It’s kind of funny . . . truth be told, take turns writing our blogs because it keeps our perspectives fresh, and the stories we tell come from our hearts – as we know them.  So, for tonight’s blog, the story is about one of Jean’s favorite dinners.  We have to admit that when you cook a roast in the crock pot with carrots and potatoes and onions all simmering in a beefy onion soup mixture for eight or nine hours, and you come home after work – open the door. . .oh, my goodness, the aroma!  Yep, there is something very comforting about the aroma of a crock pot roast with vegetables, corn and lots of gravy.  While it’s not a dish that  we’d prepare in the middle of summer, it’s ideal for a winter dish, and with winter set to begin this Friday, well, we jumped the gun – but with good reason.

Crock pot roasts are the stuff of legends in our household – both of the girls have, at their own times, wanted to have friends over to share in this amazing culinary delight.  No, it’s not something that requires a lot of preparation (unless you can’t peel potatoes!), but it does need a lot of time to cook.  For a two pound roast with potatoes and carrots and onions tossed in, you can count on a minimum of eight hours of cooking time . . . which is why the slower the cooking the better the meal.  In the case of the crock pot roast, it gets better and better as the hours tick away . . . tonight’s version/meal was started before 8 this morning and the gravy was made around 6:30 this evening.  It was, in a word, DELICIOUS!!!!!!!

So, we decided to open a wine that came from our H-E-B collection of discount wines, and is widely available, thus a little-known wine from Spain – a 2011 Tempranillo from Piggy Bank!  We have to admit, the name got us first, but the wine was no laughing matter.  Even as young as this tempranillo is, it has a lot to offer wine lovers.  We agreed that this wine was Deep purple with a crimson rim. On the nose, this wine has pronounced red summer fruits with warm, well integrated vanilla notes. The palate is medium to full bodied with lush red fruits, creamy oak and smooth tannins. All in all a succulent and satisfying wine with a long finish.  Admittedly, this is a young wine.  The nose is good, and the taste is – well, it’s just plain young!  But, we know that it has the ability to get better as time goes on.  The wine maker, Norrel Robertson MW, is in fact Scottish and the bodegas know him as “El Escocés Volante” (The Flying Scotsman). He is the one and only Master of Wine based in Spain.  We were interested enough to try this wine and while it was a good wine – it wasn’t a great wine.  We think that it needs more time in the bottle to smooth out the tannins, but both of us agree that this wine has a lot of potential.  However, in all fairness, we’d probably opt for a California syrah over this wine – – BUT, if you’re looking to try something ‘outside the box’ then you should try this wine.  If you’re a traditionalist at heart, then go to a different aisle and pick out something else!

It’s funny how we find comfort in certain things.  Food.  Wine. Clothing. Home. The Holidays.  For us, all of those comforts are converging at one time and we’re pretty excited about it!  We hope that whatever food that provides comfort for you, can be enjoyed with your favorite wine.

And as the holidays approach at a blistering pace, we want you to not only enjoy your favorite foods, but also your enjoy your favorite wine, but please enjoy it responsibly and remember to recycle whenever possible.