I haven't tried Vampire, but I know people who actually drink the stuff often enough that it can't taste that bad.

That made me crack up. Probably because I've been up for so long.

There are things that must be done. Such as making a list of wines to buy as soon as I can buy them.

Yasha wrote:

The first bottle I had was awful. A few years later I try it again, looking for the awful, and... not there. WHAT THE FUCK. I actually enjoyed that.

At least I've had that reaction to a fair deal of alcoholic beverages. They're definately an aquired taste. With wines, I just tend to look at the etiquette and see what it says it's good with. Usually I've taken fairly good choices. 

When I was in Paris and bought some red wine for souvenir, I ofcourse had no idea what the tag was saying, so I just picked an above-middle priced bottle at random and if I hadn't tested it first, I would have tried it with steak dinner - it was incredibly sweet dessert wine meant to be drunk with tarts and mousses, or possibly strawberries with cream. My expression must have been worth a photograph...

As for cheeses, I really don't dig them. Aside from the mildest of varieties, their composition and fragrance tend to remind me of their origins as fermented milk (again, ).

Giovanna wrote:

11/12/2007

Tsantali Nemea 1997 (Greek varietal called Agiorgitiko) - Translucent with an unusual rusty brown tinge. Stings the nose a little, sweet vinegary, almost a little like chlorine, actually. Sounds unpleasant but it's actually not, it's refreshing in the same way retsina is. The taste is distinctly herbal, with a slight taste of fresh woods, pine or cedar. A bit of tartness. It's surprisingly light given how fragrant it is.

Jackson Triggs Shiraz (ROFLCOPTER CANADIAN WINE) - Dirty scent for a shiraz, with a heavy whiff of bell peppers that intensifies over time and exposure to air. The taste is also peppery, woody, and there's a hint of smoke or wood.

Gio will be posting new wine reviews in the first post, and she should be posting a notification in the thread BUT SHE IS BEING LAZY.

Updated first post!

Updated bitches.

I must've been thinking of this thread when I went to Whole Foods yesterday.  I picked up a bottle of INO red, a wedge of brie which I plan to bake, and a wedge of something called Irish porter cheddar, which has a pretty dark brown marbled appearance due to the addition of the porter.  The wine is a Greek semi-sweet blend, and only put me back $6.

I'm also always on the look out for Witches Brew, made by Leelanau Wine Cellars.  They're in northern Michigan, so to me they're kinda local, I guess.  As you can tell from the name, it's only offered in the fall, but I was able to find two bottles a couple weeks ago, hiding in the shelves at my favorite wine-and-liquor store.  Another cheap semi-sweet red ($5); I think I see a pattern forming here.

Giovanna wrote:

Vampire, anyone?

I've never had Vampire, but I had a bottle of Werewolf that was fabulous.

Lightice wrote:

When I was in Paris and bought some red wine for souvenir, I ofcourse had no idea what the tag was saying, so I just picked an above-middle priced bottle at random and if I hadn't tested it first, I would have tried it with steak dinner - it was incredibly sweet dessert wine meant to be drunk with tarts and mousses, or possibly strawberries with cream. My expression must have been worth a photograph...

this is where being fluent in two languages would be an advantage for me... If I drank wine. I don't think I have the patience or the will to acquire a taste for it. I'll just stick to soft drinks and juice, if it's all the same to you.

But cheese? Mmmmmm cheese. I like danish blue.

Brie!

Frankly I SUCK at the wine and cheese thing, if I get a loaf of bread, a bottle of wine, and a block of cheese, I don't remotely consider what works with what. I'll eat a brie with a shiraz. OOPS. Unfortunately the cheeses that 'go' with the intense wines I drink are usually a bit stinky for me. Then again I really need to try a nice cheddar with my wine of choice...

BTW there are a few rather nice wine bars in NYC....

Mmm. My great-grandmother [grandpa's mum] makes her own wine. So did my great-grandfather [grandma's dad] before he died. I had [snuck, really] a bottle of G-Grandpa's apricot wine from 1974 [IT'S WAS OLDER THAN MY AUNT HOLY COW] and it was absolutely amazing in taste. It burned on the way down like whiskey but danced on your tongue like tropical fruit. It was very strong, though, and I had my first and only [thus far] blackout and hangover. But with the way it tasted, it was so very very worth it.

Yasha wrote:

Clarice, baby, you know I'm totally there. I just need $$$$.

next sku gathering is at Clarice's!...when we get the $$$$....