Getting it...

I started this wine blog in attempts to educate my little brain about as many different wines as possible.  I have not been at this gig long.  I have to say, though, that I am truly enjoying it and I am actually starting to learn something about my tastes and preferences which is really cool.  To me, anyway.  I have discovered that there are certain areas that I prefer over others when it comes to my favorite wines.  I have found myself being drawn to Spain, Paso Robles, and New Zealand.  This is interesting to me because I didn't think I would pick up on these subtle trends until a little further down the road.  Now, when I head out on a wine spree, if I see a wine hails from one of these regions I snatch it up because I am probably going to like it.

Another thing I have decided is that I need to get my butt to a vineyard.  This is going to be a huge goal of mine that I am sure will not happen soon enough.  I know I will need to do a lot of research on this before it ever comes to fruition.

With that being said, my selections for you this week are Cortijo Rioja Tempranillo and Foxglove Cabernet Sauvignon.

The Cortijo Rioja is 100% Tempranillo from the Rioja region of Spain.  This is fermented in stainless steel followed by two months in small French oak barrels.  This wine is very nice.  There is a slight peppery taste, which I also a partial to.  Nice finish, very smooth.  Another selling point of these nice wines from Spain is the price point!  We are talking under $10 per bottle for a very nice bottle.  I have talked about Vina Eguia in the past...this one ranks up with my extreme love for that bottle.  We will go back for more.

While being snowed in last week, I made a brief escape and headed out to Whole Foods for my next score.  Foxglove Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon.  At about $16 retail, this bottle truly blew me away.  I highly recommend this wine.  This is a very full-bodied, bold wine with a beautiful finish.  I don't know what it is about this region, but I will continue on my Paso Robles trek as I am enjoying every glass.





As a little side note, I must mention that our ladies running team WON the Myrtle Beach Marathon Relay Open Women's Category.  We finished in 2:49:23 and had a wonderful time.  Visit next week to see the goodies I purchased from a cute little wine shop while in town!

Pizza time!

I absolutely love pizza. No big surprise there as I am sure I have mentioned my pre race ritual of eating as much pizza as possible. I tend to order from Marco's before races because their pizzas are great and they deliver. I am lazy the night before I race. So, it will come as no surprise to hear that for our latest Strictly a Running ladies night out we chose a pizza place...Za's to be precise. I had not been there before and was looking forward to trying out a new place. I will say right away, I like this place!


 We ordered a bottle of The Pessimist Cabernet Sauvignon to start. This is a Paso Robles, California wine. The thing I noticed right away was a slight peppery/spicy taste. This was not too bold. Easy to drink. This was the recommended bottle by our waitress. This retails for about $11.00 per bottle. It was a tasty companion to or dinner. Did I mention that the pizza here is great? I had a pesto, shrimp, tomato pizza and it rocked!! I will definitely be coming back again.

 We needed another bottle and went with the second recommendation Dynamite Cabernet Sauvignon. Wow!!! This one really blew me away (pun intended). So doing some research on this wine I find out the name comes from the location in which the grapes are grown: in the Red Hills of California's North Coast they had to blow out the side of the mountain to plant the first Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard, hence the name, Dynamite. This is a true California Cabernet. Big, bold, rich, and dark. This wine has a very smooth taste and finish. In my opinion this was the better of the bottles we tried. I will get more of this one as soon as possible.  Retails for about $15 per bottle.

Looks like we are in for some more ice and snow here in balmy South Carolina.  Good thing I stocked up to get me through the next few days.  I will keep you posted!

Celebrations

Sometimes you need a really decent bottle of wine for a celebration.  This past weekend just happened to be one of those times.  Saturday morning was The Long Run 15k here in Columbia, SC.  While I must admit I was expecting warmer temperatures, I cannot complain about my race.  I have not run a 15k in a very long time.  I did a little research and knew what pace I wanted to hit.  I have a rule to never mention my target out loud before a race because you just never know what can happen.  Now that it is over I can tell you that I wanted to hit 62:30 for this race.  A 15k is 9.3 miles.  This was going to be a hilly course through the Columbia and West Columbia area.  Mile 4-5 and mile 7-8 were brutal.  I crossed the finish line is 62:06.  Thrilled with my time and happy with the race.

The better part about this race was that a majority of my teammates also ran.  For the 15K, the Strictly Running ladies team went 2, 5, 6, 7 in place.  For the 5K, the Strictly Running Ladies team went 1, 2!!!  Red Storm!

We had some celebrating to do!  Luckily, I had stocked up on a few bottles before the weekend just in case this goal came to pass.  Saturday night I popped open a bottle of Vina Eguia Rioja Tempranillo.  A few weeks ago, I told  you all about the Crianza.  This is its bolder older sister.  Very smooth and just rich enough for the chilly weather that hung on all day Saturday.  I am a proud supporter of these beautiful wines from Spain.  This one retails for about $15 per bottle.  Not too much to splurge on for the great taste. I am telling you, if you can find this, get it.  You will not be disappointed.



Another find this week came from our trusty Trader Joe's.  I threw caution to the wind and bought the 2013 La Finca Malbec from Argentina.  This was a very deep red, almost purple color.  Very robust, deep, hearty flavor.  I was pleasantly surprised because I have only tested a few of these and they have been higher dollar.  I figured that I would give this a go knowing that I was only out a few bucks if I did not enjoy.  I had this with a wonderful pasta tortellini dinner and will definitely buy it again.

More wines to taste as I head to dinner with the SR Ladies this week and also to Dallas for work!  Stay tuned.