mogri : network

Bogle Vineyards Pinot Noir

It is past 1am already and I should get some sleep, but this entry has been hanging in my Windows Live Writer for several days without any content so I’ve decided to finish writing about the wine before I go to sleep today.

Whenever we stop by Trader Joe’s, we always stop by wine section to pick up one or two bottles of wine. As I started writing blog about wine we try, my wife wanted to try something new this time and it happened to be Pinot Noir. It is new because we only tried two bottles of Pinot Noir for last 5 years so it is a rare choice.

Like everything else, we selected one of inexpensive ones to try out although one side of me tempted me to buy a bottle from Oregon, where Pinot Noir is famous for. However, its price tag stopped me from there. Next day, we picked up bunch of small pieces of cheese from Whole Food (they sell sort of left-over small pieces in wrapper for affordable price, so you should check it out if you are a cheese fan) and tried them out with this wine.

Pinot Noir is surprising silky smooth and it smells like Korean grape. One interesting aspect was that there was no spicy feeling at the end. I really liked my second glass– well, I wasted my first glass by accident. With cheese we picked up earlier (I should also write about cheese one day), it was very easy to drink up the half bottle right away.

Ok. Here is a lesson – write a blog right away. I can’t come up with much to write about it after 2-3 weeks drinking it because I kind of forgot how I enjoyed the wine. Looks like I will have to buy this one again later to re-enjoy it and write more about it.

Chateau Ste Michelle Columbia Valley Chardonnay 2008

I cannot remember when I first tried a bottle of wine from Chateau Ste Michelle but I have known the winery for a long time – it is located 15 minutes away from where I live. If you live in Seattle area, the chance is that you have been there at least once, and if you haven’t, you should.

I have tried many different Chardonnay (mostly inexpensive ones), but Chateau Ste Michelle Columbia Valley Chardonnay is the one I always go back because it has the perfect taste for me. Its sweetness is just about right to enjoy alone and its taste goes along really well with any kind of seafood or poultry. While it is relatively inexpensive ($10 range), in my opinion, it brings much better tasting experience than other more expensive Chardonnay from Chateau Ste Michelle, such as Indian Wells and Canoe Ridge, which is the reason why I always choose Columbia Valley Chardonnay over other Chardonnay.

One footnote about Chateau Ste Michelle wine – Chateau Ste Michelle is more well known for its white wine than red wine and I have to agree with it. While its red wine is okay, white wine has far better characteristic IMHO. If you are a fan of sweet wine or dessert wine and get a chance to visit Chateau Ste Michelle in Woodinville, WA, make sure you pick up Columbia Valley Muscat Canelli. It is only available from Chateau Ste Michelle’s own retail shop and you will be blown away by its taste.

Chateau Auguste Bordeaux Merlot 2008

I love having nice food when I drink and that is one reason I enjoy wine. One day while I was enjoying wine with nice food that my wife cook, I started thinking that maybe I should blog about it so that I can remember how I have enjoyed each wine.

My wife and I usually look for inexpensive wine from Trader Joe’s. TJ has really good selection of inexpensive wines – it sells the same wines for cheaper price. One thing we’ve found out is that sub-$20 wines are mostly not much better than sub-$10 wines. If we want to try something really nice, we don’t hesitate spending $50+ on a bottle of wine (we did twice so far and we did not regret it) and it is worth every penny… if you finish it in reasonable time.

We love trying something new every time and this time we decided to try organic wine from France for the first time. I cannot remember exact price but it was sub-$10 range – pretty good deal. I forgot what I had with it (I am think it was probably this, but this reminds me that I need to be more diligent and write a blog without delaying), but it initially matched with the food very well. However, the second glass felt a bit more sour than the first glass and we were suddenly a bit disappointed.

The second day, it was even more sour. Hmm.. what is wrong? There was one important thing that we forgot about enjoying wine, though – we did not let wine breathe enough. After letting it breathe for a while, all sourness went away and the glass was empty already.

My personal philosophy is that you need a nice food to fully enjoy any kind of drink and they have to go together. Get some nice food and enjoy your life.