Penny Black's Little Brother

So I had to go and renew the license plates on our car yesterday and was amazed that there was NO LINE! Unheard of!!!! So that meant that I had about a half an hour of free time.
What to do, what to do....

Go to the LCBO! (Liquor store for those outside of Ontario)

So I made my way home and did some of the chores that you have to do when you get home. Those chores involved putting on some shorts as it was 26 degrees C yesterday, finding the corkscrew, grabbing a wine glass, putting on some music and pouring a glass.

One thing that I have noticed with all the Post House wines is they all initially look and smell corked. The cork is soft, and heavily stained which always worries me.

Not thinking much of it, I head out to the front porch and start to enjoy.

My response to this one is WOW!

This is a blend of 32% Shiraz 32% Pinotage 18% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18%Merlot.

 I completely get why they call it Bluish Black. I looks like a cross between blueberry juice and squid ink. It has a big nose and wonderful palate. A nose of mulberries, red currant and almost over ripe strawberries, but not in a bad way. Also has lots of allspice and black pepper. The palate is almost identical to the nose with a bit more pepper on it. It is full bodied, rich wine with supple soft tannins for easy drinking especially at 14.5%

This one is well worth seeking out at $14.95!

Enjoy a glass.
Matt

To Concord or Not to Concord?

So I'm sure that many of you love a little grape jelly on your PB sandwich, but for me, it is the perfect combination.

Usually grape jelly is made out of concord grapes which is really yummy. I can remember as a kid, my mom making grape jelly by putting the cooked grapes in an old pillowcase (at least that's what I called it) and squeezing out all the juice into a pot to then transfer it into jars and sealing them with wax.

I'll probably get in trouble if my mother reads this, but it was one of the things, looking back, that my mother made well.

A couple of weekends ago, our family was on a weekend trip to a small ski town in Western New York state for my wife's job, and I made sure to stop into the only winery in town.

We went in and did a variety of tastings and many were okay wines. None of them I would particularly search out again. We did walk away with a bottle of their Syrah which wasn't bad, however a bit over priced.

But one of the things that really got to me was that they had a number of wines that were either 100% concord or a blend of concord and other grape varieties. 

I've gotta say that every time I tasted them, it reminded me of when I was a kid and sneaked in the kitchen at my Presbyterian church and drank the communion wine. Yes I did that. Here was the thing. It wasn't wine at all but 100% pure Welch's Concord Grape juice.

I guess this is my point. The wines that I tasted were "100% New York Grapes" and that was very evident. Not that all New York wines are all bad, just the ones that I've had.  

So in my humble opinion. To Concord or Not to Concord?

Not.

Enjoy a glass.

Matt