 22?

[thefridaywine]

Lusitano

(White Table Wine, 2008)

He said:

We were browsing the selection and I had my eye on Cline Cellar's Oakley Four Whites when she picked up a bottle of Ervideira's Lusitano.  A Portuguese white wine blend with half a horse on the label.  She let drop that she never had a white that clear before so I decided to save the Oakley Four Whites for next time.  Turns out that the glass of the bottle had a blue tint to it which was made prominent after filling our glasses.

It was clean with a sweet aftertaste.  We then started discussing marketing practices.  Was this blue tinted bottle a marketing strategy to make it stand out?  Or is there a reason in wine making to use such a bottle?  Either way it sold us and there we were enjoying it.

We also discussed recurring themes within commercials.  Having recurring themes enables the watcher to easily identify the company behind the commercial based on previous ones.  Instant brand recognition is something to strive for.

Speaking of which, apparently there'll be a debit card with the three Kardashian sisters plastered on it set to be released on the 10th of November.  It's going to be interesting how this goes down.  Will it be a resounding success or a flop?  Time will tell but for sure there will be some folks out there itching to have Kim, Kourt and Khloe warming up their butt.

Anyhow here's the enticing stallion.

http://www.wonderfulland.com/wonder2006/wine/ervideira/indexwine_en.htm#products_4 (click on the white)

Be the horse or the horseman?

[thefridaywine]

Line 39

(Sauvignon Blanc, 2009)

She said:

Initially, the number caught my attention.  I have always been a fan of the family of 3.  Who, what, when, where, why- I do not know.  I just have always been drawn to the power of three.   Naturally, I recommended we give it a shot. 

We wanted to exercise our palate to eventually have the ability to identify various fruits, oaks and whatnot before we peek at the ingredients.  Our inexperienced palate indicated there was a distinct grapefruitish tone with a clean and crisp aftertaste.  However, if you were to swish it about to allow the flavor to cover all areas of the palate, it has a bitter aftertaste.  So, it is best for you to keep it simple and clean... just drink it. 

(According to the label, it has a lemon and orange citrus mix with a crisp clean finish that was harvested just north of Napa- not too shabby for a novice like us!)

8 out of 10 babies are already posted on the internet, one way or the other.  What does it mean for them when they become older?  Would their sense of boundaries be altered or remain the same? 

One poignant moment that made me feel sorry for the future generation was when someone posted an unforgiving picture of a 9 year old boy who underwent a heart bypass surgery.  This poor unconscious thing was lying, completely exposed, in a pair of diapers with all kinds of tubes running through him.  I am pleased to tell you that he survived and is doing well. 

Now, when you are young, you do not give a shit whether your life was in jeopardy or not.  What was more important that your parents did not embarrass you, especially in public.  Yet, his pictures were posted on Facebook for everyone to view.  We shudder to think what his thoughts would be when his girlfriend discovers it 10 years down the road, when he is still a teenager.

Back in the 80's, 128k was considered as ample amount of memory space for your computer.  Now, we use 2 GB (gigabytes) which is equivalent to running a marathon as opposed to running three miles back in the heyday.  Needless to say, information is absolutely rampant beyond anyone's wildest imagination when internet was first concieved.

It only shows that we have absolutely no idea what the future holds for us and our future generation.  It is very possible that 20 years from now, we could be enjoying our glass of wine and all of a sudden, we received an electronic notice that our nurse had injected an extra dose of insulin to our body due to it automatically sending alarm signal to the hospital that it was dangerously low on insulin and needed immediate attention.  Thanks to the extra dose of insulin, we could go back to enjoying our wine, uninterrupted.

With technology being so advanced, everyone would have the opportunity to be saved, when they least expect it.  We would live to be an unforsakeable age of 150 years and reside in a tiny dwelling that would make an average NYC apartment deemed to be a mansion.  Natural causes of death such as war, random acts of god and lack of medical knowledge contirubuted to population control.  Since we've overcame those natural methods of population control, what is there to well, control the population?

All of these life and death discussions made us revert back to our innocent and pure years of youth where one would furiously peddle with their important velcro shoes against their Big Wheel (completed with streamers, no less) made you the most powerful being on earth. 

One of the distinct memories we recalled were the books that we read.  Two came to mind, Dr. Seuss and Calvin and Hobbes.  It is interesting to note that the two highly regarded children authors' books consisted of veiled curses and hallucinated filled stories.  Then again, their simple choice of words were packed with powerful life lessons that would carry us for years to come. We look forward to what it brings when reading it from an adult's perspective.

Within one bottle of wine, Line 39, we managed to cover the past, present and the future.  Hmm... to come to think of it... we covered three topics... Never underestimate the power of three...

http://www.line39wines.com/sauvignon-blanc

What's your Line?

[thefridaywine]

Just

(Sauvignon Blanc, 2008)

He said:

We have this routine where we have a Friday lunch with a bottle of wine.  Today we were trying to remember our previous Fridays and what bottles we had tried.  Vague things come up such as 'name ending with a period', using melted snow as water, South Africa and so on.  Blame it on the grapes, so we decided to start this blog so we have a place of reminder.

Basically each post will be titled with the name of the wine and we tried to create a byline for the type but what you see is what we came up with.  It'll do.

Why do we do this?  Actually we don't specifically know.  One day she bribed me with a bottle of Maipe, a Malbec from Argentina (which turned out quite tasty), for a ride to a friend's place.  I accepted and thus a beautiful relationship with wine was born.

Much of our discussions were lame attempts of conveying the world of wine.  So one day I suggested a place where we could grab lunch and a bottle of wine as a Friday lunch.  It makes for a nice closing of the week.  So here we are, having lunch and wine at Gilly's Craft Beer and Fine Wine.

As Fridays came and went, we realized that wine is not all about well wine.  What it provided was a time to relax and enjoy good company.  We'll be sharing some of the topics we discussed which is everything and nothing and everything in between.  So please don't be offended or put off.  If for some reason you're offended then kindly close this blog and go have a glass of wine.

Here we go, our first blog.  I'll close this with a picture of what we had today.  (Yes, those are Dogfish Head Punkin, an excellent pumpkin beer so go have one!)

http://www.justbypaulsapin.com/just_wines.asp

Just Grapes...Just Introduction.