2006 David Bruce Petite Syrah for $16 at Costco

I love Petite Syrah, but most wineries do not make it, and when wineries do, generally they are expensive. I would love to try Stags Leap Petite Syrah, but at over $30 it is just too much. This wine is very jammy with red fruits and very little tannin. My boyfriend thought this wine is very smooth, I thought this wine was bursting with fruit cherry, raspberry, and blackberry. The wine went wonderfully with cheese, but I liked it on its own. I am going this weekend with my 15% off coupon to Binnys to get many bottles of Petite Syrah. I am running out of wine, down to 5 bottles.

Martini and Rossi Asti for $10 at Costco

I think everyone has had this wine before. I have found this Moscoto di Asti at most large chain retailers-Jewel, Costco, WalMart. This wine was used as a spritzer with the Black Raspberry wine from Lynfred Winery. We then drank it alone and it is ok. It is sweet, but not overly so, and would make a great wine for mimosas. There is no distinct fruit flavors or aromas to this sparkler which is why I think of it as the common Moscato di Asti, can't find anything wrong with it, but it really is nothing special. Don't get me wrong for $10 a bottle for a party in the summer at 7.5% alcohol this is a fun wine that won't break the bank and can be used as a mixer in other summer drinks also. If I have a summer barbeque, this wine would make the list.

Leelanau Cellars of Northern Michigan Winter White for around $10 at Meijers

This wine was very good. This wine is semi-sweet with pineapple and pear flavors. This wine was great on its own, with very little acidity. I found this wine a little heavy with some legs, not a light wine. It is called a winter white, but this wine can definitely be drank year around. I truly enjoyed this wine and would buy this wine again. I wonder if this winery has other similar type wines and will do some research on this in the future.

Blue Fish 2007 Estate Bottled Sweet Riesling for around $10 at Meijers

This wine was not the sweet riesling that it claimed to be. It was more off an off dry Riesling that went much better with spicy orange chicken than on its own. The wine has flavors of orange and only a touch of sweetness and some acidity. I thought the wine needed to be paired and a spicy dish was the way to go. This wine was really nothing special and I would not buy it again, it was relatively cheap but you can a cheap Riesling that is just so-so anywhere.

River White by the Illinois River Winery for $16 dollars in Utica, Illinois

This wine is a blend of Riesling, Vignoles, Cayuga, and Edelweiss. This wine is semi-sweet white wine that we paired with crab cakes and buffalo wings to celebrate our 1 yr engagement anniversary. I really liked this wine it is sweet, but not too sweet, however this wine has some legs and I would not desribe this wine as a light type of wine. I moves towards a dessert style, but fits good with a light lunch or dinner faire. I really liked this wine and if I did not like variety like I do this could be one of the house whites. I just like variety too much and constantly looking for the perfect wine.

2009 Jam Jar Sweet Shiraz at a local wine shop in Utica, Illinois for $10.00

Mardi Gras at August Hill Winery for about $17

We picked up this Sparkling Pink Catawba wine during the Winter Wine Walk in Utica, Illinois. If you like Catawba wine, you will definitely like this wine. This festive pink bubbly is sweet, but not as sweet as the straight Catawba wine. I really like this wine and at 9% alcohol, I could have more than a glass or two. My better half thought the sparkling Catawba was better than the straight Catawba, and I find the straight Catawba too sweet to drink too much at one time. I would definitely buy this wine again, it is just pricey to buy a lot of at one time. I was a club member at one time and even at 20% discount the case is well over $150 dollars which is just too much for us at this time.

2001 Kracher No 8. Auslese from Binnys for $20

This wine was on sale for $20 at Binnys from originally $50. This wine is a very dark yellow color, almost like liquid carmel. I found the wine to be very sweet with lots of honey flavor with some orange blossom. This wine is your ideal dessert wine, where a little bit goes a long way. This wine was great on its own, but you could also pair it with some lighter desserts, this wine is too thick with legs to have an extremely heavy dessert paired with it. I should have bought more of these style of wines when they were on sale because this is the last bottle of the group and it will be a long time before they have that sale again.

2008 Le Cigare Blanc from Bonny Doon Vineyard for around $20

Nero Misto by Elise Winery in California for $20 at Binnys

This wine is from the first winery that I ever visited in Napa Valley. I loved a white wine they made, but their red wines are just too dry for me. This wine is made with some lesser known Italian grapes, the wine bottle does not do the specifics for particular grapes, but this has to be a food wine for me. We have only had tacos this week in terms of red meat, and we tried pairing this with chocolate and it is too dry. I think this wine would be best paired with pasta versus any other dish. I don't think I did this wine justice, and my review not being favorable may be a result of poor pairing and not the wine itself.

Coopers Hawk's White Zinfandel for $13.99 in South Barrington

We tried this wine at the February tasting at Cooper Hawk in South Barrington. This wine actually replaced the fruit wine they normally taste. This wine is a great summer wine, with some sweetness and some acidity I can see drinking this by a pool or at a barbecue all summer long. The wine is a beautiful orange/pink color that went with a chocolate covered orange cream perfectly. This wine is great wine for drinking on its own, I am sure you could pair it with some spicy dishes, but I did not like it with steak tacos, maybe some type of fish dish with a citrus sauce. Either way, I would definitely buy this wine again.

The Chook-Sparkling Shiraz-$18 at Binnys

I love Sparkling Shiraz, I just don't love the price tag. This wine is very cherry and raspberry with great bubbles. I drank this all day on Valentines Day and it was wonderful. I paired this with some chocolate, but that did not seem to pair well with the ones I chose. My better half thought this wine was too dry. I thought this wine is great just too pricey to drink on a regular basis. I wish this was about $10 a bottle and then I would drink it more often.

Valentines Day Tastings from Lynfred and the Patis/Graham household

The Lynfred Winery's Chocolate and Wine Pairing was on Thursday before February 14th.

1. Reserve Semillion wtih dark chocolate carmel dusted with salt-the best pairing
2. Sparkling Berry with cayenne/cinnamon truffle-the worst pairing
3. Cabernet Reserve 1999 with white chocolate carrot cake truffle-ok
4. Fresavino Strawberry Port with the raspberry truffle-ok
5. Merlot 2006 with Merlot walnut carmel-good
6. Carbernet Shiraz 2004 with currant truffle-very good
7. Late Harvest Riesling-bananas foster truffle-ok
8. Ice Wine 2002-Chai Tea truffle-ok

Graham/Patis Chocolate and Wine Pairing on Valentine's Day
1. Sparkling Shiraz-currant truffle-ok
2. Dry Italian Blend by Elise winery-raspberry truffle-not good, truffle not sweet enough, with carmel cream-not good together,
3. White Zinfandel-bananas foster truffle-good with the orange cream chocolate-the best pairing
4. Bluemoon- straight chocolate-not good-cherry cordial chocolate-better
5. Port-chai tea truffle-very good
6. Red Ice Wine -cayenne/cinnamon truffle-not good, the truffle is just way too spicy

Coopers Hawk Cabernets for just slight under $20 at the Cooperhawk Restaurant in South Barrington

This wine is the wine of the month at Coopershawk. The name is cute, Cabernets, as it is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon and 45% Cabernet Franc, you could not swap out for a different wine as this was part of the promotion in December when you bought $100 gift card. This wine is very dry, strong tannins, and I can't even think of having it without food. With a strong cheese it is ok, but the fruits are pretty dark and I think this wine needs red meat or lamb. My guess is this wine could have been aged some, but since we have 2 wines that we are aging that is enough until I can afford to buy a bigger wine fridge.

Twin Fin 2007 Merlot at Jewel for $5.00

This wine is a very good bottle of red wine for $5.00. I paired this wine with pizza, smoked gouda, garlic cheese, and spinach dip and it faired pretty well. Jewel must not be selling this wine anymore because all the various varietals were on clearance for Twin Fin, I have blogged on the Cabernet Sauvignon earlier. I found this wine to have some tannin, but not too much where you could not have a sip on its own. It has some cherry and smokier flavors, but overall just a very average Merlot at a very good price. I am not a huge fan of Merlot, so I probably don't do this wine justice, but I would not buy it again unless it was at this price.

Pheasant Hollow Winery's Merry Christmas Crackling Cranberry for $18 at Cattails in Utica

We tried this wine at the wine walk in Utica this last weekend. I am not crazy about cranberry wine because generally it is very tart. This wine was not tart and was the perfect afternoon bubbly at 10% alcohol. My better half and I both enjoyed this wine before the Superbowl. I would definitely buy this wine again if it were at a lower price. If you are looking for a great Cranberry wine this would be the wine that I chose.

Lynfred's Black Raspberry fruit wine for $10 in the fruit wine club at Lynfred

I was totally excited about this wine when the lady at Lynfred said that the Black Raspberry is the new fruit wine that came out and I bought 2 bottles. This wine is thick with some legs. I was expecting a sweet fruit wine, and this wine is not sweet, it is tart. Not extremely tart but more tart than sweet. The wine tastes like black fruits more than raspberry to me. I love Lynfred's Red Raspberry wine and think it is a great dessert wine. This wine I think would benefit from a spritz, and if you open the bottle I recommend drinking it that day. This wine does not keep well even after pumping because the wine had the faint smell of vinegar and aftertaste of vinegar. This wine overpowers white chocolate and would probably best paired with dark chocolate.

2007 Dolcetto Ca'del Sol o Estate Monterey County for $18.00 for Bonny Doon Club Mbrs

Unfortunately, this may be the worst wine that I have ever paid over $15. This wine was extremely dry with almost no fruit flavors. I thought this wine was going to be a very fruity wine, but no such luck. I tried aerating this wine, and it did not improve. I just think that the only thing that could have improved this wine is age.

Side note-I am no longer going to keep track of days because I had computer difficulties yesterday and posted the same blog 4x in January. I will just have the name of the wines as the title versus the day since I think the day is all of whack.

Day 242-Obsession 2007 Califonia Symphony from Ironstone Vineyards for $7 at Jewel

This wine was on clearance at Jewel for $7 and is a blend of Muscat and Grenache Gris which I thought could be good, so what the heck. The wine is tasty with fruit flavors of orange and peach with a touch of sweetness. Unfortunately, the wine is extremely acidic and gave me heartburn that night and my better half could not even make it to a half of a glass. I tried it the next day thinking maybe it was a different wine or just the food I ate that day, but no, the heartburn started again. Needless to say, I will not buy this wine again, and would tell people prone to heartburn to stay away from this wine.

Day 241-Ballatore Rosso for $12.00 at Binnys

This red spumante is made in California and is the perfect Valentine's Day wine. This wine with its pretty red/pink color and little bubbles is just a great bottle of wine to pop with your honey or by yourself if that is the case. This wine has a touch of sweetness and I would put this sparkler, in termes of sweetness between a Moscato d'Asti and an Extra Dry Sparkler. I found this to be a perfect fit for me, not too sweet not too dry with the flavors of strawberry and cherry. I would definitely buy this wine on a regular basis as I think it has a good balance of sweetness and crispness to please most palates.

Day 240-Ca' del Solo Estate Vineyard 2006 Nebbiolo-November's Dewn Wine of the Month from Bonnydoon Vineyard for $18.00 plus shipping

This wine was recommended for aging 10-15 yrs, but we just don't have the space or the money to buy wine and then not drink it. This wine is definitely a food wine. We drank this wine with chicken and pasta with a red sauce, which cut some of the tannins and the dryness of the wine. the wine has some dark fruit flavors of plum mixed with some tobacco and spice flavors. This wine is just not for the daily drinking let's open up a bottle of wine. This wine needs to be aged and then paired with a good beef dish or lamb dish. This may be a good bottle of wine, it is just not our style of wine.