Wine, Wine, Wine

Those of you that know our family, know that we like to entertain and try to get together with our friends and family as often as possible.  We like to try different social beverages.  Rob likes nothing better than a nice cold beer after a long hot summer day or a Ceaser, Stacy is creative in her Martini's, Crystal can be found in the duty free shop when she comes home purchasing a bottle of Gibson's Rye whiskey and I like a glass of red wine. 
Many of you know that we are traveling to Australia this fall.  So when I have been purchasing wine this last while I have been trying new ones.  I have found 2 that I really like. 

The first is Banrock Station Cabernet Merlot.

Banrock Station is situated 200km north-east of Adelaide at Kingston-on-Murray, South Australia. This wine is Rich plum flavours of plum and cherry with hints of cinnamon, subtle vanillin oak and soft fine tannins. I really like the wineries that indicate which protein  (beef, pork, lamb, fish) is best served with it.  This wine retails for under $10. 

I then purchased a bottle of The Formula  -  a Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz. 

 This was for a hostess gift of the people we were staying with on the Alberta Simmental Tour.

 Our hosts  - Jim & Gwen Smith, have been known to make their own wine. 

Now when I went to make this purchase Stacy sent me to a wine store near her home.  Once I entered the store I found that their was not a bottle in the place under $20.  So most of these I had not tried before.  My range was usually under $15.  The store owner made this recommendation to me.  The Formula a Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz is produced from Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Barossa Valley Shiraz this blend is a well balanced, full flavoured wine. Herbaceous Cabernet notes together with full berry Shiraz characters compliment each other producing a blend with elegance and structure.  Now when Jim opened the gift, he happened to leave the bottle with the other wine that was set out for the guests.  And we decided to try it. 

Randy one of our other hosts for the day took the first taste.  I don't think it was his favorite, but after Randy heard that it was a $25+ bottle of wine, he started to acquire a taste for it.  Being the good guests that we were, we made sure Jim & Gwen got a glass of it too. 

My next purchases are going to be from the Peter Lehmann Collection.  My friend  Sean Trenoweth works with their organization.  We hope to see Sean on our travels this fall. 
Now that I am expanding my tasting of wines, I think I may have to follow this Spanish saying "Good wine ruins the purse; bad wine ruins the stomach."

Cheers