Once, Twice, Three Times a Hazy

On a dinner that practically deserves a blog of its own (but for now, it will just have its very own post here later on this week), I drank way too much wine. That’s not a surprise. What is a surprise is that I can remember what I drank. Well, sort of; I have pictures, so that makes it easier. We did pink, white, yellow, and there was a fourth bottle in there somewhere, but I don’t think I made it that far.

Back in May, Sam of Becks and Posh hosted Wine Blogging Wednesday no. 9, and asked us all to think pink by drinking a rosé. Reds are tough for me, whites except chardonnay are my preference (even with steak!), but rosé? The only pink “wine” I had ever had up until then aren’t even called wine. We were hiding out in my bedroom in middle school. They had bottle caps, came in a six pack, and had flavors like Citrus Sensation and Berry Splash. “And we thank you for your support.” ;)

So for WBW no. 9, Guigal Cote du Rhone was suggested to me, but the wine house has these absurd operating hours, so I was never able to actually pick it up. I ended up with a malbec rosé from Vida Organica that I didn’t like very much. It looked like it had been tinted with red food coloring and tasted about the same. It made me crinkle my nose and clench my teeth. Sadly, the half-full bottle went back into the fridge, and eventually, it was suitable only as a replacement for Draino. Pink nail polish is my thing. Pink shoes do it for me. Pink handbags, tank tops, and dresses do it for me. I decided that pink wine does not do it for me.

But that was then, and this is Clos du Caillou Cotes du Rhone. That's some classy stuff, even for pink, I'm told. So classy that we had to drink it out of water glasses! The restaurant, which is really more of a joint, closes at 8, doesn’t serve wine, so why would they have stemware? LOL! But a rosé poured in any other glass still tastes the same, and this one was good. It too was a darker pink than I expect from a rosé, but still lighter than the Hawaiian Punch hue of the malbec I had about a month ago. I can only describe the Clos du Caillou by comparison, so it tasted sweeter and lighter, but not in a prissy pink princess way. If I am to understand the terminology of the wine nerds (“nerd” is a term of utmost respect around here), it was very “drinkable,” since I must have appreciated it for about 15 seconds before gulping down at least two glasses within the next 15 minutes. Very drinkable indeed. So drinkable, in fact, that even as much of a food porn star as I am, I almost forgot to take pictures of dinner. Almost.

Next was the Basa two thousand some year, something or other varietal, and the fact that I can’t even remember anything other than “Basa,” is a pretty good indication of how it tasted. Fairly unmemorable, though I do recall crinkling my nose and not finishing the glass. How’s the for some sophisticated wine tasting notes?!?

We went back to the ranch for dessert, which was a tall, slender bottle. I initially wanted to *eeew* because the large curlicue E looked vaguely like Emeril Lagasse’s logo, but I didn’t. I mean, I was a guest in someone’s house and didn’t want to be rude at the offer of wine, for fox ache! But I didn’t , and saw that the inscribed letter E stood for Eternity, which actually made it look like a magazine ad for something related to weddings. Now that made me want to *ew*. Pinical Estate's 2002 Botrytis Semillon was very deeply golden yellow, but the lights were low so it could have been clear and I wouldn’t have known. It tasted soft and sweet without tasting syrupy.

There was another bottle after the Eternity, but regretfully, I don’t think I made it that far. I don’t even remember taking the picture of Due South. Yep, three bottles of wine and I was in a delicious heady haze.
Can’t wait to do it all over again :)