CONGRATS TO MY FRIENDS AT WINE NECESSITIES ON TWO YEARS OF DOING WHAT THEY LOVE! WAY TO GO GIRLS

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RATING: Serve Proudly to Guests

I wrote a post recently about visiting the Adam Puchta Winery and sampling their Hunters Red.    I finally had the chance to open up a bottle and sample more than a mouthful.  True to our mission, we discovered a good cheap wine that you can serve to guests!  Yes, this wine quest was for a $12.99 bottle and not a great ten dollar wine, yet still well worth the extra three bucks.  Check out this cheap little red beauty and the other wines proudly created by Puchta and sons. 
What Others Say: From Adam Puchta Winery

“A velvety semi-dry red, medium bodied and non-oaked with a mild floral nose. A fun wine to pair with many Italian foods, peppery/spicy BBQ, hearty stews, venison and summer sausage. A choice red wine to cook with, especially when making those wonderful Italian tomato sauces (caution…more wine should go into the sauce than the cook!), great with pizza, too. Best served at room temperature.”

What I Thought: Really enjoyed this wine.  Set it out for alittle while to air, about 45 minutes while I tried to save my Fantasy Football team from week one disasters.  (I was luckier with the wine than I was with my trades.)  Great full round taste on the tongue with a mature fruit finish.  Good wine to put on the table like you would a good cheap chianti (like my current Trader Joe’s favorite).  Fill a glass full and swirl with pride.  The unique origin and local flavor also make great talk.  What’s good wine without good talk?

Interesting that the wine maker suggests cooking with this wine.  I wouldn’t.  If you know this blog, you know that we only choose to cook with wines that are not worth drinking yet not horrible enough to require a midnight trip to the local landfill. Sorry recipes, I’m not sharing my Hunters Red with you.

 Cheers from the wine oaf!

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Back when my wife was a kid they had this term they used for driving around and exploring.  They called it “diddy-boppin”.   Well we did a little diddy-boppin today in Hermann Missouri checking out wineries.  We planned a more complete day.  Get up early.  Get to St. Charles to pick up the package for the Lewis and Clark Marathon tomorrow.  (No, I am not running in the marathon, my wife Jodi was doing 13.1.)  Get down to Hermann to watch the start of the next leg for the Tour of Missouri bike race,  hit the wineries and get home early enough for our little runner to grab a good nights sleep. 

Well, we started late, stopped for lunch at a sportsbar, had a cheeseburger with a bunch of Mizzou fans while wearing my Illinois Football shirt, got to Hermann well after the race start but still managed to still hit a couple of wineries.   

If you leave St. Charles and head out West on Highway 94 and head towards Hermann you drive right by some great wineries where on weekends you can enjoy tastings, tours and entertainment.  There are both large and micro-wineries along the highway that thrive on this weekend tourism and put out barbecues, music and specials.  Each has it’s own personality. All in all, spending the afternoon looking at the hills of Missouri, drinking a great cheap wine, listening to live music and talking to friends sure beats raking leaves.

If you can afford the gas right now, Fall is the peak of the season.  The small towns are as wide open for business as the wineries.  You’ll find B&Bs, antique stores and special weekend events all in play from now until the end of October. 

We started off at Stone Hill Winery.  Stone Hill is a real success story and probably the best known Missouri winery.  The wine tour is one of the most popular attractions in wine country.  It’s not unusual to see tour buses unloading for the tour, the tastings or their great little restaurant.  We hit the tasting bar and met some really great people who had made a weekend out of the wineries and the Tour of Missouri, and sampled the award winning Norton, Vidal Blanc and Vignoles before deciding to move on.  I liked both the whites, especially the sweeter Vignoles,  but just can’t seem to get my taste buds wrapped around a Norton. 

 We knew we would be pressed for time but just the same stopped by the lesser known Adam Puchta winery also in Hermann.  This facility is not near as touristy as Stone Hill but equally rewarding for a visit.  The winery is nestled back off the road in a more intimate setting than Stone Hill. 

What the summer outdoor tasting room lacked in decor it made it up with personality.  We had a great time tasting with Mary on the other side of the bar serving wine, wisdom and crackers.  Mary would have us try different cracker flavors and then sample the proper wine for that taste.  (I would say, “Thats a little dry.”  and Mary would say “No, it’s not dry, it’s the oak.”).  Key lime crackers, for example, (which are so good they could be addictive) are great with the Vignoles that Adam Puchta bottles and the asiago was great with the Hunters Red. We had a super time.   Much to my surprise, after Mary’s insistence, we sampled the Norton but only after putting a bit of chocolate in our mouths.  Wow, I liked a Norton.  Not being a total stooge I cleansed my palate and tried it again.  I still liked the Adam Puchta Norton!  Amazed at the discovery we had to buy a bottle.  We also bought some Hunters Red and the Vignoles.  I’ll do wine quests on those soon. 

Missouri Wine Country, we are putting you on notice.  We’ll be back!

Cheers from the wine oaf. 

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Wine and Wine Club Gifts for Mother’s Day!

Every once in a while…I am a genius. I know, it’s hard to believe, but ask anyone (besides my wife. Is “Dip” a term of endearment?) After being bombarded with Mother’s Day ads for everything from pearl pendants to carbon offset coupons I hit upon an idea that merited some investigation, why not wine! Mother’s Day is all about being pampered, right? Mother’s Day is all about being appreciated, right? So why not give something that shows your appreciation and love and is a gift you don’t have to go to a mall to buy! Why not wine! Picture your mom (or your long suffering wife) sitting comfortably on the patio enjoying a light crisp chardonnay that YOU (now the favorite child or appreciated husband) gave them as a personal token of your appreciation. Genius!

The only trouble is, many of us probably have no clue as to our mom’s favorite wine and dad’s are notoriously little help in a situation like this. (Caution, they may even steal your idea! Can’t you hear it, “Hey son, that’s great…thanks”… click) So what to do? Why not give a trial membership in a wine club? Again, Genius. But which one?

Maybe Google can help? 

A quick Google search revealed this to be a real simple task: “Results 1 – 10 of about 708,000 for wine clubs. (0.13 seconds)” A quick Google search…hmmm… So let’s see, 708,000 results to review will take about 3 minutes per review which equals…yikes.  Maybe we’ll just look at the ads on page one instead.  Doing so, in my first Wine Club Quest…I found three different clubs I really like. Take a look.

Wine Club One: California Wine Club- Delivering hand-selected, boutique wines each month.

What’s to like? First of all I want an authority dealing with the tastebuds of those I love. California Wine Club looks like that authority. Some good write-ups on wineries , books, gift baskets, different types of clubs to join and short-term membership trial. Good varietals in reds and whites as well as ability to select a wine color preference of all red, all white or mixed. Also there is a Mother’ Day Gift package available. A good choice. But wait…there are more!

Wine Club Two: Cellars Wine Club 

What’s to like? Well…the term “discount” is very close to the term “cheap” and , well… that’s not all bad. Mom would want you to save money! It gets even better. Cellars actually is starting a “Champagne Club” and they feature it on their Mother’s Day ad! Certainly your mother celebrates every single day that she gave birth to such a wonderful thoughtful child so why not help her celebrate with a little bubbly? Cellars, like California Wine Club, has short term programs, various price ranges (from $29.95 to $299.95) and good wine information. Most importantly, I like their selection. Another good choice. So that’s two clubs to buy from.

So far this is simple, one could buy a Cellars club membership for mom and a California club membership for the wife and we are done. Time to fire up the grill. That is unless you like confusion and decide to check out…
Wine Club Three: wine.com

What’s to like? Simply put, like the first two clubs, wine.com is pretty awesome. Gift baskets, great selection, great themes like “Tour de France”, good wine information available… Also check out this offer: Save 15% off any gift basket at Wine.com. Enter coupon
code LSGIFT15 at checkout. Offer valid 5.1.08 - 6.30.08.

If I had only checked out two clubs this would be easy. Now, you have to make a choice!

And…Oh NO… how about local options, our friends at Wine Necessities also have a great wine club. They will even custom design a label for Mom. (You could use your baby picture!)

Maybe grandmother would like a gift of wine? Mother-in-law? Somebody female over the age of 21? Well, let’s figure it out soon because next up..Father’s Day – and in this life you only get as good as you give!

Have wine clubs or wine gifts you like? Share the word! But not until I’m done shopping please.

Cheers and Happy Mother’s Day shopping from the wine oaf! Good luck!

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Wine Necessities in Ballwin, MO

Well, last Saturday I made wine at a great little winery in Ballwin, MO named Wine Necessities! Well, I mostly made a batch of  wine…technically I performed the first few stages of the wine making process. I put the batch through primary fermentation. Technically… I did what owner Jacque James told me to do. (She allowed me no creativity.) And I guess it really wasn’t home-made since we made it in their very sterile and organized winery area, so anyway…It was fun to be hands on and see the process. Wine Necessities had a great variety of wines in various stages of production and actually a great many varieties ready to be sampled, which….of course… I did. I sampled a 2006 Domestic Cabernet that was really smooth yet also full bodied. I like the reds you know. Also, sampled a Chilean Merlot that was really excellent. I would rate both as:

SERVE TO GUESTS!

My friends (tip:always make friends with people who make wine) that own the shop, Jacque and Jen, were fun, energetic and passionate about their trade. How cool was that to find! They also were throwing a wine tasting party when I was there and everyone was having a riot. Wine Necessities throws parties, tasting events, wine and food pairing parties and bottles special wine for special events like grand openings, weddings etc… where you can pop on your own label (tastefully designed by Jen). The wine may be a little above my $10 Quest focus but hey, entertainment costs money and I was entertained! Also check out the stores cool wine gadgets on the shelves. Great stuff for all wine lovers. (HINT!)

Neat discovery. Check out their entire inventory. For my next visit, (Oh yes…there will be a next visit!) I am making a sign to display , “Will Work For Wine”. What do you think? Could work, right?

Cheers.

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