thirsty thursday: i heart wine tasting

i'm not sure if y'all have noticed, but i like drinking. especially red wine. what? you hadn't heard? well, it's true. i am a wine lover. give me a nice cabernet sauvignon (let's be honest, when i say nice i'm talking about a $10 bottle range; i'm not made of money), and i am a happy camper. that is why i am going to talk about wine tasting/vineyard visiting.

ahhh, the good ol' vineyard visits.
for me it all started with a family trip out to San Francisco right after i turned 21. my mother wanted badly to drive out to Napa Valley from San Fran one day. and we all thought "why the hell not?" my father drove, my under-aged siblings had to go with the flow, and my mom and i drank. it was fun for my mom and me, but i'm sure the sober family members didn't enjoy it at all. my dad looked pissed by the last vineyard we visited, or that's how i remember it because i was a bit trashy towards then end. ever since then, our family vacations consists of a vineyard visits (only if they are in the area, we don't plan vacations around them, we aren't that big of lushes).

what's so great about wine tasting?
oh, where to begin?
actually i've written about this before, back in the early days of this blog when i wrote random ass crap once in a blue moon, but i'll go over it again.

for me, it's all about the free wine glass. most vineyards will give you a wine glass with the cost of the wine tasting (some vineyards don't, and i secretly hate the ones that don't). i love the vineyard wine glass. i have so may of them i don't know what to do with them all. i am set for life on wine glasses. they go so well with my kitchen wear aesthetic of nothing ever matching. i'm cool with that, so back off type-A personalities who need everything to be matchy-matchy.

i love pretending to be classy. because that's what classy people do, right? sitting around wine tasting all day, talking about the help, and having too much money? or that's what i like to think. i love pretending that i know what they are talking about when they pour my sample and comparing it to dirt and twigs and odd fruits and animals. i just like to take my shot of wine and talk about its legs. because wine has sexy legs.

my absolute favorite is when i get to the "hot tub" wine. ha! the "hot tub" wine, i love it. it makes me think of the creepy neighbor couple who lived down the street from us in the 80s--you know who they are, the swinging couple. and it reminds me of franzia. i usually always try the "hot tub" wine and then discuss it with the person who is giving us our sample, detailing how the wine would be well-suited to the time we spend out in the hot tub we don't have.

by the time i'm done wine tasting, i've purchased way too much wine. well actually there is no such thing as too much wine for me, but seeing as i'm poor it usually means i've charged way too much on the credit card. but the good thing is i'm usually too trashed to care.

ahhhh. good times.
here is a list of links of some of the vineyards i've been to. i recommend that if you get a chance to visit a vineyard you do so. it's a lot of fun. and remember to drink responsibly! xoxo.

in Napa:
Beaulieu Vineyard
Grgich Hills Cellar
Mumm Napa
St. Supery Vineyards & Winery

in Texas Hill Country:
Becker Vineyards
Grape Creek Vineyards
William Chris Vineyards
Texas Hills Vineyard
Flat Creek Estates
Fall Creek Vineyards
Perissos Vineyard & Winery

thirsty thursday: red wine spritzer

it's back.
well really it never went anywhere. i've just been really lazy (really, really lazy). i've still been drinking, i just haven't been documenting my libations.

the drink i've been dying to try out is a wine spritzer. i've heard of a wine spritzer; usually it seems to be the non-drinker-lady drink of choice. i've been really curious as to what all went into a wine spritzer. i always assumed that it was a white wine concoction, but when i was looking for recipes i came across the red wine spritzer. and we all know how much i love red wine. so why the hell not give this a try?

i came across this recipe from Food Network's Rachael Ray.

it is so easy, and i can't believe that a wine spritzer is just wine and sparkling water. i guess i should have known, but i didn't. and i love how this recipe has blackberries and raspberries at the bottom of each glass. just lovely.

red wine spritzer:
1/2 pint blackberries
1/2 pint raspberries
1 bottle dry red wine*
1 quart sparkling water or seltzer water, chilled

*"why dry red wine?" you ask. well most red wines are dry, so you really can't go wrong (except for dessert wines because they are sweet). any red wine will do. i like cabernet sauvignon, actually i love cabs, so that is what i would go with (but when i made this drink i used a malbec). but you can't go wrong with a merlot, especially if you aren't a big red wine drinker.

my thoughts?
i liked it. it was really refreshing, almost like drinking an italian soda. i felt the sparkling water cut the "alcohol" taste, so it was almost like drinking a juice. i could see how serving wine spritzers during parties would make the wine go further with a lot of guests. so it has that advantage if you are trying to be frugal. and i think having a wine spritzer on a hot summer evening (or afternoon because i start my drinking at 2pm) would be so refreshing. i'll definitely have one again. xoxo. 

thirsty thursday: the champagne coupe

i tend to be obsessive. right now i have a slight obsession with the champagne coupe. every time i go to the antique mall, i stare at all the pretty little coupe glasses, all the different colors and styles. i think to myself, i really don't need them, but i really really want them. as i tend to get buyer's remorse, i usually don't buy the first time. if i really want something, i will go back a second or third time to make sure i really want it. it's called shopping stalking.

the champagne coupe has been around for a while. usually they are present at wedding receptions, the plastic little coupe glasses that more than likely are stacked in a pyramid waiting for the champagne fountain to pour. but that's typically the only place they have been from the 1960's on. recently they've been popping up on tv shows that take place in the past. with shows like mad men, pan am, the playboy club (which didn't last very long), and boardwalk empire. everything old is new again. i love it.

legend has it (via wikipedia) that the champagne coupe was modeled on the breast of marie antoinette or one of several other french aristocrats, but the coupe came about way before that. the large bowl of the glass allows the champagne to loose its carbonation faster, making it more suitable for sweeter champagnes.

the more and more i think about it i need to buy an array of champagne coupe glasses. they aren't the best for making champagne cocktails (see my previous post on making this delicious drink), but they do have a vintage air to them that makes them timeless. they are adorable and are like little handheld time machines. xoxo.

thirsty thursday: the decanter

so far the common thread here has been drinking. and if anyone knows me they know how much i love to drink. i, however, am saving my alcoholic years for my 60s and on. everyone should have goals, and mine is to be that overweight chico's-wearing gray-haired lady who has too much purfume on and will have a cocktail in hand and at some point will make you uncomfortable. i can't wait.

that being said, i am not a professional. i am not a sommelier or spirits expert; i just enjoy drinking.

i've seen decanters around, mainly on tv shows. the chandler household on all my children always had an array of decanters step up nicely in their grand living room and on the latest episode of downton abbey anna the housemaid was showing molesley the butler all the wines that needed to be decanted before diner was served. it was an amazing display of wines and decanters, and i thought to myself that i need to get a decanter.

the decanter is mainly used for serving wine. some people use it to let the wine "breathe" or as a serving vessel other than the bottle that it came it. it just looks fancy and sophisticated, giving one's drink a bit of class. it seems that the main use is for older bottles of wine where a wine is full of sediment. one would pour the bottle of wine into a decanter, and the sediment should collect in the shoulder of the bottle leaving the decanter full of wine without the grit. but with modern wine making sediment isn't as big a problem anymore.

the decanter can also be used for such liquor as a cognac or a single malt scotch. their decanter would have a stopper so the liquor can be stored in the fancy vessel.

i found some decanters online that look amazing. i like the simple modern lines of each of the decanters, very classy. all three are by ravenscroft crystal, a lead-free crystal company. they are just beautiful. a little mad menesque. i just love them. i would use the third decanter for the oban scotch that my gentleman friend has his eye on.

 let's get our drink on. enjoy. xoxo.

thirsty thursday: champagne cocktail

the champagne cocktail.

it all started with the film moonstruck for me.  i remember the scene with loretta (played by cher) and her father toasting her upcoming wedding with champagne into which they dropped sugar cubes.  i remember thinking, who would put sugar cubes into ones drink, especially a glass of champagne.  but years later i looked further into this and found that putting sugar cubes into spirited drinks was a popular thing in the victorian era, and some people still do it today.  hence the champagne cocktail.

i've had this bottle of cheap champagne sitting in my fridge for some time and thought to try out the champagne cocktail.  one logical choice would be to use the champagne for mimosas or for a bellinis but i thought hell let's try something different.

mimosa recipe:
one part chilled champagne (or sparkling wine)
one part chilled orange juice
served in a tall champagne flute

bellini recipe:
one part peach puree
two parts sparkling wine (or prosecco)
served in a tall champagne flute

champagne cocktail recipe:
1 cube of sugar soaked with angostura bitters
dry champagne (or sparkling wine)
served in a tall champagne flute

*some recipes also add an ounce of brandy
  with a slice of orange and a cherry for garnish (optional)

the champagne cocktail wasn't anything special.  i could see how someone who doesn't drink a whole lot would like this drink because it's a lot sweeter and the sugar cuts some of the alcohol.  i didn't have it with the brandy or any of the garnishes, so it was just a dry champagne with a sugar cube soaked in angostura bitters at the bottom of a flute.  it was fun and whimsical and an excuse to try a new drink.  so i'm not complaining because i got trashy.

so enjoy your drinking, i sure did. xoxo.