What? You did what?

Yes, the Directora de Vinos herself gave up WHAT?... WINE (actually, ALL alcohol) for Lent. Mouths are dropping open, gasps ring out - yes, Julie gave up wine. Just wanted to challenge myself - I don' t know why. Glutton for punishment? Sometimes! But that's okay, I still have
lots of tasting notes I'd like to share.

So if you're visiting this blog, you have likely been to visit RANAZUL, one Howard County's
newest restaurants. We're an international tapas restaurant, serving dishes you would see in Japan, Spain, France, Italy, Mexico and even some indigenous to the good ol' US of A. We opened mid-September 2007, two weeks after my wedding. It was quite a stressful time - trying to get used to a LOT of things - in addition to a new schedule trying to fit in RANAZUL amongst my full-time job (Account Manager for Bio-Rad Laboratories) as well as learning to fit into several new roles at once. Now, it's February and thankfully, things have finally started to settle down a little bit. We're getting used to the new schedules and roles just fine.

So...WINE! That's what this is all about. This blog will reflect notes on wines I've tasted recently, they may or may not be on our wine list or pairing ideas that I've come up with from our dinner menu at RANAZUL.

One of our newest additions to the menu is a lovely Pinot Noir from Ambullneo Vineyards in Santa Maria Valley, California. First of all, what an interesting name, right? AMerican BULLdog NEOpolitan mastif. They're dog lovers. And not just any dogs - they're fans of the big ones. ;) Dogs aside (sneeze, sniff) - I tasted 3 Pinots and 3 Chards at an event in January.
The one that made the cut for our list was the 2006 Bulldog Pinot Noir:

Dark ruby color, nice earthy cigar-box and rich dark red fruits on the nose - beautiful texture with soft tannins that lovingly linger. Screaming for a big tuna steak. Or our tuna tartare!

It's a bit pricey at over $120 on the list - save it for a special occasion. But it's well worth it - I promise.

More to come!

Cheers,
Julie