Dog Tail Red

Hi everybody! I have to tell you about this fun wine we had the other day. Friends of ours came by bearing a bottle of wine. A marvelous gift idea for all friends wanting to have fun at KSquared Vineyards.

The wine is Fire Hydrant Red by Dog Tail Vineyards out of California. It's just plain funny. I buy wine because of the label all the time and this label is colorful, cute, and funny. Buy it for the label alone. The description on the back reads "Dog fanciers know it's all about good breeding. But sometimes your childhood best friend was just a mutt. You know a bit shaggy with mottled colors and a body that looked like you put together a German Shepard with a Basset Hound. And they never let you down. That's what you can expect from Dog Tail Red. It's got good breeding-varietals true to their character now mixed together to create a one-of-a-kind. Give it a try_you'll be in love for the rest of your life.

Is that sweet or what? I don't know if I'm in love but I'm definitely in like. It's a good red table wine with a great attitude.

Here's what some experts said about it too from http://wine.appellationamerica.com/wine-reviews/1107/Dog-Tail-Vineyards-NV-Fire-Hydrant-Red.html

'Dog Tail Vineyards is the latest endeavor of the Kautz family, whose flagship operation is Ironstone Vineyards in Calaveras County. With this new brand the family decided to pay homage to the many family dogs that roam the vineyards, chasing squirrels and digging holes.

The Dog Tail wines are inexpensive, colorfully labeled and sell for between $8 and $12. While some wines are form single varietals and are vintage dated, this is one of the non-vintage blends. This entertainly named wine is finished with a twist-off screw cap and is geared towards existing wine drinkers looking for a fun wine, as well as towards those who might be turned off to formal labels and all the hoopla. It is daringly named- the connection between dog and fire hydrant might be off-putting to some folks.

Bright, lightly saturated ruby, and viscous, the wine has notes of plum, prune, blackberry preserves, vanilla, mocha, spice, stewed meat, bay leaf, wintergreen, and maple syrup. It is clean, medium bodied, rustic, and flavorful, like the inexpensive, food-friendly, quaffable, non-hangover producing wines one finds everywhere in Buenos Aires or Naples, Italy.'

I did NOT taste that myriad of flavors but I did taste the berries and the stew meat. Yes! I did taste the stew meat! It's a table red made to be easily forgotten. This can be forgotten but why? It's so cute. And if you've have Ironstone Winery's "real" wine you know they made this taste like this on purpose. Good stuff.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Vineyard of Random Enlightment

Two Mays ago we asked friends one Saturday to come to our then field of dirt and "help" us plant the vines of Malbec. We offered free room, free food and free booze, your choice. A few friends saw through the veil of free and clearly saw WORK. They decided not to come, but those that did come have a common love.

A love of the Earth, the soil, the vines. And maybe the free booze, who knows? A love of working in the dirt, getting your hands dirty. A feeling of accomplishment seeing a row planted and ready to grow. A romantic.

The team of vineyard workers were given their allotment of vines, shovels, a 6 foot stick, and a hardy hi-ho shove out into the field. Each of the 29 rows was deep V-ditched. This allows the planter to take the vinelet (is that a word? it is now)put it in the vee and cover it with dirt. Works pretty well.

The fun part is then the planter takes their calibrated 6' stick and measures from the just-planted vine to the spot where the next vine is to be planted. From the very beginning this is more of an art than a science. With 6 crews, all first timers, me included, performing this task, it became rather.....how you say....random.

It's kind of like when you first build something ever, say like a bookcase. Because you don't know any better you measure the length give or take 1/8", you measure the shelf length give or take 1/8" and before you know it, you have to slice a 1/2" off the top shelf to fit, and force fit the sides together. That's how it is in our vineyard.

As dedicated fellow planter, Mark, coined so eloquently "Your vineyard is Free Spirited, a Vineyard of Random Enlightenment." Yes, so to speak it is. I like that idea because I like to lead my life like randomly with a bit of spontaneity. Of course, it also can pose some issues...also another reflective trait in my life.

As you can see from the photo, the posts take a serpentine path that harmoniously follows a wave of.....something. Maybe some ethereal alien crop row path algorithm. Who knows? In addition, our rows have different spacing. The 8 foot spacing between the rows sometimes is 7' 8" and other times it's 8' 4". Some of the rows have 41 vines in the row, others have 46 plants. There is absolutely nothing rigid, consistent or austere about these vines. And I love it!

Thus, the Vineyard of Random Elightenment was born.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Winefest Buy - Bookcliff Winery, Tempranillo

Right now I'm tasting the most expensive wine we bought at Winefest...that we liked (I have to put that caveat in there because there were more expensive, but not necessarily as tasty). It is the Bookcliff Vineyards 2008 Tempranillo.

Here's what the experts say about this grape:

Tempranillo is a primary red wine grape for much of Spain, especially wines from the Ribera del Duero and the Rioja Alta. It is also a key blending varietal in Port and known by the name of tinta roriz in Portugal's Douro Valley. It needs only a short growing season and this early ripening tendency is the source of the name tempranillo, which translates to "little early one".

The nose is of very ripe blackberries mingled with red and black stone fruit like plums and prunes. The dark purple wine fills the palate with a rich medley of intensely ripe fruit admixed with minerals, licorice and leather. The wine's concentration and structure dominates the midpalate. Firm yet round tannins underpin a long complex, fruity finish with hints of vanilla and chocolate. This is a big, elegant, graceful wine with great aging potential.

--
Yeah, what that guy said. I believe a Tempranillo should be a little sassy with a bit of alcohol in the aroma, and a slap of tannins at first drink. That's exactly what this wine does. The wine went for $25 and for a Tempranillo, I thought a bit high in price for this state. We're not well known as a wine producing state so you gotta keep that in mind. But searching the web, it looks like the pricing is all over the map. From $6.99 to $54.99. So I just don't know jack.

This wine is delectable. The aroma lends itself to plums and that hint of alcohol with a whiff of chocolate. (I'm not just making that up, I swear) On the palate you taste berries, spice and some tannins. My favorite part with regard to drinking this wine is the finish....It'smooth. I was going to say flabby at the end, but no....I'd say neat. Neat in a very good way.

This wine would be great with caesar salad with anchovies, pesto penne, seared pork tenderloins, or rack of lamb. A good strong cheese would be a marvelous compliment. And it is also easy enough on the palate to drink by itself.

I went to the Bookcliff Winery website to see what they mentioned about it, and it must be so new, that they haven't had a chance to update their website yet. I'm looking forward to seeing what they taste in their wine.

All I know is that I like it. I could drink it everyday although Kenny might not like the fact that I'm drinking $25 bottles of wine instead of $2.99 but you do what you gotta do.

Remember imbibe and enjoy.

Winefest

Saturday was the Winefest. It is one of my most favorite weekends here. CAVE, Colorado Association of Vinticulture & Enology*, puts on the 4 day event. But really the main event is the Winefest at Riverbend park. CAVE used to be called RMAVV which stood for Rocky Mountain Association of Vinters and Vinticulturists, so I guess CAVE is much catchier. They're catchin' on. And that's what I like about the Winefest. It is the one event I've seen in Palisade that gets it. It gets that people want to eat good food while drinking wine. It gets that there should be music playing while people are mingling about. It gets that you should sell wine related things. The only thing it doesn't get is that you shouldn't close at 5 pm and there's no Winefest park event on Sunday. 5 pm?! Things are just starting to rock at 5 pm. That's that 'sweet' small town attitude (that drives me insane).

Anyway, there were about 7000 people that attended and there were 53 wineries. All of the wineries were from Colorado, if you can believe it. There were all kinds like this jovial red wine glass wearing broad (no, that's not me but could be next year.) When you first go into the show you get my favorite thing. No not wine, that's later. You get the 6 bottle carrying bag. That is a great idea. I always feel the need to fill it up. This year they even added a center slot for non-wine things. Jeez, why waste the space is what I say. Anyway, you also get this commerative Winefest tasting glass. With that glass, I can pretty much go anywhere. Ok, let's go.

Kenny and I's mission is two-fold. First, to drink a lot of good wine. Duh. Second, to find buyers for our grapes next year. We have only one rule- we have to like their wine. If we don't like the wine, we don't want them using our grapes to make crappy wine. If we did that, we'd probably have these bottles of wine we'd be pouring for friends, explaining the whole time how 'if you hold your breath and take a swig of gin right after, you'd swear it was an expensive Malbec from Argentina." No thank you.


So we're in cognito....drinking wines (has to be tasty), scoping out the label (has to be a good label), checking out location (Front Range is better, more people...with money), and the pricing of their bottles. Why does that matter, you ask? Because if they can get a higher price per bottle then hopefully, they can pay a higher price per ton, silly. Get it?


By 2 o'clock we were all starving and the Balastreri Winery had the ticket. For $20 you get a baguette, a block of parmesan, a chunk of salami, a wine opener, a mini-cleaver, and some fruit. All the winery booths should sell something like that, they'd make a killing. Full of wine food, we wander our way down to the last row. We tried most of the wines out of the 53. You get just a little taste but 53 tastes, let alone the multiple tastes per grape varietal that each winery carries, can make you a little woozy. By the time I got to the last row, all the wines tasted tangy. That's not good. With the first lucky bastard I thought 'ooh what an aroma, nice body, good finish'. The poor last sucker I stated, 'this is tangy, I can't taste anything else.' Even with water in between, my taste buds were shot.


At the end of our tasting debaucle, I pull up all my wine notes and we all split up to make our purchases. Tomorrow, I'll tell you a bit about some of the wines we thought were up to snuff.


Remember imbibe and enjoy!




* Enology is the study of wine making

Wine ready to drink

Last Friday we drank only 8 bottles of wine, the light weights. But in order for any party host to be ready for just such a wine drinking occasion, I bought an additional case of wine. Because you can never be too ready, and now we have lots of Malbec to drink.....whenever. I thought I'd give you the scoop on these extra bottles of wine. These reviews are pulled from whatever on the internet. Some interesting adjectives.

Trapiche Malbec Oak Cask 2007 - I've had this before and it is yummy. Intense and deep red violet color, sweet aromas of blackberry and plum with a touch of black pepper, smoke and vanilla. Velvety textures with soft tannins on the long finish. Serve with venison, roasts, red meat and grilled meats. $8.99

Dona Paula Malbec 2007 - 90 pts with Wine Spectator. Dark and winey (is that a word?), with warm currant paste, cocoa powder and Turkish coffee notes backed by solid grip on the fleshy finish. Nice hint of grilled sage adds dimension too. $11.99

Punto Final Malbec 2008- 97% Malbec, 3% Cabernet Franc. The wine has a rich bouquet, lively mouth-feel, lingering flavors of red and black berries with undertones of black pepper and vanilla, and a velvety texture throughout. $11.99

Parados Malbec 2008 - The wine is dense red in color with a full and rich nose of wild berries and black currant. The mouth-feel is lush and full-bodied leading to a well-balanced, full-flavored, lingering finish of more berries and hints of mineral (really?).

Gasco Malbec 2008 - This is a funny one from the 'Good Wines Cheap' blog....."I happen to be in a very good mood tonight, I feel as good as a 19 year old college boy finding out his girlfriend isn't pregnant. (I'd feel more a sigh of relief than good, but whatever) .....this wine plays around with a more fruity characteristic, also incorporating chocolate on the mid-palate, with a strawberry finish. Because this wine is young, the alcohol is apparent, but if you know what to smell for you'll also catch Cassis, dark currant, vanilla and a hint of leathery tobacco." $8.99

Layer Cake Malbec 2007 - The wine has a dense, purple core with a brilliant red rim. Black fruit is abundant. Tasting Layer Cake Malbec is an intense mouthful of fruit-driven wine, finishing with very soft tannins. $12.95

Colores del Sol Malbec 2008 - A flavorful, succulent reasonably priced red that can be enjoyed daily without breaking the bank. Surprisingly complex (at this price) nose of plum, raspberry, and blackcurrant. Juicy, fruit-filled palate with additional notes of chocolate and spice. Tannins are moderate and seem to round out with air. $9.99

If anybody buys these and tries them out, let me know what you think. I'll let you know when I open them up one by one.

By the way, what does currant taste like anyway?

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Feast

Yesterday I filled you in on what we drank, Malbec of course, today I'll fill you in on what filled us up. Argentine food.....Yum!

What is Argentine food you may ask. It is anything with meat. When we were "working" in Argentina checking out the Mendozan Malbecs, all we could find plentiful was meat. Meat, meat and more meat. My diet consisted of an asado dinner around 11 pm and a bottle and half of wine daily. Yes, me alone, almost two bottles of wine. I didn't eat a true Asado every night, I could't stomach it.

A true Argentine Asado is unique. It consists of things we don't eat here.....well unless we're from my original familial roots in the back woods of Kentucky. Normally, they'll bring out a mini-Hibachi grill to your table filled with meat. I mean stacked high. Then you try to guess what you're eating. It's not clear because the names of the meats are different than here...and in Spanish.

The Asado or BBQ consists of:

- Various sausages ranging from chorizo to bratwurst-like. Good stuff.

- Blood sausage. This is terrible both hot or cold. I continue to try it and continue to hold down a gag each time. I think the worse thing for me is the consistency of it.....oh and the smell.

- Small intestine. This is tasty for the first 2 seconds after you take it from the grill. After that, gag me. It tastes kind of rubbery, salty with a liver-like consistency.

- Large intestine. Completely inedible. Tried it the first time and had to spit it out. Very rubbery, bad smell, horrible consistency.

- Pancreas Gland. Kind of yummy if you don't think about it. Cut it into small pieces, we're talking small. Leave the gland on the grill because it needs to be hot. It's not too big so by the time I got the gag factor, I had eaten it all. Consistency of fried chicken livers. Decent salty smell.

- Kidney. Can't eat it. Looks horrible and smells worse.

- Tripe. For those of you that don't know, it is the 1st of three cow stomachs. Tripe is super rubbery with little suction cup looking internals. If you are forced to eat it at gun point, request it fried. I had it boiled one time in an Italian restaurant in NYC and got sick right there at the table. Remember, fried.

- Lomo. Yummy. Delicious. Can't get enough of it. Mecca.

- Vacio. Super yummy. The second time I had an Asado I asked for all Vacio. No dice.

So if someone offers you a real Argentine BBQ, be ready to fake a stomach ailment. Of course, saying your doctor allows you to eat the last two.

The Friday feast was not authentic but was very tasty anyway.

We had shrimp and chorizo baked empanadas with grapes, cheeses, bread and oil. Empanadas are the staple of the Argentine people. The parties I went to in Argentina and Chile always started with empanadas. The guests always were so excited to see them that you'd think they had never had them before but heard so much about their goodness. One older gentleman was trying to school me on the beauty of empanadas, stating also their medicinal qualities. Hmmm.

Next we go to the main course, asado. This asado had chorizo, lomo, vacio, pollo (chicken) in a yummy chimichuri sauce. Besides the fact that I always feel so whimsical saying chimichuri (go ahead say it, you'll know what I mean), the sauce is really tasty. I posted the recipe Kenny used , with his own Kenny touches, below.

The two sides were fresh roasted chile polenta and a colorful vegie salad with black beans, corn, purple onion, roasted red and yellow peppers, and peaches on a bed of greens.

For dessert, there was raspberry tart. It's not Argentine but it's SO good. The recipe is from this Provence cookbook. The crust is to die for. I'm not a big crust fan. Like how much I'm not a big crust fan is I don't eat the pizza crust unless I'm starving..literally. This crust smells and IS heavenly. With yummy, full of calories filling on top of the crust. Eventually topped with fresh raspberries. I could eat a whole one by myself, crust ends and all.

Remember imbibe and enjoy!

Chimichurri Sauce

parsley 4 cups minced

garlic clove 5 diced
oregano 1/2 tsp

red pepper flakes 1/4 tsp

cumin seed 1 1/2 tsp

paprika 1/2 tsp

salt 1 tsp to taste

black pepper 1 tsp to taste

bay leaf 1

olive oil 1/2 cup

canola oil 1/4 cup

balsamic vinegar 1/4 cup

red wine vinegar 1 cup

Kenny's magic proprietary ingredients

Mix all together in a food processor. You can marinade or just brush it on and put it on the grill.

Winefest Weekend - Friday's WineFest

One of my favorite weekends in Palisade is Winefest. It's a time when people from all over come to imbibe and enjoy. I always have a good time. In order to kick winefest off to a good start, we, mostly Kenny, put together a themed feast on Friday night. The theme was.......what else?! Malbec and Argentine cuisine.

Our guests were our fellow Palisade Vineland neighbors, Greg and Christy, mom Nancy, and our old neighbors from Nederland, Mark and Diane. Later in the evening Christy's son, Mark and his wife, Allie, joined in. To get things in the right mood, I went Malbec shopping. I LOVE Malbec shopping. I got a case, of course, there's 9 people. All Malbec under $25.

Here's the list: Catena Malbec 2006

Alamos Malbec 2007

Andeluna Malbec 2004 Reserva

Tierra Divina Malbec 2006

El Portillo Malbec 2007

Tilia Malbec 2008

Norton Malbec 2008

Marraso Malbec 2006

This is not the complete list, this is just what we drank that night. In order for people to have something to do....really, I printed out what some "experts" said about these wines. There were some common descriptive adjectives that I'd like to share with you here.

Complex aroma of plums and mature black fruits......mature black fruits?

Delicate, spicy notes

Dark purple color with violet highlights

Black cherry with a touch of chocolate and sweet spice.....do I smell BS?

Tannins as soft as velvet.........ooh la la

Hint of currant, fig and mocha flavors......what does a currant taste like exactly?

and my personal fav....

The mouthfeel is rich and lush, with concentrated black cherry and red currant fruit flavors layered with sweet spices, tobacco and a hint of leather

Leather?? Well, well. Ok big boy, leather it is.

I liked all these wines.....and didn't taste cow hide in any of them. But if I had to pick a favorite of the evening, from what I remember ,it is the El Portillo. Unpretentious and spicy. It's a nice flavor at a nice price...$14.99.

Oh no wait...it's the Marraso. It was full of berry, and I really could taste the spice. And it was so easy to drink, not any tastes that I had to grin and bear. It's price was a bit pricier, but the label's cooler, at $18.99.

I like both those wines. I'm torn. Well, I'll just have to drink those bottles again in a standoff.

Well, it looked like these people were having a good time. By the way, who are these people? Just joking. We had a great time and it was a great start for the wine drinking weekend of fun.

Remember imbibe and Enjoy!