Sunday, October 26, 2008

Pumpkin Carving and Pumpkin Ale

Pumpkin Carving



I have not dressed up for Halloween since I was a kid. I really want to dress up, but I want the costume to be really well done. I just never spend the time and effort it would take to have a good custume. Nevertheless, there is one thing Claudia and I always do for Halloween. We carve a pumpkin. For the past 2 Halloweens that we have spent in NY, we have carved one pumpkin each. This year we went with friends to a local pumpkin patch and picked out our pumpkins. Then on Wednesday we all got together and sliced those babies up ;) Take a close look at Claudia's pumpkin. It is the one with the wiggly mouth and oval nose who seems to be looking up into the sky. He has a baby pumpkin implaled on his stem, and he is pretty sad about it.



Pumpkin Ale

I hate beer. Blech! And I don't like pumpkin ale either, so I don't have anything to say about it.

:))

Happy drinking
-PMo

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Google's New Mail Goggles and New Grape Wine Goggles

Google's Mail Goggles Feature

Do you often find yourself emailing ex-girlfriends when you have had a few too many? When that happens do you find yourself composing an email that says "I LOVE YOU BABBY COM BACK ILUV U AWWW BABY COME BACCK"?

Well, now Google has you covered. They now have an option that activates itself late at night when you just might have had a drink... or 5. It asks you to do math problems before it will let you send an email. I am laughing just typing this it is so funny. Here's a picture.

Blogging about a New (to me) Grape, Prieto Picudo (with wine goggles)

Google should expand the functionality of mail goggles to Blogger. Actually no. If they did that, I would never get to blog about wine unless I set my math level really low. However, I am not sure I lose my mad math skills when I am drinking... But I digress.

I found this Spanish wine called Alaia, de La Tierra De Castilla Y Leon. Actually, my local wine shop recommended it, and I have to say it was a great recommendation. If you can find it and you like Tempranillo or Zin or Shiraz, you will probably like this. For the price point ($12), however, I would say it is better than any of those. What I noticed is that it can match those other popular grapes in fruitiness and boldness, but it has a lot more character than a $12 Zin. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, it is not 100% Prieto Picudo (some kind of Weevil?). It is 50% Prieto Picudo, 45% Tempranillo, and 5% Merlot.

I don't think I can talk about the complexities and the technical aspects of this wine. Not only have I had too much of it, but you will not care anyway…

Happy drinking

-PMo

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Politics Politics Politics, and Alberiño


Crazy Crazy Election

We have about 4 weeks until the most exciting election in recent memory. Claudia and I are addicted to this presidential election cycle. We constantly watch the news, and we have watched virtually every debate. That includes the primary and general election debates.

I am a YOUNG man. Very very young indeed, but even in my short years, I have seen a few elections. I have never, however, seen the population so excited and so engaged before. I am pretty happy about that, and I think after a lot of polarized years, we might do a little better than a 51% to 49% split this year. I will be happy to see that because I do not think the attitudes in the U.S. are really as black and white as they have seemed in recent years.

My last thought on the subject: I am glad to know that we will make history this year regardless of who wins.

The Spanish White, Albariño

I could not think of anything funny or witty to say about the wine I had tonight, so I thought instead to try to be helpful ;) Winter is fast approaching, but in case you live somewhere warmer than New York (not difficult), I have a good warm weather white to tell you about. If you are generally a Sauvignon Blanc fan, and have not tried the Spanish grape Albariño, you should give it a try.

The body, which is generally light to medium, is about the same as Sauv Blanc. The acidity is a little lower as is the minerality. The one I had tonight tasted like pear and Mellon with a slightly tart finish that resembled grapefruit. I could not quite put my finger on that finish actually. The one area where Sauv Blanc really out shines Albariño, however, is the nose. I did not get anything specific or interesting out of this one. It smelled nice enough, but it was nothing compared to the floral bubblegum bouquet of the average Sauv Blanc. Albariño goes well with lighter foods like chicken, fish, and pasta with pesto. It is also nice for quaffing.

Happy drinking,
-PMo

Monday, October 06, 2008

Strong Arms Shiraz Label by Mel Kadel

Only Fun Stuff Today

This is the label from the wine I spoke about in the blog yesterday, Strong Arms Shiraz. It is tiny and hard to make out, so I did a little more digging on the interwebz. What a wonderful thing, the net ;))


I found the name of the artist who created the image on the label. His name is Mel Kadel, and if you are interested in seeing more of his stuff, just click on his name. He has a lot of interesting stuff.

Happy brinking,
-PMo

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Portable Blogging and Stong Arms Shiraz

Portable Blogging

So I finally got an iPhone/iPod application that let's me blog on the go. So this is the first test of that application. That's really all I have to say about that. ;)

Strong Arms Shiraz

So, I found this Australian Shiraz that I had to buy because of the label. I am not usually prone to that sort of purchase, but in this case I could not pass it up.

So, because I found this lovely gem in my local wine shop (where I find myself quite often, and I know the owners) I was not worried that it might be a skunky loser behind a cute label. In fact it was quite nice. I should have written this right after I drank it, but since I did not I will have to call on my bad memory. It had typical eucalyptus notes with the jammyness of a CA Zinfandel. And yes, jammyness is a word. It can be used to describe how Jammy something tastes, or it can be used to describe the degree to which someone looks ready for bed.


Happy drinking,
-PMo