A Wine Post!

It occurred to me that I'd not posted anything in a while, and I did, way back at the beginning, promise wine comments from time to time. So, while I'm getting the photos and everything ready for the next costume post, here's a wine review. We'll call it

What I'm Drinking Now

And there are two wines for today, courtesy of a little grill-out my husband and I threw a couple weeks back. The first wine is a Pinot Noir blanc (that is, a rosé) by a Californian winery called Belle Glos. It's their Oeil de Perdrix ("Eye of the Partridge"). Rosés are a great summer wine, especially for folks who like reds but want something a little lighter for the hotter months. They also rock with grilled foods. :) I'm a big fan of rosés, and I feel they're often underrated. So, there's wine #1.

Wine #2 I discovered at our local wine shop. It's an absolutely brilliant place with very knowledgeable staff and a tasting bar where you can sample three or four new wines every day. (Speaking of the folks there, that's how I found wine #1 - just asked one of the guys there who knows me (ie, that I appreciate good wine and I'm cheap!) and he said, "try that one." So, thanks Ben!) Anyway, one day I was at the tasting bar and there was this wine that I'd never heard of. Let me clarify, while there are many wineries I've never heard of, it's very rare that there's a varietal I've never heard of (for folks new to wine, a varietal is the type of grape a wine is made from - like chardonnay or merlot). But here was one. It was a white grape called Falanghina which is primarily grown around the Naples / Vesuvius area in southern Italy. Alright, I was curious. So I tried it.

Now here's where my taste in wine and that of a lot of my friends (and my husband) diverge. I love dry whites. My all-time favourite white wine is Sancerre, which comes from the Loire valley in France and is grown on the limestone there. It is flinty, suck-the-moisture-out-of-your-mouth dry, and I love that. This Falanghina is kinda like that. Not quite as dry, but pretty crisp with some citrusy flavours. All in all, pretty good for sitting out on the front porch on a summer's evening. :) The one I had was the Vesevo Falanghina Beneventano 2011, if you're interested. (And if you like sweeter wines, try the Rosa di Bianca sparkling wine. :)

Happy sipping! :)