I know at first glance when you see the Alexander & Fitch label you must think "Oh, Hipcheck must have found some small cool new winery that will soon attain cult status." But truth be told-this is a wine that was recommended by some schmo on one of the many varied hockey forums I lurk at occasionally and was purchased at a local Trader Joe's for a whopping $5.99 a bottle. I decanted it and let it breathe a bit and even then had "$5.99 a bottle" written all over it. It had a nose that was somewhere between turpentine and paint thinner(if there is a difference...they may be the same thing but anytime the nose can be compared to an industrial solvent you know the overall review isn't going to be glowing by any stretch). I couldn't really single out any particular fruits and with its reduced 13.2% alcohol level its was almost an exercise in futility. If only I would have been smart enough to buy a case of the Indigo Hills Cab when it was available at the local wine club for $6.19 a bottle.
To the food-The salad was romaine lettuce served with a creme sherry vinaigrette blended with sun dried tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, and sliced Haas Avocado. Very Nice! The creme sherry vinaigrette was much more delicate then your average vinegar and would have probably been been better served with some mixed baby greens but with a family budget you cant have it all.
For the pizza we couldn't decide if we wanted to do it Italian Style with Sweet Soprasata or Shrimp w/Parsley sprinkles so we went half and half. The salami portion went very well with my ever so artistic leaning soprasata searing to a nice bacony crunch working well. The shrimp may have been more flavorful had I done some type of quicky marinade but even on its own without any seasoning or marinade still had a nice delicate flavor. The heating method(slow roasted on top of pizza) actually gave it the perfect texture. Not at all too shabby considering it was made almost solely with leftovers! Let that be a lesson in budgeting frugality-pasta on monday or tuesday with the remaining sauce serving as pizza sauce later in the week. How this entry went from a serious wine and food review to Hints from Heloise is beyond me.
5 comments:
well, no wonder you didn't like it. drinking it with salad. try it again with a steak. it is a wonderful finishing touch to those heavy red meat dishes one serves at viking gatherings or college reunions. you might reconsider.
You must have no taste in wine whatsoever. I drink wine every day, in all price ranges, and this has to be one of the best cheap bottles of wine I've had in years.
You are way off, Alexander & Fitch's Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the best kept secrets around. It's a great deal at only $5.99 a bottle, and you better buy it by the case if you find it, because it's constantly sold out at our TJ's. For you to compare it to turpentine is a real injustice, maybe you should critique beer instead of wine.
You are way off, Alexander & Fitch's Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the best kept secrets around. It's a great deal at only $5.99 a bottle, and you better buy it by the case if you find it, because it's constantly sold out at our TJ's. For you to compare it to turpentine is a real injustice, maybe you should critique beer instead of wine.
I have to chime in with the others that I quite enjoyed this cheap little wine, too! I understand the smell problem you had, though. I just had a 2007 bottle of it, and there was something menthol going on in the nose, but once I got past that, it was pretty interesting. I've quoted your review of this wine on my own site: I like to include other bloggers' thoughts for my readers.
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