Oh, and DH had his last grad school class last night--wa-hoo!!!!!

LMAO I was just thinking it was five oclock somewhere...Oh hey it's 5 here! I'll have to try that..it sounds yummy.

I'm off to find a white though...It's hot and I love wine in hot weather...(ok the heater is too high and we are getting 7" of snow by midnight and I'm just dreaming of hot!).

It's really good! We just about polished off the bottle in one sitting--I'll pay for it later!

What kind of white you looking for?

Hey! You drink a wine called 7 Deadly Sins and you think of me? I can see the evil chicken..... but me?

Send DH congrats! Him I like.

No, 7 Deadly Zins! But I still think of you! LOL!

I'll pass along the congrats though!

That is a great one! I was surprised to like it, since most wines with catchy labels and names have something to make up for in their taste, but it is a nice Zin!

Oh, I could go on and on if we started comparing wine notes as well as kitchen notes...... :) :)

Hey, it's a regular wine party, can I join in? I'm sippin a good gewurztraminer (okay yes, I had to go get the bottle to spell that).

Igloo...it was 75 here today and I got a sunburn working in my garden. I guess that's why I opened a chilled, sweet, white tonight. I'm dreaming of strawberry picking! I'm SOOO sorry about the 7" headed your way. Sending you warm garden dirt and the smell of freshly cut grass!

Congrats to the smart guy catmom!

ROFLMAO!!! My bad.

Cheers!

Yeah, I was surprised, too. It has a really interesting taste to it. Some definite spice notes.

I will tell DH about the congrats! He is a smart one and I am soooo proud of him. Hard to believe we did our kitchen reno in the middle of it (he had two classes a semester, two semesters a year, for three years).

Luckily we had more than a few bottles of wine to get us through it all! :-)

Did you decant it first? We were totally underwhelmed the first time we tried it- so much so we left over half of the bottle (that does not usually happen here). Well, a few days later, Tom was going to use it in sauce, and the character had completely changed! It was wonderful!

If you like zins, Bonny Doon's Cardinal Zin is excellent as well.

No, drank it within a short time of opening it, but liked it at that point. Practically finished the bottle tonight. There's the merest bit left to taste again tomorrow!

I've not seen the Cardinal Zin, I'll have to look for it. We're big fans of the Bonny Doon Pacific Rim Dry Riesling for a nice inexpensive white (light, drinkable, not sweet, but fruity, not too sharp...).

We like Markham Zin, but not readily available around here, :-(

We like a lot of Shiraz's; Layer Cake is a new fave, as is Jacob's Creek Reserve. A really cool one is Tait's Ballbuster (gotta love the name!), but that's another one that's not easy to find.

YEE-HAA!! a bunch of drunk housewives!! This could get interesting!! :-)

Heee heee heee. LMAO Bill! Ya gotta bring a bottle of somethin' good if you're gonna be comin' to this party! Man am I tipsy. Heee heee heee. Ya know, we need a chatroom or somethin!

I'm totally with Cocontom. First time I had Seven Deadly Zins I hated it. Second time we decanted it for an hour and it really opened up. I loved it the second time. If you like Zins try Renwood 2004 Old Vine. The neighborhood wine club I'm in voted it the best of the Zins we tasted last month.

That's right Bill, what are you bringin' to the party? LOL!

I didn't expect to like the 7 Deadly Zins (figured it was a goof!) but was pleasantly surprised.

Another fun one, light, fruity, drinkable (seems to go pretty well with a lot of foods) is Big Red Monster. Nothing complex there, but it's a nice easy drinking one. The label looks like a B-movie poster.

I'm drinking a Renwood 2000 Zinfandel , really gotta watch the spelling after a few glasses ...

75 and sunny...sheesh...and KK ;oP

Nothing can make me quit smiling tonight...I HAVE TILE IN MY SHOWER!!!! And it's FABULOUS!!!! And yes I'm dancing and I've only had one glass of....Armand Riesling (it's a 2005 Kabinett) Nice and crisp and yes a little sweet..but that's great on a hot weather day like...umm I'm imagining :oP

Cat-mom...tell DH congrats...and if you haven't jumped his bones yet (ya drunk fish) go ahead...he deserves to be acosted :oP Great work!

A friend of ours used to own Foley Aux Deux (I can't spell that) which produced fabulous Zins. They ended up selling a great deal of the winery to a big name because the big name wanted their other label (Menage a twa).

i-chic--will give him your message (after I rotflmao!!!).

Have had the Menage a Trois white, not sure about the red. Prefer Conundrum (which the Menage is compared to).

Congrats on the tile install! Guess you haven't scared off the tile guy yet with the chickens and crocs and moose, oh, my!!!

Hey hey gurls! I just finished my taxes and am going right to the Dewars. Out of wine.
Congrats to your DH Cat! That is awesome that he did grad school and renovate at the same time. Must be the vino confuso!
Congrats to you Iggy on finally having tile in the shower. You scared me with the heat wave talk, thought you finally lost it!!Did you hold the tile god hostage by moosebutt until he finished the shower? what is next on the tile agenda?
I bought a cab with a crazy name on impulse a month ago the name was so funnyq had such high hopes for it- cant remember it, it just basically sucked. So I usually stick to the Wine Spectator picks and staid names for cabs- I am a chicken!! heh heh

ROFLMAO... haven't even had my glass (or 3 after the day I've had.. lol) of something merlot.. and I'm cracking up... rmlanza did you actually begrudge IC... "I'm SOOO sorry about the 7" headed your way". Damn, 7" ain't bad!.. ooohhhhh.. we're talking snow right? Me too LOL

Well, this displaced coffee snob (from my time in Portland) is now a bit of a wine snob. We get our wine from a local vintner that sells at our local farmer's market - Viano Vineyards.

We like them so much we tried to convince them to go ahead and build on so we could hold our wedding reception at their winery. Sadly, it didn't happen. Oh well, we had fun anyhow.

Here is a link that might be useful: Viano Vineyards

I'm usually a red wine girl, but if you are looking for a sweet white with fruity character but not cloyingly sweet and silly, try Ironstone Obsession. It is great very chilled, and with spicy food, or just by itself on a warm day!

Don't get me wrong..I don't like the Menage a twa, but it was a good seller, and the name concept sold for many millions...I thought it was too sweet.

But their Zin, Foley Aux Dux (I'm spelling that wrong) was fabulous and a great wine to sit on for a bit if you ever see it (it has two jokers dancing on the label).
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The tile guy LOVES my tile :) He thinks the shower looks like soft leather. But what I love best...it's flat...the ceiling and the walls, no lippage! Woo hoo!!! (the first two guys weren't so good). And it appears I will have extra tile...I'm trying to figure out what else to do in croc LOL I just LOVE it! It's so rich and wonderful.

He still has the trim, floor and nieches to do, but he wanted to make sure I was happy. I called him and his wife got him out of the shower...and I told him I loved him :oP heh heh

So next he'll do the floor and pony wall there on the shower, and then we can get the floor done...and on to the kitchen to do the range backsplash (chickens) so really I'm hitting him with the chickens and crocs first (which he loves the most).

I do have a big bull moose guarding the house while he works...if he screws up, Billy the Bull will come get him!
{{!gwi}}

igloochic - That is truly amazing tile.

igloo - cool tile - looks like alligator skin!!

I'm in the same boat as cooperbaily - just finished off the taxes tonight! And I get a refund this year!! Yippee! Too bad its basically already spent on the mini "yard remodel" in order to make it look nice for the "Kitchen and Bath Tour" we are in on the 25-27th this month.

Wow--i-chic, that tile is extraordinary!!!! Leave it to you to find something so wonderfully unique (just like you!). :-)

I will look for the Folie aux Deux. Always enjoy trying something new and yummy! How is it price-wise?

cooperbailey--whatever works is our motto!

pbrisjar--lucky you, living near good local vineyards!

earlygirl and mary_in_nc--will have to check out Renwood (have seen Ravenswood, but not Renwood).

muscat--is the Ironstone Obsession reasonably priced? We enjoy a nicely chilled, fruity white in the summer.

:) I love my crocodile tile...even this morning I still do (I had to run over and touch it again before DH went to work). I can't wait to see it grouted (dark brown so that it will flow as one big wall of brown croc). I feel like I may have a house again someday! I can't wait to see it on the tub deck (we're doing an undermount).

Folie aux Deux is mid range for price, but look for older bottles. They sold ohhhh three years ago. Quality changed :( But that happens when you go from a smaller family style winery to a big one. (I think sutter home bought them).

They're now producing (using the same mix as the menage) a wine (white and red as before) called Hooker. I'm sure someone will buy that label too before long.

But they also kept a small portion of the vinyard and are producing Zin's again, but not selling so far. We'll be buying up whatever they offer...I love their zins..big and fruity...not sweet, but so smooth...a nice quaffing wine, which many zin's are not, and it will last several years.

Excuse me...excuse me, did I hear someone mention riesling. Where, where?? Y'all are calling my name!!!

ichic - too cool that you actually know the family that started Menage a Trois'. I will have to keep my eye out now for Hooker. Sounds like a fun family :)!!!

I was wondering if it was just me or did that tile look like alligator skin. That is awesome.

cat_mom - congrats on DH, we will allow you to take your shirt off for him, unlike pbrisjar!!

Shannon

Cat Mom- yes, it is pretty reasonable, to me at least. I'm into "less than $10/bottle" for opening on day to day basis (wednesday night wine), and I think The ironstone is $8-9.

hehehehe....it is apparently a cross between a muscat and a grenache!

I love living in northern Ca. A friend of mine had her wedding at the ironstone vineyard, and everyone loved the Obsession.

http://www.ironstonevineyards.com/index.cfm?method=storeproducts.showDrilldown&productid=476fd679-b7f6-474c-a67d-26922313fae9&ProductCategoryID=eb4df595-cde0-17e8-0109-fa1009592c26&OrderBy=PXPC.DisplayOrder%20Asc,%20P.Price1

http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor/tswa030402.phtml

I am thinking it's 4:20 here and I am ready for a nice bottle of chianti-will wait till I start cooking to open it...so what 1 1/2 more hours to go....seems like a long wait!

Let me know when it's five cpang...I'm ready (it's only 1:41 here...but I am ok with drinking on eastern time if necessary...and today it's necessary!)

Oh glory be, the wine party continues into the next day! And it's not even Friday yet!

I just got home from trudging around the zoo for four hours (plus the 2 hour drive there and 2 hours back again)with about 70 10 year olds. I'm beat. It's 7:04 here now, the 7 year old will be in bed in 56 minutes, the 10 year old in an hour and 56 minutes, the 12 year old...oh good grief, I can't do the math now. I may sneak in a glass or 3 before the 10 and 12 years olds hit the hay. I think I'll polish off the (I'm not getting up to look at the bottle so I can't spell it) stuff I started last night and then pop open a new riesling. 77 here today and I drove home with the top off my new Jeep and have the sunburn on my chest to prove it!

You guys are having alot more fun then me... It's 75 here on a cool day and I spend 7 hours a day imparting wisdom on the minds of 20 8 year old children. I need to start drinking....

wait, I'm missing the shirtless reference, but I see rmlanza is driving around with her top off....oh, she meant the car top--LOL!!

Dilema. Finished last night's wine (only a mere mouthful left anyway). To open or not open another bottle of wine tonight, hmmmmm.............

Ya gotta bring a bottle of somethin' good if you're gonna be comin' to this party!

It isn't very often that I drink. Used to be me an' Jose were good friends, back in my partying days, and even now, every once in a while, I'll get a hankerin to do a few shots. Either that or the Captain!! As for what MY day was like, click below for a sample:

Here is a link that might be useful: My very first You-Tube upload

I'd start chanting some college spring break beer bong chant here Cat, but we are oh so much more sophisticated than that, wine snobs that we are, right? Oh who am I to talk, driving around all of North Carolina with a bunch of 10 year olds and my top off! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!

Man is my chest fried. Better dose my pain with another bottle of riesling!

OK, I'm behind.

I finished up my taxes last night, too. SUCKS. I owe big bucks.

Wine....trying to keep down the intake since I started my annual "how the heck did I gain ten pounds over the winter" diet. And I needed the wine since I was depressed about the taxes.

Sun. None here in MN. SUCKS. We have snow coming tonight and it should mess up my morning commute. I want wine.

chic, Nice tile. No Sucks there!

Bill, Wow, you are like a mini movie star!

Oh sure, now we have Bill showing off his he-man, manly tile cutting skills! This is fun!

If we ever have an east coast GW get-together I'll do a shot with you Bill! I think the last time DH and I did a tequila shot was during the cocktail hour at some wedding or another a bunch of years ago.

rmlanza, maybe you should bathe in riesling to take the sting out!

kk--ouch--we got hit bad last year (the money we'd taken out to do the reno bumped us up to a much higher income bracket)--I feel your pain and I think you'd better have some wine, for medicinal purposes of course!

Ooh, you said the "s" word. I'd better not be hearing that word in relation to the weather out here 'til next winter!

There was one a few years ago at Pauline's in Mass.. I was supposed to go to it, but at the last minute had to cancel out. I'll be at the next one!!

We took a large amount of money out of the company last year to even up some funds the other partner owed. It was a big amount...this year's taxes are terribly evil and ugly. (We do take the taxes out when we take draws but it still hurts to see the actual number in print!)

We never file on time so I guess that's why I missed it was April...oh well, let's drink to extentions! :oP

Bill my darling...how many pieces of tile was that you manly man you? Sheesh even my good guy only cuts one (ok that's while I'm watching and they're 24" square...)

I may have to visit the site and remind myself it's still ok. But for now...It's a sav blanc nice and cold! Drink up kids!!!

Normally I also only cut one at a time. But I had a wall to cut in where all the cuts were the same size, and in several contractor's forums, I've been involved in discussions where several contractors are under the deluded impression that the Rigid and Dewalt saws that HD, Lowes, and other stores are selling are every bit as good as the Target saws. So I had Adam go out to the truck and get my camera to prove a point. That video's been posted to 5 different forums tonight, including John Bridge's.

Almost forgot-- that was through 6 pieces of jerusalem stone.

Ok guys I am again a little late to the party here (having dinner with my dear MIL last night and I do mean that in every sense of the word), but it is now Friday and with this beautiful weather here today I will be driving myself thru Taco Bandito later for a large Margarita!!

cat_mom - the shirt reference was to a post about a week ago from pbrisjar who needed some good vibes sent her way so she could convince her husband to purchase a new DW (I think). Anywho, Ichic suggested taking off her shirt....next day pbrisjar informed us that he didn't go for it....so I told her next time he wanted the shirt off to remind him about the DW. (sorry for the long spill)

Robin - bless your soul for the zoo. I totally know that feeling. You deserve all the wine you can handle!

kk and ichic - please don't mention taxes....makes my stomach hurt :(

Another reason for the extra large jumbo grande margarita this evening is b/c I just put my DH on a plane to Cincy to see our best friends b/c they, or should I see HE, is having a huge blowout tommorrow night with beer bongs and beer luge that my DH has to be there for!!!
While I will be dealing with getting our 12 year old to and from a baseball tournament all weekend (DH is the coach no less) with an eighteen month old in tow.

I will need that frozen concoction in IV form now!!!

Oh, I did read parts of that thread louisiana! Must've missed the shirt part, or read it and forgot it (geez, mid 40's and the mind's already shot to he**!)

You do deserve IV fluids this weekend for sure! LOL!

I'm sorry...my brain fuzzed out when louisiana said they had drive through margaritta restaurants....

That's with booze in it right??? (Please post a google map...I'm warming up the car)

But first, a drink of wine for the road. Today sucked honestly. Granite woes, blah blah but the big thing being DS is back to the poops (he's had diarrhea for two years...) we honestly thought he was on the road to good health and today, back to normal :( Poor kid.

But the shower floor looks good...ok that's something...now where's that louisanna map????

Yes, the drive-thru liquor establishments are always a bit of a shock to transplants here!!! LOL! However, they have reigned us coona*^%es in somewhat by not letting us drink them til we get where were going (they put scotch tape over the straw hole!!!

By the way, I didn't get by there last night!!