Tastes of Life

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Hitching Post and Long Meadow Ranch
2007-03-11 05:40:00
Tonight we had two really good wines with dinner. We started with the Hartley Ostini Hitching Post 2004 Fiddlestix Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir . I have been drinking Pinots from Hitching Post for about 5 years now but this was my first time trying their Fiddlestix. Dark, dense ruby color in the glass. Jammy, ripe black berries and cherries with a hint of spice. A nice long finish. This is one of the most fruit forward Pinots that Hitching Post makes and I really enjoyed it. Only 220 cases made, you can find it on Winezap.com from $48.95.The second bottle we open was the Long Mead ow Ranch 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Long Meadow Ranch is located in the Mayacamas Mountains high above the valley floor of Napa Valley. They not only produce wine, but also olive oil, grass-fed beef, eggs, organic vegetables etc. Visit their website to find out more.The 2003 Cab has dark fruit and berries on the nose with some tobacco and tea.On the plate the dark fruit is more restrained with some ...

Dry Creek Vineyard 2005 Sonoma County Fume Blanc
2007-03-09 02:33:00
Today I have a short review, and I have no idea as to it's accuracy. I've got a cold... I opened this wine yesterday and realized that I could not really asses the wine, nor enjoy it. Hoping to feel better today I vacuum pumped to continue the tasting. Unfortunately today is worse and I am not even attempting to try... This is what I what I got out of my notes from yesterday, take it with a grain of salt...The Dry Creek Vineyard 2005 Sonoma Count y Fume Blanc is made of 100% Sauvignon Blanc, and cold fermented in stainless steel tanks to be able to really showcase the grape without any interference from oak.On the nose crisp apple and tropical fruit with some pineapple. Medium bodied on the palate with tropical fruit, citrus, a hint of minerals, and high acidity. Overall a very crisp, clean and refreshing wine.You can find it at Wine-Searcher.com and Winezap.com from $9.99 and that is a good price for a good wine. I can see myself revisiting this wine this summer when I am craving ...
More About: Yard

Capiaux 2005 Chimera Sonoma County Pinot Noir
2007-03-07 04:03:00
After many years experience in the wine making business at several prominent wineries all over the world, Sean Capiaux founded Capiaux Cellars in 1994. Producing exclusively Pinot Noir s he mixes traditional Burgundy wine making methods with more modern techniques to produce the ultimate wines. His wines are naturally fermented, aged in mostly 1-2 year old French Oak (only about 1/3 are new barrels), unfined, and unfiltered, the goal being for the wine to show it's terroire. Later in 2001 he also joined O'Shaughnessy Estate Winery as the winemaker, producing Cabernet Sauvignon.The Capiaux 2005 Chime ra Sonoma County Pinot Noir shows a beautiful dark red ruby color in the glass. On the nose dark plum, cherries and an earthy quality. Tastes of restrained cherries and raspberry on the palate, with firm tannins and enough acidity for this wine to age well for several years to come.I payed $28 for this wine, but you can find it at Wine-Searcher.com from $23.95.I really enjoyed this Pinot...

Brassfield 2005 High Serenity Ranch Sauvignon Blanc
2007-02-23 21:36:00
I got this bottle of wine after reading about it in the "Special Best of Year Issue" Wine Enthusiast Magazine. With a rating of 91 points, and ranking 27 in their list of Top 100 Best Buys of 2006, at the modest price of $12.99 (at BevMo), I had some rather high expectations on this wine.Very pale in the glass. Hard to detect the aroma. Was it to cold? I let the glass heat up in my cupped hands for quite a while. A new try. A very shy, but fresh, nose with hints of pineapple and tropical fruit. Time to taste. Again, hard to detect flavors. Some tropical fruit, some minerals but overall just plain. Was there something wrong with my bottle? It didn't seem corked to me, and the cork had not been bleeding... Maybe it was in a so-called closed/dumb stage?I was very disappointed in this wine. Not bad tasting, just not tasting at all... I vacuum pumped it and tasted in for three consecutive days. All with the same result.Maybe I totally missed something here. Maybe it is supposed to be so...
More About: Sauvignon Blanc , Bras , Serenity , High , Field

Rideau Vineyard
2007-02-20 04:13:00
Rideau Vineyard Tasting RoomDuring our weekend in Santa Barbara we took a little trip up to Santa Ynez Valley to do some wine tasting. Our favorite during this tour was Rideau Vineyard which was founded in 1997 by New Orleans native, Iris Rideau (at photo to the left). The tasting room is a historical 2 story Adobe built in 1884. Through the years it has served as stagecoach stop, a famous inn, a guest ranch, and a working ranch. Iris Rideau bought it in 1995, after the property had sat abandoned for 10 years, and restored it to it's current condition.The estate grows exclusively Rhone varietals and we decided to do the Reserve tasting at a $15 cost per person.The first pour was the 2006 Estate Viognier. It has not been bottled yet so this was a futures sample. Cloudy due to coming straight from the barrel this was a nice Viognier but a little bit to fruity and sweet for my taste. After this we got to taste the 2005 Estate Viognier. A year in the bottle makes a huge difference and ...
More About: Travel , Syrah , Santa Barbara County

Video: Authentic Swedish Meatballs
2007-02-14 05:44:00
Today I've taken a new turn with my video blogging. I am showing you how to make my grandma Elsa's, authentic Swedish Meatballs . I've taken a few steps to make them a little bit more healthy without sacrificing to much taste. These are the meatballs I grew up with and that I am now making for all of my friends, and everybody loves them (or so they tell me...). Check it out, cook up a batch of your own, and serve them with the traditional Swedish sides.Episode 8: Cooking Swedish MeatballsSwedish Meatball RecipeMix together in a bowl:1/2 lb ground beef1/2 lb ground porkHalf a yellow onion, finely chopped1 egg5 tbs plain bread crumbs1 tbs watersalt and white pepper to tasteWork mixture together with hands. Form and roll into round, small, balls. Place on plate, cover with plastic, and refrigerate for 30 min. Remove from fridge and pan fry with butter in skillet on medium/high until nice, dark brown on all sides. Transfer to bowl and cover with foil to keep warm.Pour water or milk in...
More About: Video , Santa Ynez Valley , Ball , Dish