Stray Dogs in the Secret Garden

All one needs to enjoy a summer night in Iowa.

All academic really.  Long miserable work week over and time to unwind.  Unwine(d).  For once it was not raining nor did we have anything more pressing to do.  I'd be damned if it was another evening in front of a screen, computer, phone or TV.  Get Out!  Having blown my stupid money on concert tickets and my new denial of beer like I've something to prove our options were limited.  No bars or pubs for overpriced swill.  Time to burn the reserves.  Grab two bottles of vino from the fridge and load the bicycles up for a ride somewhere off in the sunset.  Perhaps gather a friend or two to join us.  After all, I am nothing but a fool.

We went from winter to one week of Spring and then summer.  The temperature has reached the 80s most of the week and after the Mother's Day Deluge a bumper crop of mosquitoes emerged.  Pack the DEET.  Put the wine in a cooler with reusable ice packs.  Cork screw and drinking vessels.  Bring a candle for ambiance.  Pack the bike.  The cooler was too wide for the single speed's panniers.  Grab the touring bike.  Grab a light.  Leave the candle and matches on the grill while unloading one bike and loading the other.  GTFO because there is a cloud of blood sucking mosquitoes.  Ride off to the west.

Mary's road bike and my touring bike.  Sadly, I've only put 20 miles on the bike this year.

As we rolled past the Jackson Street Bridge I realized that I have not ridden this far west on the trail since I transferred downtown.  My bicycle riding has pretty much died.  30 miles a day to 4.  Today I will get 10 or 11 miles.

Our destination is unknown to the public.  This prevents people from destroying it.  Not an illegal site, it is a county park.  A park with lots of New Age and Hippie craft.  A wonderful place to chill and hangout.  Rabbits were are only company.  Mosquitoes the only distraction until the DEET was applied.  Our friends, they hung out at bars most likely consuming large quantities of Busch Light.  Their loss.

First up was the Moscato.  Pretty sure I paid $5 for this at the grocery store.  Been in the house for many, many months, perhaps over a year.  It was removed from the top of the cupboard and placed in the refrigerator for some family event but never opened.  There it chilled, literally, for several months.

As far as Moscatos go it was crap.  Sweet yet some underlying foul flat aftertaste.  Cheap California wine.  HRM Rex-Goliath Winery.  Named after a 47 lb cock.  Giant rooster.  My first sip had me thinking it was Australian.  It clocked in at 9.5% alcohol.  Mary did not complain.  we finished the bottle.

Round 2 was all me.  $5 Italian being blown out by the new downtown Hy Vee grocery store.  Pro-tip.  Never purchase wine that is displayed by the meat counter.  That is meant to generate impulse purchases which this was.  Rosato Toscana, a rose from Italy 2016. Bottled by ICQRF for Vinicola Ricaiano-Rufina-Italia and imported a Texas marketing group and purchased in Des Moines, Iowa. Long travels to get to our location on a bicycle.  Clocking in at 12% it trumped the moscato.  A dry white.  After tasting it I knew Mary would not enjoy this one.  Not my style either.  I don't think I will purchase another.  But I finished the bottle because not to would be abuse.

I tried this without the flash but it was too dark.

So we sat in the garden and looked at the lights and stars and listened to the echo of a wedding somewhere nearby.  Fireworks announced the end of the Iowa Cubs baseball game.  We heard them but could not see them.  Friday home game.  Our dog was probably hating life at that moment, too loud and a dangerous sound.

We discussed life and upcoming events.  Once again I pushed the envelop of our summer adventures. Just trying do something special to create memories.  Plans to travel to Cleveland and then Long Beach to see a certain bad headline two festivals secretly hoping a third gig will appear at a proper venue with out the festival glut.  Plans for our bicycle adventure up in the air because of PTO waiting lists.  Autumn is more enjoyable time a year to ride anyway.  At least we have this quiet spot.

A Prairie Fine Wine--Wooden Wheel Vineyards

I felt sorry for him.  I feel for all those free booze sample people, out there pushing their wares.  I don't know if I could do it.  But maybe I should feel bad for them.  After all, they are the keepers of free wine/liquor shots.  Who does not like free booze samples at a grocery store?  Pretentious cunts that abstain for  hypocritical reasons, that's who.  Or people like me that would feel obliged to make a purchase.  Catholic block....

So here I was at the 420 Hy Vee and Sample Man was there pushing a local Iowa wine.  Cannot avoid him sine he is blocking the the first left turn into the store and right in front of the beer cooler.  New Beer Thursday and I will have to search for a brew I have never drank before.

Oh well, just try one and then walk away.  Perhaps it will be a vino I would enjoy.  He was offering two varieties of Iowa wine form a vineyard near Keota, Iowa.  This caught my interest because I am in the process of planning this summer's bicycle tour of Iowa,  Wooden Wheel Vineyards, which names all their wine after family names.  Only two were offered, a dry white and a red because the  sommelier said that those two would sell the best.  Disappointing that a sweet white was not offered, Mary likes those, but Iowa is full of sweet wine due to the climate--harsh long winters and short growing season.  I preferred the red.

Hero

Private G.W. is the name of the great great grandfather who fought for the Union in the 8th Infantry at Shiloh and later The Iowa 5th Calvary at the Battle of Atlanta.  Have to take a hat off and salute him.

I waited a few weeks before drinking this on a cold snowy April day.  I needed the wine to counteract the second pot of coffee I drank before dinner.  I'll need to be able to sleep.  So with a wonderful pork loin dinner with Caribbean vegetable I uncorked the vino.  First note, a real cork printed with the name of the vineyard.  Not a generic cork.    Nice touch!  

Cork on top of the turntable spinning vinyl from The Fall.

How does it taste?  A bit oaky and a fair amount of tannins.  The bottle says medium body but it feels a tad bit light.  After awhile the oak and tannin taste fades a bit.  Clocking in at 12% it is strong and tastes that way.  it's the grapes.  A new hybrid that is related to pinot noir but can withstand the ice age we deal with in Iowa and the Midwest.  Iowa Marquette  It is growing on me and I just took the last drop from my glass.

So if you are looking for a red wine from Iowa you may like this one.  I do prefer the Foch grapes but I do find this one good.  In a few years it will be all sorta out and cold weather grapes will compare favorably with Napa.  So visit the sample person and make a purchase.  Buy local and enjoy!

Hollywood Moment

First stop Rite Aid on Sunset.  Second stop In & Out Burgers.  This Merlot made the 7-Up go down better. It was a long 2 mile walk.

Barefoot Refresh: The Battle of the Bottles

Noticed that my wine reserves were slowly depleting.  Time to stock up.  Also time to drink up.  The local store had Barefoot Refresh "wine based spritzer" on sale for $4.99 per bottle.  That's my price point!  I purchased two.  One was the "Summer Red" and the other "Moscato."  It should be noted that they were bottled by E. & J. Gallo Winery in Modesto, CA.  I've never noticed that before on Barefoot bottles.  Once home I immediately removed them from the bicycle and placed them in the refrigerator to chill.  A day later we drank them.

September 1st, 2017 was a lovely late summer evening.  Having ridden from the local high school football home opener we decided to sit outside on our deck to cool off from the ride.  I opened the red first.

First thought when the opening salvo hit my palate was that this stuff should be sold by the gallon. The 750 ml glass bottle does not hold enough.  I wanted more!  Then again, lesser volume is safer for me.  A sweet red with hints of berries.  Not a pure wine.  Ingredients listed are grape wine, carbonated water, cane sugar, natural flavors and less than 1% of potassium citrate, citric acid, potassium sorbate to protect flavor and sulfiting agents.  It clocks in at 6.5% alcohol by volume. Definitely will purchase more of this one.

One bottle down.  Time to rinse my glass and open the second.  Like the red, the Moscato has a screw top.  The first thing I noticed was the bouquet.  Wonderful aroma of pears.  However, that did not translate into wonderful flavor.  Although Wifey said she enjoyed it I found it to be a bit sour.  That sourness ruined the pleasant Moscato taste I was hoping for.  the ingredient list was the same as well as the alcohol level of 6.5%.  personally, I'll stick with their regular Moscato.

But the Summer Red Spritzer...I must have more!!!!

Roscato Bianco Dolce Italian

Finally got back to my favorite store.  Would not feel right leaving it without making a purchase or two of vino.  Nothing was catching my eye until I saw the discount booze cart full of discontinued items.  Inside were two bottles that interested me.

From the moment it hit my tongue I was almost upset.  How could I have only picked up one bottle? That was two weeks ago and I am sure they are all gone.  Maybe I can find another place that sells this at full retail.  It was that good.  Sweet green apples and peaches dancing on my tongue.  Moscato-like.  Not overly sweet.  Not tart either.  No boozey aftertaste like a cheap Riesling.  Damn good.  I could drink a gallon of this and I would have if I had a gallon.

Roscato Bianco Dolce, I highly recommend it if you like a delicious sweet white.  "Round, lush and refreshing."  It clocks in at 8%.  Online it was going for $11 to $14 per bottle.  From northern Italy, produced and bottled in Trento, Italy, from a blend of Chardonnay and Moscato grapes light and sweet without the super teeth rotting sweetness.

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Winter Blend from Barefoot

Used my large glass.  reduces my need to get up for refills.

We had a roller coaster of a week concerning the weather.  Monday was in the 50s, Wednesday dumped 3" of snow on us and temps dropped into the teens and single digits later on.  Friday it warmed up to near 60F and melted the snow.  I've noticed song birds returning to Iowa.  February that feels like March.  I like it!  What a better time to bust out a winter blend of vino!!

I stumbled upon this on Tuesday at my grocery store in Windsor Heights, Hy Vee.  Tuesday was the last nice day until Friday afternoon.  I had to stock up.  I thought it was a novel idea.  This is what breweries do but instead of a winter lager it it is wine.  The label had 2015 on it.  Not sure if that was the vintage of the first year it was available.  Given 2015 was in small print I suspect the latter.  Then I remember the two bottles of seasonal wine I purchased from Summerset Winery for Christmas.

Tuesday Stock Up:  One bag shown, two radlers, two bottles of Winter Blend, half and half for the weekend's coffee and Uncle Ben's long Grain & Wild Rice (Sunday dinner to go with the chicken in the other bag).  I've never lost a bottle or broke an egg shopping via bicycle.

Green bottle with a pale blue label.  "Notes of vanilla & blackberry jam."  A red blend of some sort.  "...pairs perfectly with gingerbread cookies and a cozy fire!"  We have neither.  I was hoping it would go well with Wifey, NetFlix and a leather couch.  What a long week until I could uncork!  It did go over well but she only had one sip and said nothing.  her preference is on semi sweets to sweet.  We watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour (cookin' 'round the world!) an episode of The People v OJ Simpson and Caddy Shack.

First impression was how velvety smooth this blend was.  Felt light yet heavy like a tasty dessert. Definitely a dry red yet extremely smooth and soft.  Since our thermostat is set for 63F I felt no need to pre-chill this in the refrigerator beforehand.  Clocking in at 13.5% it is rather strong but the alcohol does not overwhelm the experience.  By the time Caddy Shack ended the bottle was finished.

Looking forward to the second bottle.  Possibly next weekend.  Also looking forward to next winter's seasonal offering.  If you like a rich and smooth red that is not sweet, try this one while it is available even if Spring is here according to the birds.

Williamette Valley Vineyards Riesling

For some reason my wine consumption has been down for about 6 months.  Don't know why. Perhaps beer consumption increased a bit then subsided.  Maybe winter has me wanting to shower, eat, and go to bed early.  Health issues, too.  But last night, despite a major gout flare up and a major change in meds I decided it was time to pull this bottle out of the fridge and uncork it.  It was after 8 pm, my leg was killing me like a mofo and the Aleve was finally kicking in.  That and Russell Crowe was on the screen fightin' 'round the world, Robin Hood.  It felt like time to enjoy an adult bevie.  Long week, long day.

Quality cork as well.  I did not murder it!

This bottle had been been chilling since October.  It missed our Thanksgiving Feast and Christmas dinner and Chill.  Not that I was avoiding it, just waiting for the right time.  According to the bottle, the best time to drink this is between 2015 and 2017, "peak drinkability."  The pressure, the pressure.

First taste and I knew I made the right decision, new meds be damned!  Cool and crisp with  almost pear taste.  Even Wife liked it.  Unlike most Rieslings I have consumed, the strong boozey taste was lacking, which is a plus.  Clocking in at 8% it should not overwhelm the palate with alcohol taste.  Definitely a medium on the sweetness scale which even the most bitter sweet hating people could tolerate.  Smooth, cool, delicious and not overly sweet.  A wonderful gift from 2014 Oregon.  I will look for this one again.

Life is precious when one can hoist their glass when Friar Tuck hoists his mead on the screen knowing that the vino in my glass is excellent!  Do yourself a favor and find this Riesling.  2014 was a good year!