2012 Bonarda from Mendoza, Argentina

At a glance:

Country: Argentina

Region: Mendoza

Grape(s): Bonarda

Year: 2012

Maker: Zuccardi

Price:  14.99

In my pursuit to find new wines and new grapes, I almost always try to leave a wine store with at least one varietal I’ve never had. It was no different a few weeks back, and after stocking up on some of my more predictable selections (dry whites from France, west coast pinots) I picked up a bonarda from Argentina. It found its way to the back of my wine storage where it lived for a few months before resurfacing recently.

2015 Chardonnay from Quinta de Monasterio

At a glance:

Country: Mexico

Region: Ensenada

Grape(s): Chardonnay

Year: 2015

Maker: Quinta de Monasterio

Price:  18.99

I was in Ensenada, Mexico for a bachelor party a little while back and managed to work some wine tasting into that trip. Although I was pushing wine tasting as the central weekend theme, my two traveling companions were more interested in surfing than tasting, so I only managed to convince them to hit up one tasting room, which happened to be the same place we were spending the night – Quinta de Monasterio.

2014 Rara Neagra from Moldova

At a glance:

Country: Moldova

Grape(s): Rara Neagra

Year: 2014

Maker: Chateau Purcari

Price:  15.99

There are some settings that lend themselves to a really good wine. Late in the evening, after an adult rec league soccer game, and accompanying nachos and brocollini is not, at first glance, that kind of set up. But it turns out the bizarro combo actually works, and a good wine from a new place can shine through.

2013 Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir

At a glance:

Country: USA

Region: Santa Barbara County

Grape(s): Pinot Noir

Year: 2013

Maker: Nielson (by Byron)

Price:  14.99

I like pinot noir and I also happen to be cheap, so I have bought my fair share of inexpensive pinots hoping for a miracle. The truth is that we have not had the world’s best luck with inexpensive pinot noir. Aside from a few good bottles from Oregon under $17, most of our ventures into the inexpensive wines of that varietal have been a little dodgy. So, when I brought home a $15 Santa Barbara County pinot noir, expectations were decidedly low.

2012 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

At a glance:

Country: USA

Region: Willamette Valley

Grape(s): Pinot Noir

Year: 2012

Maker: Omero

Price:  21.99

I have liked wine for a while, but the first wine that made me want to buy a case of it was a pinot noir from Omero. I found it in a wine store in Seattle, and brought it along with a few other bottles back to DC. When we were back in the Pacific Northwest last summer, we got a case of Oregon pinots, and made sure to have a good amount of Omero pinots in the bunch.

Dutch Oven Sourdough

Ingredients:
100g sourdough starter
375g water (divided into 350g and 25g)
500g flour (I used a mix 100g rye, 250g wheat, 150g white)
10g salt

Equipment:
Dutch Oven

Bread always intimidated me – I made it once a few years back and it was terrible, and so I followed that age-old saying: if you don’t immediately succeed, just quit because it’s not worth it. So that was my thinking, and it worked pretty well until I moved to a city where there weren’t really any good bakeries nearby. My first foray into baking was a no-knead bread, and once I decided I wanted to mix it up a little bit, I figured I should have a sourdough starter. I eventually stepped up to the Tartine sourdough recipe from the New York Times (link), but it’s a little time consuming, so I’ve adapted it. While it’s probably not quite as good as their recipe, it takes a lot less time, so it’s become my go-to busy weekend bread.

Non-vintage Red Blend from Sonoma County

At a glance:

Country: USA

Region: Sonoma County

Grape(s): Syrah (60%), Petit Syrah (28%), Grenache (10%), Viognier (2%)

Year: No vintage, Christo Lot number 2

Maker: Marietta

Price:  18.99

Every so often when I’m browsing in a wine store, especially in those moments when I look particularly zoned out or confused, wine store employees come to my rescue. When people ask me what I’m looking for, I almost never have a good answer (since I rarely enter a wine store with any purpose more specific than buying wine), so my default is just to ask them to show me a wine I might not have seen before. This happened a few weeks ago, and as a result I came home with a bottle of Marietta’s Christo, Lot number 2, a non-vintage red blend from Sonoma County.

2010 (mostly) Tempranillo Crianza from Rioja

At a glance:

Country: Spain

Region: Rioja

Grape(s): Tempranillo (90%), garnacha, (7%), graciano (3%)

Year: 2010

Maker: Hacienda Lopez de Haro

Price:  9.69

I think the first time I declared I was into wine was when I spent a year studying abroad in Madrid. Living in a shitty apartment with three other guys, all of us international students, I had plenty of free time and a university-provided 400 euro monthly stipend for food. If I had to do it again, I would have spent at least some of that at cool restaurants, exploring the options in a major European city.

2013 Pinot Noir from Costers del Segre in Spain

At a glance:

Country: Spain

Region: Costers del Segre

Grape(s): Pinot Noir

Year: 2013

Maker: Castell d’Encus

Price:  30.00 euros in Spain – not sure how much it would cost here

We first got into David Chang watching the PBS show Mind of a Chef (which we watched on Netflix, obviously), where he made amazing looking ramen and talked about other shit that was, in his words, insanely delicious. Anthony Bourdain also provides a great, winking commentary to the whole show, so if you haven’t seen it, go watch it, I’ll just wait.

2012 Côtes du Rhône Red Blend

At a glance:

Country: France

Region: Vacqueyras, Côtes du Rhône

Grape(s): Blend (50% Grenache, 40% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre)

Year: 2012

Maker: Clos des Cazaux

Price: 17.99

Usually I remember why I picked out a wine – maybe a new grape, an interesting blend, a different region, or a label with a hip looking font (that last one has happened more than I care to admit but sometimes it totally works out). I actually don’t really remember why I got this particular wine, a blend from the Cotes du Rhone region of France. Although I wish I could say it just materialized out of thin air, I probably bought it during a distracted moment at the wine store. These things happen.

We opened up this bottle a few nights back, alongside what has become one of our dinner staples – a cast iron skillet roasted chicken (shout out to Melissa Clark, whose recipe we use – link here). The wine was a little subdued at first, with a  texture that was borderline syrupy, although it certainly wasn’t sweet, just a little more viscous than most wines I’ve had.