Roll your eyes, judge away; I've tried it and it ain't half bad.
Aside from the fact that the design is eager to reach out to the Target brand generation of cute and simple and also aside from the fact that they call it a Pinot Grigio but it tastes like a blend between Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat- it's quite enjoyable!
As it plainly states on the box, it's fruitiness is nice and so is it's lightness. Nothing complex, just a cute blond with pretty eyes. Goes well with dinner, dessert and on it's sweet little own.
The one moment I paused and judged myself was during the set up of the box itself. I had to push a hole into the side of the cardboard box, pull an upper lip down, reach in with fumbling fingers to pull the spout section of the wine "bag" out. It felt like a desperate attempt at setting up a home-made wine keg. Handstands not included.
On the other hand it was a perfectly balanced sweet white wine that does not disappoint.
And before you begin to consider me a redneck, know this: they were selling like hot cakes at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine event at Fort Mason two weeks ago. The temporary traveling mecca of wine snobs picked it like candy out of a full-to-the-brim barrel.
In a world of seriousness, its nice to take things lightly on occasion.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
The Sober Sister to Wine
Tea has many flavors, just like wine. Similar to different varietals of wine grapes growing in different environments and climates, teas are amalgamations of different flower petals and leaves from different plants from all reaches of the world.
Historically, both wine and tea has a rich background in origin, trade, diaspora and variety.
The one similarity they share that intrigues me the most is the way they play with your nose and tongue so well. Tasting a red wine slowly can reveal several berries, nuts and other random things from the world like tobacco, wood, moss, leather or gun powder. Depending on the tea you drink, you can smell ginger, rose, baby leaves from Japan or British gun powder (just like wine). It's so interesting and fascinating. I love playing with my senses with these two beverages!
My favorite teas vary so often but I usually arrive back at my basic green tea every time I get bored. Green tea, at the height of it's heat that you are just able to drink it, tastes delicious. I can get that fresh leaf taste with a slight crisp minty after-exhale. I love (accidentally) getting it on my fingertips and later throughout the day, smelling what resembles cigarette scent. There are several flavored green teas which are nice too, I enjoy peach. When it comes to the purists vs. the "whatevers"- I definitely enjoy fresh and loose tea leaves, however its more expensive and messy dealing with the disposal and cleaning. Not only am I cheap but I'm also lazy, so I cannot handle the extra work that luxury entails.
Ever open a fashion magazine at the height of a confused year and view a truly ugly model wear a truly ugly dress? But after a couple views, you think, "huh, its so ugly, its almost cool"- well that, in tea form, is oolong. It is so bitter and weird tasting (gun powder!) that its good. And even better yet, because of it's bitterness, it is complimented naturally with sugary treats. I remember taking tea breaks when I worked at a Real Estate office; the boss' favorite tea was Oolong, and he would invite all the admins into his personal office and share tea and cookies at exactly 3pm. About five minutes later, he would dismiss us and we'd go back to filling the printer and folding fliers.
The one tea that has been the most entertaining is blooming tea that opens (a flower of tea leaves sewn together like a flower) when you pour the hot water into the glass pot. My Aunt had a birthday tea party at the Ritz in San Francisco a few years ago and we enjoyed several teas, champagnes and petit fours. Since I've already had a wine-tasting party in the past two years and since I just received a gift of blooming teas from the very same Aunt, I plan to have a tea tasting party soon. So, of the few and far between that read these blogs, I'd love to start inviting you to a party this spring, to taste these teas, have some champagne and sweets and a few laughs.
Cheers!
Historically, both wine and tea has a rich background in origin, trade, diaspora and variety.
The one similarity they share that intrigues me the most is the way they play with your nose and tongue so well. Tasting a red wine slowly can reveal several berries, nuts and other random things from the world like tobacco, wood, moss, leather or gun powder. Depending on the tea you drink, you can smell ginger, rose, baby leaves from Japan or British gun powder (just like wine). It's so interesting and fascinating. I love playing with my senses with these two beverages!
My favorite teas vary so often but I usually arrive back at my basic green tea every time I get bored. Green tea, at the height of it's heat that you are just able to drink it, tastes delicious. I can get that fresh leaf taste with a slight crisp minty after-exhale. I love (accidentally) getting it on my fingertips and later throughout the day, smelling what resembles cigarette scent. There are several flavored green teas which are nice too, I enjoy peach. When it comes to the purists vs. the "whatevers"- I definitely enjoy fresh and loose tea leaves, however its more expensive and messy dealing with the disposal and cleaning. Not only am I cheap but I'm also lazy, so I cannot handle the extra work that luxury entails.
Ever open a fashion magazine at the height of a confused year and view a truly ugly model wear a truly ugly dress? But after a couple views, you think, "huh, its so ugly, its almost cool"- well that, in tea form, is oolong. It is so bitter and weird tasting (gun powder!) that its good. And even better yet, because of it's bitterness, it is complimented naturally with sugary treats. I remember taking tea breaks when I worked at a Real Estate office; the boss' favorite tea was Oolong, and he would invite all the admins into his personal office and share tea and cookies at exactly 3pm. About five minutes later, he would dismiss us and we'd go back to filling the printer and folding fliers.
The one tea that has been the most entertaining is blooming tea that opens (a flower of tea leaves sewn together like a flower) when you pour the hot water into the glass pot. My Aunt had a birthday tea party at the Ritz in San Francisco a few years ago and we enjoyed several teas, champagnes and petit fours. Since I've already had a wine-tasting party in the past two years and since I just received a gift of blooming teas from the very same Aunt, I plan to have a tea tasting party soon. So, of the few and far between that read these blogs, I'd love to start inviting you to a party this spring, to taste these teas, have some champagne and sweets and a few laughs.
Cheers!
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