woot

Guys, guys! We’re totally joking about the Vampire Vineyards being owned by vampires. We’re just normal people. With sharp cuspids.

When I saw the 2007 Vampire Vineyards, Dracula Pinot Noir on wine.woot!, I knew immediately that it was meant to be. ~~Edward Cullen~~ Vampire Vineyards, Pinot Noir… if my favorite fictional character and favorite type of wine were harmoniously coming together, well then it would be a crime not to indulge!

And along those same lines, the Vampire Vineyards 2007 Dracula Pinot Noir is definitely not made out of blood. I mean, why would we make a wine out of blood? That’s ridiculous! Maybe if we were vampires that would make sense, but, as has already been established, we’re not. At all. We’re totally normal guys. Just a bit pale.

Made from grapes picked before sunrise under the Master’s supervision, this wine highlights the incredible nuances and flavors obtainable from pinot noir grapes grown in the Santa Maria Valley. This cuvee was placed in French Oak barrels for 18 months prior to bottling, leading to a rich and concentrated wine with raspberry, dark cherry and pomegranate flavors–smooth and well rounded, with forward fresh fruit.

Now, when people talk about flavors or notes or whatever, typically I have no idea what they’re referring to. And when I do, I sure as hell can’t pick out the individual flavor. With this wine, however, there was something distinctly fruity about the flavor. Maybe my taste for wine is sharpening, or maybe it’s because of the wine itself (probably the latter). Either way, I tasted something. I’m not exactly sure what that something was, but my brain definitely registered it as a food of the fruit variety.

This red wine might just have the least amount of dryness of any red I have had the pleasure to drink. It’s got a very mild flavor, but it only took a couple sips to make my chest all warm and happy. So far, my first two purchases with wine.woot! have been better than most of my restaurant experiences combined. This only confirms my desire to stay home and drink in my basement as opposed to leaving the house.

I think I must go to vampire.com and check out Vampire Vineyards’ other selections as well. Also, they have a lounge in California, (Doesn’t that sound fancy? A lounge?) so next time I’m moseying through The Golden State, I am definitely stopping at this little gem for a quick ~~bite~~ taste.

These 2006 Idus de Vall Llach, D.O.Q. Priorat, Spain comes from vines that grow on rocky slopes, high above sea level. The impressive angles and terrain mean that no mechanical devices can be used… which means some guy’s out there, walking diagonal over the rocks all day, pulling grapes off tiny bonsai-gnarled vines. Probably in shoes made entirely of thorns. While also wearing poison ivy underwear. Apparently just how they roll in Barcelona.

I’ve gone through a lot of phases in my life. Nail polish, shoes, lip gloss, perfume, jewelry…

My most recent phase is a wine phase. I have really found a love for a great red wine, so when Nick first introduced me to woot!, I was excited to discover they had a wine.woot! If you don’t know what woot! is, then click on the links I just painstakingly entered, because time is money, and money means more wine.woot!, and it should be clear where my priorities currently reside.

Now, when Nick shops on woot! he buys things like vacuums, laptops (technically I purchased the laptop), flash drives (okay, I guess I bought one of those too), and coolers. Me? I purchase booze.

My first purchase off wine.woot! just happened to occur the first time I visited the site. I’m usually intimidated when it comes to purchasing wine because 1) I know absolutely nothing about wine, grapes, vineyards, tannins, textures, or anything else like that; and B) I’m super picky about red wine, and every time I try to explain to people what I like, they try to feed me some line about how it’s not the nature of red wine or some bullshit like that. For me, I like to have a sweet wine that isn’t so dry it makes the inside of my mouth shrivel and something not so strong as to have me reaching for a glass of water to erase the flavor.

The down side is, somebody’s going home exhausted and in tears. The plus side is that you’re getting wine with the human touch.

Although I didn’t understand the technical details in the write-up of 2006 Idus de Vall Llach, I did get the woot! humor, and that’s what sold me on these two bottles. Or maybe it was the the desire to click the “I want one!” button for the first time. I guess we’ll never have the answer.

Ruby red with mineral tones, aromas of black licorice, marzipan, nutmeg and allspice, and flavors of figs, molasses, caramel and a rich fruit compote.

Wut? I don’t even know what half those items are. When I reread this a day after ordering, I thought I must be crazy. There was no way my delicate palate would be able to handle this beverage.

Turns out I was wrong. This may just be one of the best wines I’ve ever tasted! So here it is, my practically professional quality review of this 40% Cariñena, 20% Merlot, 15% Garnacha, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Syrah wine: