A few words on wine...

I enjoy a good glass of wine.  When we travel, we often look for regional vineyards or wineries to stop in and do a tasting.  Over the past few years, my taste in wine had changed and improved.  I can now appreciate a rich, grapey red with a nice grilled steak that a few years ago I wouldn't even have tasted.

It took some time to educate my head as well as my palette and move past only enjoying an overly sweet wine. I enjoy wine so much that I started a "wine group" that meets once a month.  Planning the meetings, setting the table and finding a wine for us all to taste is something I also enjoy doing.

Over the past 3-4 years, our group has enjoyed $50 bottles as well as $4 bottles.  Price doesn't always mean that the wine is something that you're going to like!  And, a screw cap bottle or even a box wine can be even better than the bottles with "real" corks.

When choosing a wine for the group to sample, I often make the name on the label (along with the price tag) the criteria for what I choose.  The funnier the name, the more likely I am to give it a try.

 I found this on a recent trip and had to buy it because the label and description are so funny.

"Somewhere near the cool shadows of the laundry room.. Past the litter box and between the plastic yard toys. This is your time. Time to enjoy a moment to yourself. A moment without the madness. The dishes can wait. Dinner be darned."

It's bottled by Mad Housewife Wine Cellars in Manteca, CA.

Unfortunately, I chilled it when we got home and decided to "sample" it myself. LOL!  So, the group will miss out on this one.

As far as a rating, on a scale of one to five stars I'd give it a solid three.  It's not overly sweet, but it lacks a distinctive grape flavor.  It's slightly acidic and tastes good chilled right out of the fridge. This is one I call a "sippin' wine".  One you enjoy by the glass while relaxing on the patio.  It's definitely not one I'd pair with food.  I'd put it, in terms of sweetness between a moscato and a chardonnay.

I have eight more wines to sample from our last trip.  DH picked a few out that he knew he's going to enjoy.  His tastes run more to Cabernets, Shiraz and Merlots.  And, while I can drink a small glass of those, they tend to be too dry and oaked for my taste.

No post on Tuesday

Yesterday DH, (Fred) and I went to our state fair. So that's why there was no post done.

We try to go every year just to see the exhibits and buy great deals.  LOL!  I'm a sucker for watching the "amazing salsa maker" , "never sharpen again knife" and the "easy mop" demonstrations!

Although we will see what they're selling, about the only purchases we make are food items, especially if it's a Mom & Pop business.  Fred is a big time snacker so we buy things like the dried dip mixes from the smaller entrepreneurs.

It's a rare occasion for us to eat a meal at the fairgrounds.  Neither of us cares too much for the typical fried foods they offer and we prefer not to sit perched on the edge of a retaining wall trying to balance food on our laps while not getting stepped on by passersby or run over by a distracted stroller pusher.

But this year they offered something different...fried alligator on a stick!  And yes, as the old saying goes "it tastes like chiken' " LOL!  It was actually better than I thought it would be.  We've eaten alligator before at a local restaurant that served some Cajun dishes and offered alligator egg rolls, of all things.  It's something that I'd classify as "OK" but not something I would eat very often.  Here in Oklahoma, we're beef people!

I suppose most state fairs offer the same types of food, lots of hamburgers and corndogs but I swear, if there's a way to poke a stick inside something and fry it the food vendors will do it!  We saw chicken on a stick, shrimp on a stick, chocolate coated frozen bananas on a stick and even pizza on a stick.

They deep fry everything from catfish to candybars!  And by the way, deep fried candy bars are NOT my idea of how to eat chocolate!

Oklahoma has a pretty good wine industry going these days.  We enjoy taking day trips out to local vineyards and wineries and I've learned to appreciate the different types of wine they offer.  At this year's fair I believe there were five wineries in the Made in Oklahoma building so we had to see if they'd developed any new types.  Fred enjoys a dry red wine and I prefer more of a semi-sweet and a wine tasting is the perfect way to see what you like without having to get a whole bottle.

The current thing around here these days is frozen wine drinks.  I call them Icees for big people.  They're generally made with a red wine, some simple syrup and a little added water.  They remind me a lot of a frozen daquiri; something nice to have on a hot summer day.  A winery from Vinita had a peach bellini mixed up and that was my treat for the day!

The state fair is pretty much the end of summer to me.  Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before I know it!