Fiat Vino

As I was standing in the Pinot Noir section at Total Wine talking with the guy, a woman interrupted us in order to squeeze through and grab two bottles of this. She knew exactly what she came for. As she hustled away I asked her about it, she replied, "it's a staple at our house." Done deal. I grabbed one. For $12, this is another sweet deal. It is a very European style Pinot. Light, mineraly, and slightly musky. You don't see many of these lighter ones coming from California. People want to lay on the oak and let the fruit over ripen into a Cab in a bottle with hips. Don't call me a hater, I like those too. But sometimes you just want a more mellow glass to play nice with a meatball sandwich on a Thursday night.

Made with the Nebbiolo grape which I am growing to like a lot. Nice fruit and medium body akin to Pinot noir but with more tannins and bit of Italian leathery dirt. Not the finest wine but fir under £10 this one did the trick.

My friend Steve called me up and told me that there was a Total Wine store near me. He even emailed me a link to it later that day. Total Wine is like a love child between Bevmo and Costco. Wall to wall, floor to ceiling booze, beer, and wine. Well, I'm glad Steve is the proactive kind of guy that he is. Total Wine had been open for about a year and despite only being a few miles from my house I had never been there. I was in Awe the moment I stepped in. I momentarily got lost in the Bourbon section until I found a bottle of Buffalo Trace, but that's another blog. I then went to the Pinot Noir section because I hadn't had one in a while. I got three ones I hadn't tried before. I met a guy who knew his shit, don't you love those people? Why can't everyone be like that? He helped me with the Pinots and in between them and taking me to the Sauvignon Blanc section, he told me to buy some of this Radius Cab. Well, I'm glad he did. It was about $7 and tastes like ...

This came home with my wife from a ladies weekend in Paso Robles and I'm glad it did. At 14% alcohol this is a wolf in sheep's clothing. The Rhone blend of 40% Syrah, 30% Grenache, and 30% Mouvedre hits the spot with the Panda Express we got on the way home tonight. It is big and mean but has a kind streak. TGIF.

After a day of wine tasting in Santa Barbara there isn't not much that can pizazz since everyone has purple tongues and palate fatigue. This Foley Syrah; however, out shines. Although a few in our group weren't big fans, I enjoyed it tremendously. There were big bright dried cherries and a tart funkiness like goji. It was bold and like one added, thick, and felt good like a Syrah should.

1er Cru. Apparently from an old walled vineyard. Smooth, light, spicy, elegant, well-balanced. Took awhile to open. Not overly fruity nose, very French.

Jumpin' Jeronimo! This is a lip-smacking red that makes my mouth bubble. I can't say enough good things about Ridge. Either they make the most kick ass wine around or they fit my palate like a key. It is nearly impossible to find Carignane bottled all by itself and I'm not sure why. Of course it doesn't have the consumer awareness of other varietals but if the majority of them tasted like this one, it would catch on fast. Since Somoma had such unusually low yields in 2007 this rings in at 14.4% percent. It was aged for 12 months in American oak and is just coming of age right now. I only wish I had a case.