Finca La Luz Callejon Del Crimen Malbec Gran Reserva 2012

92 pts. Sure doesn't taste like it.  Very .... something... tasting.  Maybe it's the oak?  Or this is what malbec tastes like? It doesn't get better after breathing.  It's still... just not great.  It's good enough though.  Niki likes it.  Phil, not so much.

$18
4 / 5

Primarius, Primarius, 2014

After we drank [most of] the Hippo, we were all out of wine.  So, we did what seemed best and restocked.  The first one of the new stock was this puny Pinot.  Compared to Hippo, this was a lightweight.  It wasn't bad, though.  We drank it all, so it must have been at least OK.

~$15.
4 / 5. Niki liked it more than Phil. 4 is a compromise.

Barons Creek, Hippo, 2013

The last of our Fredericksburg stash.  Barons Creek was the last stop on the wine trail, so by the time we got there, we were proper smashed.  When we had Hippo at the winery, it was AMAZING.  Just now (the other night), it was only good.  It got better once it had breathed for a while, though.  At first, it was very sharp and bitey.  But once it mellowed out, it was quite good.

~$30.
3.75 / 5.  Would drink again.

More Wine

Here's what we're drinking next:

Almaden Merlot (5L of Box Wine!) - $17

Castle Rock Syrah - $11

Red Diamond Merlot - $11

Ergo Tempranillo - $12

Los Cardos Malbec - $11

Fat Bastard Pinot Noir - $12

Cortijo Rioja - $13

We'll take note if any of them are superb.  

Tedeschi Lucchine Valpolicella Classico 2010

The Wine
Region: Italy

Vineyards: Lucchine
Grapes: 25% Corvina, 25% Corvinone, 30% Rondinella, 10% Molinara, 10% Rossignola, Oseleta, Negrara, Dindarella 

Oak: Steel, 3 months

Price: $12

Tasting Notes
Blech.  Not good.  Really sharp attack, not much evolution and a sour finish.

Beso de Vino Seleccion 2009

The Wine
Region: Spain

Vineyards: Aguaron
Grapes: 85% Syrah, 15% Garnacha

Oak: French Oak, 3 months

Price: $10

Tasting Notes
Very good. RP 90.

Quinta de Cabriz 2008

The Wine
Region: Portugal

Vineyards: ?
Grapes: Alfrocheiro, Tinta-Roriz, Touriga Nacional

Oak: French Oak, 6 months

Price: $10

Tasting Notes
Very good. WS 90.

More Wines

Blogger's new interface is weird.  I don't like it because it is different and new.

Anyways...

Let it suffice to say that we have drank all the wine we bought last (and never reviewed) and quite a bit more (that we also never reviewed).  Here's the new list of wines that we'll maybe hopefully remember to review.

Alto Almanzora Este (Spain) - $9
Beso de Vino Seleccion (Spain) - $10
Chateau Pequie Terrasses (France) - $12
Owen Row Ex Umbris (Columbia Valley, USA) - $26
Quinta De Cabriz (Portugal) - $10
Tedeschi Lucchine Valpoicella (Italy) - $12

Upcoming Wines

We went wine shopping again.  Here's what's we got:

Carchelo 2009 - $15
Xplorador Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 - $7
Xplorador Malbec 2010 - $7
Xplorador Carmenere 2009 - $7
Turtle Run Traminette 2008 - $11
Chateau Ste Michelle Sauvignon Blanc 2009 - $11
Veramonte Pinot Noir 2009 - $15
Delas Saint-Espiry Cotes-du-Rhone 2008 - $14

Chateau Ste Michelle Chardonnay 2009

The Wine
Region: Columbia Valley, Washington State

Vineyards: Chateau Ste Michelle(?)
Grapes: Chardonnay

Oak: yes, but i don't know for how long

Price: $13

Tasting Notes
Look: pale yellow

Smell: pear, alcohol

Attack: spicy
Evolution: sweet and spicy

Finish: wet, lingering

good.  actually pretty good for a white wine.  may get again, but it didn't blow our socks off.

Flipflop Merlot 2009

The Wine
Region: California

Vineyards: California
Grapes: Merlot
Oak: ???

Price: $5

Tasting Notes
Look: medium-dark red

Smell: alcohol, slight berry

Attack: dry
Evolution: plums and mocha (so says the bottle). we can't tell.  plum maybe, mocha not so much.

Finish: not too long, but good.

I quote our review of the Cab Sav: "Surprisingly good for $5 bottle of wine.  We will probably buy again."  Also, Niki says :"This isn't bad, for cheap."  As usual, she's right.

Indy Mini

The Indy Mini Marathon is on Saturday.  Since we ran (rather, barely survived) our half marathon back in October, we have trained a grand total of 20 minutes.  This weekend will likely be going very badly.  Also, the forecast is thunder storms.  A part of me is hoping the race gets cancelled.

Flipflop Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

The Wine
Region: California

Vineyards: California
Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon
Oak: ???

Price: $5

Tasting Notes
Look: dark red

Smell: berry

Attack: dry, berry
Evolution: pepper, blackberry, cherry

Finish: lingering, good

Surprisingly good for $5 bottle of wine.  We will probably buy again.

Upcoming Wines

This will be a new type of post to help us remember what wines we will be having and how much they cost (because, despite my obsessive receipt saving, I can never find the wine receipts).  I'll do this every time we restock our wine.

$5 Flipflop Merlot 2009
$5 Flipflop Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
$15 Solanera Yecla 2005

Campo Vieja Reserva 2005

We have not been taking notes about the wines we've been having lately.  It's only been 2 or 3.  But this one was worth noting after the fact.  It was GREAT!

WS 89. very good. will buy again if we can.

Mas Donis Barrica 2007 Old Vines

The Wine
Region: Montsant, Spain

Vineyards: Capcanes
Grapes: 85% Grenache, 15% Syrah
Oak: 9 months in American and French Oak

Price: $12

Tasting Notes
Look: dark purple

Smell: black and red berried

Attack: very dry, blackberries
Evolution: medium, not too bold

Finish: nice aftertaste, a little bitter.

good.  RP 90.

Luigi Bosca Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

The Wine
Region: Maipu, Mendoza, Argentina

Vineyards: El Paraiso
Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon
Oak: 14 months in Oak

Price: $16

Tasting Notes
Look: dark burgundy, almost maroon

Smell: blackberry, berries, currant

Attack: very dry, not much flavor
Evolution:dry, bitterness as it lingers, cannot distinguish much taste

Finish: nice aftertaste, nothing noteworthy

smells better than it tastes; meh.

Indy Half Marathon

We ran the Indy Half Marathon back in October. We actually did worse this time than last time.  Well, Niki did.  I still managed to haul ass for the last 3 or so miles in order to beat my Geist time by 5 minutes.  Lack of training really killed us.  It wasn't nearly as much fun as Geist was, but I can't point to anything that made it un-fun.  Except the cold.  That was un-fun.  Seriously, we started the race with numb feet.  It took about a mile before our feet thawed enough for us to feel the ground.  We'll probably do it again, if we can.  We'll not stay in a hotel, though.  We'll just drive down the morning of.  It'll save a ton of money.

We signed up for the Indy Mini in May.  We get to run a lap on the Indy Motor Speedway.  And, we get free tickets to opening day of the track.  Also known as the Indy 500.  At least, I think that's what is happening on opening day.  Not a NASCAR fan, this guy.

Anyways, we're obviously going to fail at our goal to make it to 1000 miles by the end of the year.  So, no more of that, we're just going to track the cumulative number of miles we run in training and races and when it gets to 1000, we'll have a party or something.

Pacific Rim Organic Riesling 2008

The Wine
Region: Columbia Valley, WA

Vineyards: Pacific Rim Vineyards
Grapes: 100% Organic Riesling
Oak: Stainless Steel

Price: $11

Tasting Notes
Look: pale yellow

Smell: crisp, pear, maybe slight apple

Attack: SWEET.
Evolution: pear, not dry, very sweet

Finish: not much to consider.  not bad.

overall, too sweet for our tastes (there's still half a bottle left, it was so sweet).  but, not bad if you're into sweet girly wines.

Marathon, Shmarathon

We quit!  The marathon, that is.  We moved to the half marathon because we have diagnosed ourselves as "not even close to being ready to run a marathon".

We went for a 13 mile walk sometime ago, a week ago I think.  It wasn't all that bad, took us 5 hours and left me with a nasty blister on my toe.  But, the fact that it took a lot out of us just to walk for 5 hours is a good indication that we would not have been able to run for 5 hours.

Now that were are running the half, we feel much better.  We know we can go 13.1 miles because we've done it before.  We are going to try to beat our previous time.  It took us 2:45 in May, we want to finish in 2:30 next week.