A Rose' of Syrah Too Much Like Kool-Aid

I love a nice dry Rose in the summertime and plan my next newspaper column on the topic. I have several in the wine rack I'm anxious to pop open and try. I also want to pick up a few more this summer.

One of those on the rack was Montes Cherub Rose' of Syrah from Chile.

I've made a point on this blog not to go on too long about wines I don't like. Take a look at the blog name. Yes, it's Grape Sense - but, "A Glass Half Full." Of course I don't set out to buy bad wine or wine I don't think I'll like. I do try to be positive in what I write about various wines.

I can see how some people would like this wine. It is very fruity, a beautiful dark pink, and very easy to drink. I found it a bit too sweet and way too intense on the fruit.

You can find this wine in the $10-$14 price range in Indiana wine shops.

I enjoy a nice Syrah so was very taken at the thought of a 100 percent Syrah Rose'. But I found this one disappointing. If you like your wines of the "fruit bomb" nature, then you'll like this one.

It's just not for me!

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A Tart New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc Rocks with Salmon

Summer is for lighter wines with just the right flavor profile.

I had the chance to buy some fresh King Salmon in Indianapolis this afternoon and picked up a nice pink piece of fish that I seasoned with salt, pepper, fresh lime, and dill!

Such a piece of fish just screams for a Sauvignon Blanc. I had bought a New Zealand (Marlborough region) Sauv Blanc - 2008 Fire Road - earlier this week for $13.99 and was anxious to try it.

The wine had a fruity nose of grapefruit and citrus. It was that lovely light straw yellow color and it had strong fruit flavor on the front end. It didn't have a lot of "mineral" flavor but it had good acidity.

The wine felt good in my mouth with the fish and had a nice long finish. That was probably the wine's strongest attribute - the long finish for you to match with that fish.

King Salmon on the grill, some fresh grean beans grilled with garlic, candy onions, salt and pepper, and a great New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc makes for a great Sunday night!

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Never Know Where "Grape Sense" Will Show Up

Okay, this is a bit self-serving but cool.

I am a bit of a news junkie and regularly scan news websites throughout the day. My favorite news site is msnbc.com

The site provides a wide range of news including a "local news" category. You can type in your zip code and the site pulls headlines from a number of papers in your region of the state. For Crawfordsville, I've seen headlines from probably 15-20 papers.

So imagine my surprise Tuesday when I was scanning down the national headlines and saw "GRAPE SENSE" in the middle of the page. It seems the site had pulled my newspaper column from the Logansport Pharos-Tribune.

Logansport runs the column exclusively online. I was pretty happy to see "Grape Sense" on my favorite news site.

I'll take any exposure I can get. I did a screen capture which I've included here.

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My Curiosity Produced An Okay Wine

If you're like me, sometimes you'll pick up a bottle of wine out of sheer curiosity!

I remember being in Indy's Cork & Cracker a few weeks back and was making some carefully considered choices. Then I saw something called "Fourplay" from Sicily.

It is an interesting blend, in equal parts, of four grapes I was totally unfamiliar with prior to picking up the 2004 Dievole wine. The blend is 25 percent each of: Frappato Nero, Nerello Cappuccio, Nebello Mascalese, and Nero D'Avola.

The bottle's label says: "The Island of Sicily is in play with a field blend of four native grapes from the seashore of Pachino. The wine was $13.99 and 13 percent alcohol.

It is sort of a wine you don't have to think much about. It had a typical dark fruit taste on the palate, a decent mid palate body, and some tannins on the finish. It was a nice little glass of wine. I reminded me of a Chianti.

I had it with pasta but think you could enjoy it with grilled meats as well.

It was a nice glass of wine. I might buy it again. The ratings I found were in the low 80s, probably about right. Nothing wrong with this wine, but nothing particularly memorable either.
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