Wine | Home Is Where The Haggis Is

Category: Wine
- W.O.W. The Prisoner
  
  Posted at 7:53 am by Lisa Cavallari
  
  Jul 8th
  Last week, a few of the moms met up for some wine, awesome thin-crust pizza and more wine. One of them highly recommended trying The Prisoner and after six of us downed two bottles, we came to one conclusion: it was uh-mazing! This wine is a blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet, Petite Sirah and Charbono. Charbono is new to me and it has a long history, but I won’t bore you with the details. 😉 The flavors we tasted were espresso, fig and lots of berries; it pours ultra dark into your glass. If you like a bold red, then this one’s for you.
  
  🍷🍷🍷🍷out of 4 wine glasses for this wine.
  
  Thank you, Courtney for the recommendation. I can’t wait to try the other wines you mentioned!
  
  Some interesting facts about the wine label because I wanted to know how the name of the wine came into existence: The image on the wine bottle is an etching that is dark and unsettling depicting a prisoner during the war between France and Spain. The artist is Francisco de Goya and the etching is entitled, The Little Prisoner. The original winemaker’s parents gave him this etching when he was 12 years old. It obviously left quite an impression on him. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this wine is released each year in limited quantities on Halloween either.
  
  Credits: Courtney Elizabeth for the gorgeous top photo. gwfins.com for the wine bottle image and California Home Design for the article describing the story behind this wine’s label.
  Share this:
  Tweet
  Share on Tumblr
  Email
  Print
  Like Loading...
  Posted in Wine | Tagged Dave Phinney, Orin Swift Cellars, The Prisoner Wine
- Wine On Wednesday: Cakebread
  
  Posted at 7:00 am by Lisa Cavallari
  
  Jun 24th
  To top off Father’s Day weekend (golf on Saturday, watching the U.S. Open both days…yes it has evolved into a celebratory weekend) my husband grilled steaks and opened a bottle of 2012 Cakebread Cabernet reserved just for this occasion. With this strange weather and high humidity, I put the bottle into the fridge about 45 minutes before we drank it and my husband and I both noticed how the wine “opened up” as it gradually warmed to room temperature. It was dark and delicious and I would drink it again, and again, and again.
  
  We learned from a series last fall on PBS (okay, I coaxed him to watch it with me, but in return I will watch car and golf shows) that Napa had a great year in 2012. It was hot and dry during the day and cool at night which made the grapes more concentrated and created wines that were chart toppers for ratings. 2015 is proving to be the same so far with the dry spell they’ve had out there. Let’s hope the harvest season reaps the same outstanding grapes!
  
  Wine: 2012 Cakebread Cabernet
  
  Location: Napa Valley
  
  Rating: 🍷🍷🍷🍷/4 wine glasses
  
  On a personal note, I want to thank my husband for being a great father and role model to our children. He’s the hardest working guy I know and although he travels a lot for work, his mind is often on his family. Over the years and while on the plane, he has created a book of memories for our two daughters listing their first triumphs, challenges and added some of his own advice for the future. The plan is to give these to them when they are old enough to appreciate and understand it more. For our oldest, he is up to page 70 and for our youngest, he is at 50 pages. That is outstanding! Chris, we love you very much!
  
  Cheers my dears.
  Share this:
  Tweet
  Share on Tumblr
  Email
  Print
  Like Loading...
  Posted in Wine | Tagged Cakebread Cabernet, Cakebread Wine
- W.O.W: Sparkling Wine
  
  Posted at 7:00 am by Lisa Cavallari
  
  Jun 3rd
  My city gal pals and I ventured on a wine crawl to 4 different bars last Saturday. We met up first at Seven Lions on Michigan Avenue. This place is owned by the former hostess of Check Please, Alpana Singh and that girl has a few degrees in the wine department so this was an excellent place to start. We decided to be adventurous and try a wine that was fermented in orange peels called Donkey and Goat Stone Crusher. The sommelier explained that the wine was not filtered so it had the body of a Chardonnay and some mineral notes on the finish. He also warned that half of his staff that tried it at the tasting liked it and the other half “didn’t get it.” I think I was in the latter group, but I would rather not leave any stone unturned (I know, I am horrible with the bad puns) than miss an opportunity to try a fun, new wine and our group felt the same way. The consensus was that it tasted like a flat, Weiss beer.
  
  Rating: 🍷🍷/🍷🍷🍷🍷 wine glasses
  
  We went on to a place whose name escapes me, but looked to make a beautiful drink with Campari. I stuck with a Pinot Noir.
  
  We stumbled, er, strode out into a light rain that quickly turned into a downpour. Luckily, our next destination was just a dash away; Pops For Champagne on N. State Street in Chicago. Jen ordered a sparkling Rose and it turned that dreary weather into a party! (At least in my mouth) Why wait until New Year’s or an anniversary to pop open a bottle of bubbly? This glass of Rose’ had the perfect balance of effervescence and smooth flavors with a happy pop of pink for color. Seriously, how could this girls day get any better? I am definitely not neglecting sparkling wine like I used to in the past.
  
  Our final stop was Eataly where we ordered a bottle of white (see how vague I am getting the further on this wine tour we get?) and sampled some cheeses with bread. It was a lovely way to end the day and the conversation was just getting interesting, ie. blue lights and tropical fruit when it was time for me to catch my train. Boo!
  
  Thanks to my friends, Jen M. (who appeared on an episode of Check Please, herself!) for planning our fabulous wine day in the city and to Allison for hatching the idea of a wine tasting tour. We shall do it again soon!
  
  Cheers my dears!
  
  Photos from Pinterest
  Share this:
  Tweet
  Share on Tumblr
  Email
  Print
  Like Loading...
  Posted in Wine | Tagged Pops For Champagne
- W.O.W. This Chardonnay Will Knock Your Socks Off
  
  Posted at 7:00 am by Lisa Cavallari
  
  May 13th
  Last weekend, we held a casual get together with some fellow moms to celebrate Mother’s Day and sample some white wines. It was a blind tasting and, aside from the hilarious fact that two of us brought the same wine and we were none the wiser, (hello Far Niente!) there was one that blew the competition out of the water. This wine is a throwback to the 80’s (at least from what I have read) when Chardonnay was unabashedly buttery. One taster nailed it when she said, “It tastes like buttered popcorn.” For some that might seem too rich, but if you love a robust Chardonnay then give this little darling a try. You can find Rombauer Chardonnay at Binny’s for around $30. Another fun fact is that it was the least expensive of the wines we tried which proves time and again that the more expensive wine does not prove that it necessarily wins on taste.
  
  We enjoyed this wine with a triple cream Brie, Vermont sharp white Cheddar and jumbo shrimp sautéed in garlic butter.
  
  Rating : 🍷🍷🍷🍷/4 wine glasses. Superb!
  
  Cheers my dears!
  Share this:
  Tweet
  Share on Tumblr
  Email
  Print
  Like Loading...
  Posted in Wine | Tagged Buttery Chardonnay, Rombauer Chardonnay
← Older posts

Newer posts →
- Search for:
- Recent Posts
- Categories
  - Wine (47)
  - Baking (41)
  - Cooking (31)
  - Holidays (16)
  - Kids (16)
  - Shopping (10)
  - diy (10)
  - Uncategorized (8)
  - Travel (7)
  - Health (5)