My "First" Review!

Okay, well not the first, but the inaugurate one after my first day as Tasting Coordinator at Snooth Media! What a perfect way to keep the momentum going on this wine (daze) writing blitz!

(At Heidi's House - Upper East Side)

Taste 1: La Chasse White Cotes du Rhone (CDR)

Clean and crisp with subtle mineral nuances develop into white stone fruit marked by a tinge of pencil lead. Floral notes on the back palette with a fresh bouquet of white flowers...parfait!

Taste 2: Chateau Grand Antoine 2009 (White Bordeaux)

Decidedly more citrus on the nose an palette and even more crisp than our lovely CDR.

The Decision: COTES DU RHONE! Bring it On!

Why the CDR, you ask? Less bite and more savory notes with some grassy notes and a medium finish. Depth and body are balanced out with crisp notes and a tinge fresh lemon rind that reveal itself after a few sips (ok, 3 or 4...;)

(Well that was quick!)

I find myself musing over the concept of Acclimation:

Acclimation to new surroundings; acclimation to a new 'horaire du temps' (bosser, bosser, work work!); and last but not least, acclimation to a whole slew of new wines - whether I am cataloguing them into the inventory grid at Snooth, researching them, contemplating them, or, best of all, TASTING them!

So, which wine have I (and you!) been acclimating ourselves with in the recent weeks?

Well...many @ Heidi's House (way to state the obvious) including:

The delectable and oh so utterly lovely:

• Estandon Cotes du Provence Rose
• Thomas Henry Pinot Noir (CA)
• Penny Farthing Cab Franc (CA)
• La Jaufrette Cotes du Rhone 2001 (FR)
• Montagne St. Emilion (FR)

Hmmm...time to expand the horizons beyond Heidi's House, Kristin the Wine Vixen!?

Well, one thing can be said about habit:

Once you acclimate yourself with a certain wine(s), a certain wine bar, a certain schedule, and certain surroundings, it brings you to next step, and new experiences...

So as I said about the CDR tonight: Bring It On! :-)

Good Wine Comes to Those who Wait...

"Day 1" as Tasting Coordinator at Snooth Media. To celebrate/inaugurate this occasion (and to keep up the tasting momentum) I find myself at Heidi's House to get the writing going!

Taste 1: La Chasse White Cotes du Rhone:

Clean and crisp, with mineral nuances, white stone fruit are singed with a tinge of pencil lead. A second sniff reveals floral notes reminiscent of a bouquet of white spring flowers. YUM!

Taste 2: 2009 Chateau Grand Antoine White Bordeaux (aka Sauvignon Blanc)

Decidedly more citrus on the nose and the palette and even more of a crisp 'bite' than our lovely CDR.

The Decision: Cotes du Rhone! (Bring It On!)

Why? Less bite and more soft and savory notes - exactly what the Doctor ordered for a week of change and adjustment!

Grassy tones lead to a medium length of finish. The depth and body of this white is indeed balanced out with its (slightly) uncharacteristic crispness. A tinge of fresh lemon rind reveals itself after a few sips (ok, 3 or 4...) and my palette welcomes this perfect choice of wine for this momentous occasion.

And after a few sips, I am onto this concept we call Acclimation; acclimation to new surroundings; acclimation to a new 'horaire' (work schedule); and acclimation to a whole slew (374 and still going) of new wines - whether they are to be catalogued, researched, contemplated, or best of all...to be tasted!

But first things first; you have to pay your dues before indulging and reaping the benefits of working around wine with fellow wine lovers (though in my eyes this is payment in itself!)

So, which wines have I been acclimating myself with in the last few weeks?

Well...many here at Heidi's house (way to state the obvious!) including:

• L'Estandon Provence Rose
• Thomas Henry Pinot Noir (CA)
• Penny Farthing Cabernet Franc (CA)
• 2001 La Jaufrette Cotes du Rhone (FR)
• Montagne St. Emilion

(Note to self: Time for Kristin the Wine Vixen to expand her horizons...!)

Okay, there was the hand-picked (by one of our all time favorite bartenders Joel) Rosso di Montalcino (an indulgent $15/glass at Uva)

And speaking of Italian reds, here is Freddie's (our favorite bartender at Heidi's House) house favorite:

Caburnio Toscana (Tenuta Monteti):

Delicious red fruit with an ample amount of tannins and finesse...

Full-bodied with a slight hint of baking spices (clove in particular) that linger on the finish...

A perfect wine to end my tasting with, and the ideal way to ring in the beginning of another adventure in this daze of wine, life, changes, and most of all acclimation and appreciation.

--Kristin the Wine Vixen (ha!)

The Wine/Life Mirror

What a whirlwind of a weekend back home, graced by some truly delectable wines that warmed my heart, and traveled alongside me at home.

Frigid weather in the good old (612) was assuaged by some warm hearty reds. And thank god, given the debacle I ran into on in -14 temperatures! A flat tire on the freeway (more like burned to the rim if you ask me) on Interstate 35-W North in that inhumane temperature would have been much harder to manage had I not just ingested the following:

1) A delightfully balanced Vacqueyras, appropriately named Les Trois Couronnes since it was fit for no less than a king - or queen, which I may or may not be admitting to flying back from NYC for since we did not have time to consume it over the 2010 holiday wine lineup. This floral yet substantial red wine from the southern Rhone Valley of my beloved France is almost 100% Grenache, which lends the body needed to stand up to those Watts-style appetizers that are indigenous to the homestead of 721 West Minnehaha Parkway (yes, laugh as you'd like at the street I grew up on ;)

2) A versatile Barbera enjoyed with our delightful dinner at In Season. Though it was our alternative choice to the Cotes du Rhone they had no stock of (enter harried distribution woes...) it was worthy of every drop in the bottle.

Looking back on the bitingly cold weekend now (with a glass of plain 'ol Trader Joes Chardonnay/Viognier blend beside me; good, but no Vacqueyras) I am struck by how much can happen within the span of three days of a quick weekend trip home to be present for a dear friend's CD release show. I am even more struck by the how much these jam-packed days mirror all that goes on in the senses and through the mind upon that first sip of Vacqueyras - or Barbera - or even this $4 bottle of TJ's white blend that has been sitting in the fridge for a little over a week now (yes, that was a confession...)

The nuances that present themselves through the wine remind me of the varied emotional levels that can happen in so short a time:

One sip of that Vacqueyras and my palette was dancing with a blend of dark and light fruits with tinges of soft tannins around the edges; One moment of realization that I was stuck, alone, on a freeway in -14 temperatures, and my mind danced first with panic, then settled on methods of problem-solving and an eventual 'rescue effort' from my dear father.

Much in the same realm, sipping and savoring to the very last drop that delectable Barbera at In Season mirrors every moment that I took in and cherished at my friend Natalie's show that Saturday night - taking in the energy, the crowd, the music, and yes, even those horribly over-priced glasses of wine at the Fine Line in downtown Minneapolis.

Wine, heart, home and mind...sometimes that's all it boils down to.

Another week, another wine (or three - or four.)

So another week begins, and another glass of wine sits before me...this time Xavier Cotes du Rhone at my beloved Fig & Olive, a perfect blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre.
Notes of blueberries round out this smooth and mellow red from my dear France. Hints of spice make this the perfect choice for reflection time on the last week which has offered more than its fair share of spicy drama. As long as you've had a little (or in this case a lot) you might as well round it out, right? Right.
These spicy characteristics are softened by silky hues of dark cherries, much like the heat that has put my life in kahootz has been softened on the edges by the little things that make these tumultuous times more manageable (enter those four wines mentioned in the subject line...) and that eventually lead to life lessons you become grateful for after enough time has passed. Perhaps a little like the time required for a heady, rich, and aged wine to breathe...
Breathing and letting things go - and learning from mistakes/bad choices is after all what embodies the development of our palette and fosters the expansion of (my) wine knowledge; what a perfect note to end on and also to begin the pursuit of my dream of a wine career in NYC...