(Oops) Cabernet Franc Carmenere

(Oops) Cabernet Franc & Carmenere
Price: $12
Year: 2010
Region: Colchagua Valley, Chile
Retailer: Sip! Wines "Blends Have More Fun" Trio

This was the first week of settling back into my long-lost freelance lifestyle. I'm still addled by the anxiety of assistant life because it's weird taking care of someone for four years and then suddenly not. But, I'm also readjusting quite well. I styled a shoot, wrote twenty pages and booked my next trip to NYC. I even did a bunch of paperwork! For myself! It was great!

It was cloudy today, and rained for a minute, so obviously I couldn't leave the house. I mean, I couldn't leave the house anyway because my car battery died on Tuesday and I just decided I didn't need to go anywhere until the weekend, but also, IT WAS CLOUDY TODAY. As a native Southern Californian, it is imperative to relish cloudy days. They have always been far and few between. Californians treat rainy days like people on the East Coast treat those shoulder season days they're always bragging about: we drop everything and indulge in them. Except you guys like, wear a comfortable outfit and go for a picnic and I'm eating Weetos, reading Travel & Leisure, @replying on Twitter and wearing this:

Not to brag, but GOD DAMN AM I THE BEST AT LOUNGING. 

Anyway, I have now ate a lot of Weetos and am in very comfortable lounge gear and my boyfriend isn't fighting me for the chaise end of the couch and I've got new Bose headphones that go around my ears instead of crushing my ears AND I HAVE THIS DELICIOUS RED WINE. WHICH THANK GOD. I HAVE LIKE 900 WHITE/ROSES RIGHT NOW AND IT'S CHILLY AS FUCK. GOTTA GET COZY WITH A RED.

The (Oops) Cabernet Franc & Carmenere is perfect for May Gray (which is the precursor to June Gloom, which to those of you not from California, is the marine layer that literally chills over us for most of May and June). It's wet and lasting, but in a refreshing and light way. It reminds me of concrete after a quick but eager spring shower that is damp for hours after, creating aromatic clouds of minerality wherever you walk.

It's light and bright and really good slightly chilled. I mean, I never put it in the fridge, but my house was at like 60° all day, so "Room Temperature" is now "Slightly Chilled".

It's cool because you don't see Carmenere all that often, if ever. This native Bordeaux grape was planted in Chile a century ago, and everyone was like, "Cool, we got these cool Merlot grapes growing, very cool."  And if you looked at the Carmenere and Merlot grapes side by side, you would be like, "Cool, grapes!" because let's be real, neither of us can tell the difference between a Carmenere, Merlot or Welch grapes. In 1994, some scientists that could tell the difference between grapes got involved and were like, "Aaacccctttuuualllyyy, these Merlot grapes are aaccttuaaally Carmenere." Then everyone freaked out! Because, uh! Extremely rare Bordeaux varietals in Chile?! SO TIGHT!!!

And Cab Francs are just bomb as hell...

 I can't really go into them specifically right now and for that, I am sorry. I'm just extremely Weeto'd, like yelling nonsense over my noise-canceling headphones at Ben while he plays Grand Theft Auto kind of Weeto'd. I'm just really enjoying the fuck out of this Chilean wine that tastes like it's from France. Legit, in a blind tasting, it would be hard for me not to say it was from France. Really the only thing holding me back is there is a real coffee-dirt taste I haven't experienced in French wines. Not to say that that isn't that flavor profile in French wines because lord knows it probably is.

Anyway, I'm doing some REAL SICK AIR-BASS TO TY SEGALL RIGHT NOW. 
NO OOPS ABOUT IT.
YEWWWWWWWW!!!

Phew, man, all I know is Wine & Weetos is the best pairing of all time. I am so warm and fuzzy, and NOT from my dope sweat selections from Wildfox and Mollusk. Warm and fuzzy on the inside, like unconditional love on Christmas Eve kind of warm and fuzzy. 

EVERY DAY CAN BE A HOLIDAY WITH (OOPS)! (and Weetos)

Alright I have to get off the Internet before it's too late.

LOVE U CARMENERE

Tasting Notes: Smells like freshly poured gravel and applesauce with a touch of cinnamon. Meaty, slightly salty plum with a light but unwavering pepper finish. Drink 3/4s of it while listening to Father John Misty's latest album and you will want to have so much sex. 

Ross Test: Delightfully Do-Able

Rebel Coast's Sunday Funday

Rebel Coast's Sunday Funday
Region: Sonoma, California
Retailer: Sip! Wines' "Blends Have More Fun" Trio

And stay tuned for the rest of my reviews of the "Blends Have More Fun" trio!

I moved into my new house last year, in the dead end of the dog days of summer. It was far too hot to enjoy my backyard but now that spring is here and it's 76 and sunny, I'm trying to spend at least a couple hours every day out here. And many, many hours on Sundays. 

So this bottle of Sunday Funday defintely spoke to me when I opened up my "Blends Have More Fun" trio from Sip! Wines. 

Sip! Wines curates different trios of wine, all with fun, clever themes like "California Coast Road Trip", "Everything Is Coming Up Rosé" and "Play Your Chards Right". The trios are shipped straight to your door-- or your hotel if you have a trip coming up-- and are equipped with tasting notes, pairing ideas and information on the wineries. It's pretty sweet, and I'm super stoked to have three new blends to try.

And today, while my boyfriend pours mulch,
I'm pouring Sunday Funday.
Which wins best label designs.

First of all, the front side has everything illustrated that I love on it (besides my pets and my boyfriend and my sister and my Adidas Boosts). Then the back is basically a pass to do whatever you want to do with your day because the boys at Rebel Coast are proud of you, "even if your neighbors think otherwise". THEN you can PEEL OFF THAT LABEL and you HAVE A FUNNY TO-DO LIST! 

This would be the best gift wine ever just because the label is so fun. Take it to a picnic or a girls' night and complete the To-Do list! For me! Because I only have one ex from high school and he stalked me so I can't ever send him a selfie or even a pleasant "Hope you're well!", and the only public fountain near me is literally surrounded by punk vagrants, and my mom isn't on Facebook. 

The Sunday Funday has a stainless steel Chardonnay base, with Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. I'm not a huge Chardonnay fan, and this tastes mostly like Chardonnay, but the good kind of Chardonnay. It's not buttery or oaky (RE: stainless steel tanks bro), just straight up tropical notes. Lovers of fruitier white wines, this is for you. It's easy drinking with subtle complexity, so you can have a conversation about the palate or just drink the hell out of it. 

Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier are all considered very middle ground in terms of dry to sweet wines. If you're a fan of Moscatos and sweet Rieslings, this would be a fantastic bridge wine into new, drier varietals because it's really not that dry, and it's very juicy. My sister-in-law who I had to nearly fist fight to drink a Pinot Grigio would really love this. 

Give it a little time to open up and the fruit flavors become much more cohesive and smooth. Also a huge benefit of this wine is that I think it tastes better between cold and room temperature.

For my personal taste, this wine had a little too much fruit and viscosity on its own to just chug in the sun. But an added ice cube and a bag of Rusty's Island Potato Chips made it a perfect picnic for ONE. AKA ME. AKA ME RIGHT NOW. AKA ME FOR THE NEXT THIRTY SUNDAYS.

IT MAY BE SUNDAY BUT HEY THERE IS BUSINESS TO DO, CHECK OUT THIS "HEY I MEAN BUSINESS" STANCE, V V BUSINESS-LIKE

Tasting Notes: Smells like Viognier, tastes like Chardonnay and finishes like a Sauvignon Blanc-- Peach blossoms on the nose, pulpy Pineapple and Gala apples on the palate with a citrus melon musk finish. Very well balanced. I see this being a crowd pleaser at any weekend gathering.

Ross Test: EXTREMELY DO-ABLE. TROUBLESOME. :D