Happy Halloween everyone-from Nick, Maggie, and Amber! |
We would first like to extend our thanks to the amazing Tricia Courtney for donating this week's wine and music (through a gracious new apartment gift!). We would also like to extend an invite to anyone who would like to suggest an audio or a vino for us, leave a comment, or, if they're feeling really bold, accompany us as a guest on AudioVino.
This week we drank a "kitchen blend" of Malbec, Bonarda and Syrah from an Argentinian winemaker known as La Posta. The wine is called "La Cocina," and it definitely had all the flavors one would expect to find in the kitchen!
As we opened up the wine and poured it into the decanter, we found a nose of definitive greens, such as edamame or celery. This wine was very herbaceous, but also left us with hints of sea salt and cocoa. The first sips showed our palates some great flavors, very similar to the nose yet very distinct for each of us (to be discussed in further detail). This wine comes from South America, geographically known for it's "new world" style of winemaking, which can be synonymous with bold, fruit-forward wines. However, La Cocina has great old world complexity and definitely leaves you wondering what type of land such a wine came from. It really grasps a particular terroir and is a very intriguing sip.
The music this week was Dear in the Headlights' "Drunk Like Bible Times". If you have a predisposition to sacrilege, sorry--this CD wasn't anything like that. We chose an indie rock band again--luckily, this time we chose one with varied musical styles, from typical guitar to a diverse organ.
Nick's Review
Audio:
Cool album, especially upon a second spin. Anyone into indie bands would like this especially if you like earlier stuff from Sterophonics.
The first track "I'm Not Crying, You're Not Crying Are You?" starts with a whirly guitar part that is punctuated with a clean guitar riff. It emerges into energy driven vocals similar to The Killers. Sidebar: If you notice the theme of my hearing The Killers in every album we review, you understand why I'm sick of picking the same style of Indie music.
The second track "Bad News" was full of tempo changes and had effects you might find in a car commercial. Than again most indie music makes me think of the iPod commercials.
My favorite track was the third track "Carl Solomon Blues"--listeners may think of Violent Femmes with a Western kick. The song is driven and has great use of compiled rythm between instrumentalists, percussionist and vocalist. The best part is the next song mellows out and leaves you feeling satisfied if you listen to them back to back.
I would definitely recommend this group and will be adding this song to my everyday listening, however I hope next week we don't pick another indie rock style album.
8/10
Vino:
Awesome vino. This has everything you could want--well, unless your looking for a big fruit bomb. Herbaceous was the best descriptor I could come up with for the nose. When I first started drinking this wine I couldn't quite put my finger on what was going on. I kept thinking of some sort of raw vegetable right out of the ground like a potato or an.....onion! It was an onion. Think somewhere between french onion soup and cool ranch dorritos! This wine also had some great minerality and sea salt. It will bring you on a trip to Argentina and get you right into the nitty gritty of the terroir. Please try this wine tonight.
91 pts
Maggie's Review
Audio
I know Nick appreciated this CD, and I can appreciate it's listenability. However, if you're looking for an interesting album that will sweep you into its melody and trap you under its chords . . . this album will be a disappointment. If you're looking for an album that will bring you straight to your feet and render you unable of sitting still . . . well, this album will disappoint you too. This album was like a fusion of the been-there-done-that Indie vibe of Franz Ferdinand and the whiney-pop vocals and dance rock of the All American Rejects.
I will say that I liked the first song, "I'm Not Crying . . ." a lot. It has a catchy beat and will stay stuck in your head for days. My favorite track was the last song, "I Know." It was one of the more creative tracks because of the use of drum sticks, the all-around interesting percussive beats, and the dark instrumentaion. If this guy's voice wasn't so annoying, I'd recommend it to friends who like most modern Indie music. I probably liked it because it sounds so much like Franz Ferdinand.
8.3/10
Vino
Gonna have to agree with Nick--the wine stole the trophy from the music tonight. This wine was such a foodie wine--not that you need food to make it great. The name "Cocina Blend" works so well because this would be the perfect wine to sip as you are preparing dinner in a cozy kitchen. I loved the smells of kale and leafy herbs and the semisweet tastes of onions and scallions. I was hardcore craving some stuffed mushrooms to go with this wine.
This wine was not only fabulous, it was interesting. We couldn't stop revisiting the nose, the palate, and the personality of this wine. I'd say that a great wine can be marked by how much it inspires conversation--this one kept us conversing for hours.
91 pts.
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