Saturday, June 29, 2013

Justice for the Pour: Costco Wines Under $15.00

Several of us have gathered together tonight to embark upon a new adventure: amateur wine tasting. By amateur, I mean, we have no skill, no expertise, and no real credibility apart from being able to say what we like and give some type of reason for why we like it.

Graduate students in theology, we are accustomed to the "discernment of spirits" and avail ourselves frequently of liquid consolation.


Today, we selected several bottles of wine under the $15.00 price range from Costco. Our first wine, being evaluated as I type this, is a 2011 Mongris Collio Pinot Grigio produced by Marco Felluga.

Liz: This wine is sweet, with enough maturity and sass not to give you a stomach ache. Smooth, really good, the kind of wine you're glad you've been offered another glass. Mildly tart.

Ryan: A mineral quality to the flavor evoking a large, lush field. It's a full bodied wine but by no means flabby. Fruity but not overly so. Perfect for a summer evening on the patio (like tonight).

Father Clifford: An Italian varietal, well-made and has the basic structure, yet not very memorable.

Good Catholics, we sought long and hard to find a patron saint for this bottle of wine. Thus we commend it to the corkage of Saint Agnes, the 3rd century virgin and martyr who sassily rebuffed all attempts to get her to sacrifice to pagan gods, preferring death instead of sacrilege.

According to our newly-crafted criteria, which will almost certainly change as we continue drinking tonight, we have developed the following rating system.
1 Chalice: Jesus is not coming back for this. A mortal sin. 
 2 Chalices: While not lethal I might have to go to confession for drinking this; a venial sin. 
3 Chalices: A good wine for day-to-day drinking. Enjoyable without guilt. Conventional, does just what it ought to do.  
4 Chalices: A wine worthy of a saint. Goes above and beyond what is expected. Heroic effort. 
 5 Chalices: Heaven on earth. Worthy of the Blood of Christ. When he comes back, he's going to pour himself a glass of this. 
We gather our rankings into a Spiritual Bouquet:

Liz: 3 Chalices
Ryan: 2.75 Chalices
Father Clifford: 2.75 Chalices

Like so many first-dates, this wine is interesting yet not memorable. If the house were on fire, I'd not run back into the pantry to retrieve it but I wouldn't refuse it at a garden party. Purchased for a scant $13.79 at Costco today, it gave us an enjoyable experience of drinking, a few laughs, and provided the occasion to kick off a new blogging adventure.

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