I'm kicking myself for my most recent lesson: What did you expect when you bought it for that price?
I took myself to Trader Joes's with a gift certificate from Christmas and I thought I would go out of my comfort zone and try some new wines. Instead of delightful new favorites, I wound up with one note wonders with no finish. Here were the culprits :
Medoc, Calvet 2010 -
I'll make my distaste brief : It tasted flat like a soda that has been opened for too long. The nose had promise and then did not follow through with the full experience I had hoped for. Flat flat flat... like my bubbies in the 6th grade. Wait, what ? Who said that ?
Lagranja, Temprinillo 2010 -
They made these grapes out of one of those plastic fruit bowls you see in model homes. I couldn't even stomach two sips.
I also bought their blend of garnacha and tempranillo... wish I could return that after tasting how terrible this one was. I doubt I could even save it by turning it into a sangria with brandy and fruit. OOOOOOOOOOF. Steer clear, recession buyers. (That pun would have been brillz has that label been a cow instead of a pig...). Just add it to my list of "wah wah's" for this Wine-down Wednesday!
So, has my palate adjusted to know right from wrong? I remember my dear Grandma Mary, with her boxed wine in her kitchen, telling me wine was an acquired taste. Was it just because she was drinking the cheap nasty nonsense? God love her. There is GREAT juice out there! I just might not find any under $7.99.
Let's keep testing, shall we? What about my chardonnays ??? Let's see :
Blue Fin Chardonnay: This not taste like a chardonnay. It was crisp and light but did not show characteristics of a my buttery friend I like to wine-down with at the end of a long day. Attention Pinot Grigio lovers: You might find this appealing. It is an easy wine. Just not my cup o' tea.
Stonehedge 2009 Reserve Chardonnay - TJ's tasting notes told me buttery. Oh yea? WRONG. No butter, no nose, no finish. Sure it's "drinkable": no tinge at the end, but no character during, and it does make me nervous that you cannot find notes about this wine anywhere. They must have Judy Greer's press agent... Who is Judy Greer? Exactly!
Cue: my pout face. I want to find yummy wine for recession prices and this has been a pitiful round of choices. You pay for what you get, I suppose. Are some of these wines better than say, Yellowtail or Barefoot ? Perhaps. However, they are not good enough to be paired with food, and most I could never drink on their own... so, what is the point? I will continue to try as many of the Trader Joe's varietals as I can in hopes of proving myself wrong. However, my recession buzz is being killed by watching wine go down my drain - and I never believe in wasting the juice! However, the lesson we have learned this week : Life is too short to drink cheap wine!
Love and ho-hum juice,
Her LadyMess
