New Year's Resolutions

So its that time. All the bloggers, and even those who don't blog, are putting together their list of New Year's resolutions. I figured I'd join in the fun and add mine to the fray. Its a simple list really:

• Drink more wine - this one is obvious, and on the surface should be pretty easy. I want to drink more wine for the health benefits, for the pure enjoyment it brings me, and so that I learn more about my palate. 2007 brought about a revelation for me that I love Bordeaux. If I drink more 2008 might bring about a newfound appreciation for Italian or Chinese wine, who knows.
  
• Stop Drinking Champagne - I've already shared my loathing of all things sparkling. Life's just too short to drink stuff I don't like. Parties, weddings, New Years, all of it, I'm just saying no.
  
• Drink better wine - maybe more important than drinking more wine is the quality of the wine I drink. This goes hand in hand with the Champagne resolution, but its more generic. I want to be drinking the best wine I can get my hands on. Fortunately the best way to ensure that I'm drinking better wine is to make sure I'm sticking to my first resolution.
  
• Explore more wine bars in Chicago - this one might be tough. This was one of my goals for 2007. I made it to a grand total of 1 this year. Next year is gonna be better. I'm planning to actively seek out and visit wine bars.
  

So there it is. My resolution list. What about you? What wine resolutions have you made for next year?

Christmas Dinner

I'm faced with a conundrum this year. I'm spending Christmas this year with my wife's family. They are wonderful people, but they are not wine drinkers. I can be sure that the closest thing to a bottle of wine at Christmas dinner will be rum and coke. Actually I suppose there's a chance a bottle of Blue Nunn might make it to the table, but I don't know if that really counts. So while the roast cooks, and my mouth waters thinking of all the great wines that could have been matched with it, what's a wine lover to do? Should I bring a couple bottles along with me and just offer them up? Should I get over it and just enjoy the meal? I'm at a loss, any thoughts?

If I had $275 I didn't need...

...I'd be spending it on this.

http://www.localwineevents.com/Chicago-Wine/event-159388.html

While its a little out of my budget, a comparative tasting of 40 of the worlds best wines from two of the best vintages of the past 25 years, would be high on my list of fun things to do.

If you're so inclined, and have the expendable income, this one should be a memorable experience.

Tango Sur

My sister was in town this weekend, so despite the 9 inches of snow falling on the city Saturday night, I braved the elements and spent the afternoon shopping on Michigan Ave., and capped the night off with a phenomenal meal at Tango Sur.

All afternoon we played tourist and hopped from shop to shop along the Magnificent Mile. As is typical for a full day of shopping we returned to the car with a solitary meat thermometer. The lights were pretty, and the free chocolate from Ghiradelli was scrumptious.

The highlight of the day was absolutely our trip to Tango Sur. Tango Sur is an Argentinian steak house. They serve generous portions of Latin American and Argentinian dishes. We started the meal with some great empenadas and warm chewy bread. I've said it before, but I could eat nothing but hot, moist bread and be very happy. After the appetizers we moved onto the real attraction, the meat. I hat a filet, "El Filet" actually. It was good, and on any other night I would have been satisfied. The trouble was that my wife and sister ordered Steak Vesuvio. This was a cut of sirloin, I believe, stuffed with cheese and spinach, and cooked to mouthwatering perfection. The steak was moist, well marinated, and downright amazing.

To top it all off Tango Sur is a BYOB establishment. Not only can you bring your own wine, but there is no corkage fee. We stopped by Sam's on our way to take advantage of their nice selection of Argentinian wines. We picked up a nice bottle of Ben Marco Malbec on the recommendation of the salesman. It was a good bottle of wine, but for $20 in what I consider a value region, the wine should have been more complex and powerful. As it was, it was lacking in a tannic element and all around depth.

Overall it was a wonderful meal to cap off a wonderful afternoon with family that I see too little of. I'm looking forward to a return visit very soon.

Ruby Tuesday's new menu

Benito's Wine Reviews just posted about a trip down memory lane involving some Yuengling and a turkey sandwich. The sandwich sounds good, but it was the Yuengling that got me going. I had Yuengling Lager for the first time over the Thanksgiving holiday. On a trip from Knoxville to Nashville (I was home in Tennessee for the week), we stopped at a Ruby Tuesday for lunch.

If you haven't been to Ruby Tuesday in a while you are missing out. There is a class of restaurant just above fast food, but not quite fancy. The restaurants that fall into that category include Friday's, Chilli's, Applebee's, and so on. I've always lumped Ruby Tuesday into the same category. I must say though that my last few trips there have been fabulous. In an effort to differentiate themselves from the aforementioned pack, Ruby Tuesday's has created what seems like a new category of dining. They are attempting to offer an original menu, exquisitely made food, and a price that doesn't go too much above their competitors. Its working.

They have wonderful crab cakes, the best burger I've ever had in any restaurant anywhere, and a set of signature drinks to match. So far every visit I've made since the new menu has been stellar, with the exception of one.

At a Ruby Tuesday in Central Illinois I stopped for lunch after a backpacking trip. Usually after a backpacking trip, I am starving, and as such don't really care what goes down the gullet. This particular trip though I was delighted to find a well put together menu of carefully chosen craft beers. Not only was I going to feed myself, I was going to get to do it in style. Mmm mmm. So imagine my surprise as I went down the list, the list on the menu mind you, and rattled off one wonderful sounding ale after another, only to be told by the server that "we don't carry that beer", and "that's on the 'corporate' menu. Ruined. My. Day. I settled for a lemonade, hoping that it wasn't just on the corporate menu.

My letter to the folks at Ruby Tuesday is still forthcoming, and Benito's post on Yeungling has reminded me that its time to write it up. Maybe my time in Iowa over Christmas will afford me the opportunity to write it.