Tag Archives: wine blog

Famiglia Meschini Pinot Noir

Cost: Average price $14

Where buy now: Zipp’s Liquors, South Lyndale Liquors, Swirl My Wine, France 44, Apple Valley Liquor, Century Wines and Spirits, Tonka Bottle, The Wine Shop, Liquor Barrel Golden Valley, Richfield Liquor Store #1

Grapes: Pinot Noir

Region: Casablanca Valley, Chile

Vintage: 2010

Famiglia Meschini Pinot Noir

You know, “they” say most folks gain weight during the Summer months. “Pshaw”, I thought, “impossible”. Nope. As evident by my 8 or 9 pound Summer weight gain, it’s all too real. I know, I know, drinking hooch most every night doesn’t help the ol’ tummy. Not to mention, I should look at buying stock in the natural liver cleanser, milk thistle. At least I’m destroying my liver and cortisol-laden abs in the name of entertainment and education.

Oh, but this Summer was not all doom and gloom.

Earlier this Summer, I was fortunate to be able to taste a smattering of the new-to-market wines from Famiglia Meschini. True to The Savvy Lush form, I don’t remember sampling them all per se. Thankfully, I did keep my notes, and found a common theme: “can’t wait for them to hit stores”. I’ve written reviews of Famiglia Meschini’s Torrontes http://bit.ly/KQ9Kss/FM Wines Torrontes The Savvy Lush Review and Cabernet Sauvignon.http://bit.ly/U0tfNd/FM Wines Cabernet Reserva The Savvy Lush Review I’ve raved about their Unoaked Chardonnay and Malbec-Syrah.(So has Bill Ward but how many links can I put in this review? Do check out his blog, Decant This) FM Wines have headed West from their native Argentina for Chile to find land and vineyards to produce a couple new wines adding to their repertoire; a Pinot Noir and Carmenere. Bienvenido Chile, ‘cause this stuff has got it going on.

Let’s dive into the Pinot Noir. It hails from Chile’s Casablanca Valley near the Pacific Ocean coast. What does coastal weather have to do with good wine production? A couple things. First, Pinot Noir grapes benefit from cooler, milder climate-hence you see several Pinots from Oregon & Washington. Second, they have thin skin and thus are more susceptible to their surroundings. Coastal weather provides a more balanced climate, the weather these grapes crave for success. Extreme temperatures + harsh sunlight = yucky Pinot Noir. You are going to start seeing more budget Pinot Noir from Chile. I’ve sampled a few and they don’t truly taste like Pinot Noir to me, but are more concentrated, heavier. For my palette, I like Pinot Noir from Oregon. That said, I dare you to find a decent, budget-conscious Oregon Pinot.

The FM Pinot Noir is the smoothest Pinot I’ve had from Chile. It’s an agreeable wine that is fruit forward in the way of stewed cherries and raspberries. A tad dry on the palette, this will taste great alone or with a salad and prosciutto, perhaps a carnitas tostada, or pork chops. In fact, I think this could make for a great Thanksgiving wine with your turkey dinner. The stewed red fruit will compliment the roast turkey, cranberry sauce and all the trimmings. How’s that? One less source of stress for this year’s meal- your wine is now chosen.

I’m so excited about the news wines Famiglia Meschini are rolling! Excited is putting it mildly- downright giddy is more like it. If you are at all interested in sampling one of these wines, you’re in luck! I’ll be at Zipp’s Liquors on Sat., Sept. 15 from 4-7pm. C’mon down to say hello, and meet their wine buyer, Jeff (of Wine Geek TV fame http://www.winegeektv.com/Wine Geek TV ). This is a great environment to sip, sample and hang. If you want to buy a bottle or two, feel free as we’ll have special sale prices during the 3 hours.

Sauvignon Republic

Cost: Average price $9

Where buy now: Trader Joe’s for $7.99

Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc

Region: Marlborough County, New Zealand

Vintage: 2011

Sauvignon Republic

Since Summer technically doesn’t end until late September, you need to keep stocking up on what I refer to as “patio white wines”. Well, “need” is a strong word. That said, I shan’t be corrected: you need to keep buying more white wines.

When I’m not chugging down Tinchos http://bit.ly/OSIDwK/New Age The Savvy Lush Review my go to white is Sauvignon Blanc. For my taste and for ease of purchase, it is what I gravitate toward.

In saying that, I know several of you like the Kim Crawford Marlborough County Sauvignon Blanc http://bit.ly/OJlhYz/Kim Crawford The Savvy Lush Review

. As you can see/read, I enjoy it, too. BUT, if you cannot get it on sale or over at Costco (where it’s currently $12.99), I have the next best thing and it’s right in your local Trader Joe’s.

Let me introduce you to Sauvignon Republic, a Marlborough County Sauvignon Blanc. It’s fruity, it’s citrusy it’s crisp and delicious without being too light or too heavy. A nice, versatile wine that pairs as easily as it sips. I was stunned at how great it tasted. I was even more stunned that it only set me back $7.99!

Since this Republic gem makes me feel as if I’m getting away with something, I deem this the “Savvy Lush Skank”. Go ‘head- drink a bottle and pinch yourself. Enough said.

When #TasteMyTweet turns into #TweetMyDebautchery- a Twittelating tale…

Cost: Average price $12

Where buy now: Costco – $10

Grapes: Shiraz, Cabernet, Merlot

Region: Australia

Vintage: 2009

A delayed post once again, but perhaps indicative of the recovery required from last week’s episode of #TasteMyTweet. So, what is this? “#TasteMyTweet” was originated by a few Twitter folks (“Tweeps” in Twitter world speech): Amanda: @sweetnsnazzy, Zipp’s Liquors’ Jeff: @zippswine & Wine Geek TV, and a second Jeff: @WineGeekTV. A wine theme is chosen, everyone brings bottles and tastes each wine then tweets our on-the-spot reviews.

Seems fairly simple, right? Well, with a mixed bag of leg wrestling, bees, several more bottles of wine, more bees, electrocution and dumpsters, it may devolve into #TweetMyDebautchery.

Let me explain.

The White One
Clancy’s Shiraz Cabernet Merlot
Wine Geek TV Jeff #2
Yalumba Grenache
Zipps Jeff & SweetnSnazzy
Heartland Stickleback Red’
Taint Misbehavin’

Last week, the plan for “#TMT” was to taste wines from Australia. There were no rules about price point, nor red/white preferences, just the wonderful instruction to “bring something you want to try and/or something you’re excited about”. Sounds wonderful- innocent, even.

We began with an Aussie white wine called, “The White One” it was 84% Arneis and 16% Chardonnay. This $12 gem was purchased from Pairings in Eden Prairie, and was quite pleasant to drink alone. We also agreed that it tasted great with the Montamore cheese made by Sartori. It was medium bodied, yet crisp. Thought it would compliment roasted or grilled chicken with herbs such as rosemary & thyme.

The second wine wasn’t even from Australia so I’ll skip over it. [Fail.]

The third wine was Clancy’s, a Shiraz/Cabernet/Merlot blend I found for $9.99 at Costco. This wine was a juicy, jammy number that we rather liked. It had that dark purplish hue and medium body to it. It was dry, yet fruit forward with tastes of plum, dark cherry and smoky wood. With the $10 price tag on this buy now/drink now Aussie, I’ll buy this again in a heartbeat, and was a highlight for Jeff #2 (sorry for the unfortunate nickname, Jeff).

This was the part of the evening when things began to go awry. I say this because, well, if I hadn’t taken pictures of the wines, this blog entry would have to end here with a series of “Scene Missing” signs. What I do recall is that this was about when bees first entered the picture. You see, we were outside of Zipp’s, somewhat near the dumpsters. We were in a basically odorless patio but the bees found their way to our nectar. Thank goodness Jeff #1 [from Zipp’s], had this tennis racket thingy that electrocutes bees. This is how we started swatting.

Next on the list was Yalumba Grenache from Barossa Valley. Urrrr, ummm, it was… good. Yep, that’s all I got.

Before long, the leg wrestling began. Jeff #1 and Amanda [aka “@SweetnSnazzy”] were on the ground, battling.

If that wasn’t enough, somehow when they returned to the table, Jeff #1 managed to knick the tennis racket and electrocute himself. It appeared almost as painful, as it did hilarious for the rest of us. Unlike Jeff #2, Jeff #1 likes stanky-ass cheese so we opened the one that he brought. Amanda likened the taste to “a woman who’s been constantly tanning/smoking Virginia Slims for 50+ years”. Ringing endorsement. Following this interestingly detailed and bizarre description, sheer curiosity consumed me. I went in. Oh, I shouldn’t have. Ewww. Even after copious wine slurping, this was even too stank funky for a James Brown groove.

Okay (*breath*, refers to yourself in the third person), Savvy hits the next bottle. This one was the Heartland Stickleback Red, or so says the photo. Honestly, I… I got nothing. Like Mr. Reagan once testified, I don’t recall. I’m going to say I liked it because I don’t remember thinking that I didn’t like it. How’s that for reason and logic?

Near the end of the Tweet session, a Zipp’s employee came out to the patio, and more leg wrestling ensued.

All in all, the night was fun as hell. Again, this is my rendition of the evening, based on tweets and photos I re-assembled the next day. Perhaps Zipp’s Jeff #1, Amanda or WineGeekTV Jeff #2 would put a different spin on the evening, but, we all agreed we can’t wait for the next one. Hope I’m not involved in the electrocution.