November 24, 2008

Me encanta vino

I love wine. I love the taste of a really smooth pinot noir around the campfire or a grassy New Zealand sauvignon blanc on a scorching summer day. I adore wine-tasting with friends and living in California means I have an abundance of wine regions to visit. Not only does wine-tasting offer an excellent opportunity to sample local varietals, but it also provides much-needed solace from the city (not to mention, walking among the vineyards reminds me of my childhood spent picking grapes from the vines which grew all around our house).

I especially love trying different wines when I go out shopping, though lately I haven't been very successful with the ones I've chosen. I have a propensity to favor anything that has a creative, eye-catching label, but more often than not, the wines rarely live up to the originality of whatever artwork is adorning the bottle. Which is why when I do find a wine I love, I tend to drink it again and again and again, and this was the case for me over the weekend. For a house party with friends, I brought my standby chianti, Santa Margherita Chianti Classico. It's fruity and spicy without all those bitter tannins and utterly delicious. And the accompanying blurry photo is a testament to how much vino and delicious food I consumed that evening.

2 comments:

Mary-Laure said...

You'll have to teach me about wine - though I am half French, I was never a wine lover at all, and am totally ignorant about it...

Joanna said...

Mary-Laure, I so had you pegged as a wine-enthusiast. It's in your genes, after all! Believe me, I'm no wine expert; there is still so much for me to learn and taste! We should meet at a wine bar next time. Bodega in Santa Monica has a great wine selection and the food is not bad, either!