Tis the season to Encourage (Wine) Drinking

Know some wine loving friends and don't know what to get them? Not interested in the typical "Here's a bottle of my favorite wine" gift? (Not that that's a bad gift... wine will always be enjoyed.. but if you feel like getting creative, here are some of my favorite ideas...)

1) Wine tasting.. CLASSES. Always hear people say things like "I can taste the pears.. and the berries... it finishes a little peppery" and crap like that? Now you can give the gift of learning to drink like every other wine snob!
Classes are offered everywhere but if you google wine class, you'll find an abundancy of them in New York.

2) A personalized wine bottle from winelabel.com:

... ... uncork that bottle and soon you'll be saying "Holly Happydays! I mean..."

3) Customized wine charms from www.wineglasscharms.com:
I don't know how I feel about the little Texas wine charm but you get the gist. The great thing about this gift idea is you can get some craft supplies from a craft store and make your own wine charms!

4) A Winemaking package, oooooooh! Homemade drunkeness!!!

www.finevinewines.com--> starter packages. These gifts start at about ummm... a thousand bucks. Very affordable... if you're Oprah.

5) A wine gift for the golf lover:
OR.... ...OR...

A wine "caddy"... Wine stoppers.... "Wine bar bag". All for under $50. :) That's what I'm talking about.

Happy holidays!

Sorry for the delay!

Sorry for the delays! Miss Merlot and I have been very busy with the holidays and all. I have about 8 reviewed wines to put up and no time to do all the writing. In the mean time, here are some last minute promo codes for wine.com if you are considering! Just click on the wine.com link on our sidebar and use one of the codes during checkout.

LSDEC5: 5% off any order of $50 or more

LSDEC10: $10 off any order of $150 or more

LSDECCOLL: 10% off wine collections only

-one promo code per order

-not eligible for corporate orders

-customers may use a code more than once

-all codes expire 12/31/2006

Hello and Goodbye!

Wine is such a competitive market in Northern California that promos and advertisments are everywhere (just look at this site). So how do you make your wine standout? Label is EVERYTHING. This label intrigued me enough to pick up a bottle at $5.99.

So could clever (unusual) marketing help get the word out on a new and unknown product? Possibly, however this product is just too weak to bring repeat business or word-of-mouth interest.

True to the label on the back, it does provide more than simple fruit flavors. Unfortunately they clash like pink and plaid leaving no clear direction on where this wine is heading or who it could greet along the way. I recommend a pass on this unless you are looking for a rare collectors item. I can’t see this staying on the market too much longer.

A 2 on the Griffin Scale for taste and a 2.5 for value. If I met this wine at a party, I think I would say, “Nice to meet you. Pardon me, but I think I will stand over there now.”

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Oogle my Bogle

Bogle 2005 Chardonnay has won many awards, most notably by wine spectator, as a top value as low as 6.99. To me this wine is the closest thing to drinking a fermented pear. It has a rich textured flavor that numbs the tongue. I would really only pair this with a good aged cheese. I could see it matching perfectly with a gorgonzola salad.Despite the menu limitations, I do consider it a good value. Overall I give it a 6 on the Griffin scale for taste. A 7.5 for value. Well done Bogle, and I will keep you in stock!

Edna Aint No Old Lady

Edna Valley Vineyard 2005 Chardonnay is a real treat. This is a versatile wine with a sweet peach start to a spicy vanilla finish. It’s not as full bodied as the Wente Riva Ranch, however it holds it’s own on diversity and long life. It should be a part of any wine stock. Buy a case and keep it stored for 5.I give it an 8.5 on the Griffin Scale for taste, and an 8 for value at $14 and change.

Top 5 Wine Morons

So, after thinking about all these great places and restaurants that serve wine and have a magnificent wine selections, I started thinking about the worst restaurants for wine or wine service.

1. Hooters, Sacramento
I ordered Clos du Bois, which is a mediocre wine, but the waitress had to butcher it and say [start ditzy 17-yr old voice here--was she old enough to serve wine?--:]"Oh, theeee Cloooothes do Boys? Yeah um, that's a good wine." Ugh... stupid, stupid large breasted, muffin topped waitress.
No... no I don't want clothes doing boys.

2. Spaghetti Factory, San Jose
Every wine on their wine list (all 5? 6? of them) was listed to be excellent with spaghetti. Thanks Spaghetti Factory. Honestly, I wouldn't pair White Zinfandel with Spaghetti with butter but whatever. A better pairing is a lighter dish like a mixed greens salad, roasted veggies, halibut, etc. You get the idea.
The glasses were also midget portions... (no offense to midgets).

3. Chevy's, San Ramon
Yeaaaah um... imagine that same waitress from Hooters... (but at times with a Mexican accent or a similar big breasted ditz but no muffin top cause Chevy's people wear t-shirts.) Stick with their margaritas.

4. Any pub, anywhere
If you walk into a pub and the drink menu is written in scratchy chalk on the wall and all you see is "Wine 3.75", I can guarantee that house wine probably tastes like bitter grape juice or watered down merlot.

5. (Moooost disappointed)... Pyramid Alehouse and Brewery, Walnut Creek
I love Pyramid, I love the overly sweet chick cider, and I love going there for happy hour with the crew. But having a glass of small wine served to you by some pre-pubescent acne ridden high school kid who isn't sure if the wine is apart of the happy hour menu kind of kills the wine experience.
Also, the Ravenswood they let me sample tasted a little too bitter. They probably had the bottle sitting too long seeing as how msot people go to breweries for beer. But hey... evenso, you should do some QC with the vino every once in a while to make sure you're not serving vinegar. Word to the bartender-wise: keep tabs on when certain bottles are opened cause they age at different rates.

Speaking of Two Buck Chuck

I am sure the two buck charles has been done to death, however I had to include it since I am on a budget and this site makes us no money!

The 2005 Chardonnay from Trader Joes was my victim.

This wine could never be confused with a good bottle of wine in a million years. It lacks body, character, and oooomph. On the other hand I can understand the popularity as it is very sweet and unobtrusive. There are strong samples of pear and possibly lemon. This wine more closely resembles a champagne (minus the carbonation) then a chardonnay. It even has the pseudo I can’t believe it’s not butter aftertaste at the end.
I give it a 7.5 for value when used at the appropriate event/location. It is a 4.5 for taste. As such a cheap and sweet buzz, I am surprised that it hasn’t been picked up by the 18 but I think I am 27 crowd. Charles Shaw could really start a thriving campaign marketing to teens.

Please stay tuned for a taste of the cheap contest. We here at vinofriend.com plan to have a little blind taste test of all the cheapest wines to see who wins out.

Oktoberfest 2006!

San Francisco hosts an Oktoberfest bash every year at Fort Mason in Mid October... and this year I went. And I went big.
First of all, if not for the beer, then for the shennanigans, one must go to Oktoberfest. And even better would be for the fact that you can drink red wine in a giant beer stein and it's totally acceptable. You better believe I did just that.

I had a tasty cabernet-merlot blend that was probably the German equivalent of two Buck Chuck in the states... but that was ok. It held its own quite well. It had a full flavor--probably the cabernet side, with a smooth finish--the merlot side. Either way it was delish and got the job done: "Ich bin dicht!" (I am f***ed up!).