Why not purchase a winery or two?

When you're already a billionaire and own Fiji bottled water, a pistachio and citrus farm and Wonderful POMegranate juice, what's the obvious next step? Purchase a winery, of course, or two!

 

 In 2010, Stephen Resnick purchased Justin Winery in Paso Robles, California, a 160-acre vineyard which has a restaurant and hotel on the property.  In 2011, the same billionaire purchased Landmark vineyards in Sonoma County, California. Resnick was impressed with the wineries' "very good winemaker" and the fact that they fit the profile that Resnick was looking for - "affordable luxury".

 

 

Well, lucky for us, we were able to try nine of these Justin and Landmark wines because of a special event at my happy place this month!

 

 

Oh what better way to start it off than with Chef Mike's and potstickers!! YUM!

 

 

 

Justin Vineyards was created in 1981 by Justin Baldwin, who had a dream to create iconic Bordeaux-style wines in Central California. This vineyard in Paso Robles is high in the mountains near the Pacific Ocean with limestone soils which brings minerality to the wines. This area also has a microclimate offering the widest day/night temperature swings of any grape growing region in California. The hot days allow intense flavors and the cool nights create great structure and balance.

 

 

 

2013 Justin

Sauvignon Blanc

Central Coast

 

 

 

#1 white grape in Bordeaux

 

 

Due to the Paso Robles microclimate, this Sav Blanc is not your usual Sav Blanc. It wasn't nearly as grapefruit flavored as I am used to but it was still way too tart for my liking.

 

2013 Justin

Chardonnay

Central Coast

 

I had just tried the 2012 Justin Chardonnay for the first time last month while in the OBX and was not a fan. It was mesmerizing to me how much difference a year makes when I tried the 2013. It was not buttery at all like the 2012 and it all had to do with changes in the weather from both years - something that you just can't predict, obviously! 2012 was very warm with little rain. This 2013 was full of apples and pears with a slight tartness on the end but it quickly dissipated. Much better than the 2012 but still not my kind of Chardonnay. It was with this wine, though that we were told that Justin has a philosophy of making wines to pair with food. Should I have had cheese or seafood at this point in the tasting, I could have decided if they are successful.

 

 

Landmark Vineyards is the second winery that Billionaire Resnick purchased. The history of Landmark goes back to 1974 and was started by a group including Damaris Deere Ford, who is the great great granddaughter of John Deere. Yep, THAT John Deere.

In 1991, Damaris turned her attention to exclusively producing Chardonnay and created the first vintage of their flagship wine.

 

Landmark Vineyards

Overlook Chardonnay

2012

Sonoma, Monterey, Santa Barbara, CA

 

This wine was named for the Overlook family estate in Illinois and is a very elegant Chardonnay. It smells absolutely incredible with a hint of butter but not too much.  It's a very "happy" smell!

 My immediate thought was, "I want to turn it into a cookie. It's that good."

 

 

The wine rep explained that this wine is very labor intensive and time consuming.

She also said that Chardonnay is a very shy and delicate grape.

No wonder I like it so much; it's just like me.

Shy and delicate.

(Stop laughing.)

2010 Landmark

Damaris Reserve

Chardonnay

Sonoma

 

Named after Damaris, the founder of Landmark Vineyards, this is their most special Chardonnay. Each year the winemaker takes the best grapes of the two best vineyards - Lorenzo and Rogers Creek in the Petaluma Gap, to make this reserve.

 

It was by far the best of the Chardonnays of the night for me. I didn't want to stop smelling it because it was an overwhelmingly delicious smell of sautéed scallops!! I have never smelled a white wine that I didn't want to drink because I didn't want the smell to stop. (Plenty of reds have had this affect on me but never a white.)  Ironically, enough it didn't taste like scallops but had baking spices on the end. At $46, I thought for a split second and then got up and grabbed a bottle. This, indeed, is a very special Chardonnay and will be cellared for a special occasion.

 

2012 Landmark

Overlook Pinot Noir

San Luis Obispo/Sonoma/Monterey, CA

 

Landmark only makes Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. After trying both, I think they should stick to Chardonnay. I never waste wine and I try to enjoy every one of the special ones we have at events like this one, but I just could not drink any more of this one and gave it to the Evil Red Genius.

It had a nice smell with a hint of tobacco and smoke but its flavor was very tangy with a spicy cherry kick to it. I was not a fan. To show you how everyone's palette is different, however, our friend Susan who was with us said the smell was so nice she'd like to wear it as a perfume.

 

 

 

2012 Justin

Cabernet Sauvignon

Paso Robles, CA

 

While the photo of this bottle is upsetting to me, the wine itself did not disappoint whatsoever!

100% Cabernet with a smoky smell and flavor of rotten dark cherries. YUM!

Justin's flagship wine was only $26.99 and at that price, it definitely was coming home with me. 

 

 

At this point in the night is usually when the creative juices start flowing and I am anxiously awaiting the night-worthy quotes to come out. Sure enough and ironically, I don't remember the context but the Evil Red Genius mentioned that this wine "smelled like a smurf factory."

(You know you want to come with us next time now, don't ya? It's entertaining if nothing else!)

 

2011 Justin

Obtuse

Central Coast CA

 

The Obtuse is a dessert wine of which I was not fond.... Supposed to be a port style but it sure didn't taste that way to me.  More like Chloroseptic cough syrup with some sugar added.

 

Now comes the best of the night....

 

Not only did we get to try the 2011 Justin Isosceles from Paso which was incredible in its own right, but Arthur gave us an even better treat! He took the following bottle out of his personal cellar for each of us to try!

 

2008 Justin

Isosceles Reserve

Paso Robles

 

At $184 a bottle, I wanted to hug Arthur! In fact, after tasting it, I just looked at him and said, "Oh wow, I love you! I mean I loved you before but I love you even more now!" This was truly amazing that he decided to share this with those in attendance that evening. It was "jammy with an edge". 

 

I was in love with the smell and wanted to take my time even beginning to sip it.  This is a wine that I definitely wanted to savor and enjoy.

I actually recall saying I wanted to take it home and snuggle with it.

Yeah, I said that and I'd say it again.

"Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance."
-Benjamin Franklin

 

 

 

 

And the underdog wins.....

Friday was stressful. Shoot, this entire past week was stressful - at work, at home and on my heart.

 I needed a pick-me-up but didn't want anything extravagant or that required much thought or energy on my part.

Since I wasn't at work that day, I convinced the Evil Red Genius to leave early for a two-hour mental health break at my happy place.

 

While we partook of the usual Friday night tasting, earth-shattering quotes were born, such as

 

"That's a fallback Malbec"

and

"Stinky... the new sexy"

and

(my personal favorite)

"We're bringing stinky back!"

 

 

We decided to share two pizzettes of which one was the Meat Lovers which includes pepperoni, sausage, bacon and gyro meat. No ham! That's my happy place. Yuck - ham.

 

 

We could have chosen the stinky Pinot-like wine that was on the tasting table because it was quite enjoyable, but my gut told me to go with something else.

 

As I perused the wine shelves, I found something I had once, thanks to Connor's advice, but I didn't remember much about and which the Evil Red Genius had not tried before.

 

2012

False Bay

Pinotage

South Africa

 

 

A pinotage is a red grape that is almost exclusive to South Africa. Obviously, it is part Pinot but my inquisitive brain was curious as to what the "age" meant.

Upon further research, I found that it is a crossing of the Pinot Noir and Cinsaut grapes.

 (But there's no "age" on the end of Cinsaut, Val.

Yes, I know that. Be patient. I'm getting there.)

 

The pinotage grape was created in Stellenbosch, South Africa in 1925.  The pinot half of the name was given priority because of the prestige associated with Burgandy's Pinot Noir grape. The "age" suffix was taken from the end of "Hermitage" which is one of several local names for the French Cinsaut.

Poor Cinsaut was given the back end of the word because of its lowly status compared to the Pinot Noir grape.

 

 

I also found out that Pinotage is often considered somewhat of a poor man's wine or the stepchild of red grapes. Evidently, most Pinotages are really cheap and you get what you pay for. While this one was around $17, it definitely wasn't a cheap-tasting wine. It was light like a Pinot Noir, not as stinky as we like, but delicious. I also thought it was interesting that this grape is grown as a bush vine (comparable to a twisted bonsai plant) and not trellised. Supposedly, the looser, wilder and freer a vine grows, the fruiter and fuller its wines.

 

Pinotage may not be a sleek, sexy, internationally-acclaimed red, but it was just what I needed after a wretched week and as a complement to our yummy pizza.

 

"I'm a big fan of the misunderstood, the vilified, the underdog, the breaking of myths."
- Dominic Monaghan

 

A rectified college regret

I love football. Always have. I swear my father wanted a boy but when he realized I was a girl he was still determined I'd be a football fan. I am so thankful becuase I can't imagine my life without football, especially Washington Redskins football. I truly believe I was born with burgandy and gold blood coarsing through my veins.  Season tickets have been on the Moore side of the family for decades and most recently have rested in my parents' hands. 
Through the good and bad, we are Skins fans, diehards for life.

When I was in high school, I loved going to Friday night football games. I was, and still am, very close friends with who was our State Champion quarterback.
While I am an only child, I truly feel as if he is my brother and we treat each other like siblings - fighting and loving equally. I have a scrapbook with all of the articles from our championship year.
 Go BIG RED!

Tell me then, why did I go to a college that did not have a football team?
What on earth was I thinking?

Granted, only two colleges in Virginia have worthy football teams anyway but I'd even have fathomed a tiny little podunk team. Just give me a team of my own for crying out loud! I didn't live on campus either which also was probably a dumb move. However, I can't go back in time and honestly, I don't think I'd want to relive that part of my life again, anyway. 

But what I could do, and did do, was attend my first real college football game on October 4
and I fell in love!

 Maryland vs. Ohio State University (OSU)
at Byrd Stadium in Maryland

Now, being a lifelong Virginian, and living so close to the state of Maryland, you'd think I'd be a Maryland fan, right?
Nope.

In fact, because I have always been a Duke Blue Devils basketball fan, I have always held a dislike towards Maryland. Now that Maryland is in the Big 10 and out of the ACC, I definitely have no allegiance to Maryland and was easily an OSU fan on Saturday!



It helped that I went to the game with an OSU alum who is "all about" all things OSU. I must say it was an honor to be a Buckeye fan that day. I took pride walking around Maryland's campus in my "Go Buckeyes" shirt and his OSU baseball cap.  

We had great seats surrounded by other OSU fans, with the sun shining brightly to our left and a slight breeze throughout the game (Yes, it was obvious Grandmother approved, however I'm sure she was just as disappointed as we were when the band didn't come along.)

It was also nice of the Maryland fans to paint an "M" for "Moore" in one of the endzones.
What a nice welcome for me!  (Yeah, I know. Don't ruin it for me.)

It's hard to explain what a rush this entire day was for me. Spending a super fun day with an amazingly genuine man, watching OSU annihilate the Terrapins.

Fear the what? Yeah right, the turtle. 

"Ooooh scary turtle" said no one ever!

 I felt like a scout watching Joey Bosa #97 tear up the opposing offense.
Oh, how I dream of the day when he is in the NFL draft and pray the Skins pick him up.
Hello Ryan Kerrigan's twin!!

 I don't like hot dogs. In fact, I despise them, but I had one at this game and it was delicious. So was the pretzel we shared.

I even got to meet Archie Griffin, former OSU and Cincinnati Bengals running back, who is the only NCAA player to win the Heismann Trophy twice!!

O-H!!

I-O!!!

Let's go Bucks!



On this day, I felt a part of something bigger than myself and

 it was indeed a simple, yet incredible, pleasure. 

See how easy it is to make me happy?



A simple goodbye to September

What was the best way to usher out my birthday month?

 

By celebrating outdoors on an abnormally warm and sunshine-y Sunday afternoon in September

with the Evil Red Genius.

 

 

Of course there was wine.....

 

 

A delicious New Zealand Pinot Noir, to be exact.

 a light, earthy, vibrantly colored wine

 

  and cheese......

St. Andre Cow's Milk from France

Garrotxa Goat's Milk from Spain

Cloth Bound Cabot Cow's Milk from Vermont

Balsalmic Infused Cheddar

with cranberry chutney, walnuts and sliced pears and grapes........

and whole grain crepes with arugula, goat cheese, spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms......

 

 



 

and (deciding to forego dessert) more cheese......

“Maybe the truth is, there's a little bit of loser in all of us.

Being happy isn't having everything in your life be perfect.

Maybe it's about stringing together all the little things.”
― Ann Brashares

 

 

Cheers to the little things! After all they are the most simple and precious of all!

 





A happy introvert and her happy juice

Sometimes I just want to be home alone on a Friday night.

Not because I'm sad or have no friends, quite the opposite actually.

Because I just want to take pride in my introverted self and

enjoy the company of my heart on four feet.

Sometimes I want to dance barefoot in my living room singing to Katy Perry tunes

at the top of my lungs.

Sometimes I want to cook a delicious meal and sometimes I want to break open an incredible bottle of wine and have a glass or two with that delicious meal and enjoy it by candlelight on a Fall evening on my deck.....

 

....all by myself...

 

Why?

 

because I can.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That's all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at, and I sigh.”

-William Butler Yeats

I don't know much but I know what I like....

I don't know much about French wines.

Shoot, I don't know much about wine in general.

However, I do know what I like and when it comes down to it, isn't that all that matters?

 

One wine I like and it happens to be French is the

 

2012 Louis Jadot

Chardonnay

 

 

 

I'm told this 100% Chardonnay is a classic expression of the Burgundy grape.

Considering my goal is to find approachable and reasonably priced French wines, I suppose the luck of the draw served me well on this beauty!

 

While I favor oaked Chardonnays or at least a Chardonnay that has some hint of oak, I was hesitant on trying this one because there is absolutely no oak in it whatsoever. I have learned, though that when I have Chards with less oak, that I tend to enjoy them with food.

 

 

This very pale-colored wine has a fragrance of white flowers, white peach and honey crisp apples.

 I also tasted a hint of pear and grapefruit which gave way to the slight tart after taste.

Luckily, for my taste buds, the slight tart on the finish did not linger.

 

I came to the conclusion that this crisp and light Chardonnay is also a wonderful cooking wine.
Not only does it drink well from a glass while I am cooking but it also works well in a skillet while sauteeing mushrooms and onions.
 

 

Knowing that I am not extremely fond of 100% stainless steel Chards before I ever even opened this bottle of wine, I decided to make baked dill and parsley chicken with sauteed mushrooms and onions in white wine over angel hair pasta topped with fresh shredded gruyere cheese. Even if the wine was not to my liking, hopefully the dish would be.

Fortunately, I enjoyed them both on their own and paired.
 

 

 

What's the moral of the story, my friends?

 

I don't know much about wine.

All the knowledge I have is from a little research but mostly from tasting, tasting tasting.

Every time I try a wine I've never had before it's a new experience.

 It could be a good one, it could be a bad one.

It could be a life changing, mouth watering, almost orgasmic one.

It could be a nightmare in a bottle. 

But the bottom line is you won't know if you don't try.

 The more you try the more you'll learn and the more you'll find out what you like and equally,

what you don't like!

 

So get out there, have fun and try some wine!!

 

 

"Wine is just a conversation waiting to happen.”
― Jessica Altieri

 

Italian Stick Wine

 The sun starting to peek through the clouds after hours of rain, glistening on the waves below as they crash along the shoreline. Sandpipers scurrying along the sand. Seagulls singing from above.

A light warm breeze blowing and the smell of ocean mixed with sand and air.

 Where I am truly at peace - at the ocean on the Outer Banks of North Carolina

Absolutely nowhere on earth makes me happier.

My favorite simple pleasure.

Ti voglio bene! 

That means "I love you a lot" in Italian.

Italian?  Why am I speaking in Italian when referring to the ocean?

Obviously, because I tried an Italian wine while on vacation and enjoyed it immensely!!

I am not that fond of Italian wines but, just like French wines, I feel the desire to learn more about them and acquire a taste for them.  I have found one here or there that I could fathom but while on vacation I found one that I would definitely buy again.

At first glance, I was drawn to this wine because of the bottle.

 A simple, scripty label with a stick tied around its neck in twine. How unique!

I also can actually say "Montepulciano" and feel so fancy when it rolls off my tongue.

So much fun to say and I feel like I'm saying something incredibly sensual.

It spoke to me for some reason and I just had to buy it.

Who knew it would be so incredibly delicious!?

One evening while on vacation I decided to stay home and make dinner for the family.

Mom loves my lamb ragu (which probably isn't a true ragu but sounds better than lamb pasketti, or maybe it doesn't on second thought) and it was at her request that I prepared it for dinner.

Through some quick research, I found that this wine SHOULD pair well with lamb dishes so here came the moment of truth!

Successo!

Upon opening the bottle, I was almost speechless.

 The ocean gives me a sense of peace that I cannot explain.

The lamb ragu always makes my stomach and taste buds happy.

This Italian Stick Wine, as I have so affectionately begun to call it, gave me a sense of comfort in a bottle. It was a perfect combination - the ocean, the wine and the meal.

Just close your eyes, take a deep breath, release and let the contentment surround you.

A very deep-colored wine with very simple rustic notes of plum, leather and tobacco gave way to smoke, black pepper and blackberry flavors.  Paired with the lamb ragu, the "rustic" was less pronounced but the aroma bloomed like a perfect rose and the soft but well-rounded tannins made this a delightful wine to drink.

Ti amo!

Just as I long for my next visit to the ocean, I also shall long for my next bottle of this captivating yet serene Italian Stick Wine.

"Because there's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away.”

― Sarah Kay