recommendation: giesen sauvignon blanc

We found this gem at our fav grocery store Busch's in the $10 wine aisle. Its normally $19.99 but every week they have wine on sale and hubby and I love to get these as a way to sample nicer wines. We liked this one so much that we think its worth the full $20. Here are the stats:

Winery: Giesen
Type: Sauvignon Blanc
From: Marlborough, NZ

Tasting Notes from their website:

Pale yellow colour with green hues. The aroma is fresh and vibrant with a base of rich tropical fruit but dominated especially when young, by fresh lime and lemongrass aromas as well as a fresh herb note.

The palate shows a lovely fruit weight on the mid palate with flavours reminiscent of gooseberry and citrus and this is surrounded by a juicy, pure acidity giving the wine it’s zesty exuberance with a fresh, dry finish.

p.s. that's roasted asparagus and sweet potato gnocchi with rosemary and brown butter (Trader Joes find!) you see in the background.

This is a great wine for the spring season. ENJOY!

recommendation: charles smith wines

we have a wine rack in our house that holds 9 wine bottles. 5 are permanently occupied by 1) a wine gifted by my father-in-law with our last name on it 2) champagne 3) more champagne 4) wine i will never drink 5) another bottle of #4

the other 4 slots are constantly changing, i try to keep them full but we kind of love to indulge in a glass a few times a week. no matter what, i always turn to Charles Smith wines to keep these at least 1 of these slots full. we were introduced to his Kung Fu Girl Riesling when we dined at a Chicago Steakhouse. the sommelier was so helpful and we quickly fell in love with this wine.

since then, we've tried a few others by this vineyard. while i normally do not even touch merlot, i actually like the wine by Charles Smith. the bottles are so funky, and work great when you need to bring a bottle to a dinner at a friend's house or BYOB. i get mine at WF (whole foods, duh) in a pack of 6 so I get a discount since I know we will go through it or gift it!

p.s. website lists event: 19 Apr 2011 / Charles Smith World Tour / Chicago, IL / more info to come