Is it Wine Friday already?

It is wine Friday already.

It seemed like the week flew by so quickly. Didn't get much posted. Sorry.

But that doesn't mean you should go the weekend without knowing what jocoeveryman has been drinking and thus.....what you should be drinking :-)

I went to Extra Virgin this week to nosh a little bit on some tapas and such and have a couple glasses of wine. What a hip place.

First, Extra Virgin is doing a pretty nice job with these small plates. One of them that was really spectacular is the brussel sprouts. When brussel sprouts are done well they are so delicious. They had some other vegetables mixed in but they were so tasty. Everything was good. Check it out.

They have a reasonable list of wines by the glass. Because of the food I decided to roll with Rose.

So, because I had such a nice time and because Rose doesn't begin to get enough attention I'm picking Borsao Rose from Spain as my wine of the week.

It was super cold and the snow was frozen hard and crispy and well, nothing makes me think of a nice warm summer day like rose. The color was beyond like costco salmon and more like Sockeye Salmon. It had very nice expressive strawberry flavors and maybe even a little more toward cranberry with a bright, clean acidity. I picked up a tiny bit of spice and it makes sense as it is made from Grenache or Granacha. The spice was definitely in the background and was like baking spices. For a rose it had a nice long finish.

I thought it could have been a little more aggressively priced but hey......a filthy rich joco guy shouldn't really complain when he gets the chance to dump some alms to the city poor.

So, remember. Rose isn't sweet and people in the know won't think you are drinking white zinfandel and if they do they are probably the same idiots who think Rolex is the best watch made in the world too......... Delicious and great with food rose is definitely hip with the real wine intelligentsia. It doesn't age well sooooo.....drink it up young. Mostly 2009 at this point and the best part is you can really nice rose for $12 and under. Enjoy.

Vaya con dios.

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!!!