Lucky Number...Duck?

Last week Veruca and I decided to switch things up a little and instead of going to our favorite evening hang outs and spending boat loads of moneys, we decided we were going to make our own gourmet lunch and share a bottle of vino, then pretend we were kooky old southern biddies swirlin' our wine, twirlin' our pearls and gossipin' about the neighbors.

It was mostly a success...I mean we had to make our own lunch of course -a super tasty and spicy vegetarian taco salad. We had picked up a bottle of Lucky Duck Malbec on a very frugal whim - we didn't expect much because our palates haven't quite fallen head over heals in love with reds yet and it was only $4.

Yeah - that's not a typo FOUR DOLLA WINE! And it ain't even boone's farm. (We of course purchased a few back up bottles of wine we were positive we loved, just in case.)

Veruca and I have a little bit of experience under our belts in regards to cheap wine. And it's usually never a good experience, but as we've learned in our vino adventures...just when you think you know what to expect - the unexpected kicks you in the teeth. This wine was more like a bitch slap, but whatevs, it wasn't as bad as the price tag led me to believe.

It was actually not too bad - kinda fruity, not super acidic, no weird minerally mouth feel. It was just wine...except for when you got a bite of zucchini with your swig. That was kinda weird. Almost like the zucchini was the anti-flavor, it sucked all the good out of the wine and left you with a bit of a skim-milk mouth feel. No real flavor, but sort of an almost filmy feeling on your tongue. (I can hear the obligatory "That's what SHE said!" comments going through everyone's heads now...)

I'm torn between Back in the Barrell and Cellar of Celebration - because it wasn't GREAT, but it wasn't bad either... so go scrounge the change from out of your couch, pick a bottle of this up from your local wally-world and let us know what you think: Exalted or Atrocious?

Real Life Convo with Mama Veruca

In the short time Violet and I have been sharing our vino experiences with the general public, I've noticed that my mother has this weird sort of sixth sense for choosing good wine. I don't know her method for picking bottles and honestly I don't think she has one. What I do know is when Mama Veruca hands me a glass of wine chances are it will be memorable, for example she picked an insanely good Sofia Coppola 2008 white for my b day; and a really banging Merlot (I can't remember the name of) she brought to Xmas. However, despite her seriously spot on choices, sometimes like the best of us she does stumble. Here is a portion of an actual conversation we had while finishing up our Christmas shopping:

Veruca(V): I've been looking for that Sofia but can't seem to find it. Tried anything decent lately?

Mama Veruca ( M.V. ): I tried a Merlot.

V: Oh? Was it good, what kind was it?

M.V. : I don't remember the name, but it had a bear or wolf on the label.

V. : The one with the bear vomiting fire? Toasted Head? I've seen that at Publix and thought about trying it.

M.V. No it wasn't that and I didn't get it a Publix. It was really gross.

V. Ok? ...where did you get it?

M.V. Save a lot.

V. (./facepalm) Mom! Don't buy wine at Save a lot.

If you don't know what Save a lot is trust me, you don't want to buy wine there! Now despite this stumble I will randomly be revisiting Mama Veruca and her wine picks a couple times this year, you all will get to know her better, well at least her amazingly astute wine choices. Oh and maybe if we are nice we can all convince her to make me a pan of her sinfully delish lasagna too!

XOXO
Veruca Vino

Look Ma, I'm a Real Wino!

Thanks to www.corkd.com for giving us an awesome opportunity to rant about even more randomness!

We definitely look forward to sharing even more wine awesome with everyone via cork'd and here!

Yum Yum Peter Brum!

You know that feeling when you meet someone special, its all new and different and all you want to do is make-out and pretend everything else doesn't exist? I believe Violet and I found that equivalent in a wine, Peter Brum 2008 Dornfelder Vino Noir. We love this wine. I mean love, love, love this wine. Under normal circumstances this would be a "Bish bettah keep her hands off mah man!" situation, but since we love all of you - we'll share.

The first time we tried it Violet asked our server for a sweeter red. She came back with a sample of this yumminess. We nibbled some Margherita Pizza and drank some of this amazingness. It's smooth, it's sweet, it's fruity - like cranberries, blueberries and raspberries all got mushed together. There's not a lot of acidity and the sweetness is mild enough that it's not overpowering to the point where you get sticky mouth after a few glasses. Since our first date with Peter Brum we've been out a few more times...even a lunch date with Mr. Violet (Kinky!). Most recently we had dinner in...



Talk about your perfect romantic evenings!!

This wine definitely goes into the Cellar of Celebration (hell we might even give him the keys to come and go as he pleases). Not only is this our new favorite red - it goes with everything we've eaten it with, and it's under $15 a bottle. Unfortunately, we've only found one place in town that sells it... and we're not telling!!!

XOXO
Violet and Veruca Vino