A Mad Housewife does not a happy Wine Night make

Sometimes you have to get a wine because of the label.

With a motto like "Housework can't kill, but why take a chance" it was too funny to pass up. Funny labels we have tried in the past have included Fat Bastard and Bitch Wine. The Mad Housewife was all label and no substance. This is a great wine to bring to a White Trash party if the store is out of Boone's Farm or wine  in a box.  

Of course even with our disappointment of the wine a little  goat cheese, blinis, brie cheese and cinnamon crisps on the balcony we were able to salvage our evening. 

After the angry housewife the other wine for the night was Emma Pearl Chardonnay which we didn't like much better.....Despite it's Tiffany Blue label...we felt that Emma was definitely no pearl. It was even said while drinking it "They fool you with the Tiffany blue label, when in all actuality it tastes more like a bottle of swill."

 On their website they talk about Emma Pearl as is if she was a person and I quote "She has impeccable taste and gracious manners.  She always knows the right thing to say without ever implying you don’t. Possessed of breathtaking style, her classically chic handbags elicit ardent admiration.  Ever ready to entertain, she may very well have inspired the phrase “fabulous hostess.” 

In our opinion we think NOT so much, it's like the old saying goes.. You can put lipstick on a pig, But it's still a pig!!  

Even though we did not like the Chardonnay very much and we will probably not be trying it ever again we reccomend you check out their website just for the laughs!! 

http://madhousewifecellars.com/

As always "Cheers" from Brad & Kim 

Our Facebook page is here https://www.facebook.com/2dollarwineconnoisseur

It doesn't have to be expensive to be good....

Wine doesn't have to be expensive to be good.  It isn't the price on the outside of the bottle that makes it a good wine, it is whether you like it and enjoy it that makes a wine a good.  That is why we decided to start  this blog.  We thought the 2 dollar Wine Connoisseur would make a great name to show that a fun wine night can be had at a reasonable price. To demonstrate that you don't have to spend a lot of money to have a good wine experience. The greatest example of this of course is "2 Buck Chuck"  Charles Shaw wines at Trader Joe's.   Sure we would love to have a wine cellar with fancy wines from all over the world. We will buy a pricier wine every once in awhile and we have some wines in the the $10-$20 dollar range,  but to fill those empty spaces in our modest little wine fridge we stock it with some Chuck.  At $2 a bottle it is less expensive then a one liter soda and much more fun.  We first fell in love with Charles Shaw Chardonnay but we are now more into the  Sauvignon Blanc.   It really can't be beat and we actually like it better than a lot of the Chards and Blancs we have tried.  So cheers to Charles Shaw and some quite good wine that doesn't empty the wallet.  So fill up that wine fridge at a cost of $23 dollars a case!! 

For more information on $2 Buck Chuck here is the link 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Shaw_wine

A Wine Night at the Ritz in Laguna Beach

Even though you can have fun Wine experiences without spending a lot of money, every once in awhile it is fun to get a little fancy.  So while having a little getaway in Laguna Beach we decided to experience the Eno Wine Bar at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Beach.   We arrived a little early so stopped first at the 180 Blu lounge to take in the Sunset.

The 180 Blu lounge is an outdoor terrace featuring a panoramic view of the Laguna coastline. 

If you look closely you can see it was a clear shot of Catalina Island at sunset.

The 180 Blu lounge offers up an upscale yet relaxing vibe featuring several marble and glass fire pits well placed around the balcony. All of this while you listen to the tantric tunes and nibble on lime soaked Peanuts dusted with sugar and homemade Wasabi Chips.

This experience alone would have been good enough but for us it was off to the Eno Wine Bar located inside the Ritz ... 

Pictured below is  the entrance to  the Eno Wine Bar an upscale wine tasting room that features over 300 different wines.

We ordered the Refreshing Whites Wine Flight  that was paired with some excellent cheeses 

 ENO had a delightful atmosphere  with the wines displayed in a glass chamber.  Also another cool aspect was the cheese area where you could watch them prepare the cheese pairings.

 Even though it was a splurge it was an enjoyable experience that we will plan on doing again.

For more photos from this trip check out this link
http://blondepixals.blogspot.com/