We went with Rosemount Shiraz. Yum. It had some nice fruity tones with a hint of spice and a smooth finish . . .

. . . or at least, that was my take.

This retails for about $10 a bottle and hails from Australia. It worked well with the creamy sauce my pasta was drowned in.

Nonetheless, here are the wines from the list that I am planning on sampling. Please share your thoughts if you’ve had them:

• Michael-David Earthquake ’05 ($28) and Michael-David Seven Deadly Zins ’05 ($17): The names caught my eye. Honestly, that’s what interested me in these. They are both Lodi Zinfandels.
• Ravenswood ’05 ($15): A friend actually recommended this to me the other day. He said that based on how I like to take my coffee, I will love this Zinfandel.
• Yangarra Single Vineyard Old Vine ’05 ($20): This wine is the least expensive in the recommended McLaren Vale Grenaches. Since I have never heard of that type of wine, I would like to try it and see what it’s all about. This is recommended to go with dishes like those found in the accompanying article, “The Spice is Right”.

Anyway, after settling on the sparkling wine for New Years’, I set out to buy a bottle of wine as well. Merlot, being my old standby when out with coworkers, seemed an obvious choice. After checking out the domestic merlots and then the California ones, I settled on McManis Family Vineyards. Why? Because of the description it had — it mentioned two things that piqued my interest: hints of berry flavors and a milk chocolate finish. I instantly had visions of chocolate covered strawberries dancing in my head. How could I go wrong?

So, when I got home, I looked up the vineyard and checked out the full tasting notes for the wine:

The oak flavors and juicy berry fruit provide a rich creamy texture that is free of astringent tannins. The finish is lengthy and full of toasted oak that lingers on the palate. Deep purple color, with youthful bright hues characterize this wines appearance. The aromas feature ripe dark red fruits; strawberries and raspberry. A bouquet of spicey oak with hints of milk chocolate compliments the aromas.

First Taste:

I opened the bottle (on the first try!) with my new corkscrew after a hard day. As I said, I drink merlot at work functions so I figured this bottle would be a good choice. My first impression? I don’t know where the fruity tastes (or smells are). In fact, it reminds me a lot of cough medicine. I drank a few sips then tried to have it with dinner. Then I gagged. This wine just isn’t for me.

Now, I plan to do multiple tastings, particularly if a wine isn’t to my taste. Maybe it just wasn’t good for me that day, you know? But I would be lying if I didn’t say that I am totally dreading the second tasting. Check back this weekend to see how it turned out …

McManis Family Vineyards
2006 Merlot
Price: $9.99

There was a lot of pressure on me to pick a good bottle of bubbly to ring in the New Year this year. In years past, we’ve always just drank whatever we were given (usually by a boss or a family member) and it was never very good. Knowing that I didn’t want to shell out big bucks for a quality bottle of champagne, I decided to investigate good but inexpensive options in the sparkling wine category.

What’s the difference? Believe it or not, I know this one! Champagne is sparkling wine that comes from the Champagne area of France. While champagne is sparkling wine, sparkling wines from other areas of the world are not champagne. Now, prosecco is another type of sparkling wine. It is made from prosecco grapes and comes from Italy.

Anyway, after reading about the milder flavor of prosecco, I decided we would try a bottle for New Years. Off I went to the liquor store where I inspected several varieties before settling on Canella Prosecco di Conegliano Spumante D.O.C. because it had won several awards (according to the little sign in the liquor store). On an aside, I nearly scratched that idea in favor of the new Yellow Tail Sparkling Wine, a brand I have enjoyed in the past but a variety I haven’t tried . . . but I decided to stick to the plan.

So, how’d it taste? Very good. I tried sniffing it, but got nothing from that. Are you supposed to? It had a scent, but it wasn’t something that I can describe . . . at least not yet. What are the right words for that? Anyway, my husband, who hates champagne and wine, liked it, so that’s saying something. I found it an easy sparkling wine to sip. It had a hint of sweetness, but nothing so serious that it was dessert wine-ish or anything.

Here’s the really unusual thing: the bottle is already gone, which never happens in my house. Shawn and I each had a glass on New Years Eve and the rest I used to make some delicious bellinis on New Years Day. We’ll be buying this particular prosecco again.

I sampled the Woop Woop Shiraz 2006 at Christmas dinner. Shiraz is a type of wine that I actually have had several times and really enjoy, so I knew that there was good hope for this bottle. I was right. It wasn’t too dry (a pet peeve of mine), had a bit of a zing and went down smoothly.
Sorry, I am not versed enough to talk about bouquets or swirling or anything . . . I just liked it. That’s all.

Vine Therapy is a wine blog. I’ll be posting to it regularly about wine. So, what qualifies me to talk about wine? Absolutely. Nothing. I have never been a big wine drinker and I don’t know what makes a good wine — yet. But that is the beauty of this project: you get to follow along with me while I explore the wonderful world of wine and discover what’s good, what isn’t and what all the hoopla is about different vintages.

The idea for Vine Therapy was actually born several years ago but with work and pregnancy, I had to save it for a later time. However if there is one thing that having two kids has taught me, it’s that everyone needs a little Vine Therapy now and then.

Interested? Pull up a chair and grab a glass . . .