Ahhh, Sweet Scarlett
Last year, I picked up two bottles of wine from the local wine megastore. They were of a varietal Ed and I had not tried from a Long Island Vintner, Pindar. We are HUGE fans of their blush wines, so anything Pindar showing up in a store this far south was cause for celebrating and purchasing. Heck, the price this megastore charged wasn't that far off from what we would have paid at any liquor store on LI. It was the proverbial needle in a haystack find. They've got 500 acres of vineyards, large by LI standards, but miniscule by other vintners size.
That first bottle was judged to be 'okay' last May. We both thought it to be too dry for our liking. At that time, we still were relatively new to drinking red wines and we thought we were led astray by the moniker 'Sweet Scarlett'. I think we both had about half a glass and the rest made its way into one of Ed's primo pot roasts (the man is the master of pot roast.) I will say it made for an excellent addition.
Today, in my travels, I picked up two bottles of sangria mix from Williams Sonoma, one for white (Blanca) and one for red (Rojo). I didn't stop for wine on the way home, assuming that there might be an under $10 bottle of wine in our wine stores to utilize on either front. The only one fitting that bill was the other bottle of Pindar's Sweet Scarlett.
We cracked it, and gave a taste test before adding the Rojo mix. Either the bottle has mellowed considerably (Ed's opinion) or our palates have come a long way (my opinion), for this bottle is really a good semi sweet that holds up respectably to some of the other wines in our stores.
As we're unsure which truly is the case, I think another trip to Total Wine and More will get us a couple of bottles to do some more research. Which is it, time or palate? We will someday find out. If it is the aging, then heck, we'll need to stock up on THAT to get the sweet flavor we enjoyed today.
Oh, the second cheapest bottle of wine gave up it's contents to the cause of Sangria. The Sweet Scarlett was consumed with tonight's dinner. Pinot Franc is now a chilled wine beverage. Yum.. Ed sampled a sip of that, and this must be a new vintage from that producer. It didn't taste as much of cherries as last year's. This is the progress we've made on the wine front, we can tell the difference in our favorites from year to year.
In case you're wondering, yes, I bought bottles of sangria makings BECAUSE the most awesome sangria recipe I possess makes a gallon at a time. The ratio of ingredients don't work properly in a smaller batch. Unless Ed and I are going to have a bunch of people over, that means a two or three month supply of sangria!
That first bottle was judged to be 'okay' last May. We both thought it to be too dry for our liking. At that time, we still were relatively new to drinking red wines and we thought we were led astray by the moniker 'Sweet Scarlett'. I think we both had about half a glass and the rest made its way into one of Ed's primo pot roasts (the man is the master of pot roast.) I will say it made for an excellent addition.
Today, in my travels, I picked up two bottles of sangria mix from Williams Sonoma, one for white (Blanca) and one for red (Rojo). I didn't stop for wine on the way home, assuming that there might be an under $10 bottle of wine in our wine stores to utilize on either front. The only one fitting that bill was the other bottle of Pindar's Sweet Scarlett.
We cracked it, and gave a taste test before adding the Rojo mix. Either the bottle has mellowed considerably (Ed's opinion) or our palates have come a long way (my opinion), for this bottle is really a good semi sweet that holds up respectably to some of the other wines in our stores.
As we're unsure which truly is the case, I think another trip to Total Wine and More will get us a couple of bottles to do some more research. Which is it, time or palate? We will someday find out. If it is the aging, then heck, we'll need to stock up on THAT to get the sweet flavor we enjoyed today.
Oh, the second cheapest bottle of wine gave up it's contents to the cause of Sangria. The Sweet Scarlett was consumed with tonight's dinner. Pinot Franc is now a chilled wine beverage. Yum.. Ed sampled a sip of that, and this must be a new vintage from that producer. It didn't taste as much of cherries as last year's. This is the progress we've made on the wine front, we can tell the difference in our favorites from year to year.
In case you're wondering, yes, I bought bottles of sangria makings BECAUSE the most awesome sangria recipe I possess makes a gallon at a time. The ratio of ingredients don't work properly in a smaller batch. Unless Ed and I are going to have a bunch of people over, that means a two or three month supply of sangria!
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