Recreational Winos, your uniform is now available! Where? At the Vino Keeno shop, of course! Our new CafePress store is officially open for business.
I have no doubt that more goodies will be added as we go along. Until then, pop a cork and wear the shirts with pride!
PS – In the future you can access the store with the “Vino Keeno Shop” link listed under Links in the left sidebar.
While we are on the topic of sticking things in wine bottles, I thought I’d throw this into the mix. Only this time around you can drink the entire bottle first. Yeah!
Since I collect bottles of wines gone by (good or bad) then it makes sense that the wine bottle candelabra shall be my new accoutrement of choice. I saw one at a party, and I really liked the simplicity of it all, plus it puts all those empty wine bottles to good use. Now, allow me to walk you through the world of the wine bottle candelabra.
In addition to the style you see pictured on the left, I like
this one. And this one. However, buy one that looks like this and I’ll personally kick your ass.
Let’s review. This one is good. This one is not. Good. Bad.
And no, these do not count.
Thank you for playing clicking along. This concludes today’s lesson.
Just in case you have leftover wine and want to look cool, I wanted to share these funky bottle stoppers I saw at an arts and crafts festival this weekend. They are called “KnobStoppers” and they are vintage door knobs turned into wine bottle stoppers. How groovy is that?
My favorite was the old hot and cold bathtub faucet handles, but they don’t have a picture of it on their site. Regardless, go check out the pictures and see if you find one you like!
Our Daily Red, 2005 California Red Wine, WBW
$7.99
WebWino says:
This WBW assignment was to try a red wine with a lower alcohol content. I consulted my wine rack and found an organic wine that qualified. I bought it with high hopes, because I’m a fan of the whole organic deal, and it has a great gimmick with the name “Our Daily Red.” I wanted to love this wine, and so naturally you can see where this is going…
GONG!
I can tell you exactly what this wine tasted like. You know when you don’t finish a bottle (it’s ok, happens to the best of us) so you recork it. And the next day although you wouldn’t serve it to a guest, you hate to waste the wine, so you polish off the bottle. And thanks to the overnight air exposure the wine tastes a little vinegar-y and over ripe, with just a passing resemblance to the wine you enjoyed the night before.
Well, that my friends is the dominant flavor in Our Daily Red. It tastes like yesterday’s wine. (Or maybe the day before yesterday). And it was murky, which was just weird. And what is even weirder is that although this qualifies as a “Lite Alcohol Red” it had a really strong alcohol flavor.
I’m quite certain it is not the the lower alcohol content that makes this wine bad. And I’d like to think it is not the fact that it is organic that made it crummy, although there’s a chance I’m being too optimistic. Truth is, I missed the sulfites. Some day I’ll give organic wine another shot. Until then I recommend getting your daily red from other sources.
This wine review is a part of Wine Blogging Wednesday #22, Lite (alcohol) Reds.
UPDATE: This wine was given a second chance review, with a much different outcome. You can read the new review here.
2003 Santa Ema Reserve Merlot
$9.99-ish
Wine label said:
The Santa Ema Reserve Merlot is a very elegant wine, deep red in color with violet nuances. Its aroma shows the perfect combination of prunes, blackberries, soft cassis and barrel attributes such as toffee and chocolate. Easy to drink, this is a balanced and rounded wine.
WebWino says:
If there is a trend in 2003 Chilean Merlots… it’s news to me. I stopped being the Merlot fanatic years ago. No, not because of that movie, I simply moved on, branched out. Just like I moved on from the Mad Dog 20/20 and Boones Farm of my youth and the Franzia boxed wines of my middle youth. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my Merlots, but they just aren’t the end all be all for me anymore.
One thing I haven’t moved on from is that on occasion, I just want to get to dranking (said with my best southern drawl). Yep, sometimes I just wanna drank. This bottle of Santa Ema Merlot fit the bill. No decanting, no aerating, no swirling… just dranking.
Even in my haste, I couldn’t help but notice the berry flavors. And whattaya know, I really did enjoy the wine. And not just for the speed with which I drank it. Hee. If there is such a thing as a grapey Merlot, this is it. I look forward to taking my time with it some day.
The next Wine Blogging Wednesday theme has been announced. Time to read the fine print and make sure you are drinking a red wine with an alcohol content at 12.5% or lower.
According to the host, Winecast.net: The wines can be from any country and grape varietal. Special kudos will go to those who choose an Aussie Shiraz, California Zinfandel or Rhône wine that meets this relatively low alcohol threshold. I’ll be especially looking for your impressions of how much flavor, if any, is missing from your selection.
Send in your reviews to be posted on Wednesday, June 14.
Wow, whaddyll they think of next? Unbreakable wine glasses? Yup. Mikasa has a new line of stemware made of a new material called Kwarx, that is supposedly unbreakable.
Imagine the fun you could have at your next soiree, tossing your wine glasses into the hearth, only to retrieve them and try again later!
We own beaucoup Mikasa stemware, and I gotta give it thumbs up. Of course it is old-fashioned and breakable, but it is purdy and sturdy nonetheless. What I find interesting is that Mikasa changed the shape of the wine glasses to help open up the flavor of the wines. Apparently we don’t cellar our wines anymore and are drinking a lot of younger wines. Hmmm… sounds like a job for the RoJaus decanter!
Kwarx and RoJaus, a dynamic duo indeed.
Click here to read the whole article. Thanks to Wineo from Wineography for alerting me to this un-breaking news!
2004 Little Boomey Shiraz
$7.99
Wine label said:
This rich Shiraz has intense spice and black cherry flavours and a long, plush finish. It’s bonza with tri-tip steak, ribs, sausages, or any food fit for the Barbie.
Wineaux says:
A pal of mine thought this bottle had a cute label, and bought it on a whim. Even though it wasn’t a wine specifically mentioned in the article about wine labels, I thought I’d submit a review anyway.
I think it is safe to put this wine in the category of “I’ve tried it so you don’t have to.” It was thin and weak and really quite tart. Admittedly, it did improve with time, but only enough to bring it up into the OK category. Nothing spectacular.