Amazing

I purchased new six-pack of wine last night and the most amazing thing happened. The girl working the checkout knew how to ring up the six different bottles, then apply the discount. This was done without hesitation, assistance, or dumb looks. I was quite impressed, as this is quite unprecedented.
The new six-pack is different from the previous ones, in terms of color balance. 4 whites and 2 reds. Usually the other way around. We'll see how it goes. A Covey Run Reisling from Oregon was recommended to me and said to evoke images of relaxing on a backyard deck on a summer day. I am really looking forward to that one, which, consequently, is chilling in preparation as I write.

1999
Fall Creek Vineyards
Chenin Blanc
Texas
<$10
Sweet lemony, round, acidic, slightly creamy with apple.
1 - Okay

2000
Escondido Valley
Pinot Noir
Texas
$6.87
Spicy, full bodied, yet not heavy. Acidic with wood and fruit. Sharp. Good summer wine
4 - Delicious

2001
Messina Hof
Pinot Grigio Reserve
Texas
<$10
Sweet, chewy, citrus, light wood, berries, vanilla. Complex and very drinkable.
2 - Good

2001
Charles Back
Goats Do Roam
South Africa
~$12
Complex, tart, sophisticated. Spicy and deep wth wooden undertones. A very complete wine. Dry. Excellent.
3 - Very Good

2000
Schmitt Sohne Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
Reisling
Longuich, Germany
<$10
Very sweet. Apple-y, light, very straightforward. Somewhat tart, feels almost effervescent.
2 - Good

2000
Cap Rock
Cabernet Royale "A Rose of Cabernet Sauvignon"
Texas
<$10
Sweet, syrupy, grapey, with strawberry. Vile
0 - Yeck

1999
Escondido Valley
Chardonnay
Texas
<$10
Tart, effervescent, very dry, not at all fruity. Reminiscent of a good clean martini with one olive.
3 - Very Good

1999
(Bodega) Norton
Malbec
Argentina
$7.79
Shocking at first. Spicy, very dry and tart. Restrained with deep fruit and very full bodied. Tart and pleasantly acidic.
3 - Very Good

2000
Becker Vineyards
Fume Blanc
Texas
$9.37
Perfect sweet/dry balance. Fruity and slightly woody. Excellent white.
3 - very good

2001
Fall Creek Vineyards
Granite Reserve
$8.79
Creamy, spicy, deep, with a surprising acidic twist. Fruity, but not at all sweet. Very smooth, with some wood.
4 - Delicious

2000
La Playa
Merlot
Colchagua Valley, Chile
$6.69
Big and sharp. Intense fruit and wood. Yummy.
3 - Very Good


2000
Fall Creek
Cascade
Texas
$7.79
Lots of vanilla and slightly lemony. Alcoholic, acidic. Very pleasant, but probably best without food.
3 - Very Good


2000
Escondido Valley
Cabernet Sauvignon
Texas
$6.87
Sharp, but light. Not too anything. Very drinkable, somewhat spicy and tannic, not much fruit but very pleasant overall.
2 - Good

On Beaujolais Nouveau in general...

One exception to my previous dislike of wine was the Beaujolais Nouveau. The real stuff, not that Gamay crap from the Left Coast. I did not keep notes at the time, but I recall that last year's Louis Tete was particularly excellent, but the Georges DuBoeuf was only so-so. My first encounter with the wine, however, was a Georges DuBoeuf, which I recall as being exquisite. While I have had a bad Beaujolais Nouveau from time to time, I look forward to the signs proclaiming "Le Beaujolais Nouveau est Arrive!" each November, and generally derive great enjoyment from this whimsical wine. I find it to be versatile and fun. The typically cheerful bottles are always a warm and welcoming sight. Only two months before we will begin getting acquainted again!

My true beverage of choice has always been beer. More specifically, hoppy and full-bodied craft beer, usually of the heavily-roasted, breakfast variety. But I have recently come to appreciate wine. This is due entirely to the Wall Street Journal Tastings column. I used to find wine repugnant and foul, but John and Dottie (the writers of said column) love wine so much that through their delightful column they have made me see that it can be fun and enjoyable, is not at all difficult, and is absolutely worthy of being counted among the things that separate living well from merely existing. I now know that I had a narrow view of wine, and that my bad experiences with it were due to poor choices and a flawed perspective.
But, why, you might ask, would I want to write about wine, when my true passion is beer? And that is a good question. Since I've only recently begin experimenting with wine, I am able to start somewhat from scratch on this project. Also, since I love beer as I do, my descriptions of particularly outstanding beer can get a bit wordy, to say the least, and sometimes I cannot find the words to describe such excellence. But I find that I can adequately express my feelings about wine in a paragraph or so, add a rating, and be happy with what I've done. And, again, the Tastings column has provided no small amount of inspiration for this endeavor. I even attempt to use their rating system, but I've also added numbers corresponding to the various ratings. Beer rating is considerably more complicated, and while I recognize that it doesn't have to be, that I could rate it however I want, I think I should save the beer-rating for another day.
Cheers!