I am so excited to share this wine unboxing with you. I received a package from Scout and Cellar Wines containing three bottles of wine that I am looking forward to sitting back and enjoying.
The first wine I received was TangoTango Sauvignon Blanc, 2019. It has notes of lemon, key lime and lemongrass. You can pair this wine with seafood and soft cheeses. The second wine received was Cattin Sauvage Riesling, 2018. This wine has notes of lime, green apple, beeswax, and white flowers. It is suggested to pair this wine with spicy foods such as Thai; however, I think I would enjoy this wine more with a soup or salad. Lastly, I received a bottle of Middle Jane Zinfandel, 2017. Notes of black cherry, blackberry jam and plum danced across my palate. I loved this Zinfandel. I would drink this wine as an apertif; however, you can pair this with non – gamey red meats and hard cheeses.
In today’s blog post, I am going to share with you all of the wines that I got for Christmas. Watch the video below and continue reading for tasting notes on each wine.
19 Crimes: The Banished, 2018
Notes of berry and spice. This wine was fruit forward with a hint of sweetness. I would consider it to be light to medium bodied.
This Cabernet has notes of baking spices, brown sugar, pepper and dark fruit on the nose followed by notes of caramel and vanilla on the palate.
Vacuum Seals and Pump
This keeps your wine fresh by removing the oxygen from the wine bottle. Visit the products page on this blog to order from my website or from Amazon.
Bookbinder’s Apprentice, 1st Edition White Wine
Bookbinder is a fruit forward wine with notes of green apple, melon and peach. It pairs well with sushi, salads, and soft cheeses. This is my favorite white wine to date.
Middle Jane Zinfandel, 2017
This Zinfandel has notes of black cherry, strawberry balsamic and clove on the nose with notes of blackberry jam, plum and sweet spice on the palate. It pairs well with pizza, barbecue and gouda.
Veinte, 2018
This is a Chilean red wine blend with notes of black cherry and earth. This full-bodied wine pairs well with seasoned red meats and hard cheeses.
Gallivant Zinfandel, 2018
This Zinfandel has notes of boysenberry, orange peel and strawberries. It pairs well with hearty foods; such as, tomato based pastas, pork, and barbecue.
Middle Jane, Red Wine Blend, 2018
This red blend has notes of blueberry, black cherry and red plum along with violet, spice and a hint of caramelized sugar. Pair with pork and lamb.
I hope you enjoyed watching me unbox the wines that I will be trying in the New Year. I also hope you enjoyed reading the tasting notes and that you got an idea of wines that you would like to try as well. Leave a comment below sharing which wines you will be trying in 2021! As always, thank you for continuing to visit my blog this year and I look forward to having you return. It has been my privilege and a true joy sharing my wine journey with you.
Until Next Time, Salu’d, XOXO, Smiling Danny
Head on over to my webpage: http://www.scoutandcellar.com/smilingdanny if you are interested in purchasing any of the Scout and Cellar Wines mentioned above. Also, click on the products tab on this blog, to check out some awesome wine gadgets and accessories.
A couple of exciting things have happened recently: First, I aced my exam and received my Level 1 Award in Wines. Also, I’m so excited to announce that I am now an Independent Wine Consultant with Scout and Cellar Wines. Scout and Cellar Wines are always Clean Crafted, which means they are free of synthetic pesticides and chemical additives.
In Today’s post, I thought I would bring you along with me as I unboxed my Kit.
Check out my website:
– To Buy for Yourself, Friends or Family
-To Start Christmas Gift Shopping
-To Participate in 12 Days of Giftmas, where you get 20% off of the bottle of wine picked for the day.
Today I’m going to share with you my experience visiting Heath Sparkling Wines in Fredericksburg, Texas.
This one was an interesting visit in that I really didn’t get to make any tasting notes. Normally, when visiting a vineyard I learn about the grapes, tour the grounds and hear stories about how the owners started their work in the wine industry. Due to so many new rules and regulations during this pandemic the tasting wasn’t quite the experience that I would have gotten if I had arrived on any other given day. While there, I was hoping to learn some tips about tasting sparkling wines and there were a few additional questions that I had. However, the tasting felt rushed, there weren’t any tours and there wasn’t any history or sparkling wine tips given during the tasting. I literally took a sip, took a bite, sipped again and moved on.
Although this pandemic has created a form of chaos in the wine industry, I am all about making the most of my experience. What I did enjoy were the delicious pairings, the friendliness of the staff, the beauty of the courtyard, and the quietness of sipping my sparkling wine near the water fountain. And most of all, I enjoyed who I shared this experience with.
The tasting consisted of four sparkling wines accompanied with four delicious pairings created by their Chef. Each tasting was delicious but my favorite wine and favorite pairing was the Blanc de Blancs paired with a Watermelon Feta Salad.
All in all, although times have changed, that doesn’t mean that your spirit and joy have to as well. Make each day count. Cherish those special moments that you have with your loved ones while you can. And most of all: KEEP SMILING! In the meantime, I look forward to returning and discovering more of what Heath Sparkling Wines has to offer.
How many of you have wine left from the “Sweet Wine with Your Sweetheart” Series? Have you been wondering what to do with the leftovers? Well, I have two delicious wine cocktail recipes just for you!
Red Wine Sangria
You will need:
1/2c Roscato Sweet Red
1/4c Cranberry Juice
1/4c Simply Lemonade
1 Tbs Lime Juice
1/2 of a Raspberry Orange peeled and squeezed (This fruit is seasonal)
1 Raspberry Orange segment for Garnish
Directions:
Fill up half of your wine glass with ice. Then in the order listed above add all of your ingredients. Be sure to squeeze the juice of the oranges into the glass before adding the segments. Next, add your garnish. Give it a nice stir and enjoy!
White Wine Sangria
You will need:
1/2c Stella Rosa Moscato D’Asti
1/4c Apple Juice
2 Tbs Lemon Juice
3 Strawberries Sliced Veritcally
1 Whole Strawberry for Garnish
Directions:
Fill up half of your wine glass with ice. Next, add your sliced strawberries. Then in the the order listed above add the rest of your ingredients. Give it a nice stir and refrigerate for 15 minutes to allow the juice from the strawberries to seep in the Sangria. After 15 minutes, give it a nice stir, garnish and enjoy.
I hope you enjoy these wine cocktail recipes! Spring is right around the corner and these cocktails will be a refreshing treat to enjoy on these upcoming beautiful days.
Today’s wine of choice is a dessert wine. And I thought I would do something extra special by incorporating a local favorite into the Series. All the way from Fort Worth, Tx I am sharing with you Cowtown Winery’s: Texas Gold.
Wine: Texas Gold, Cherry Chocolate
Tasting Notes: This is a dessert wine with notes of black cherry, mocha, espresso and chocolate. The notes of chocolate and cherry were added to the wine. This wine reminds me of a port so I used wine tasting glasses as my glassware of choice. The wine has a dark chocolate play on a cherry cordial due to the notes of espresso and mocha. Coffee and Chocolate lovers will absolutely love this wine. The wine is extremely sweet, so those of you who enjoy sweet wines and/or sweet desserts will fall in love with this treasure.
I hope this series has been giving you some great ideas on wines to try. Let me know which ones are your favorite thus far by commenting below or on Instagram.
XOXO, Smiling Danny
In case you are wondering: What are Tasting Glasses? Tasting glasses are little wine glasses big enough only for one ounce pours. You will usually find them at wineries. Sometimes, wineries will use these instead of full sized glasses when going through a tasting menu.
Next in the Series is a Sweet Red Italian wine. This wine was recommended to me by the Wine Manager at Market Street Supermarkets.
Tasting Notes:
Wine: Roscato Rosso Dolce
Bouquet: Grape Popsicle, Cranberry Juice, and Cherry Cordial
Taste: Fizzy Port, Cough Syrup, Very Sweet
Pairing: This wine paired nicely with cheese. The cheeses of choice were Parmesan and Babybel. I served the cheese with toasted crackers and noticed that the wine made the cheeses the star of the show. I preferred the wine with the cheese versus by itself.
Vintor’s Notes:
Taste: Notes of cherry, blackberry and red raspberry
Pairing: Barbecue, spicy dishes, and pasta with red or cream sauce
I hope you are enjoying this series thus far. Leave a comment on here or Instagram letting me know which wine you have enjoyed the most.
I am back with another Sweet Wine. This wine is indeed a SWEEeeet one but I have truly enjoyed it. The wine that I have for you this week is a Moscato D’Asti. Anytime you see D’Asti, know that the wine will be an Italian wine with a hint of effervescence. Asti is a province in Northwest Italy. Due to the wine being sweet and low in alcohol, it is considered to be a dessert wine.
Taste: Apricot, Honey, Effervescence. The sweetness of the wine is not overbearing.
Clarity: Clear, No legs
Pairing: Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberries: The chocolate on the strawberries hi-lited the effervescence in the wine. The bitterness of the dark chocolate and the sweet wine blended together so eloquently causing a nice melted chocolate effect on the palate.
Vintor’s Pairing Suggestions: Fresh Fruit, Spicy dishes and Desserts
I hope you enjoy this wine and wine pairing as much as I did. I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised. Until Next Week, XOXO, Smiling Danny
Are you ready for Valentines Day? This month I thought that I would do a Sweet Wine Series. So each week this month I will be trying out sweet wines and leaving tasting notes right here on the blog. Consider this my labor of love as many of you know I am not a fan of sweet wine.
This week I tried the Sparkling Rose’ by Cupcake Vineyards. Unfortunately, I assumed that this would be a sweet wine especially since I found it displayed with the sweet wines; however, it is not sweet at all! This wine reminds me of a dry Prosecco. The good news about that is that this wine makes a great pairing wine for fruit and a great base for wine cocktails. The Vintor’s notes state that this wine delivers notes of raspberry, strawberry and floral. I didn’t pick up any of those notes. The Vintor also suggests pairing this wine with shrimp ceviche or fresh blooms. I tried this wine with shrimp and didn’t particularly care for it but I did enjoy it with some blueberries and grapes. I also made a nice wine cocktail with this wine. I think that you will enjoy it, especially for those of you who enjoy spending Valentine’s Day with your friends as well.
Add 3 tablespoons of Sorbet to your flute. Top off with Rose’. Salu’d.
Adding the sorbet to this wine definitely makes this a sweet treat. I hope you enjoy this wine cocktail recipe with your loved one, your friends or as a special treat for yourself.
Remember in my “Wine 101” post (October 14, 2019) that I mentioned that wines are identified by their grape varietal or by the region in which it was produced? Well, I thought that this year I would post about some different grape varietals so that you will know a little bit about the grape and its characteristics when tasting and buying wine. Of course this is not an exact all be all because weather conditions, soil, climate, and production all come into play when it comes to the final taste of the wine. These notes that I share with you will just be a foundation or springboard as you began to explore wine yourself. As you try several of the same grape varietal, you will notice the consistencies in the wine.
History
The first grape that I would like to introduce to you is Cabernet Sauvignon. It is the world’s most famous grape and it is grown in every vineyard around the world. At least every vineyard that I have visited or researched. It is also the most successful red grape in California although it has a dusty blue hue. Cabernet was introduced to the United States of America in the 19th Century by way of Bordeaux, France. This grape is a grape that maintains its characteristics. Despite the blend or where it has been produced, Cabernets will hold its character. In a recent post, I mentioned that the Cabernet that I tasted, tasted like a true Cabernet. What I meant by that was that Cabernets have distinct characteristics that are always apparent despite its vintor, location, or the weather conditions that it was exposed to while growing.
Tasting Notes
Cabernet wine has powerful notes of black currant, dark chocolate and plum. When it is aged in oak, the notes will place emphasis on the minerality of the wine. Other notes that you may pick up in a Cabernet are dried fruit, savory spice and game meat. Cabernets have perfect tannins and range from light bodied to full bodied. Cabernets typically will be dry and pair well with following:
Cheese: Cheddar, Gorgonzola
Nuts: Walnuts
Meat: Venison, Ribeye, Beef Stew
Fish: Grilled Tuna
Fruit: Black Cherries
Vegetables: Broccoli, Tomatoes
Sauces: Brown Gravy, Tomato Sauce
Herbs and Spices: Rosemary, Juniper, Lavender
Dessert: Bittersweet Chocolate, Gelato
I could go on and on but don’t want to overwhelm you with information. I hope that you find this post helpful as you explore one of my favorite wines: Cabernet Sauvignon.
Smiling Danny 