No wine tonight

Just got six inches of snow. I'm tired of winter. No wine tonight, I'm having Scotch.

Big House Red and Meatloaf

I love Big House Red and Big House White. Both are great table wines that go with just about anything. One of the things I love about this wine aside that it goes with everything and it has a fantastic label is that it has a screw off top. No corkscrew needed. I love the ease of opening this bottle but the plugs for the wine vacuum do not fit snugly in this bottle so you have to drink it in a couple of days. Usually that isn't a problem but just so you know the wine vacuum will not work with this wine.

Since this wine goes with just about anything I am posting a recipe from my other blog, Redhead Ranting. I don't usually post recipes on that blog but this meatloaf was so good I wanted to share it with everyone. Enjoy!




Between recuperating, standing up to bigots, defending human rights and being a semi-super mom I managed to outdo myself in the kitchen today. I made this fantastic to-die-for meatloaf as well as some yummy cookies. My house smells wonderful. Smellovision should be brought back just for the wonderful smells coming from my kitchen today.

Cornbread Stuffing
1 box Jiffy Corn Bread Mix prepared as a loaf or muffins
1/4 onion
2 stalks celery
1 red pepper
2 or 3 tbsp beef broth
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp butter
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion, celery, garlic and red pepper. Add broth, honey and salt and pepper. Remove from stove and place in bowl. Crumble up cornbread, cut in butter and mix with sauteed ingredients.

To-Die-For Meatloaf

2 lbs lean ground beef
3/4 of an onion, chopped
1/2 red pepper
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup cubed bread crumbs toasted
1 cup beef bouillon
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 eggs
1/2 tsp Penzy's Prime Rib Rub
salt and pepper to taste
Sharp Cheddar Cheese

In a bowl place the bread crumbs. Prepare bouillon and pour piping hot over bread crumbs. Add onion, red pepper, garlic, salt and pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Let cool (this is a good time to make the stuffing mixture) before adding eggs and ground beef. Mix well. Place half of the mixture on a cookie sheet or lasagna pan and make a sort of boat out of it. Place the cornbread stuffing in the boat and cover with the remaining meat mixture.

Bake at 350 for about an hour. Remove from oven and place slices of cheddar cheese on top and put back in oven for about 4 minutes or until bubbling but not where it has melted away. Remove from oven and try to keep the kids and dogs from tasting it until you can serve it.



Heath Bits Peanut Butter Cookies
Recipe is on the back of the package but I added lots of extra love to them.

Liberty School Wine

Tonight I am having a Liberty School 2006 Paso Robles Cabernet. I started drinking this wine years ago when I learned that it was a second label of Caymus. In 1997 the brand was sold off and is now a second label to the Treana brand, a pricy wine as well. It is not a Caymus wine anymore but it is still very good for a $14.00 bottle of wine.

This is a juicy wine. It has a deep color and you can taste the hints of oak in it along with blackberry, cherry and chocolate aromas. It ends firm, meaning it has a bit of an edge to it at the end.

This is a great wine to pair with beef or lamb smothered in garlic.

Great websites about wine

Great sites about wines

Wine Express

Wildhurst Vineyards

Wines dot com

Healthcastles

Malbec

If you have not tried these lovely wines from Chile then get your coat and head on out to the liquor store.

I have fallen in love with Chilean wines lately. Malbecs especially.

Known as Côt throughout much of France, Malbec is the dark-skinned variety that put Argentinian wine on the map - and likewise, Argentinian Malbec saved the grape from near obscurity. The Cahors appellation in France still relies on Malbec to distinguish many of its wines, but the area is exceptional in this regard. As the grape can be quite difficult to cultivate, it has become far less popular over the years, even in its Bordeaux home. Its South American renaissance has ensured, however, that Malbec will be sticking around for a while. -Astor Wines & Spirits

Right now I am having Punto Final vintage 2005. This is what Wine Spectator had to say about it:

"A juicy, modern style, with tasty fig, boysenberry, mocha and spice notes, followed by a ripe, vivid finish."

Depending on the source of the review it gets an 89 to 91 rating. Not bad for a bottle of wine that costs under $20.00.

And even better Malbec, for about the same cost, is Alta Vista Premium. This is an exceptionally wonderful wine. Deep ruby in color with aromas of very ripe red fruit and spices, this wine is round and full-bodied on the palate with excellent balance. I first tried it when a rep was putting out samples at the liquor store I worked at part time several years ago. I had one sip and I was hooked. I have bought it by the case ever since. It goes with so many things and is great to always have on hand.

Wine Vacuums

If you love wine but can't drink the whole bottle you must have a wine vacuum. I got mine at Target last year and have purchased many more to give as gifts since then. I bought a Houdini wine vacuum but there are many on the market that work just as well. I chose the Houdini because it was inexpensive and looked rather slick. There are much more expensive brands out there that come in a variety of styles and colors. As long as they suck the air out they are all good.

Wine vacuums are a wonderful invention. They not only seal the wine so it can be stored on it's side without dripping but they also prevent the wine from further oxidation. Once a bottle of wine is opened the air immediately changes the wine. This is good to a point and why people let good bottles breath but too much air can ruin the wine.

Usually a bottle of wine is good for about two days after removing the cork. After two days it's usually cooking wine. It has lost it's aroma and might even begin to taste vinegary. Using a wine vacuum and airtight stopper extends the life of the bottle from a couple of days to two weeks. I don't usually have a bottle of opened wine that lasts for anywhere near two weeks but it's nice to know I don't have to down an opened bottle if I'm not able to finish it.

If you are serious about your wine this is a must addition to your bar ware.

*This is not a paid advertisement. I don't do them. I talk about the products I use and like. I also talk about the products I don't like but I am not paid to talk about any of them.

Caymus

Caymus is my all time favorite wine. Caymus Winery specializes in Cabernet. And they do it so well they put others to shame. Caymus is a Napa Valley winery established in 1972 by Charles, Lorna Belle and their son Chuck Wagner. The winery is on their 60 acre farm in Rutherford, California. Back in the '90s it was more reasonably priced than it is today so I drank a lot more of it than I do now.

I first tried Caymus at the St. Paul Grill located in the St. Paul Hotel. A lovely restaurant which I haven't been able to afford to go to in years. I was there with my parents, my first ex husband, my brother and his first wife. We were probably celebrating a birthday, though I am not sure whose it was.

It was my ex sister in law who suggested we try Caymus. She had read about it in Wine Spectator and was interested in trying it. Caymus has consistently been rated in the mid to upper 90s of the wine rating system. We ordered a bottle and were not disappointed.

From that moment I have been in love with Caymus. Caymus is Cabernet. That is all they do really. Though the family bottles other wines under different labels, their motto has been "one wine, one label".

Quoting from Wine Review Online by Gerald Boyd:

The color of this Cabernet is one of the attractions of good wine; deep sparkling ruby at the center with an intense purple rim. The aromatics are layered dark fruits, especially black currant and plums that follow through to the richly textured flavors. Subtle toasted oak blends nicely with the bright ripe berry and spice, supported by firm tannins and excellent acidity. The wine has a long finish and the promise of even more complexity with additional bottle age.

This is one way to describe it but really the wine is just wonderful. The wine is not bitter, it is not dry, it is not too sweet and it is not buttery. It is smooth and the taste lasts on your tongue giving way to more complex flavors. According to Caymus, the shelf life of their wine is about 15 years. I bought cases of Caymus after that night at the St. Paul Grill but have not been able to let them sit for 15 years. I wish I had but they were too good to let be. I do have two bottles of their 2004 vintage that I have had to try desperately to forget I have. I am saving them for a special occasion but it has been difficult.

Which might be why Caymus is my favorite wine. Whenever there was a special event there was a bottle of Caymus to celebrate it with. My second ex and I tossed a couple bottles in the side bags of the Harley and rode up to the north shore of Lake Superior and opened them. Savoring the taste as we watched the sun set on the great lake. We travelled a lot by hog back then and were never without our Caymus.

Welcome to Wine To Me

Welcome to Wine To Me. This blog was born from a post I wrote on one of my other blogs. I wrote about my love of wine but it wasn't really the kind of topic that my other blog lent itself to. I have spent a good deal of time learning about wines in the last several decades and it seemed like the next step to start a blog devoted to wine. So here it is.

I will be writing about wines of course, but also about wine accessories, what wines to drink with specific foods, where to find great wine deals and a little philosophy about wine. I am not a wine snob, the wines I drink are usually reasonably priced and easy to find.

I look forward to your recommendations of wine you love as well so please feel free to drop me note either in the comments or at my email listed on the sidebar.

Cheers!