Stay Rad

Look…

I love San Jose.

I love it.

It’s where I went to college.

It’s where I work.

It’s where I lived for my entire 20’s.

In late 2009, Kara and I moved to the neighboring city of Morgan Hill.

As much as I love MH, it’s a world away from SJ.

Unlike other bordering cities like Los Gatos, Campbell, and Santa Clara, Morgan Hill has a good stretch of country between it and San Jose.

Consequently, outside of going to work, I don’t spend as much time in San Ho as I used to.

Luckily, there are plenty of places that keep calling me back to my favorite city.

About a year ago, my buddy Dave introduced us to The San Pedro Square Market.  It’s a collection of shops and eateries in downtown San Jose where you can meet up with friends to get a bite to eat, some dope drinks, and just hang out.

Last night, Kara and I decided to hit up a wine bar inside the Market called Vino Vino.

The slogan of this place is “Wine Without Attitude”.  The idea is that they focus on serving good wine and food in a laid back “neighborhood bar”-type of environment.

While they do offer wines by the bottle, most folks tent to gravitate towards the local wines that they offer on tap for eight dollars a glass.

Wines on Tap

Before I get to the wine, I wanted to show you the dope Panini I had for dinner…

Italian Meat and Cheese Panini and Seasonal Mixed Greens in Lemon Vinaigrette

A textural and flavorful sensation…

But that wine looks good too…

I was very familiar with the majority of the local wines that they had on tap, so I was stoked to see that they carried a few wines from Nottingham Cellars of Livermore… A winery that I’d never heard of.

My first glass was the Nottingham Cellars 2010 Awakening GSM.  This Rhone style blend is made of 57% Syrah, 28% Mourvedre, and 15% Grenache.  I was very happy with its balance of juicy red fruit and racing acidity.  It’s a perfect wine to pair with (you guessed it) an Italian Meat & Cheese Panini.

Next up, I tried the Nottingham Cellars 2009 Aguirre Vineyard Malbec.  This one showed much more restraint in its red fruit… While present, the juice gave way to a nice, earthy herbaciousness.  This is not an Argentinian fruit bomb.  It’s much better.

I recommend trying either of these wines on tap.  For eight bucks a glass, you really can’t go wrong.

In fact…

I kind of wish I had one right now.

Yet another reason to take a quick trip to San Jose.

Good thing I know the way.

Stay Rad,

Jeff

Tags: Awakening, GSM, Livermore, Malbec, Morgan Hill, Nottingham Cellars, Panini, San Jose, San Pedro Square Market, Vino Vino, Wine

This entry was posted on September 15, 2012 at 6:21 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.