Wine

No, I didn't drink all this at once… sheesh. But I'd been saving these empty bottles to archive and just got around to it today. So in no particular order…

From the New Years Eve party, this was a surprisingly good find from BevMo (Beverages & More). 1997 Torre Oria Gran Reserva. Very good, under $15 if memory serves. Something tells me Spanish wine is under-appreciated -- and therefore under-priced -- in this country.

Xtabentun from the Yucatan. I bought this on a trip there in 2005 with my friend Alex, and just sipped the last drop of it last week. It's a very sticky, sweet, honey-type liqueur, and quite delicious. All gone… sad… must be time to go back!

This 2004 Paso Robles Zinfandel from Doce Robles was left behind at my New Years Eve party. I don't even know who brought it, but it was surprisingly good for what I would imagine was a pretty inexpensive wine.

This was a special one. This is one of two bottles I brought back from Amsterdam last year. Sadly, this was the only one that survived the trip. *sniff* A 2000 Barolo Ravera, had for about €40, which thanks to the iPhone I was able to google on the spot and discover was worth nearly twice that in the U.S. Actually, I bought this at my favorite Italian deli in the world, Feduzzi, which I blogged about here. Not being terribly good at storing wine long-term (I'm talking about me here), it only lasted a few months before I had to break it out of the cooler. OK I never really intended to store it for long, so there you go. Truly delicious, and in my opinion, a fine example of yet again something the Italians do really, really well.

Happy New Year!