I hate titles...

..but I love good wine! Which is why not much thought has gone into this week's title. Pfffttt... On to the wine.

Anyway, it's been a good wine week, thus far. Last Friday, we opened the second bottle of William Hill Aura 1997 Cab (see previous post for review). Second time around it was perfect. But, at $80, we're all done. For now. It was worth it, and we highly, highly recommend this wine.

Tonight, I wasn't in the mood to cook, save for mac-n-cheese for the kids. Daryl ordered subs and stopped at our wine shop to pick up a bottle. McLaren Vale Kangarilla Road 2004 Shiraz ($21). We love strong, dry Shiraz and this was excellent. Peppery--as one would expect--exciting (Daryl's words), delicious.

This weekend, we're having dinner with friends...enjoying a quiet weekend before the upcoming Colts vs. Bears event. Our friends, who are moving to California (close to Napa, lucky!), are opening a special bottle. Looking forward to that.

Until Saturday...

Comfort wines

This week, we've been drinking tried-and-true wine: familiar wines from familiar producers, old favorites from new wineries.

Rueda/Verdejo: One of our favorite whites. Brilliant, sparkling, zesty. A little citrus, a touch acidic. We opened a bottle two days ago from a winery we've never tried. Unfortunately, we already recycled the bottle, and we didn't record the name. It was good, as we expected. We haven't tried a bad one yet, and we drink this often, especially during the summer.

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc: Our other top white! Daryl picked up a bottle this afternoon from our wine shop. Matua Valley 2005 S.B. Excellent wine--crisp, clean, fruity. Delicious! We served this with honey mustard chicken and fried rice.

And for our table wine during the week, we drank Two-Buck Cab. It's a decent wine, but after last Saturday's William Hill...

Go Pats!

Some great wines

New Year's was fun--we drank prosecco and cava and watched "Extras". So much for wild and crazy times, but hey, we have little ones at home...

Last night, we had some fellow wine lovers over for chicken parm (Daryl's specialty). We opened a special bottle: William Hill Winery Aura, 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley)*. Gorgeous, gorgeous wine! We aired it upon opening, not sure how well it had aged. At first sip, it was a little dry, a little tight. As we ate, the wine opened in our glasses--a perfect, dry cab, mellow yet rich. Just perfect. Special significance here: We met in 1997, and the first bottle of wine we ever shared together, back before we had any idea what we were drinking, was from William Hill. Daryl found the '97 at our wine store and picked up two bottles. The other we're planning to open on 19 January, our actual anniversary.

Our friends brought their favorite bottle of champagne: Mario Lanza California Champagne. Another wonderful bottle! Not too dry, not too sweet. Very nice following dinner and before the chocolate cake.

*If you check out the William Hill site, they ask for your birthdate to enter.

Go Patriots! Go Giants! Go Buckeyes!

Until the next...