Best & Worst Wine of the Week

Another great week of drinking wine. Some beautiful weather. I went to Bristol at the Power & Light on Sunday night for a nice Frei Brothers wine dinner. Really fun evening and I really like those wines and they many of them would be easy to pick. Wine dinners are a pretty fun way to do a date and taste through plenty of wines paired with some good food. The Bristol's deal was really great. $55 a head I thought was a really good deal.

The week's best wine: Frei Brothers Dry Creek Merlot.

How much: One part of the all inclusive $55 price for 4 wines and 4 courses of food.

Where: Bristol at the Power & Light

Thoughts: I loved how this wine is pretty huge but it also was somewhat velvety. It had the ripe plum and ripe cherries, black cherries you like in a good Merlot. This was real Merlot. All the things you like about Cab but with really, really soft tannins. It had a little cedar, oakiness to it that just reminds you of the quality that went into making it but subtle and not overdone.

The Keith Olbermann Wine (worst wine of the week): Bogle Petite Sirah

How much: $7 a glass

Where I drank it: In a hotel lobby in St. Louis

Thoughts: This is popular producer. It was certainly the inky guy you would expect with some type of blueberry that I had a hard time nailing down. It was pretty peppery and a hefty dose of herbs. It also has come firm tannins where out of line with the quality of the fruit. I've seen this get high 80's from the popular wine magazines and I just don't get it. It isn't offensive it just isn't inspiring at all and I guess my expectations were a little higher. This is just average old swill and you can and should do better.

Have a great weekend. Vaya con dios.