I love games.
Not as in, "daaaaaang that girl loves playing games," or as in "quit playing games with my heart," but actual games, like Catch Phrase, and Taboo, and Balderdash.
While I am admittedly terrible at any game involving strategy (I stay far away from Risk, Monopoly, and anything else that requires plotting), I love how playing games can bring a group of people together (much like drinking wine... see what I did there?).
Recently, my friend group has been playing Cards Against Humanity. For those of you who may not be familiar with this game, think Apples to Apples, but with cards that are a little more... scandalous. (okay, maybe a lot more scandalous... sometimes I'm not even sure what a card actually is, but I know it's not good).
However, I've found that when playing Cards Against Humanity, the winning cards are not always necessarily the ones that make you gasp with embarrassment. Instead, they are the cards that are unexpected (A Falcon with a Cap on its Head is always a popular one), the ones that startle a laugh because despite what you were expecting- you weren't expecting "what makes a romantic evening" to end with A Really Cool Hat.
Like Cards Against Humanity, I love that wine can have that unexpected "oh" factor when tasting. Take, for example, the innocuously titled "Red Wine," from the Force of Nature label. Force of Nature is one of the labels from Rob Murray Vineyards, who also has a winery (Tooth and Nail) in my hometown. Tooth and Nail is not only the kind of winery that hosts pretty cool bands that you can listen to while sitting out on their cozy patio, and it's not only the kind of winery that serves maybe one of the most delicious burgers I've ever had, but it's also the kind of place that has some pretty great wine. Oh, and it's in an actual castle. So there's that.
In fact, my parents love Tooth and Nail so much that they sent me some of the other labels from the vineyard (sometimes vineyards will produce wines under several labels- sometimes because they have a "higher brow" label and a "wine for poor people" label, or because they like to play around with different varietals and/or want to be able to distribute a certain wine more widely). Imagine my surprise when the label showed up on a wine at the Brentwood wine shop.
Naturally, I bought it immediately.
I love wines that are labeled "Red wine" or "White wine." It's such a mystery! After some googling, I found out that this particular blend is 67% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Petite Sirah, and 11% Syrah, so I assumed that it would be a pretty nicely blended wine that would probably go well with some kind of steak. Instead, I got an "oh."
First, let me back up and talk about this seriously cool label. Even though I try not judge a book by its cover, or a wine by its label, I totally, totally do. So the weird fire, interesting texture, and cool buildings basically sold itself to me before I opened the bottle. Plus I liked that the AVA was Paso Robles, where I worked.
AVA- I know- weird wine abbreviation. Let me explain.
In America, AVA stands for "American Viticulture Area"- it refers to a specific area where a wine is grown. You might also hear this referred to as an "appellation," which is a term usually used by European countries to describe wine growing regions. So when we talk about a Rhone, or a Champagne, those are the appellations (or growing areas) where the wine comes from (but also sometimes the name of the wines... I KNOW).
If you see a wine with an appellation or AVA listed on on the bottle- it's where the wine is grown, not necessarily where it was bottled. So for example, if you are drinking a Cabernet Sauvignon that was grown in Napa, but bottled in Mendocino, the label will still say Napa. Handy for people who don't have their own vineyards and source their grapes from other places- they can choose an appellation that produces the kind of fruit they want, and then they can list it on their bottle.
Since winemakers are typically required to list an appellation on their bottles, you will usually be able to tell fairly easily where a wine is grown. Often more famous AVAs (think Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles... okay so I'm biased about the last one) put their names prominently on the bottle, while other places hide it a bit more (sometimes, larger production vineyards source their grapes from places in the central valley of CA, which definitely has a stigma in the wine world- so they list it in tiny letters). Sometimes, if the grapes in the wine come from multiple sources, the bottle will just say "California."
Appellations are kind of big deal in the wine world, since people associate certain AVAs with better wine. For example, if you were drinking a Pinot Noir, a bottle from the Willamette Valley in Oregon has a bit more prestige than a bottle from Butte Montana (sorry Montana... I'm sure it's totally beautiful there...).
It took me an embarrassingly long time to get a shot that didn't have my face reflected creepily in the glass.
In the glass, our aptly named "Red Wine," is about as red as you'd expect. It's got this great ruby color, and it tastes about like it smells (aka like plums, cherries, and raspberries). I sometimes wonder about using the word "juicy" to describe wine since it reminds me of a juicebox (specifically one of those kind of mystery "fruit punch" juiceboxes where it's unclear if you are drinking apple juice, grape juice, or some unholy hybrid of the two)- but musings about juiceboxes aside, this is exactly what this wine is- juicy. It's bold, fruity, and has a pretty soft finish (aka not super mouth-drying-outish).
Which was kind of part of the "oh."
Somehow, the ominous fire raining down on a town didn't really translate to a "wine that's pretty good all by itself," but in the glass, this wine is a fun, fruity wine that's a lot lighter than I expected. Oh.
OUR RATING: Although we love wine and food pairings, this is a perfect "long day at work and I just want a glass of wine... maybe right when I walk through the door," wine. It's also great for sharing with friends, since it's pretty friendly and seems to play well with others.
I'D DRINK THIS: (since this post is partially brought to you by Cards Against Humanity...)
After you've been holding onto A micropig wearing a raincoat and booties card, and you finally get the perfect opportunity to play it.
After you've won the entire game due to your timely use of Bees?
To console yourself after you played Becoming a Blueberry (which at the time you thought was hilarious, but no one laughed).
To congratulate yourself for not playing Cards Against Humanity.