Have bite with Mad Dog and pop a Kappa

Wine with Hillary: The best of wines, the worst of wines

Before I get to this week's column let me first say a few words about that most basic necessity, the corkscrew. Throughout my years as a wine drinker, I have had the unfortunate experience of having the corkscrew break while opening a bottle on three separate occasions.

Wine with Hillary: Rainwater with a kick and hard berries

A few weeks ago I had a raspberry dessert wine to match my delicious pineapple upside-down cake and was seriously distressed. It was like drinking Robitussin. Fortunately, I was able to palm it off on my dinner partner who, for some reason, enjoys these syrupy disasters. However, just because I haven't enjoyed dessert wines in the past doesn't mean I shouldn't give them a try now. For your reading and possibly drinking pleasure I present three dessert wines of a wide variety.

Wine with Hillary

Have bite with Mad Dog and pop a Kappa

This piece represents the opinion of the author:

April 22, 2005

Welcome, oh happy readers. Inspired by this week's spring (or was it summer) weather, I thought that I would try wines with whimsical names. I am sure that you have seen these wines in the shops, and have wondered, perhaps even chuckled about some of them. I admit that the Menage a Trois wine rather entertained me. The menage is that of three different types of grapes and certainly makes no promises as to the activities inspired by drinking said wine. Back to the point, can you trust a wine with a really silly name? Isn't it just a gimmick to get you to buy a bottle? Just because these wines don't take their names seriously doesn't mean that they aren't wines worth serious consideration.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen 2003 Cabernet Shiraz Monastrell

If you couldn't tell from the description, this is a blended wine. It's an uneven split with the primary component (50 percent) being the Monastrell grape, and the other two making up the rest. What one may not be able to infer from the name is that the wine is actually growing in the scorching climate of Jumilla, Spain. The wine itself is excellent. It smells very fruity but has a spicy taste. It has a kick to it that definitely takes the chill of these April nights and although it makes you want to howl at the moon, its spice isn't too formidable. We found it a companionable wine and it paired nicely with the cheese and crackers my tasters and I were having. $14.99 at Lily, Lupine, and Fern in Camden.

Screw Kappa Nappa 2002 Pinot Noir

This label is a subdivision of Don Sebastiani and Sons. As the name suggests, the wine comes from the Napa Valley and features a screw cap. The subdivision also includes two other labels with screw caps. You can visit its fun and informative website at www.3loosescrews.com and learn all about the screw cap idea. It's a plus for people without corkscrews on hand and therefore ideal for say, picnics, if the weather is right and the ground is dry. The wine itself was extremely yummy, it is a well balanced wine, with no single overpowering flavor and although I found it very good on its own, my tasters and I enjoyed it with Thai food. The website does not list the pinot noir variety and the labels online are unlike the one I had, so I assume that this wine is no longer being made. However, if you're quick, you can still pick some up at the NH state liquor store for $14.99.

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