Welcome to Purple Teeth Diaries!

 

If you were a reader of my old blog, you’ll find ALL the old posts here. There’s also several new features to check out and more on the way. As I always say, it’s a work in progress so over the next couple of weeks you’ll see more additions. So check out Purple Teeth Diaries and tell me what ya think!

To get things started, enjoy a special review – Château Gruaud Larose 1982 Bordeaux!

 

Winery: Château Gruaud Larose
Wine: Red Bordeaux Blend 1982
Location: St. Julien, Médoc, Bordeaux, France
Purchased: Wine House
Price: $149.98 (375 ml)

 

Several weeks before my birthday a mysterious wine box arrived at our house, and my husband was very quick to get it out of my site. When I asked him about it, he acted like it didn’t exist. I knew it was my birthday gift. Let the guessing games begin! When we first started dating I received birthday gifts in April and Christmas gifts in October. My husband couldn’t keep a secret, or wait to give a gift. He’s gotten much better over the years. I didn’t have a clue other than it was a bottle of wine. Turns out it was a Château Gruaud Larose 1982 Bordeaux.

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Ever hear the statement, “it’s all about perception.” Maybe you’re not the smartest guy in the business, but you work hard, are prepared and know your facts. You give the impression that you know what you’re doing. The Murphy-Goode lifestyle correspondent gave the impression it was the job of a lifetime and who knows it might really be. However, it’s the perception Jackson Family Wines, the parent company of Murphy-Goode, has created that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

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Winery: Grover Vineyards
Wine: La Réserve 2006
Location: Nandi Hills, India
Purchased: The Leela Palace

This was the second bottle of Indian wine Jonathan brought back from his trip. Previously, we tried the Satori Merlot by Sula. While it won’t knock your socks off, I’ve tried wines much worse. So my expectations were the same…nothing outrageous, but a standard bottle. We decided to open this bottle with some Indian take-out when Jonathan’s parents were visiting. We thought it would be a fun addition to the evening.

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Spain’s second Denominación de Origen Calificada is Priorat, the first was Rioja. This classification created some of the most expensive wines in Spain for an area that was all but forgotten twenty years ago. Grape growing in Priorat dates back to the 12th century, when the Carthusian monks tended to the vineyards for several hundred years. By the end of the 19th century phylloxera devastated many of the vineyards, and they were not replanted until the 1950s. In the early 1980s, a group of mavericks – René Barbier, Alvaro Palacios, Carlos Pastrana, Dafne Glorian and José Luis Pérez moved to Priorat and started making excellent wines almost immediately. From 1985 to 1995, exporting bulk wines stopped and only high quality wine was bottled. Priorat gained D.O. status in 1954 and Catalonian authorities approved DOQ status in 2000.

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Winery: Chateau Montelena
Wine: Chardonnay 2007
Location: Calistoga, Napa Valley, California
Purchased: The Corkscrew
Price: $48.99

Ever since I finished reading The Judgment of Paris, I’d walk by the bottles of Chateau Montelena in our wine store and whisper, “someday you will be mine.” OK, I didn’t really talk to the bottles of wine. I’m not crazy, but I did stroll by practically every time we were in the store and point it out to my husband. And Jonathan, being the wonderful husband that his is, surprised me with a bottle for my birthday.

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