Wine For Every Occasion

I've always been a big fan of drinking wine with or without food. I'm also not particular about what food I eat with the wine. I can appreciate that there's a art form to wine and food pairing, and that wine can bring out subtle flavors, but it's more effort that I'm usually willing to expend! That's why I loved a recent post I found in a magazine pairing wine varietals with everything from corn chips to sorbet. Unfortunately I tore out the page and don't know what magazine this is from, otherwise I'd give credit where credit is due:

Fun and affordable wine & food pairings:

• Red Bordeaux & Salty Corn Chips
• California Pinot Noir & BBQ Potato Chips
• Napa Chardonnay with Buttery Popcorn
• Amarone with Pate'
• Prosecco with Sorbet
• Brut Sparkling Wine with Brazil nuts

Cheers!

Jim Jim Shiraz 2005

I broke out of my rut a little for this post. I was getting lazy, primarily giving a thumbs up or thumbs down on wine's that were already reviewed by someone else, notably the "experts". While I do disagree with them on occasion, it takes the challenge and satisfaction out of finding an excellent, inexpensive wine myself or conversely uncovering a wine not to buy... Jim Jim Shiraz 2005 falls into neither of these categories.

Jim Jim Shiraz has a cute label with a cartoon dog, aptly named Jim Jim, who apparently likes this wine and give his paws up. It makes me wonder if the dog was drinking it, was it undrinkable to the owner??? But at $6 a bottle and from the 2005 Aussie vintage, it was worth a taste test!

I look for distinction and unique characteristics in wine. I look for unique flavors, sensations in the mouth, etc. One of the beautiful things about wine is, every bottle is a surprise, at least to me. Unfortunately with Jim Jim Shiraz I didn't get much, it was quite simply fermented grape juice, no noticeable acid, tannin, unique flavors other than grape. Remember the generic food isle in the grocery store filled with white label products with black letter identification? e.g. CORN or CEREAL Jim Jim would be labeled WINE. Is this a bad wine for $6, no, it's very pedestrian, no-nonsense, fermented grape juice. Would I buy this wine again? No, but it might make a nice purple dye for a tie-dye t-shirt...