Three months ago, we had this wild idea of tasting and writing about 365 different wines in 365 days.  Oh sure, when you’re all in the rage, it’s easy to say, “C’mon, we can DO this!”  But, as time begins to flow through the hour glass, one realizes that perhaps we’ve bitten off just a bit more than we can chew.  But, here we are 90 days plus one into our drive to try an amazing 365 different wines.  For those of you who have been reading with us from the beginning, we have — for the most part — stayed true to our word.  Yes, we’ve had a few days where the post was JUST  A BIT late – through no fault of our own, of course.  But, if you look at the calendar, there have been 91 days since this whole thing started and there are –soon — to be 91 different wines.  It’s like negotiating through a barbed wire fence.  If we stop for even a moment to lift our heads up to see where we are going, who knows what kind of havoc we could wreak!

Last night’s Naked Chardonnay post garnered a lot of attention – it seems that a gauntlet thrown at the feet of Kathryn W. garnered us a few readers – thanks for posting up.  And, another one from earlier this week, received a nod from our good friend (and resident Kerrville historian) Joe Herring, Jr.  Thanks for sending the poster of the “Fab Four” . . . great memories.  Over the past 90 days, we’ve tried some amazing wines – both red and white.  We’ve also had some DOGS!  Before the 365th day has come and gone, we’re pretty sure that there will be more dogs, probably some cats and who knows what other animals that may be out there!

Tonight we opened and tasted a 2010 Barbed Wire Meritage . . . thus the previous mention about the barbed wire — ;-)–everything ties back to something, right?  Anyway, this little doozie came to us from our recent visit to Max’s Wine Dive in San Antonio.  You probably would never guess that this wine is from the folks at Sutter Home – that’s right, the same folks who bring  you the immortal, Sutter Home White Zinafandel!  Overall, this wine has a beautiful color; dark purple, very thick and juicy.  The nose gave us toasted oak – almost an almond scent which partnered with an earthiness.  The initial taste was green peppery but that gave way to a fruitiness of black cherry, raspberries and currants.  The finish was, well, it was just there.  Nothing to write home about.  In fact, as we researched more about this wine, the 2009 reviewed almost identically to the 2010.  For a wine that retails right at $20 a bottle, we’d probably opt for something else, especially if we could find something from a boutique winery as opposed to a monolith.  Don’t get us wrong, the wine tasted fine, but for the investment, we’d probably opt for something bigger, bolder and NOT as well known.  A nice Zinfandel from Adelaida is a good starting point.  Anyway, this wine is yet another reason why we feel compelled to sample so many different wines . . . we won’t even scratch the surface in 365 days compared to the sheer number of wines on the market.

However, should you run into the proverbial “brick wall” or as we’re calling it tonight, the “barbed wire fence”, then having a wine that recognizes what’s ahead is very important.  This Meritage is worth trying; especially if you’ve never had it before.  We think that if you’ve had it in the past, you’ll probably opt for something different–which we’ll deal with tomorrow night.  Thanks for being with us during the past 90—we mean, 91 days.  Three months down and ONLY nine more to go!  We can do this with your help–please feel free to pass this blog on to folks you know that enjoy wine.  We aren’t saying that we know a lot about wine, but we ARE saying that we’ll tell you exactly how we feel about a specific wine.  It’s a tough job, but SOMEBODY’s got to do it!

Until tomorrow, please remember to enjoy your favorite wine responsibly and recycle whenever possible.