What's The Wino Drinking: Evodia 100% Grenache

Boozers, The Wino, for so many vapid reasons, is super in to budget-friendly wines that don't suck. And her latest find, 2014 Evodia, certainly fits that bill. She admits, she was initially attracted to it because of its distinctive blue label (Boozers, would you expect any less?), but she brought it home (a) because it was 100% Spanish Grenache, which The Wino loves, and (b) its price was oh-so-very-nice. It's deep, dark berry fruit is enhanced by herbal, peppery, crushed-rock notes. It's lovely, Boozers. And you can get it at Safeway (if you're in Seattle) for somewhere between 8 and 10 bucks. Dreamy drinking, indeed!

Cheers.

These Glasses Seem Gigantic

Boozers, is it just The Wino or do these wine glasses seem ridiculously large? They are Riedel glasses designed for drinking Cabernet Sauvignon. The Wino had to buy new ones because she broke all her other wine glasses (you know why).

The Wino, of course, knows that certain shapes and sizes enhance the wine drinking experience. And she knows that shapes and sizes can get pretty granular in terms of red vs. white, or Burgundy vs. Cabernet, etc. What she did not know is that the size could be or needed to be so very, very huge. What's The Wino to do? It's simple, Boozers, she's going to do what any good boozy-boozer would do: crack open a nice bottle of Cabernet and start drinking.

UPDATE 6/7/2016: The Wino just ran into this article via The Kitchn about wine glass shapes according to Sommeliers. Yes, Boozers, there's a bit of science backing the idea that the shape and size of your glass enhance a wine's flavor, but the notion that you need the 'right' glass to properly enjoy wine is primarily marketing hype from Reidel used to promote its fancy glasses.

Yup, The Wino totally fell for that marketing hype when she originally wrote this post. The joke's on her. C'est la vie! She at least feels vindicated by the article. She was right, her new wine glasses are indeed unnecessarily large. 

Riedel Cabernet glasses juxtaposed with a standard IKEA red wine glass. Huge, right?

What's The Wino Drinking? Momokawa Pearl

Eighteen percent alcohol, boozers, so consider yourselves warned. Momokawa Pearl unfiltered sake tastes like a piña colada without the sickly sweetness. It's rich and tropical, and it's rice wine. Kanpai!

The Wino Thinks You Should Stop And Buy Some Wine

Boozers, yesterday's weather was a tease. It was a clear, sunny, 60-degree day. It felt like spring. The Wino went for a run around Greenlake and optimistically washed her car (ha!). Today's weather, on the other hand, is an excruciating reminder that it's still winter. In short, it's rainy and cold as shit. The upside? There's wine. And super-fantastic places to shop for wine. For example, there's Esquin and The Wino just happens to be in the neighborhood...

Waiting at a red light.. Behold, Esquin!

Magical Mince Pies

Boozers, even when a mice pie is not very good, it's still pretty darn good.

The Wino tried making her own in December and has failed to post about it until now. Here they are in all of their improvised glory (please forgive the medicore photo). The Wino had neither the baking equipment nor the skill to do a proper job but they ended up turning out OK. The Wino swears that all of her friends said they were delicious.