Kronick Wino

Wine.woot Deal of the Week - Cathedral Ridge Pinot Gris - 3 Pack

Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 | Wine.Woot | 2 Comments

I realize it’s been about a good week and a half since my last post. I guess that’s what happens when one goes to Florida for the holidays and sits at the pool / beach every day. Alas, I know some of you are ever anzious for my next story of the wine world, so here is mine for today.

Woot.com has double bonus action today:

wine.woot.com is boasting a Pinot Gris 3-pack from Cathedral Ridge for only $39.99 + $5.00 s/h.

(BTW - on a serious side note, does anyone out there understand what kind of deal $5 standard shipping is these days for wine?? I’ve seen charges as much as another $20 for a wine shipment; completely assinine!)

Ok, and deal #2 to go with deal #1 - woot.com:

Oster 12 Bottle Wine Cellar $69.99 + $5 shipping

So now you can take the 3 bottles of wine and put them in the fridge, along with all your other bottles and keep them safe until they are ready to be opened. And if you’re like me, you’ll invest in a wine fridge seeing that my kitchen gets up to a mere 95 degrees in the summer!

As for the wine at hand, here are some fun food pairing for you:

• hors d’oeuvres
• light pasta
• fish, or poultry
• Spicy Thai or Asian cuisine, sushi

Tastes: Hints of green apple, pear, citrus, and vanilla to the nutty character typical of the varietal.

May all of you have a Happy and Healthy New Year!! More to come from the Kronick Wino, I promise!

Tags: Oster 12-bottle, pinot gris, wine cellar, wine fridge, wine storage, wine.woot.com

A Lost Love - 1994 Finca Valpiedra, Rioja, Spain

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 | Rioja | 1 Comment

Dear Friends,

It’s kind of a sad love story and it all started at Barcelona. We had such an awesome wine list there back in my hostessing days. The vintages were all drinking amazingly. Spain really hit one of its’ peaks in the mid to late 90’s for the wines coming out of the Rioja region, and one of them was a beloved favorite of mine - a 1994 Finca Valpiedra out of Rioja Alta. One sip was pure delight. Quite possibly the most SILKY wine my lips have ever touched, so pure and lingering I can taste it NOW. I had the pleasure of sipping this wine to chocolate covered strawberries on a cold Valentine’s evening years ago.

But, alas, I have scoured EVERY inch of the web trying to find this wine with no success. And I consider myself to be a pretty good finder of the unique and ‘hard to find’, but this one baffles me. That was until I saw it on Winebid.com. So, obviously I immediately attempted to bid on the bottle and make a successful purchase. That is until I found out they can’t ship to me!! NO!!! WHY??? Am I too late? Will I never be able to sip from the nectar of this wine ever again? My heart is truly saddened.

That is why I am asking ANYONE who can find this bottle for me to let me know. Give me a breadcrumb or something! I might even be willing to do a trade for your troubles; I don’t know. Just SOMETHING! Does anyone have it in their cellar or wine collection? I’d love any info you have. Just please find it, please, for me.

P.S. I’ll even take a slightly later vintage if needbe.

This is all the info I have for you to start your journey:

http://www.civusa.com/wineries/finca/finca.html

Love,

A lonely sipper.

Tags: 1994 vintage, Finca Valpiedra, Rioja, Rioja Alta, Spanish wines

Santa, PLEASE? It’s a wino’s dream!! Le Nez Du Vin

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 | Wine Stories | No Comments

See this? This is my Christmas wish - 54 Wine Aroma - Master Kit by Le Nez Du Vin

and only at a low, low price of $399 it could be mine……..or it could be in my stocking!! For those of you out there wondering what to get the wino that has everything, I bet you anything they DON’T have this and they would LOVE IT!! LOOK: “The Master Kit is a required course material at many of the great enology schools.”

(Enology = study of all aspects of wine and winemaking, in case you were wondering.)

I was intrigued by Epicurious.com’s gift guide for the various types of foodies today and found this. I mean, how can you not be impressed?

FEATURES:
- 54 Aroma Vials
- 54 Illustrated Explanatory Cards
- The Le Nez du Vin Instructional Book
- Presented In A Beautiful Cloth-Bound Case

I will be gladly accepting gifts between 12/22 and 12/26 this year…….. just sayin!! Alright, it’s a little steep, but I was poking around the rest of Wine Aroma’s website, and there is great stuff there for all the little winos in your circle. I know that if I knew ALL the smells and tastes on 1 wine, I’d probably drive Kim nuts…..hehehe. (Kim, you love it!) I can dream, can’t I?

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Tags: aroma kits, gift ideas, holiday, wine games, wine gifts, winemaking