El Review: 2008 Calixa Rosado

The time has come to issue my verdict on my south-of-the-border wine purchase! I had a feeling I would end up pairing this wine with seafood, and I was right. I shared it with ZinfanHubby & two others last Saturday night over a dinner of mildly spicy crab-stuffed scallops, couscous and wilted greens, and it was, in the words of Goldilocks, just right.

The first thing I noticed about this rosé rosado was the color. It was a lighter pink than I usually see, with an almost orange-y hue to it. No matter, wine ain't for starin' at, it's for drinkin'! The wine had an acidic nose reminiscent of tart fruit. The flavor is like biting into a ruby red grapefruit: crisp, citric, not quite sweet but not not sweet, if that makes sense. The finish is clean and there is very little aftertaste. I bet this rosado would go smashingly well with a famous Baja California fish taco.

Verdict: Wow, Mexico! And I thought I was just here for the cerveza... I'll join you for a glass of wine any time!

Sadly I couldn't find a picture of this wine online, but here is the website with a little animated image & info about the wine http://www.montexanic.com.mx/

Salude!
-ZinfanGirl

Back in the US of A

ZinfanGirl is back from vacay, tanned (OK, sunburnt) and refreshed! Not much to say wine-wise about the trip south of the border; after all, the national wine of Mexico is TEQUILA! But if there is anyone who can sniff out the grape juice, it's... well, OK, it's actually ZinfanHubby, but his lovely wife is a close second.

The resort's house wines were mostly all Chilean (has anyone ever heard of a "house" Malbec before??). Although I hoped to nab a bottle of Mexican wine, I wasn't holding my breath-- the wine community responded to my query of, "Does it exist?" with, "Nada." Alas, at the Mega Mart near our resort, there was indeed a modest section of Mexican wine. ZinfanGirl was surprised to see that majority of Mexican white wines (all 3 or 4 of them) were Chenin Blanc, as she associates C'Blanc with the Loire Valley and, by default, cold climates. The handful of reds were mostly Cabernet, with a couple of Merlots and a Tempranillo thrown in too. Knowing the US of A would only allow this little wine-o to bring back one bottle of yumminess, ZinfanGirl thought quickly, and decided to compromise with a bottle of rosé-- rosado, in fact-- that is verifiably hecho en Mexico!

The selection of rosadas slightly outnumbered the selections of whites & reds, with more variety: merlot, cabernet and grenache. ZinfanGirl nabbed a bottle of the latter. What a delightful souvenier! It is now sitting proudly on the small kitchen wine rack, waiting to be chilled and opened at just the right time. Yum!

Having dispelled the rumor that Mexican wines don't exist, ZinfanGirl is left with one more query: what would be a worthy meal to accompany this rosado mexicano? And please don't say tacos-- the ZinfanTummy has had enough of those for awhile!

Hunting the Black Chicken, Part I

Hello fellow wine lovers. I have eschewed the urge to go play outside in the sun so that I may give you my rundown of last weekend's trek to Napa. I have lots to tell you about, so please forgive me for cutting this entry into a couple of separate chunks. Part I here will tell you about our day leading up to the BBQ. Part II will conclude with the Biale party itself. Kapeesh? Good.

Friday night/early Saturday morning was something else for the Bay Area. Thunder & lightning shook our city by the bay with a storm far more powerful than any other in ZinfanGirl's memory (remember, she did grow up here). Alas, the rain did not last, and the Napa trip was still on.

ZinfanHubby was unable to accompany me due to a prior engagement, and it was no difficult task to find someone else to take his place. Our dear friend Noah had never been wine tasting before, and ZinfanGirl had every intention to make his intro to the wine world a memorable one. So Saturday morning, just before noon, we crossed two bridges and got on the yellow brick road of Napa wineries, Hwy 29.

The Biale members BBQ didn't start until 1, so we decided to check out a couple of other wineries. I resisted the urge to pop into Stag's Leap Cellars as ZinfanGirl makes it a point to try new things. However, while we were in the Stag's Leap district, we decided to find ourselves some yummy juice, and picked a winery at random...

I had definitely heard of Chimney Rock Winery but was not familiar with their wines. Noah & I sampled the New Release flight:

• 2007 Elevage Blanc: meritage-style, quite Bordeaux-y, lots of Sauvignon Blanc.
• 2008 Rosé of Cabernet Franc: a very nice rosé, and by nice, I mean dry. Noah nabbed a bottle of this. This is definitely a summer wine, and has a lovely watermelon hue.
• 2006 Cab Sauvignon: It was nice, but nothing special (I'm spoiled when it comes to Cabs-- blame all those tastings at Stag's Leap). It didn't seem as rich & velvety as other Stag's Leap Cabs I've had.
• 2006 Elevage: Another Bordeaux style blend, Chimney Rock's golden child. However, the fact that this was served after the Cab only reaffirmed in my mind that their Cab isn't really all that.

Overall, we enjoyed Chimney Rock but nothing really jumped out as being amazing. The staff was pleasant but not entirely personable; I will give them the benefit of the doubt (the tasting room was a bit crowded that day). The grounds are nice, but ZinfanGirl is partial to wineries with inviting grass/picnic areas. And... well how do I say this diplomatically? Don't go to Chimney Rock planning to buy wines unless you've got a few hundred bucks. This place ain't cheap.
Some pics from Chimney Rock's Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards:

Our next stop was a winery neither of us had heard of. "Hey, what about that one?" my co-pilot asked? So, after completing a U-turn of questionable legality, in we went. Welcome to  Regusci Winery

When we arrived, we were greeted by one of the Regusci residents:

Regusci was packed as well, and we were helped by a friendly Aussie gentleman. We relied heavily on the universal sign language of, "Give me a pour, please!" (a motion resembling tilting a wine glass towards one's mouth, only said wine glass is either imaginery or empty). And then came the wines:

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  Merlot Rosé: This was the first time ZinfanGirl had tried a Merlot rosé. There was quite a bit of talk about Merlot in this winery, I'm thinking it's the Regusci darling.
  
  
  
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  2006 Merlot: I'm not the hugest Merlot fan, nor do I drink it often, but I must say this one was quite nice. But I remembered exactly why Merlot is considered the red-headed stepchild of the red varietals: there is nothing very special about it. It wants to be loved, and if there is a Merlot to be loved, this one would be up there.
  
  
  
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  2006 Cabernet Sauvignon: "See?!?" I told Noah, "Cabs are almost always served last!" Again, I felt validated in my initial review of Chimney Rock's Cab. While definitely not a Cask 23, Regusci's Cabernet definitely had that heavy, tannic, velvet goodness that one can only get from a good, strong Cab. It sucked the moisture right off my tongue. It was delicious, but still not enough to sway ZinfanGirl from her wine of choice.
  
  
  

Regusci also sold olive oil, and Noah & I had spotted some olive trees on the grounds (at least, they looked like olive trees). The olive oil was yummy too, but I can't justify spending $20-something on a dinky bottle of olive oil!

OK, dear fans, I will continue with the Hunting of the Black Chicken another time. Cheers!

Open Letter to Hollywood

Dear Hollywood,

You blow my mind. You really do. You can create bomb explosions, alien invasions, and miniature to-scale model cities. So I must ask you this:

Why on earth can't you use/create a realistic fake wine???

I imagine that, after myriad takes, you simply cannot expect your actors to guzzle glass after glass of the delicious grape juice (unless your goal is to have them slurring their words, in which case: may I suggest tequila?). I understand that the only logical thing to do is use some food coloring & water. But you can spend millions of dollars on technical production, computer animation, etc., yet you cannot (or will not) invest enough time, money and/or talent to come up with a believable fake wine?

Case in point: In the last week alone, I have seen episodes of Desperate Housewives (season 3) and Californication (season 1), watched the movie Wall Street, and noticed this totally amateur discrepancy: a green wine bottle pouring out a liquid that could only be described as a rosé. Zinfangirl has had a lot of wine in her life, and has yet to ever see a rosé in dark glass bottles. Why would it be? Is darker glass not reserved specifically for wines that are meant to be stored at room temperature? And is rosé not supposed to be chilled, as in NOT stored at room temp? Surely if you can make audiences believe you just blew up downtown Manhattan, you can make them believe that the characters are drinking the real juice. The stuff you're pouring looks like Kool-Aid, and your target audience is well past that point in their lives (unless there's vodka added in).

Jeez, Hollywood, don't you PAY people to catch these things? And if you do, by all means... I'm available for the position. Clearly, I notice the little things better than your current staff. I'll even work for wine, provided it isn't a rosé from a green bottle.

Sincerely,
Zinfangirl