Wine-o: Fat Bastard Merlot

Fat Bastard 2010 Merlot, FRANCE
Alcohol 13.5%
Price $12

This is a great wine that I have enjoyed many a time.  It is an affordable wine and therefore a great hostess gift.  It is a soft and smooth merlot, with some tannins that give a sharp metallic kick of an aftertaste.

This wine pairs well with a variety of meats.  It goes wonderfully with venison steak as well as barbecue pork.  I've even enjoyed a Fat Bastard wine at Thanksgiving with stuffing and domestic turkey.

"I love a fat bastard!"

Freya's Score: 80
Mona's Value: 6.67


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Wine-o: 2010 Apothic Red

Apothic Red 2010 Modesto, CA

13% Alcohol

This wine was given to me as a dinner party present.  I was excited to try it as I had seen just recently that it will be featured at the Peel Compton Foundation's 2012 Gardens Uncorked event this month.  The wine is a blend of several reds, including Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and more.  It has a very fruity flavor and I found it a sweeter, more full bodied red.  It bursts in your mouth with a hint of vanilla.

Pairings:  Would pair well with red meats, but I think it would also go amazingly well with a Margherita or wild mushroom pizza.

Freya's Score: 77 This is a wonderful wine, although I wonder if those who prefer drier or less sweet wines would like it as much... 

Mona's Value: 7.7 Technically, since I did not pay for this wine as it was a gift, the Mona should be 77, however I thought I'd play fair.

Cost:  ~$10.00 from the Pineville, MO Macadoodle's Liquor Store.  Buy a case of mixed wines and enjoy a 10% discount!  Or, check out their new e-commerce store for more great deals.

*Note: My Father recommended that I change the metrics by which the wines are ranked.  A Freya Score of 80 means that I think this wine is better than 79% of the other wines I've tasted.  A Mona Value of 70 is calculated as: VALUE = FREYA.SCORE/ PRICE.PER.BOTTLE

Wine-o: Charles Smith Merlot 2010

Charles Smith The Velvet Devil Cabernet Sauvignon, 2010 Columbia Valley, WA

13.9% Alcohol

My initial reaction to this wine upon opening was "It tastes like smoked turkey!"  The smokey meat flavors were very tantalizing upon opening, but do not fear, they aired out in an hour, leaving a lovely velvety merlot behind.  The fruity flavors became more apparent with aeration.  This is a light merlot, delicious and lovely.

Described by Westchester Wine Warehouse

Charles Smith, the wine maker of this haunting 15,000 case production Merlot, has made an incredibly voluptuous, robust and balanced expression of this noble variety. It has a deep garnet color and an intensely concentrated nose of black cherry, blackberry essence, wild game and freshly ground black pepper. On the palate, it is full-bodied and velvety, wtih fine-grained tannins and an extremely long finish.

Freya's Score: 8 A great Merlot, not overly complex, and aired well from Day 1 - Day 4

Cost:  ~$11.00 from the Pineville, MO Macadoodle's Liquor Store.  Buy a case of mixed wines and enjoy a 10% discount!  Or, check out their new e-commerce store for more great deals.

Wine-o: Merlot 181

181 Merlot 2009, Lodi CA

This wine was recommended to me by Dan from Macadoodle's.  Her suggested several wines, telling me to buy 2 bottles as he was sure that I would want more once I had finished the first one.

Described on Snooth.com:

Quarterly Review of Wines called this Merlot a Best Buy saying "this is Merlot that delivers" and "the flavors are forthcoming and fetching." 181 refers to the clone of the Merlot grape that originates in Pomerol Bordeaux. That clone is planted in the clay Station vineyard in the Sierra Foothills where the grapes for this wine are sourced. Clay soil, like in Pomerol, retains moisture, keeps the vines vibrant and the grapes developing through the warm summer months. It also scored 90 points with the Tasting Panel who called called it "a pleasing and vivacious value driven slice of sunshine."

 Freya's Score: 8 This was a great merlot, although it does start to get a bit pricey if you are budgeting for table wine.  It would be perfect for a dinner party with a hearty red meat entree

Cost: ~ $14  bought from the Macadoodle's location in Pineville, MO.  This is a great deal if you purchase it with the fantastic Macadoodle's case of wine deal.  Try out the Macadoodle's new e-commerce store to have wine and other goodies delivered to you.  

Date Night, Homemade Pizza!

Since the BF was going out of town for the weekend, we decided to declare Date Night.  However, it should be noted that it was a Wednesday night (and a rainy one at that) and we had both had a long day at work; we were fairly uninspired.

Originally I had planned that we would drive by the mailman's light display.  He has been telling me everyday for a solid week about the glory that are his House Christmas lights.  I thought it would be fun and nostalgic to "take a drive"  see the lights, romantic even.  The rain 86ed that idea.  Afterwards we would go to a gourmet grocery store and pick out a decadent dessert, then go to Tusk & Trotter or get a pizza from Johnny Brusco's.  But rain and laziness prevailed, meaning...

Date night resulted in homemade goodness.

Menu

Baked Brie Leftovers - the BF had just come back from weight lifting at the gym and was famished, this ensured he would not inhale dinner but enjoy it

Homemade Pizza - handmade simple dough & toppings ideas: mushrooms, goat cheese, pepperoni, artichoke hearts, olives, onions.  We each made our own mini pizza, this ensured we each had the right amount of what we love on our pizzas (he adores a ton of sauce wheras I am a minimalist)

German Chocolate Cake - excellent with Braum's Peppermint Ice Cream, if this recipe looks to intense, you can always do what I did, which is buy the Duncan Hines cake mix, easy and yum.

181 Merlot, 2009

Movie: Crazy, Stupid, Love. starring Steve Carrel and Julianne Moore

Perhaps the next Date Night will involve getting out of the house... however this budget was hard to beat!

Wine-o: Fat Monk Merlot

Fat Monk Merlot 2009, Central Coast CA
14.5% Alcohol

Described by winespectator.com as 

Soft and juicy if a bit generic, offering cherry and spicy vanilla flavors. Drink now. 3,000 cases made. –TF

Freya's Score: 8

This is a great tasting wine.  Full bodied and with a great round flavor.  Goes great with steak.  The flavors are more subtle, not spicy like a Zinfandel or some Shiraz.

Cost: ~ $10 in Southern Missouri, bought from the Macadoodle's location in Pineville, MO.  This is a great deal if you purchase it with the fantastic Macadoodle's case of wine deal.  They have a discount section that provides cases of wine perfect for any party, event, or just a personal favorite that must always be handy.

Don't forget to try out the Macadoodle's new e-commerce store, have wine and other goodies delivered to you (alcohol shipping rulings differ by state).  

Wine-o: Tontitown Winery Merlot

Decided to take a detour from my California wine tasting and experience something local.  A couple months ago (just after a glorious trip to Napa) a group of us stopped by the Tontitown Winery just south of Bentonville.

They offer free wine tasting and we tried their Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a couple other red wines.  The Bf decided that the Merlot was the best and bought a bottle for us to enjoy at home.  (This is a great activity to do with visitors to the area as you can drop in during their open hours with no appointment.)

This wine definitely needs to be aired.  It tasted vastly better a day after opening.  The wine is very flavorful and dry, described by the winery as "Dry, medium bodied, with earthy flavors."  The vineyard has a very quaint store front and tasting room.  They also produce evening events combining wine tasting with local music in their outdoor area.

Tontitown Winery Merlot
335 N Barrington Road
Springdale, AR 72762

Freya's Score: 5 - expensive for the taste, fun to go local though!

Cost: $14 at the winery - I would purchase again for a tasting party as it is a local wine, however I think that I prefer other merlots.  I encourage people to try local wines as it does have a very different flavor from California grapes that many may prefer