Wine of the Week – Vicente’s Sangria Growlers

June 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment

This week’s wine comes to you from Vicente’s Cuban Cuisine in Detroit. Vicente’s is a fantastic restaurant on 1250 Library in Detroit. The first time I ate there was back in 2007 and I fell in love with their authentic mojito’s. More recently, I have discovered their delicious sangria!

vicente's

Sangria is a type of wine punch found in Spain, Portugal and Argentina. It is a blend of wine, fruit, sweetener and a touch of brandy. The sweetener can be honey, sugar, syrup or orange juice and you can pretty much use any kind of fruit you have to make it. Some people substitute Seltzer, Sprite or 7-Up for the brandy.

The last time I was at Vicente’s I discovered their Sangria. You can get red, white or a mix of both. I got the blend and it has a great cinnamon taste to it almost like an apple cider.

The great thing about Vicente’s sangria is that you can take it home with you in one of their custom growlers – they even provide you with the fruit! After you purchase your first growler you can bring it back and they will refill it for you.

Vicente's Sangria

Vicente’s Sangria

I did this and brought it over to a friend’s house. It is easy and makes a great presentation. You could even pour it in your own container and it would look like you had made it.

Vicente's Sangria

Vicente’s Sangria

I can’t wait to try out the white and red blends by themselves. This will definitely be my go to item to bring to summer parties.

Do you have any great wines that I should try? Let me know and if I like them I will feature them here.

For more Wine of the Week posts click here.


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Wine of the Week – Santa Rita 120 Sauvignon Blanc

June 13, 2013 by 3 Comments

This week’s wine comes to you courtesy of my friend Chandra. She stopped at Nino Salvaggio’s and picked it up for our Bachelorette viewing party earlier this week.

It is the 120 Sauvignon Blanc from a Chilean Winery called Santa Rita and was $7.99 for the bottle.

Sauvignon Blanc 120

Sauvignon Blanc 120

The 120 series of wine is named after the 120 patriots who fought for Chile’s independence and found refuge in the same winery cellars that house the Santa Rita wines today (read the legend here).

120 front

120 back

We noticed hints of peach, apple and vanilla undertones in the wine. It was soft and refreshing on a warm day, this would make a great summer wine. The price is great and according the the winemaker this particular wine can age for 2-3 years. They recommend paring it with shellfish and salads.

You can check out the Palm Bay distributor site and search for this one specifically. There are a number of stores in Michigan that carry it. This is a great summer wine and I love that fact that I could buy it and not worry about it going bad.

Let me know if you try this out at any celebrations this summer.

For more Wine of the Week posts click here.


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Wine of the Week: Casa Nuestra Chenin Blanc

June 5, 2013 by 4 Comments

This week’s wine is one I have been saving since our trip to Napa Valley last year.

We went on a number of wine tours while we were there and stopped at Casa Nuestra. “Casa Nuestra” is a Spanish name that means “Our House.” My husband and I fondly refer to this winery as the hippie winery.

Casa Nuestra Winery

Casa Nuestra Winery

There was a big psychedelic painting on the barn when we arrived and the overall vibe was very laid back. This is one of the only wineries that we got to do a barrel tasting at, which was really cool. My friend almost had us in on buying the barrel and splitting it with the group, but I opted to get a few bottles of their Chenin Blanc instead.

Chenin Blanc Cork

Chenin Blanc Cork

What first intrigued me about the Chenin Blanc, was a poster on the wall from the White House. In 1987, President and Mrs. Reagan requested 15 cases of the Chenin Blanc for the annual White House picnic. You can read Casa Nuestra’s newsletter article from 1987 here.

2011 Casa Nuestra Chenin Blanc

2011 Casa Nuestra Chenin Blanc

Since then I have seen a few other posters like this at other wineries. When your wine is served at the White House you receive a commemorative letter. At one point I wanted to find a list of all of the wines ever served at the White House and try them, but I will have to save that for my next blog.

casa front

I brought this wine over to try with my friend Tracy and here are our tasting notes:

  • The Chenin Blanc had a mild flavor with a bit of a tang to it.
  • It gets better as you drink it, you need to have about a half a glass before you start experiencing the full flavor. Make sure to serve it chilled.
  • Overall, this is an all-purpose wine that you could use for any occasion.

I will definitely be ordering more since that was my last bottle. You can order the 2011 Dry Chenin Blanc here for $30/bottle in increments of 3, 6 or 12 bottles.

For more Wine of the Week posts, click here.


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Nashville Day 2 Recap – Arrington Vineyards

May 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment

My husband and I traveled to Nashville for Memorial Day weekend to visit our close friends Eric and Stephanie. The highlight of Day 2 was our trip to Arrington Vineyards.

The vineyards

The vineyards

Saturday was actually National Wine Day, which worked out perfectly for our trip to the vineyard and my Wine of the Week post.

Entering the winery

Entering the winery

Arrington Vineyards is owned by Kix Brooks (part of Brooks & Dunn), winemaker Kip Summers, and entrepreneur John Russell. Brooks was inspired to open the vineyard by Faith Hill and her husband Tim McGraw. They used to give Brooks and his wife two bottles of wine from different countries each month which led to his love of wine.

Arrington Vineyards

Arrington Vineyards

One interesting thing that we learned on this trip was that Tennessee used to be a leading wine-producing region in the US, but this was cut short because of prohibition. Tennessee is usually known for its whiskey and moonshine, but wine has been making a comeback since the 1980’s. Tennessee now has more than 40 wineries and 150 vineyards (for more info visit the Tennessee Farm Winegrowers Association). Visiting one of the wine trails would make a great activity for our next trip!

Lots of areas to picnic

Lots of areas to picnic

We arrived at the Vineyard planning to do a wine tasting, but it was packed! We put our name on the list and then proceeded to get a table on the deck. While we were waiting we bought some wine, cheese and crackers to hang out and pass the time. The winery had a great ambiance and it reminded me of our time in Napa. While we were waiting we tried a few of the different wines, including:

Stags White 2011 – $17.99

This was a great blend, perfect for a hot day.

Stag's White 2011

Stag’s White 2011

Chardonnay 2012 – $21.99

We had to try this, because I was out of Chardonnay at home. It worked really well with the pepper crackers and cheese that we had.

Chardonnay 2012

Chardonnay 2012

I also tried some of Stephanie’s Raspberry Dessert Wine ($14.99) with truffles and it was delicious! We decided that it would taste awesome over ice cream.

Stephanie and Eric

Stephanie and Eric

We finally got called for our tasting and were escorted to a private room under the winery. I decided to join Kix’s Wine Club and this allowed us to taste five wines instead of four.

I tried the Viognier 2011 ($18.99), Firefly Rose 2010 ($17.99), Red Fox Red 2010 ($21.99), Petite Noir 2011 ($23.99) and the KB 409 ($49.99). I liked everything I tried. Which prompted us to take some wine home with us:

The wine we bought

The wine we bought

Now I can’t wait for our first shipment of wine! It will remind us of our trip every time we drink it.  Have you visited any Nashville wineries? Let us know where we should go next.

For more on our trip to Nashville, click here.

For more Wine of the Week posts, click here.


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Cheers to National Chardonnay Day!

May 23, 2013 by 2 Comments

I was getting ready to post my wine of the week when I discovered that today is National Chardonnay Day. Who knew? I had no idea that Chardonnay was America’s best selling white wine. I will take any excuse to try some new wines, so bottoms up!

I was not prepared for this and therefore have no chardonnay in my wine cellar, but after doing some digging I found two mini bottles of Barefoot Chardonnay in our basement bar…SCORE!

Barefoot Chardonnay

My mini bottles of Chardonnay!

My husband and I are packing tonight for our Nashville trip so this will be perfect.

I also stumbled across this great video from FOX News with Tom Matthews, executive editor of Wine Spectator magazine. There are a lot of great tidbits here.

National Chardonnay Day presents an opportunity for me to buy some Chardonnay, so here are a few that I would like to try:

Coppola Sofia Chardonnay – $19

Sofia Chardonnay

Sofia Chardonnay

 

Bennett Lane Los Carneros Reserve Chardonnay 2009 – $45

Bennett Lane Chardonnay Reserve

Bennett Lane Chardonnay Reserve

 

Goosecross Cellars 2009 Napa Valley Estate Chardonnay – $36

Goosecross Cellars Chardonnay

Goosecross Cellars Chardonnay

We visited these wineries during our trip to Napa and they were all fantastic finds. I am new to the Chardonnay game so I definitely need recommendations. I am usually a Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio drinker for white wines.

Let’s take this opportunity to try something new and raise our glasses for National Chardonnay Day, cheers!

For more of my Wine of the Week posts, click Wine of the Week Bennett Lane 2010 Maximus.


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Wine of the Week: Bennett Lane 2010 Maximus

May 20, 2013 by 2 Comments

My love affair with wine first started with Riesling in my mid-twenties. Since then it has expanded to all different kinds of wine. My husband and I toured vineyards and wineries in Italy, Sicily and Crete during our honeymoon and really fell in love with great wine. For my 30th birthday last year we went to Napa Valley which made me love wine even more.

Since I love trying new wines, I thought I would share my favorites with you each week and hopefully you will share your favorites with me.

During our Napa trip last year, we toured the winery at Bennett Lane and had lunch there. I liked everything so much that we decided to join their wine club. Our most recent shipment just arrived and we are loving the 2010 Maximus Red Feasting Wine.

Maximus Red Feasting Wine

Maximus Red Feasting Wine

The description on the back of the bottle reads:

“Every year at Bennett Lane our winemaker creates a proprietary blend from select 100% Napa Valley fruit. Dubbed “Maxiumus” in homage to the Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus, a notorious winelover and gourmand, we adorned the face label with an ancient diobol coin issued in 385 AD during his reign. In true Roman tradition, this feasting wine was made to be enjoyed with good food and great friends.”

It is the perfect wine to go with anything. It’s not too sweet and not too dry. This wine runs around $35 a bottle depending on what year you get. In Michigan you can find Bennett Lane wines at Arbor Beverage in Ann Arbor.


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