This Week's TWWTV: You Choose the Blend

Date: Tue, Jan 19, 2010 Wine Tasting

I've been doing these weekly shows for almost six months now. Over the last six months, I've tried a lot of things.... Some good, some bad, and the jury's still out on the rest.

Personally, I enjoy these shows the most when it's more of a wine forum that a wine lecture. In other words, I like it when I get to talk but also listen. This week, I'd like to take it one step further by listening to YOUR ideas for the topic of this week's show.

Please use the comment form below to suggest a topic of conversation for this week's TWWTV and then join me LIVE as we distract ourselves from everyday life for a half hour by drinking and discussing wine together.

To join me this Thursday @ 7:30pm ET, click the TWWTV logo above

See you then!

Cheers!



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The two best things in life, together...in Georgia!

Date: Mon, Jan 18, 2010 Wine Tasting

I'm excited to get my first taste of GA wine!

The folks over at Montaluce are doing up a Wine and Food Conclave featuring my favorite two things: wine and food! I haven't figured out whether I'm going to drive up from Tampa or just take a plane, but either way, I wouldn't miss this... no friggin' way!

Anyone else going? If so, how are you planning on making the trek?

I hope I won't have to "work off" my overnight stay! :)



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Angels of Demons: Those Who Can't.. Make Wine!

Date: Mon, Jan 18, 2010 Wine Tasting

You know what really pisses me off?!?

...The fact that all of these celebrity dumbasses can have their name on a bottle without knowing a damn thing about the stuff.

Disagree?

Just check out the newest diva to announce her line of Angel Champage. Hey Mariah! Just because you are a lush doesn't mean you should start selling the stuff. Put the grapes down and go back to singing about touching your body.

Now, I don't know much (if anything) about wine... But I bet I could still make a better bottle of wine than half of these celebs if given the chance.

... Not that they THEMSELVES ever make "their wine" in the first place.

What do you think? Ever try Vince Neil's Dr. Feelgood? Is Dan Aykroyd's juice more than just a bad joke?



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Wine Whore Wednesday: Announcing January's Winner!

Date: Mon, Jan 18, 2010 Wine Tasting

The votes are in for this month's Wine Whore Wednesday and the winner has been chosen!



January's Winner:
Congratulations to Melanie0 (http://lakewood-dallas.blackwhiteread.com/view/articles/13161) for raking in 92% of the vote! Runner up congrats are also in order to Foodwinechickie (http://bit.ly/7rnkzH) for second place. You both win FREE Wine Whore T-Shirts for winning and everyone who participated will also receive FREE Wine Whore bumper stickers!

If you missed January's Wine Whore Wednesday, don't worry! You can still get involved in next month's contest!

Here's how it works:
Every month a theme will be announced. Post your essay/response to the theme on your blog, Facebook page, or wherever else you can find a place to post it on the internet. The deadline to post the link to your entry (in the comment section below) will be the first Wednesday of every month. After this deadline, there will be exactly one week of voting. After the votes are tallied, the winning entry will be announced and prizes, fame, and bragging rights will be awarded!

February's topic:
Ever puke on your dog, wind up lost in another country, or just swirl onto the person standing next to you? What's your most embarrassing wine moment?


Good luck and be sure to post the links to your entries here by February 3, 2010.

Cheers!



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Today's Dumb Wine Quote: King Chardonnay

Date: Sun, Jan 17, 2010 Wine Tasting

"Chardonnay is a regal grape for its role in producing the greatest dry white wines in the world - white Burgundies - and for being one of the main grapes of Champagne. Today it also ends up in a huge amount of everyday wine."

Look everyone, it's King Chardonnay! Bow down in the buttery presence of his overoaked awesomeness!

Sure, Chard makes up a lot of "everyday wine", but as for White Burgundies being the greatest dry wines in the world, I don't know if I agree... Do you?



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The Link Between Cake and the Meaning of Life

Date: Sun, Jan 17, 2010 Wine Tasting

Sometimes you just have to put everyday stress aside and enjoy the good things in life. This weekend was one of those moments for me. I'm not sure what I was celebrating, but whatever it was, I did it up right! Between last Thursday's fun at The Wine Room, Friday night's kick ass dinner, and even my late adventures last night, I feel satisfied. It's nice to feed your libido with the tasty formula of good food, good drinks, and good friends. That's what life is all about!

Unfortunately life also requires that I work my 9-5 in order to support weekends such as this. If I have to go back to work tomorrow, at least I feel happy, satisfied, and ready to get back to the grind!

Did you celebrate life this weekend? How do you like to feed your libido?

Cheers!




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Last Night's Affair: Dominus Cab, Numanthia Thermes

Date: Sat, Jan 16, 2010 Wine Tasting

The Wine:
Dominus Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Numanthia Thermes Toro Spain 2006


The Affair:
What can I say about last night? It was an experience... an AWESOME experience!

Thanks to your help, I solved my $500 dinner dilemma, by choosing two bottles of wine that I would have never tried before. Both bottles were excellent... Thermes proved once again that an excellent Spanish wine doesn't have to break the bank and Dominus restored my faith in CA Cabs with it's dry everlasting finish and never-ending character.



The Cab made friends with my fatty Ribeye and quickly became my favorite of the two while Sheila found the smoother, slightly sweeter, well rounded Thermes to be her pick of the two.



This affair left me feeling so good, I had to have a nice cigar and an ounce of my favorite Cognac ala Louis XIII to finish off the evening.

Ahh, life is good!


What are YOU drinking to celebrate the weekend?



Cheers!

For this and other affairs, check out the summary of scores, map, or even choose my next bottle.



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Today's Discussion: Crappy Wine

Date: Fri, Jan 15, 2010 Wine Tasting

After thinking about last night's aged Bordeaux, I started thinking....

How can something that smells like crap, taste SO GOOD?!?

Does this rule apply to other things that smell bad?



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Last Night's Affair: Chateau Gruaud Larose 1998

Date: Fri, Jan 15, 2010 Wine Tasting

The Wine:
Chateau Gruaud Larose St. Julien 1998

The Affair:
Last night I met up for one of my favorite pastimes, drinking wine, with blogger buddy Frank Morgan from Drink What You Like. Unfortunately Brian from The Other 46 couldn't make it, but I think he would have been proud of our wine selections. I think we finally broke our bad luck streak.

The secret: Choose more aged Bordeaux wine!

This 1998 bottle of Grand Cru Bordeaux from St. Julien smelled much different than your California red. This bottle captured how I would picture the scent of Noah's Arc... packed with sweat, dung, and even a bit of grassy mold. This may not sound attractive or even drinkable at all, but the truth is quite the opposite. Although I can see it as somewhat of an acquired taste, it was beautiful!

It's going to be hard to top this threesome affair, but I have a good feeling that tonight's dinner is going to another night to remember.

Thank you for kicking it with me Frank! I look forward to coming up to Virginia and drinking more with you and all of the other VA wine bloggers very soon!

What are YOU drinking to celebrate the weekend?


For this and other affairs, check out the summary of scores, map, or even choose my next bottle.



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Blogger Spotlight: Lenn Thompson and Dale Cruse

Date: Thu, Jan 14, 2010 Wine Tasting

Although I've paid a lot of attention to folks such as Robert Parker and Gary V., I realize that there are a lot of wine bloggers out there that deserve their fair share of recognition here on The Wine Whore.

Today, I'd like to spotlight two such individuals who contribute every day to the world of wine by sharing their thoughts, time, and ideas with everyone. Cheers!



Lenn Thompson

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the New York Dork Report... oops, I meant CORK Report... is always a surefire source of great reading material for those who suffer from insomnia.
Check out this jewel Lenn posted just yesterday:

"The nose is a bit less funky than the 2001, showing ripe black cherry, blackberry and plum fruit with a gently earthy note beneath, with a little lead pencil."

Hey, that sounds like every other wine review tasting note I've ever read... well, that is, except for the lead pencil... nice twist, man!

For more pompous, pretentious, verbal diarrhea, you can also follow Lenn on twitter.







Dale Cruse

Dale's blog, DrinksAreOnMe, was also recently featured on Tom Wark's Fermentation. In this article, Dale calls himself the Hugh Hefner of wine and explains that:

"It's a fact of life that people like boobs more than they like wine."

Boy, I don't know what we would do without boobs? Dale's awkwardly placed images of women offer a great distraction to the wine content featured on his site that noone would otherwise care for.

Now, if you like bald pictures of dudes instead, be sure to follow Dale on twitter.


Congratulations to Lenn and Dale for their blog spotlight! Keep up the great work!

Cheers!


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Showing the Love

Date: Thu, Jan 14, 2010 Wine Tasting

Check it out!

I've been featured by Chris from The Wine Apprentice in today's Wine Blog Spotlight!

As you know, blogging really takes a lot of time, energy, patience, and dare I say, intestinal fortitude... but it's moments like this and people like yourself that make it all worth it!

Cheers and thank you!



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Seeing Through the Eyes of The Dude

Date: Wed, Jan 13, 2010 Wine Tasting

"Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes, well, he eats you"

I find a lot of parallels between my life and "The Dude" from The Big Labowski. He represents a Zen of living that I try to achieve but often miss. Today happens to have been one of those days... The bar ate me, licked it's lips, and picked out my leftover pieces using a toothpick.

I'm shutting down my computer tonight to relax, watch some TV, and pass out. No wine tonight... Hopefully I'll have a better time tomorrow hanging at The Wine Room with my blogger buddies, and Friday night at my $500 dinner.

Am I the only one who has had a crappy day? Please tell me I'm not alone!



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Last Night's Affair: Jacob's Creek St. Hugo Cabernet 2004

Date: Wed, Jan 13, 2010 Wine Tasting

The Wine:
Jacob's Creek St. Hugo Cabernet 2004


The Affair:
Every week the local supermarket has a special on one cut of beef... well, this week the special was PORTERHOUSE!!!

Before I tell you about my wine affair, lemme take a second to pay homage to this particular cut of steak. Porterhouse is like the split personality of steaks... conjured up for those who normally can't make up their minds between a NY Strip and a Fillet. It literally is two steaks in one. BRILLIANT! While my heart will always belong to the awesomely fatty Ribeye, the Porterhouse is my mistress.

Last night was an affair with my mistress...

Mrs. Whore picked up a couple of these bad boys for my to throw on the grill and I was more than happy to oblige. She always knows that I'm down for a good grilling and it's a great way to help her get some relief from the kitchen!

Now on to the wine...

I've been opening some pretty sweet bottles of wine lately so I didn't want to break the bank again last night... but then again, I needed something strong enough to enjoy with steak. While anxiously digging through the wine "cellar" I yelled out to my wife "What should I open" and of course was offered no help. I countered with "How much should it cost?" and the words "20 dollars!" echoed back.

Ok, $20... hmmm, despite the fact that I knew this particular bottle costs more like $30-$40, I have been waiting for the right moment, or should I say excuse, to crack into it. That's why I tore apart my wine "cellar" to find none other than this one special bottle of Cabernet from Jacob's Creek.

Let me just say that this is easily the BEST Cab I've had from Jacob's Creek. I would even venture to say that it had a lot of the qualities that I look for in a REALLY GOOD Cabernet: beautiful nose, full body, sexy tannins, and a strong finish. Jacob's Creek obviously trying (and succeeding) to prove that they CAN make good wine to meet more budgets as well as higher-end expectations of quality.

I would put this bottle of St. Hugo among my favorites in the less than $100/bottle category of Cabs. Although a lot of California Cabernet tends to be a bit overpriced, this Aussie wine is a great alternative and can be found for only $35. I would even rank this bottle higher than another Australian favorite of mine, Penfolds Bin 389, which sells for about the same price.

What are you waiting for?!

Go get yourself some steak, a bottle of St. Hugo, and tear it up! Unless you're a vegetarian, I'm pretty sure you're gonna enjoy it! I know I did!



For this and other affairs, check out the summary of scores, map, or even choose my next bottle.



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$500 Dinner Dilemma

Date: Wed, Jan 13, 2010 Wine Tasting

Last year at the Make a Wish silent charity auction I bid on a $500 dinner at a restaurant somewhat local restaurant... and WON!

Sounds great, right?

Well, the problem is that my wife and I decided to use our dinner this Friday and I can't figure out which bottle or bottles of wine to choose! I want to stay as close to the $500 total which includes meal and beverages (minus tax and gratuity) and I figure that since this place is a bit pricey, the cost of our food and before dinner drinks will probably run about $200-$250. That leaves us about $250 to spend on wine. Being a good wino, I called ahead and had the wine list emailed to me.

Which bottle(s) would you choose from this wine list?




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