And it is also Friday again.....best and worst wines of the week

Quickly, cause believe it or not I do have a job and a life. I just learned that Michael Scott (aka my boss) is coming back to town next week and bringing freaking Dwight (aka his kiss ass little buddy) with him so it should be an interesting week coming up.

This week's best wine: In honor of Ms Moreno's event last night I'm picking the wine they served at the VIP reception: Martin Codax Albarino from Spain. I've had this wine a few times and Albarino is a great alternative to Chardonnay. It is light, floral, crisp, aromatic like lemon and peach with great acidity. I thought it was a nice touch to have some wines from Spain for that event instead of the basic old Chard and Merlot. Refreshing to see someone actually thought it through for a change.

Where I drank it: Starlight VIP Room....Applause Club. The event was catered by Bonterra....cause the napkins said so.

How much: Well, gratis cause I was at this swanky reception but a little research told me it is about $10.99. Good albarino isn't that expensive.

Final Tip: Albarino is becoming a hot little grape. Mostly from Spain but in Portugal they call it Vino Verde....yep like green wine cause it almost has a green tint to it. Like Rose and most of the light, aromatic wines it doesn't age well. When shopping definitely be mindful of vintage....the younger the better. It loses its fruit very quickly which means it loses its charm. I wouldn't buy anything older than 2007 right now.

The Keith Olbermann (Worst wine of the week): Trinity Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon. This little California number brings out a little of snob in me. For the price I wasn't expecting much and got even less. It isn't bad wine meaning it isn't offensive but the fruit is ripe red cherry and I'd like to see black fruits in my Cabernet. It has a little vanilla bean and some green olive. Vanilla is okay with me....I'm not fond of the olive aroma. It is pretty straight forward stuff though. Medium bodied. I think the closer to $10 you get the more it we should expect varietal correctness.

Where I drank it: At home. Bought at Lukas.

How much: $8.49 a bottle.

Final thought: I basically said it earlier. Approaching $10 we should all expect a little more. I'm finding we have to be careful at this price point as slick packaging can make way against good valued wine and fool us. Wines that were formerly well regarded can easily slip down a notch in quality. I'm starting to think that $15 is the new $10 wine. I find that the wine at that price point is consistently so much better and $10 is a 'tweener like $6.99 wine with a better label and heavier bottle.

Vaya Con Dios and Cheers!!!

Last week's Best and Worst Wine of the Week

Oh, man.....sorry I missed the Friday deadline for best and worst wine of the week. My editor was paging me like crazy!!!! I was actually at a wine tasting on Friday night and drank quite a few good ones. Anyway, I know you didn't know what to drink this weekend because of my irresponsible blogging practices and for that I'm sincerely sorry. I think some of you only check out my recommendations because of the "women in wine" pictures I add with each post......so shallow of me to think such a thing.

Here you go anyway. Better late than never.

The best wine I had: Darioush Napa Cabernet Sauvignon 2005.

Where I had it: Wine tasting (secret location....wink)

How much: $80 a bottle. I know expensive so sue me I live in Johnson County and contrary to popular belief and reporting most of us JOCO have decided not to participate in this silly recession.

Thoughts: This intense little monster had black cherries and cassis and vanilla bean and espresso. It was really well extracted and for a young wine the tannins weren't as firm as you'd think. I'm not sure this will age as long as some big trophy cabs. Strong but graceful or elegant if you will and the finish had a little spice. If you have the extra doe-re-mi to pick up a bottle you won't be disappointed.

The Olbermann wine (worst wine of the week): Nora Albarino 2007, Rias Biaxas, Spain.

Where I had it: Home.

How much: $15.99.

Thoughts: I love Albarino. Like many I've only really been drinking them for the past couple years since they have burst on the scene in the U.S. Albarino is typically a lovely, aromatic, crisp white with no oak and a little minerality perfect for summer days (or dreaming of them) and shellfish. I have tried several and this might have been my least favorite example but I see it persistently on wine lists. It wasn't that it was bad...I didn't spit it out. I'll even admit that it gets decent scores from the wine pundits but I just think it has this long, overripe finish that isn't what Albarino is all about. I think it has too much body resulting possibly from harvesting a tad late. Albarino shouldn't be medium bodied in my mind instead engaging very light and crisp body. What's next? Oak and Malo? I frankly also resent the packaging being too trendy....hell, why don't you just put a critter on it and call it a day? If you want to try a nice example of Albarino my current fav is Martin Codax Albarino.

Enjoy and check back on me this week. Hope you had a great weekend.

Vaya Con Dios!