Modern Wino

It’s Sunday dinner time again, and Ruth & I are making steak. We had some leftover pineapple, so we went with more of an asian influence.

I marinated the steaks in a orange teriyaki glaze for about a half hour, and then pan-seared them, whilst cooking the pineapples in the next pan. We ended up with charry, steaky goodness. The carmelized sugar adds a nice complexity to the steak.

We’re pairing this with an Argentinian cab that is a steal at 14.99. At first swallow, I detected an unusual amount of cherry with some light woodiness. It didn’t necessarily have the dark fruit and cassis I prefer in my cabs. As the wine decanted and got a little air, the flavor deepened and I got some great balance, with deep tannins and a hint of tobacco. This wine’s a bargain at $18; at $15, it’s a steal.

2006 Tapiz Cabernet Sauvignon - 90

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When I was but a wee wino, drinking mostly beer and fresh out of college, I didn’t have much of a taste for wine. My only exposure would come on the occasions that my dad would bring home wine from the grocery store. Almost without exception, he would bring home one wine:

Beringer Founders’ Estate Chardonnay

It was buttery, bold, with hints of honeysuckle, pear, and apple. I had never enjoyed a wine before, but this one was excellent. It got a little heavy at room temperature, but for a few years, the Beringer Chardonnay was my idea of wine.

In the years since, like many winos, I’ve gradually expanded my pallet, from chardonnays to zins to merlots to sauvignon blancs to malbecs to montepulcianos to carmeneres and beyond…

But a good oakey chardonnay will always remind me of home.

2007 Beringer Founders’ Estate Chardonnay - 85

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It’s Sunday again, and this time we’re doing BBQ!

Grilled tomatoes with asparagus and barbecued chicken.

We contemplated chardonnay, but Ruth likes red, so we opened up a very drinkable, well-priced Argentinian cab, that I picked up for under ten dollars a few days ago.

It’s immensely quaffable with intense dark fruit ceding to hints of cedar and smoke. This is a great pizza and bbq wine that I would recommend picking up a case of as one of your go-to summertime evening wines. You really can’t go wrong with South American reds, which generally drink like domestic wines at one and a half times the price.

Put this one on your “buy” list.

Telteca 2007 “Uma Collection” Cabernet - 87
Mendoza, Argentina

admin Argentina, Cabernet, Value, wine barbeque, Cabernet, South American, value wines, wine

Today, a mutiny ended our moustache fitness competition at work. A silent vote was issued, the motion to abolish was carried out 6-2, and I no longer have to wear a moustache.

The rules were simple. Meet your goals, live your life. Fail to weigh in at your intended amount, grow a moustache unti you do. I looked like a pedophile created a time machine in 1981 and decided to travel 28 years into the future.

So, I celebrated with a trip to one of my favorite liquor stores in Austin, Westwood Liquors, for some great wine. I got a couple bottles for the cellar, a few bottles for drinking now, and got a $13 steak at the Randalls Flagship store across the street.

First off, can Randalls go out of business already, so it can be replaced by an HEB. This steak was $4 more per pound, and is noticeably worse than the stuff I get at HEB. It’s chewy, dry, and lacking flavor. Do they really think they’re fooling anyone with that Saver Card bullshit? I hate it there…it’s like going to grandma’s house. Everything’s set up nice, but it still smells a little bit like death.

This wine, however, is excellent. $21 seems like a great value. 2006 Chilean Cab from Valdivieso, available for $21 and well worth it. The caramel undertones are surprisingly prominent. I taste espresso, dark chocolate, and cassis, with room for a decent balance of dark cherries and plums. Do I have any complaints? Not really, for $21, but I think it’s a bit of a one-trick pony. There’s a big push in the front, but I don’t get the eucalyptus, menthol, and bacon complexities that mark a truly superior cab.

Still, for the money, this is one to collect, and a great intro to the world of Chilean Cabs, where you can get some seriously great value wine. This one is great now, and should get even better over the next 5-10 years.

2006 Valdivieso Cabernet Sauvignon — 90 pts

admin Cabernet, wine Cabernet, Chile, steak, Westwood Liquors, wine

It’s Sunday.

On Sundays, I like to make a fancy dinner and today is no exception. Ruth is back in town for a long, languorous weekend, and we have been celebrating each other’s hills and valleys…

Tonight, I made bone-in ribeye with a gorgonzola spread, pan-seared some brussel sprouts, and made mushroom couscous with cinnamon and dried apricots.

The wine is something Ruth brought back from Napa. 2005 Cena Cabernet.

I take several bites of steak, preparing my pallette. The wine has some classic elements.

I picture myself in an old-timey soda shop. I taste anise, pencil lead, eucalyptus (which may be impossible to spell), and cassis . The wine is dark, herbaceous, and it does not lend itself easily to flowery descriptions. I find I’m having a tough time finding the fruit. I bring it around to different parts of my tongue, swish it in my mouth…this wine could probably use 3 -4 years aging and –

“So, why do you think you’re so preoccupied with the death of your father?”
“Um….that’s quite a transition.”
“Well, yeah…I’ve been thinking about it…”
“Well, I guess it’s because he’s always seemed fearful of it. It’s the elephant in the room; he’s always preparing us for his death. I guess somewhere along the line, I’ve absorbed that fear and taken it on as my own.”
“Do you fear your own death?”
“I don’t think so. I feel like if I die, I’ll have lived a good life. If you died young, however, I think, I’d need to be taken away for a little while…”
“I’m not going to die young, I promise…”
“That’s what they all say…”

She raises an eyebrow.

“I guess I feel like, in every facet of my life, I’ve done the best I could. I did all the drugs I could. I laid as many girls as I could. Yes, there were some blue doors I opened when I should have opened red doors, but I knew what I was doing, and I accept what happened to me as a result. I did the best I could, and I can only hope that in every lifestage, I will do everything I can to live it to the fullest. I don’t want to spend my life fearing my inevitable demise…”
“Yeah…”

We look in each other’s eyes. My eyes are moist. I take a sip of wine, and look away.

“Man, this is good wine.”

Cena 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon - 89

admin Cabernet, wine Cabernet, Cena, dinner, Ruth, steak, wine

This is the blog of the Modern Wino.

I am into some things.

• Wine
• Music
• Fitness
• Cooking
• Technology
• Writing

I think some things are dumb.

• Hanes underwear commercials
• Carnie Wilson

I may have more to say on some of these subjects.

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