It has no complexity whatsoever… it’s a refreshing, clean, sweet and fruity blend. If you are new to wines and looking for a sweet, unhaughty and unpretentious white wine, then this is a really great wine to stock up on… but I wouldn’t keep too many on hand at a time. This tastes very much like a wine you’d want to drink soon after purchasing it.

As to food pairings… not much comes to mind. It would make a good aperitif or dessert wine. I could also see it being a very interesting contrast to brie or other nutty cheeses, but it’s not quite my bag. I prefer the more mineral Rieslings from regions with heavier slate content in the soil, like Trimbach.

Then, when the ferry is full, they run between all the cars, randomly telling people to pull forward pull their wheels hard to the right and back up again… suddenly, there’s two more spots… and nobody can open their doors.

As it is, I’d swear we’re hanging off the front of this ferry… well – we’ll be the first off! Pity we can’t get out of the car to go up to enjoy the view… and not because we’re not allowed… anyone wishing to leave their car has to resort to Dukes of Hazard strategies…

They also crow every two minutes afterwards.

Last night, we hit XO Wine Bar and followed Alex’s lead… and just got appetizers. Huge plates if delicious eats! Then it was off to Duffy’s Love Shack for some significant drinking. Those drinks are great, and you get to keep the souvenir glasses… and… figure out how to get them home.

So, I admit… I still get like a little kid when it snows. I never got to burn out, like all you Northerners.

Also, there was something fun about building a snow castle before heading to the islands.

Everyone in Philadelphia that could worked from home yesterday. That was working out OK for us until power cut out for our neighborhood late afternoon. This has lead me to a new conclusion… oil heat might be nice, but with electric thermostats, it’s not as convenient to store all your fuel in your basement when the power cuts out.

I’ll have to figure out if there’s a manual override when the power returns… no luck trying in the dark… and the cold. Fortunately, we had already pulled out our camping gear in preparation for our trip, so plenty of cold-weather, no-power gear readily on hand.

So Philadelphia airport still hasn’t finished clearing their runways. Our flight isn’t cancelled, but it is delayed 2 hours, and the plane that has to leave before ours is still covered with snow.

There’s a small army of zamboni-like snow plows on the runway and they’re still kicking up impressive amounts of snow and ice as they move through.

Granted, the iPhone doesn’t really capture the look because of all the glare, but here are a few shots out our window.

Nope… crap… flight just got cancelled.

The back label of the Arbor Crest Merlot promises that it will “… yield layers of raspberry and current framed by spicy, vanilla-scented oak with lingering flavors of chocolate and blackberry.” All in all, I’d say this was pretty accurate. I’ve never had a palette that was good at identifying the raspberries, currants, and blackberries that other people describe in wines, but my first impression on trying this one was a strong fruity flavor without being overly sweet. After the fruit flavor, you get some of that oak – but very subtle, not a strong wood flavor like you get in some wines.

The label was accurate also in what it didn’t say. This is a very fruity and light merlot – but didn’t have a lot of earthiness or umami. I don’t know that I’d pair this one with oily savory foods – maybe not a main course wine. But I’m sure it would go great with cheese and appetizers.

I’d also recommend this one to friends trying to make the transition from sweeter wines to the more earthy/dry ones. It’s a nice, fruity, light wine that still isn’t sweet.

Their website… ugh… uses FRAMES and has a useless splash page with an all-too-large animated GIF.
Arbor Crest Wine Cellars
Merlot – Four Vineyards 2007