Well folks, my post today isn't really about wine but it's about a wine accessory that you can use as an economical tool to keep your foods fresh, as well as your wine!
Most of you are probably familiar with the Vacu Vin, the device that is designed to keep the remainder portion of wine in the bottle fresh by pumping out the air and then sealing the bottle with a rubber stopper. There's a lot of controversy over it, some saying it works and some saying it doesn't.
Me, it seemed to work when I used to use it, but I don't use it anymore. I simply pour my wine into 187 ml sized bottles for individual portions, and that keeps the air out because the bottle is just the right size for one serving.
You've seen those food-saving bags, haven't you? The ones in which you place food, then use a vacuum device to pump out the air to keep the food fresh? Some have a motorized vacuum and some have a hand pump. Well all you really need is to buy some of these bags and then use a Vacu Vin for the pump. It fits and works perfectly!
I originally bought the one made by Reynolds, which had a battery-operated vacuum. The problem with that is the batteries wear out fast, it is noisy, and you have to position the device just so on the bag in order for it to suck out the air. You can do the same thing in less time and with more ease by just placing the Vacu Vin over the little area of the bag where the vacuum goes, then with a few pumps the air is gone!
It's great for keeping sliced deli meats and other things that are sensitive to air - just use a portion then seal the bag and pump out the air again. You can tell it works by looking at the bag.
Now, many of you are probably saying "duh" because you knew this already, but just in case you didn't.. use that Vacu Vin for double duty!
Okay, that's it for now, see you in another short while.. or long while.. or whenever the urge to write strikes.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Not a Pinot
Hey I am back but only briefly! I've been drinking wines consistently since my last post ages ago but have just been too lazy to write about them.
I felt I needed to do this short review as a public service, though. I bought a bottle of 2006 Cherry Hill Pinot Noir Papillon from Trader Joe's a few weeks ago. It's an Oregon wine.
Pouring it in the glass, it doesn't look like a Pinot Noir. It is too dark and too purple. It doesn't smell like a Pinot Noir. And it doesn't taste like a Pinot Noir, either. It is too heavy and textured, and tastes more like a Cab/Syrah mix.
To be fair, the wine buyer at the TJ's where I purchased it told me this was a "heavy" and "darker" Pinot Noir, and he was right. The VINTJS that they were selling is better than this one, if you are looking for a Pinot Noir with a more authentic character.
If you just want a decent red wine and don't care if it particularly tastes like the grapes it is made of, then this isn't a bad deal for $9.99 but if you're expecting a Pinot Noir, I'd say go elsewhere.
Okay, back to my hibernation now..
I felt I needed to do this short review as a public service, though. I bought a bottle of 2006 Cherry Hill Pinot Noir Papillon from Trader Joe's a few weeks ago. It's an Oregon wine.
Pouring it in the glass, it doesn't look like a Pinot Noir. It is too dark and too purple. It doesn't smell like a Pinot Noir. And it doesn't taste like a Pinot Noir, either. It is too heavy and textured, and tastes more like a Cab/Syrah mix.
To be fair, the wine buyer at the TJ's where I purchased it told me this was a "heavy" and "darker" Pinot Noir, and he was right. The VINTJS that they were selling is better than this one, if you are looking for a Pinot Noir with a more authentic character.
If you just want a decent red wine and don't care if it particularly tastes like the grapes it is made of, then this isn't a bad deal for $9.99 but if you're expecting a Pinot Noir, I'd say go elsewhere.
Okay, back to my hibernation now..
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Hello I'm Here For a Moment!
I'm making one of my now infrequent appearances just to wave at you and let you know I am still here and enjoying a glass of wine as always even though I am not writing to tell you about it.
But today I am.. I just feel like writing, and luckily it is about an enjoyable bottle I have been drinking over the past four nights. Tonight is the last 6 oz, sigh.
The wine is (was) the 2004 Murgatroyd from Twisted Oak Winery. I poured 1/4 of the bottle each into three splits for subsequent nights and sampled the remaining 1/4. That first quarter seemed rough and also on the high side alcohol-wise. Lots of fruit, but hot and with a good load of tannins.
On the remaining nights I drank it from a Riedel Sommelier Bordeaux glass (first night was from a Montrachet glass, which was probably a mistake) and gave it plenty of air time. That helped a lot because from then to the end, I had a nice, smooth wine. Lots of raspberry and black fruits that had a slightly tart cranberry edge to them to keep things interesting. The tannins were much more subdued and it had a nice balance of acidity.
Anyway, just wanted to do a bit of writing tonight and let you know about the Murgatroyd.
Now I will exit, stage left..
But today I am.. I just feel like writing, and luckily it is about an enjoyable bottle I have been drinking over the past four nights. Tonight is the last 6 oz, sigh.
The wine is (was) the 2004 Murgatroyd from Twisted Oak Winery. I poured 1/4 of the bottle each into three splits for subsequent nights and sampled the remaining 1/4. That first quarter seemed rough and also on the high side alcohol-wise. Lots of fruit, but hot and with a good load of tannins.
On the remaining nights I drank it from a Riedel Sommelier Bordeaux glass (first night was from a Montrachet glass, which was probably a mistake) and gave it plenty of air time. That helped a lot because from then to the end, I had a nice, smooth wine. Lots of raspberry and black fruits that had a slightly tart cranberry edge to them to keep things interesting. The tannins were much more subdued and it had a nice balance of acidity.
Anyway, just wanted to do a bit of writing tonight and let you know about the Murgatroyd.
Now I will exit, stage left..
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Living Off My Rep'
As is obvious from a quick scan of my site, I hardly do any sort of updating here. I still have a glass of wine per night (which equates to 7/4 wine per week since each glass is 1/4 of a bottle) but I haven't felt particularly motivated to do any wine-related writing. In fact I have not felt motivated whatsoever to write about things wine-ish.
I haven't gone surfing around wine-related sites either. I don't even know if Gary V still looks the same or if he has branched out into reviewing books or whatever. But today I happened to glance at the Alltop page for wine reviews and noticed that I am still on their list of sites. Not only that, but I am sitting in a respectable 24th position!
I have no idea how they rank their sites but I do know there are plenty mo' better ones than mine that are down below yet there I am, in the top 25. I guess it must be due to my legendary reputation among the wine blog world. Who can forget such memorable posts as the ones I did before I flaked onto other things, such as.. well, I don't remember right now but they were pretty clever back in their day.
Seeing that Alltop page gave me a chuckle and inspired me to write a post for today. And also inspired me to post the YouTube below (I know it's a repeat but what the heck.. it suits the mood).
Those very few of you who subscribe to this blog - getting a notification of a new post from me must have been like a flickering signal from a ham radio.. could it be? Is it a real post or just interference caused by weather balloons? Zut alors! See you in another lengthy length of time!
I haven't gone surfing around wine-related sites either. I don't even know if Gary V still looks the same or if he has branched out into reviewing books or whatever. But today I happened to glance at the Alltop page for wine reviews and noticed that I am still on their list of sites. Not only that, but I am sitting in a respectable 24th position!
I have no idea how they rank their sites but I do know there are plenty mo' better ones than mine that are down below yet there I am, in the top 25. I guess it must be due to my legendary reputation among the wine blog world. Who can forget such memorable posts as the ones I did before I flaked onto other things, such as.. well, I don't remember right now but they were pretty clever back in their day.
Seeing that Alltop page gave me a chuckle and inspired me to write a post for today. And also inspired me to post the YouTube below (I know it's a repeat but what the heck.. it suits the mood).
Those very few of you who subscribe to this blog - getting a notification of a new post from me must have been like a flickering signal from a ham radio.. could it be? Is it a real post or just interference caused by weather balloons? Zut alors! See you in another lengthy length of time!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Flu
Sorry that I haven't posted in a while, but I came down with a case of the Wine Flu.
Joe Biden didn't make things any better, flapping his jaws on national television telling everyone not to drink wine in any enclosed area, and that people shouldn't even take wine to school with them. Obama and his cohorts had to move quickly to do their damage control on him before the angry winemaker's lobby started blasting back at our gregarious number two man.
Now the expression on some of your faces indicates confusion. Monkuwino, you're talking about Wine Flu??? That's the first I've heard of that. I thought it was Swine Flu, not Wine Flu.
That's understandable but the confusion really comes from the White House, once again. The official announcement of this pandepidemicamonium came from an aide who had been listening to George Gershwin tunes on his Ipod right before he spoke to the public. So caught up in one of Gershwin's more popular recordings, "S'Wonderful," he started adding an "S" in front of other words and as you can now see, "Wine Flu" came out of his mouth as "S'Wine Flu."
Too embarrassed to admit his mistake, the aide just left it alone and let the press run with it.
Public service announcement: to protect yourself from this disease, just wear a gauze mask over your nose and mouth when you drink any wine until you get a signal from the government that the coast is clear. This also has the added benefit that you will not need to decant your wine beforehand.
Joe Biden didn't make things any better, flapping his jaws on national television telling everyone not to drink wine in any enclosed area, and that people shouldn't even take wine to school with them. Obama and his cohorts had to move quickly to do their damage control on him before the angry winemaker's lobby started blasting back at our gregarious number two man.
Now the expression on some of your faces indicates confusion. Monkuwino, you're talking about Wine Flu??? That's the first I've heard of that. I thought it was Swine Flu, not Wine Flu.
That's understandable but the confusion really comes from the White House, once again. The official announcement of this pandepidemicamonium came from an aide who had been listening to George Gershwin tunes on his Ipod right before he spoke to the public. So caught up in one of Gershwin's more popular recordings, "S'Wonderful," he started adding an "S" in front of other words and as you can now see, "Wine Flu" came out of his mouth as "S'Wine Flu."
Too embarrassed to admit his mistake, the aide just left it alone and let the press run with it.
Public service announcement: to protect yourself from this disease, just wear a gauze mask over your nose and mouth when you drink any wine until you get a signal from the government that the coast is clear. This also has the added benefit that you will not need to decant your wine beforehand.
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