December - $30 Bottle of wine

Sonoma: Southern California

Winery: St Francis
100 Pythian Road
Santa Rosa, CA 95409
Phone: 1-888-675-WINE (9463)

http://stfranciswinery.com

2006: Cabernet Sauvignon: Sonoma County

Price: $27.99
Bought at VONS: $15.00

Wine to me is passion. It's family and friends. It's warmth of heart and generosity of spirit. Wine is art. It's culture. It's the essence of civilization and the art of living. ~ Robert Mondavi, Autobiography, "Harvests of Joy"

Description:
Winemaker's Notes:
All the grapes in this classic varietal come from five Sonoma County appellations: Sonoma Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Russian River Valley, Alexander Valley and Sonoma County. Hand-picked from mid-September through early November, the fully ripened clusters are then crushed into temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and fermented from eight to fifteen days. The wine is then aged in different lots for fourteen to sixteen months in new American and French oak, and then blended. Once bottled, we hold the wine another four to eight months so that it’s fully developed by the time we release it. The result is a full-bodied Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon with rich mouthfeel, moderate tannins and deep color accentuating the taste of black currant, plum, blueberry and spicy oak.

Winegirl15:
I noticed that VONS like many other grocery stores are conducting wine sales. If you're a wine drinker, you can get great bottles at terrific prices right now. My local VONS was even selling Cakebread Chardonnay for 30% off marked price (Maybe I'll save that for my Napa region). :)

I didn't know much about St. Francis before I bought this bottle... But, I'm sure glad I picked it up. This bottle was smooth and flavorful. I definitely recommend this bottle of wine! And if your lucky, your local wine store or VONS might even have it on sale!

It's now time for me to branch into the expensive wines...@sonomawineries has given great suggestions, and I can't wait to go out there and try them out! Stay tuned for my next Sonoma region blog!

Good wine is a necessity of life for me.
~ Thomas Jefferson

Cheers,
xoB

October - $30 bottle of wine.

Temecula : Southern California

Winery: South Coast Winery
34843 Rancho California Road, Temecula, CA 92591
(951) 587-9463
website: http://store.wineresort.com/wild-horse-peak-petite-sirah

2006 Petite Sirah: Wild Horse Peak, Mountain Vineyards/Reservoir Block

Price: $38.00 / Case: $456.00

Description: Lavender earthly flavor, fig aroma with spicy oak, berries, damson plum, and aged in French Oak.

Winegirl15: Let me start out by saying why I chose Temecula this month… Temecula was the area I grew up going to with my parents, and it’s a place I frequent about every other month now. My parents belonged to Wilson Creek Winery when I was a child and would often go with friends, and my first winery that I belonged to was South Coast Winery. I call Temecula “A grown up’s Disneyland”, because it is the happiest place on earth... Or at least the happiest place close to where I live.

“Life’s too short to drink bad wine.”

My husband and I drank this wine while we were meeting with our financial advisor (he meets at our house quarterly). The ironic part was when we were talking about our savings account and what we generally spend our money on… even though my husband and I don’t spend thousands of dollars on wine, our advisor definitely gave us a look when I said that the current bottle we were drinking was about $40 (if he only knew the next bottle for another tasting was $95). Grant and I gave each other a look and giggled.

“What is the definition of a good wine? It should start and end with a smile.”

Comments on my chosen wine: This was a fantastic wine. I definitely suggest this wine for anyone that likes a fuller body wine. I thought it was a tad spicy which I like in a Sirah and I tasted the plum with every sip. I used my Vinturi aerator to open up the wine because I didn’t decant this wine. If you don't have one, I suggest you also buy one of those as well. You can get them at crate and barrel and at Bevmo. I have those websites on the side of my blog. So, click and buy!

I hope you all enjoy my blog! I have the other I'm finishing later today, and it will be posted tomorrow!

Cheers,
xoB