Month: March 2019

Hello Everybody!   I hope you’re having a great week!  It’s been busy the last couple of weeks, so I’ve been remiss in my posting.  I was shopping in Total Wine last week.  I know what you’re thinking…how on earth would I know how to find a Total Wine, right?   Well it’s like when they use pigs to find truffles.   Did you know they can pick up the scent of a truffle buried up to three feet underground?  I can sniff out wine pretty easily so know where all of the Total Wine stores are.  They were providing samples so I didn’t mind if I did.   I tried the Kuhlman Cellars 2017 Sauvignon Blanc from Escondido Valley, Texas and found it to be different than other Sauvignon Blancs in that it was not as dry as others.   It had a slight buttery taste too, so I decided to buy a bottle.  I did buy it and then opened it tonight and tasted hay and maybe a little honey on the back end.   I just didn’t enjoy it like I did at the store though.  It’s like when you try the food samples at Costco then wonder, three months later, why you bought 10 pounds of swordfish and 2 gallons of organic cranberry juice.  Was it really that good?   This wasn’t my favorite wine overall, but you might enjoy it if you like Pinot Grigio’s or maybe even Moscato’s.  You can find it at Total Wine for around $16.00 per bottle.   Have a great rest of the week and weekend!

Alright, I’ll be the first to admit that there have been times I, when enjoying a nice dinner with my cohorts, have ordered a second…or third…or more bottle of wine…again with my cohorts.   When we find a wine we like, we continue to order the same one.  A good server will have you try each one first prior to pouring for the table.  We have encountered a situation at a nice restaurant that by the fourth..er…fifth…bottle, the server just poured it without having one of us taste it.   I’ll be honest, when a server waits on our table of ladies, he or she runs the risk of carpal tunnel from opening so many bottles so I get how they can grow tired of the process.   Sure enough, three of us tasted it and wondered if something was wrong and sure enough it was.  We sent it back.  In a more recent situation, there was table of us ladies who ordered a second bottle of wine, with the server having us taste it first, and discovered it was bad as well.   Even with all things being equal – brand, varietal, year, method of storage, etc – a bottle of wine can just go bad.    Mary Burnham, author of the Food & Wine Magazine Annual Guide to Wine, provides the reasons wine can go bad due to things like oxidation, bacteria or even too little oxygen.  She also documents what a bad wine might taste or smell like.   The article is listed on the La Crema website shown below and is good to note.      

Why Does Wine Go Bad and How Long Opened Wine Lasts

Here is to your having a good wine and a good rest of the week and weekend!