No wine for Lent.

So, I have given alcohol up for Lent. I don't know what, if anything, I will be posting. I will have something for my birthday, March 26, though. I could write some thoughts, but who wants to read those anyway? Maybe, who knows. Maybe something technical? Well, honestly I do not know enough yet to really do that. I am coming into about $15k, so I'll be nigger-rich, which seems to be one of the few times a white person can say the n-word, although we should keep in mind:

But I might buy a bottle of Don Perignon. And ride first class maybe. Do they still give free champagne or is that just in the movies? Oh, and a nice meal from a French place. The rest goes to the banks, I mean what this guy

would call them, the cause of all my damn problems, meaning Sallie Mae. And I am reading Merchant of Venice so blaming the usurious Jews is in order, eh Mel? Being politically correct, aside, yes I will buy a bottle of Don Perignon and a nice French meal, pay a little off my student debt, and save the rest. I also think I will travel out here to stay with the monks for a week or two:

Well, see everyone at Pascha/Easter! Happy drinking to you drunken, hedonist heathens! Your godless Epicurean ways shall confound you, for yay, it is written of ye "whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things", though elsewhere, sayeth the Lord, "Give wine unto those who are sad". Sit Dominus vobiscum, Baccho quoque.

2013 Dellatorri Chianti

This young Chianti greets with black cherries, vanilla, and spice, an enjoyable sophisticated wine for around a dime. Leather and spice on the tongue, with dark fruit that I can't place. I want to say dark cherry on the one hand, but that is perhaps too often used, and here I am not sure that is what I am getting. The leatheriness and pepper cover the fruit up, and the fruit is there at the end and on the finish. It is pleasant to me all around, as I prefer wines that do not have a lot of new world fruitiness. Medium dryness and a lingering finish. I rank this wine an 83. To me there is something slightly unpleasant on the finish, the fruits trying to make their way through the leather, and the combination detracts from the wine, but not enough to make it a wine I would not buy again because of the price and decent quality.


EDIT : I opened the wine and drank it immediately. However, as I drank it and it opened up (in the bottle) it softened and improved, raising it to, I would say, an 85. The fruits came out and rather than "dark cherry" I got pomegranate. Obviously it is best to open wine up with a decanter, and I have read that you really cannot decant wine in the bottle because of the small size of the neck. I suppose not technically, and not effectively if the wine actually needs decanting, but experience shows me that a decent wine can improve simply with the cork off.

 

2012 Bolla Valpoicella

I have been wanting to try a Valpoicella since watching a favourite movie last year, Death in Venice, Valpoicella being close  to Venice. 

The wine would also be proper for that play "in fair Verona where we lay our scene" since that is ust where the wine is from. Now when Hannibal returns to NBC this year, it shall be a Chianti to set it off, hopefully with lamb chops.  This tonight I bought a budget brand that has turned out very well when I have drank it, a sort of Italian form on Yellow Tail I would say. It's a couple dollars more, but if you want something a bit more sophisticated, and yet easy on the wallet, this is the brand to go with.

This wine greets me with floral aromas, sweet and light, and then darkens upon further investigation. I get raisins or cranberries, with a sort of pungent smell associated with good cheese, though not being a stinky cheese guru, I cannot say what kind. It is pleasant,  however, in its own way, and certainly not repulsive.

The taste matches what is on the nose and the tannins are very strong, reminding more of Ocean Spray than wine, with dark fruit, so I think I will let it breath.

After letting it breath for more than an hour, it did lighten up, but still was not anything special. It was mostly dark fruits, namely pomegranate and dark cherry, and the character as not anything special. I give this wine an 81. However, it should not necessarily keep one from trying the brand, as it has been pleasant before. Perhaps some of the other wines, like the Chianti, will prove better.

Yellow Tail 2013 Pinot Grigio

by Brandon Wainscott

I remember a year or two ago, I bought a few Yellow Tail to celebrate the greatest sports event in my state. No, not the NCAA Basketball Championship, though to all the rednecks who do not drink wine, as does Our most classy self, pinkies extended, it may be! Inside joke. You have to be a Kentuckian to really understand why basketball is a religion here. Just kidding about the redneck thing. I love basketball. And about the "we" thing, We rarely speak in the royal first person anymore! What is it, preciousssses, we must finds out! What is hobbiteses? What is wineses? Can we eatses wineses? Cans we drinks it? 

No,  the sport We were talking about the Kentucky Derby of course. It was one of my first times in drinking Yellow Tail. It was amazing really. For a then $6.00 wine (taxes caused it to go up a dollar, those bloody politicians), well, it was complex with all sorts of layers of fruit.

Not this time. On the nose is a floral breeze smell, or a sea breeze I suppose. Something you might get from the sea in southern Australia, where the wine comes from. But it is rather artificial. I think it would fit well for the poem I wrote on my other blog, if you wish to read a poem more on the sensual side. But the sex on the beach with this floral/ocean breeze would greatly outweigh this aspect. I mean real sex on the beach, with real sea breezes.

My sensual side notes aside, there is also a strong green apple scent. However, it is mixed with an alcoholic smell, making it rater unpleasant. There is also, strangely perhaps, a strong note of Parmesan cheese, which here I do not find pleasant. Not in wine.

Taste wise it is rather simplistic. All there is that green apple and alcohol, and maybe some peach. For one who rather likes this causal house wine, I have to say I am rather disappointed, though for the price it is of above average quality. I give it an 80. In any case, it would be good to drink in a seashell, having sex on the beach, like in the poem. You have to read the poem to understand this reference, just like you have to live in Kentucky to understand how basketball is a religion here.

On a final note, white wines are not a go to of mine. I prefer red. In the book about wine lover Hannibal Lecter, Hannibal, he is chilling a white wine, and the author describes how Dr. Lecter always gets nervous/excited before opening the white wine because he hopes it reaches just the right point. What he means is a white too warm or too cold hides its character. The floral and other notes are lost in the alcoholic flavor. I am sure there is a chemical reason for this (ask Walter White). I let the wine war up a little. It was a bit cold coming of the ice, but even with the temperature rising, I still say this was still simplistic. Some peach flavors came out, too. Drinkable by all means, whether to make love on the beach or to have with boneless wings and tater tots, as I am about to do. With a casual dinner, this is is a decent wine. But nothing special, or even good per se. More "ok", but above average in its price range. 



EDIT: It did seem to give grace to the buffalo sauce and vice versa. Certainly a good choice if you want a casual wine. Just toss in the fridge before work if nothing else. In this wine I do not think you are going to miss much by getting it too cold in the fridge. 

2013 Yellow Tail Merlot

by Brandon Wainscott

I've decided  to do something different reviewing this. Rather than the same old formatted review, I decided just to write.

Yellow Tale is the go to house wine, as a friend says. He plans to go to school as sommelier, so I guess it is good if he considers it a go to house wine, being an expert and all, on the way to becoming an official wine snob. Another friend, a Facebook friend in Scotland, complained about the lack of quality wine in Britain. Someone mentioned Yellow Tail, and he did not outright put it down if I recall, but did not seem to fond of it either. But he seemed to agree it was a good wine for poor college students.

The 2013 Yellow Tail Merlot was quite complex. On the nose I got death. Yes, I said death. Well, maybe I should put it better. It did not smell like rotting flesh. My great-grandmother died when I was seven. I remember the viewing at the funeral home. I remember the smell most of all I think. They really fix up the person of course, so there is no smell or ugliness. I remember there was a minty smell, and I guess it was something they spray on the corpse, or a chemical used in embalming. In any case, mint, not death. I just call it death because of what it reminds me of. I also got spice and plumb, plus thyme.

The plumb, spice and thyme were on the tongue, too. I could imagine having it with lamb chops. I love thyme on lamb. It goes so well with that sweetness of the lamb. It finished long, with the spice being the main finishing characteristic. However, towards the very end it did finish a bit bitter. However, because the finish was long, it was pleasant except for that last moment.

The color is medium dark I would say. I would give it an 87 because of its low price range, taking away a point or two from a possible 88 or 89 for the depth of the wine. The many layers to me were amazing. I had not had that in a while. I think next time I buy wine, I'll not splurge, but buy two Yellow Tails.

Oh, and if you catch any strange typos in here, it is likely because I am going to end up having to replace that laptop that I spilled wine on. The keys are sticking. Besides, it fell off a table not  long before, and it seems the hinge for the screen is a bit loose. 

Shit! I Just Spilled Wine on My Computer!

by Brandon Wainscott

So it finally happened. I spilled wine on my laptop. Well, so far, so good. A bit sticky, but given it was that sticky, cough medicine like port, I suppose that is to be expected, even with the cleaning. I'll give it another good wipe after this. But assuming your computer has not already fried out, in which case you are screwed, some ways to save your computer.

1. Shut it down. 
2. With a towel quickly get all the liquid off. This needs to be done as quickly as possible of course.
3.  Once you have gotten all the actual wine of get a dry paper dowel and wipe down the keyboard and in between the keys. Get any wine or wine residue that you see. 
4. Turn the computer upside down for a moment. 
5. This step is made with a disclaimer. You do this at your own risk. With a baby wipe or wet wipe, wipe down the computer, including the keyboard. On the keyboard be extra gentle of course, as well as on the mouse. You may have to do this a few times. Try wiping in circular motions. Then dry with a paper towel.
6. Then turn your computer back on and hope there are no problems. 

Of course if something does go wrong, and you have warranty that covers such accidents, you're good, except for the trouble of the lost files and having to wait for a replacement. But hopefully this helped.  That's why it is good to always back up your files. If you're nervous like me about someone reading them, or seeing certain photos (wink, wink), you can encrypt files, even folders, and they will remain encrypted when they are backed up. Word files, Excel files, etc. allow you to encrypt in the software, and there are programs you can buy to add even better encrypt them. A simple, free method of encrypting whole folders can be found here, though it is easy to get through the encrypted file if you have some very basic knowledge of these things. I actually mention the encryption, not so you can hide bad things (though you can!), but your important files, such as for business, that great novel you plan on publishing, etc. Backing them up, or putting them on a jump drive, exposes them to being opened by whoever might find or use the jump drive. Just think identity theft is some of them are business files. Decent encryption is a good idea, as is backing up files in general. Then if you spill wine on your computer, you are good if the above methods fail. Cheers!

Finally Tried Escargot

by Brandon Wainscott

Actually had escargot once in Wisconsin when I was up there considering the Catholic clergy. That went pretty well. I became fond of a couple girls in the parish, one being the girl all the guys fell in love with, including the guys considering the priesthood. Not so much that they necessarily gave up their clerical aspirations, though I think it did for those not called to the life of celibacy. Now that I am considering Eastern Orthodoxy, which has married clergy, that's not a problem. Except I do not want to be a priest. Maybe a deacon or something of the lower clergy, but I don't feel I have the capabilities to be a priest--it's a lot of devotion, and a great duty. In any case one of the priests up in Wisconsin and I were taken to a nice restaurant by the rich patron of the parish who pretty much helped with the beautiful restoration, shown here for all my self-proclaimed sophisticated readers who love the church art I am sure:

In any case we had escargot a la bourguignonne, which I remember to have liked. Actually, from what I remember there did not seem to be much of a taste, other than the butter, which perhaps masked the underlying flavour of the actual snails. Which is what my problem was with my recipe last night. I had no shells, so escargot a la bourguignonne was out of the question. So I cooked them with some sausage in a spicy red sauce, my own concoction. And I am afraid I did not like the escargot.

They were small snails, from Burgundy, as opposed to the large ones. They had a rather fishy taste, which is something I always found hard as a Catholic on Fridays. Technically I am still a Catholic, but I am strongly considering Orthodoxy, so it's a bit of confusing time. Of course I usually just ate vegetables. I hate the fishy taste. It makes me gag, a reflex. I think part of it is genetic, and part of it that I never grew up eating fish. I was pick. My diet was mostly McDonald's chicken nuggets with the skin pilled off, and biscuits and gravy. In any case the taste of the snails was musky and fishy. So I ask my more cultured readers: Are large escargots less musky or fishy? And does the escargot a la bourguignonne recipe allow that to be drowned out by the butter? The escargot a la bourguignonne seems really good with a glass of wine. But without the butter, at least the small ones, seem way too fishy for my uncultured tongue. Almost like anchovies. Perhaps someone can enlighten me. It would really be nice to enjoy this wine lover's delight.

In any case, I have not had much to write about of late. I might start doing to recipes to make up for the lack of material. I am making goose for Christmas. Not sure exactly how I am going to do it though--Port and plums are involved. I guess the recipe will come after Christmas--so much for the Christmas goose.
: