Beatrice's Blushes: Susana Balbo Crios Rosé of Malbec

It is amazing how some days seem to be unending, but when you look back how quickly time has gone by. We've now had Beatrice with us for a full month! It seems like just yesterday when she arrived. I remember the first few weeks of Ben's life seemed to go by so much slower. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas had never gone by so quickly before! Maybe having a four-year old around just makes time fly faster! Or maybe it was just the business of the holiday season. Having all of our families over to our house for the holidays was a nice way to spend Beatrice's first Christmas. Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts and Uncles all enjoyed spending time with the little girl! And as nice as seeing everyone was, a quieter house in 2016 will be a welcome change.

Crios 2014 Rosé of Malbec

This week we twisted opened a fun bottle of Susana Balbo 2014 Crios Rosé of Malbec (14.5% abv. Sample $13). Crios is Susana Balbo's fruit-forward value line brand and this rosé definitely delivers both. The grapes for this wine come from the Uco Valley in the southwest part of the Mendoza wine region in Argentina. The clear bottle shows off the deep vermilion color - almost more like a very light red than a lightly tinted rosé. It is extremely quaffable. Bright red fruit dominates the nose with aromas of raspberries, cherries and strawberries. It comes across slightly more serious on the palate with a backbone of spice and a medium body rounding out the generous red fruit flavors that keep the wine playful. At $13, this wine is a good value that should please many palates.

Wednesday's Wines: J Vineyards & Winery Chardonnay and Parker Station Pinot Noir

Holidays are usually filled with family, food and wine and this past week was no exception. A few bottles of whiskey also saw their demise (though I didn't even have even a dram). It was fun having my family in town, even for only just a few days. We drank well and ate well; Bison prime rib roast, roasted pheasant and applewood-smoked ham all found their way on to the dinner table.

Interestingly, it just so happened that all of the wine we opened came from California. We opened a few hard-to-find small production wines: we finished off the remaining bottles of Cameron Hughes Private Selection (notes coming) and had a selection of Zinfandels from Scherrer. However, some widely available Chardonnay and Pinot noir found their way in to our glasses, too.

J Vineyards 2013 Chardonnay

J Vineyards & Winery 2013 Chardonnay (14.3% abv. Sample $28)

This Chardonnay was opened while we waited for the bison rib roast to cook. 2013 was a year of abundance in northern California. The growing conditions were ideal and a lot of high-quality fruit was grown. This Chardonnay hails from the Russian River Valley AVA in Sonoma County. Harvest started in August (yes, that is early) for the grapes in this bottle. This entry-level J Chardonnay is medium yellow in color. Aromas of ripe pears and peaches waft up from the glass. The barrel ageing and malolactic fermentation so common in California Chardonnays became more pronounced on the palate as toasted marshmallows, spiced pears and dried pineapple flavors were complemented by a silky creaminess. This is a very nice Chardonnay that is not overdone and that lovers of the richer California-style Chardonnay will enjoy.

Parker Station 2014 Pinot Noir

Parker Station 2014 Pinot Noir (13.8% abv. Sample $15)

I was quite surprised with this Pinot noir from Fess Parker Winery that is a blend of grapes from California's Central Coast (Monterey County, Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County). Finding a high quality Pinot noir below $25 is not an easy task, yet this is textbook Pinot noir. Now don't get me wrong, this isn't Pulitzer Prize worthy, but it has a beginning, middle and end along with genuine Pinot noir varietal character that is often lost in less expensive Pinots. Some really good aromas of cherry, strawberry, earth, forest floor, cinnamon and vanilla can be detected. Cranberry and fruit punch flavors come across in the mouth. It went down easy and would surely be a crowd-pleasing wine at parties or with dinner. For the price, this is hard to beat in the California Pinot noir realm.

Wednesday's Wines: Donnafugata Sedàra

The wine bug bit me when I started drinking Spanish wine back in college. As I got in deeper I found myself reading books on France and its various wine regions. With the fundamentals down, I felt more comfortable exploring the more adventurous and irregular American wine regions. Sadly, I've only really dipped my toes in the sea that is Italian wine. I love the intricacies and nuances of Italian wine, but it really can be a confusing minefield. One of my goals this coming year is to dive deeper into the Italian wine world.

Beatrice's Blushes: Reichsrat von Buhl Spätburgunder Rosé Trocken

Anyone who has had children knows the first few weeks of the child's life is pretty monotonous. Sleeping, feeding and diaper changing. Repeat, but not necessarily in that order. That has pretty much been our lives for the past few weeks. One thing that we haven't had a lot of is fussing. Beatrice has been easygoing and really only fusses when I change her diapers with my cold hands. Now that her stomach is growing and she is eating more, she is starting to have a bit more gas and discomfort. However, that is usually quickly and easily resolved.

Wednesday's Wines: Ruby Trust Cellars Gunslinger

The red-wine blend category has been quite popular with consumers of late. According to market research firm IRI, the red blend category has increased sales by value 14% over the past year. I don't know why it has taken Americans so long to realize that most wine in traditional wine regions (i.e., those in Europe) were created from blending grapes. A broad palette of grapes allows winemakers to create a beautiful piece of art every year when certain varieties may make varietal wine difficult, if not impossible. However, this tiny shift in the U.S. away from the focus on varietal wines to blends is probably mostly due to clever marketing and American's sweet-tooth palate. Varietal wines aren't going anywhere, but it is nice to see more creativity in the wine industry to reach a broader audience. Many of the most popular red blends are produced from lesser-known (and less expensive) grapes and with a hint (or sometimes more) of residual sugar, but there are plenty made without any sweetness.

Beatrice's Blushes: Old Westminster Winery Alius

These first two weeks with Beatrice have been quite different from life as we knew it. She has been exceptionally easygoing, but taking care of two children is a whole new ballgame. Ben adores his sister more than anything, but he also now has competition for our attention. He gets his lack of patience from me, and I think having  to wait for attention has been difficult for him. For the most part he has done very well with this major change, but there have been a few issues at school. Interestingly, one of his classmates that he got in trouble with also has a brand new baby sister. Those two should have a fun-filled year ahead of them with watching their little sisters grow up!

Old Westminster Winery 2014 'Alius'

This week's Beatrice's Blushes is also something different from the usual. A skin-fermented Pinot Gris from Maryland that Old Westminster Winery calls Alius (11.3% abv, Sample). I first tasted Old Westminster's wine two years ago at the Drink Local Wine conference in Baltimore. The Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc I tasted were top notch. I was really impressed with a number of other Maryland wineries, but Old Westminster is near the head of the class.

Wednesday's Wines: Loscano Torrontés and Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon

One thing that a wine blog should be about more than anything is else wine. In the past, I've gotten away from that. So, today I'm starting Wednesday's Wines. These posts will short, sweet and to the point. I'll write a little bit about the wine and my thoughts on how it smelled and tasted. I want to explicitly mention the aroma because to me, much of the pleasure from wine comes from just smelling it. A wine can have little aroma and still taste good, but I find that a wine's true character and complexity shines through in the nose.