Wine of the month for September is Blackjack Ranch 2004 Harmonie. This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. An outstanding blend and a bargain dollar for dollar. The Blackjack website describes it as being dramatically underpriced. The notes state it will drink well for the next 10-20 years. On the Blackjack ranch website the 2004 Harmonie is priced at $35.00, however, I purchased it locally a bit less. The wine was aged in 100% French oak or as the notes state, ‘French oak all the way”. These bordeaux style blends of Harmonie wine have all scored 90+ points from Robert Parker. The 2004 is not yet rated. Previous blends are selling for up to $100.00 per bottle. Funny how a good rating... »View More
Added Sunday, September 21, 2008
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I’m back…I know it has been quite a while, sorry I just decided to take the rest of the summer off after our great trip. I did as promised finish this years Napa report, so give me a break. As summer rapidly comes to an end I will tell you it was great, although it did seem to pass by quickly. Much went on from the marriage of my youngest son, to the big engagement party for my older son who will marry next year. Not to mention all the barbecues and weekend parties, as you can see we were pretty busy. Now the fall season begins with nice cooler weather, fantastic fall smells in the air and harvest. Yes, Napa harvest has begun with the early white grapes like Sauvignon Blanc already coming in. The early reds will be next with the... »View More
Added Wednesday, September 17, 2008
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I feel like I say this so often in Wine Babble, but the world of wine is huge. It is so big that the average consumer could never learn as much as they would like to know, or try as many wines as they’d like to. I think you would have to have a job in the wine industry in order to call yourself an expert. I was just thinking about how many wines in the Napa Valley when we visit that are winery exlcusive, combine that with that amount of wines you can purchase at the local wine shop and it is amazing. I am also finding recently a lot of wines not previously distributed, or hard to find are showing up in more stores. Frank Family is a good example of that. When we first visited Napa you could not purchase it anywhere in NJ. We were... »View More
Added Wednesday, September 17, 2008
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The end of another great summer, yes, the fall season has arrived. Not officially though, that occurs on September 22nd, yet the return to school and college always tends to announce the end of summer. The weather may not agree with my thoughts as hot humid days are still upon us, but there is a feeling of finality to summer when the new school year begins.
As I get older, I love the fall season almost as much as I do the summer. We love sitting outside on cool nights by our fireplace listening to sounds and enjoy the crisp smells that fall has to offer. We live close to our local high school and many evenings we are serenaded by the school marching band practice. Football is another favorite and we have a television set up to view from the... »View More
Added Sunday, September 14, 2008
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The October issue of Wine Spectator magazine has a short article in the UpFront column reporting a new wine label to be released by Green Bay Packers corner-back Charles Woodson. Normally an article like this would not surprise me, another sports star with money and a love of wine decides to get involved in the wine industry, why not? His label, Twenty Four, a Napa Valley Stags Leap Cabernet will be released this November. The surprising part is an NFL rule passed by Commissioner Roger Goodell that forbids players from endorsing alcoholic beverages. The article states Woodson gave an interview at the release party for his wine and the league offices notified him he is not allowed to promote the wine in any way. Now, I love the NFL and spend... »View More
Added Saturday, September 13, 2008
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On a rainy Saturday this past weekend, we decided to hit the movies. Now, first let me begin by saying we have not been to a movie in years and what a change from the days of hard seats, sticky floors and small screens. We are probably one the last few in the world to experience stadium seating, so while we were still in awe of that we sat down in our extremely cushioned seats. I have to say it was quite nice. After settling in and watching some previews, the movie opened. Bottle Shock~in the heart of the Napa Valley. I think I heard my husband say he felt like he was home again looking at the panaromic view of the valley in the opening credits. If you are homesick for Napa it is a good movie to watch, it gives you the sense of being... »View More
Added Wednesday, September 10, 2008
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Well, Sunday started a new season of the NFL Sunday games and it brought quite a few unexpected wins for the day. It seems as though that is another indication of a new season, football brings fall even though the calendar still tells us it is summer until later on in September. Sunday was also a day for wine while watching the games. We missed some of the early games but sampled some great white wines while attending a late day party and catching the late afternoon games. As you know we are truly red wine fans who occasionally drink white, well, we decided with cool weather arriving we needed to drink some of the fantastic whites we have in the cellar. White wine typically does not store as long as most reds and we had shipped back some... »View More
Added Wednesday, September 10, 2008
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Although I love summer, fall is one of the most fantastic times of the year. Better than spring as it tends to be rainy and cooler in the spring. Fall features nice, warm, sunny days and cool nights. In the fall you can feel the warmth of the suns rays and still be cool enough that you can tolerate being outside without necessarily feeling the need to jump in the pool or run back into the airconditioning. I also love fall for it’s wine factor, thus my title “wine times”. I know I drink wine all summer long and actually throughout all of the seasons, but I am really looking forward to the cool fall nights when I can pour some of those big bold reds, sit outdoors with a light sweatshirt and smell the scents of the season.... »View More
Added Wednesday, September 3, 2008
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Just read a great article written by Joel Stein in the September 8th issue of Time Magazine. In the article Mr Stein relates how after finding out that all fifty U.S. states make wine, he set out to try a wine from each state “to see if, as I increasingly suspected, good wine can be made anywhere.” I don’t think I personally agree with that statement but Mr Stein does make some good points. One of which is how many wine regions have trouble gaining respect for their wines as the Europeans, and Californians of late push the fact that their vineyards sit on specific soils which give their wines distinctive flavors that can only come from that region. While I do agree with that belief, I also believe that good winemakers can make... »View More
Added Wednesday, September 3, 2008
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