Sorry, It's been a while, I really want to try to keep althis blog updated, so I'm not just a wine dork. Someday, I'd really like if people took my wine advice, because I think that I know what is tasty and what is not. My palate is developing slowly. Anyway, I've had a couple of unremarkable wines lately, but they're interesting, so I'll mention them. First of all, I had a Cotes du Rhone red, a 2001 La Remejeanne for about $13. I opened it to have a little with a hearty white bean puree, and upon the poar, I was wary. Rhone reds are mostly Syrah with a healthy portion of Grenache, and a little Mourvedre (or Cinsault, and a few others, as the French can't get enough of blending). I love a great Syrah when it's called Shiraz, and it's big and bold, and the Granache I've had was really nice and drinkable, and I know it would be great blended with my Shiraz (okay, Syrah). The wine was a nice dark red bordering on purple, but lacked density. I was worried that the wine would seem watery, because I've had a few other cheap European wines that were somewhat dissapointing, because of their undue lightness. Anyway, it wasn't that bad, it had a little dark red berry quality and a nice bite of spice near the end, and it's lightness made it very drinkable but, not able to be savored and thought over like I want my wine to me. The aroma was very, well, cellary to me (no celery), with a hint of that Syrah pepper. All in all, my nose wanted more! Not so great of an intro to the Rhone.

2001 La Remejeanne Cotes du Rhone
Q: 6.5
V: 5.5

Last night was another foray into the inexpensive wines of Europe. I'm tryin old world, so that I can more fully appreciate the new world wines--which I do! I do! I was at Trader Joe's a few months back and I was looking for a nice Chianti, something with for Italian food, which I adore. At the top of the shelf, I saw a few interesting wines: Amarone, Barolo, and a few other of the rarer Italians. So I grabbed the Barolo, even though Amarone sounded neater. I did my Barolo research, leanred about nebbiolo, the grape that was purported to be finikier and harder to grow than the ellusive Pinot Noir, and it's only grown in Northern Italy, and rarely anywhere else with much success. I read that nebbiolos, like Barolo and Barbaresco, are often--no, not often--usually expesive--like more than $50. Well, this Barolo was about $13 at Trader Joes. I read some mediocre reviews of the wine, but I wanted to try it! So, last night I popped the Barolo, added a glug to some Newman's Own pasta sauce (an easy way for college kids to add some personal flavor to a lovely jarred sauce), and poared a glass. It was a very interesting brick-red color with a sort of orange tinge around the edges. The taste? Well, it was a little watery--again! I'd read that Barolos are bigger wines than Chianti are, so I was expecting a little more gumption from this wine. Although, it was great with the pasta. It had a slightly nice fruityness, a slight, slight oak quality, and a nice medium-short finish to it. I couldn't really describe the taste in any great detail. I'll have some more tonight and update you. I liked it better than the Cotes du Rhone, though, and it's a neat color!

2000 La Loggia Barolo
Q: 8.00
V: 8.75