2016 Outer Sounds Sauvignon Blanc

I realized this week that I haven't done a review of a white wine yet. Part of that is because I do like red wine a little bit more than white, additionally, in winter, I, like most wine drinkers, tend to gravitate more towards red because they're cozier and warmer. If you take a minute and imagine yourself sipping a glass of wine by a fireplace while wearing a cozy sweater, you're probably imagining yourself drinking a glass of red wine. Red is more seasonably appropriate in winter, and white is more seasonably appropriate in summer. However, that doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't drink white wine in the winter! If you're in the right mood and drinking it with the right food, a white in the winter can be incredibly refreshing and comforting. I was in the mood for a white this week, so I opened a bottle of 2016 Outer Sounds Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand, that I bought from Winc.*


Sauvignon Blanc is my favorite kind of white wine. it's light, it's crisp, it's refreshing, it's fruity, it's generally not buttery or oaky (for me those are just not flavors I want while enjoying a white, I prefer oak in my red, not my white), and it's just easy to drink and enjoy. I've found that New Zealand is my favorite place for Sauvignon Blanc. They tend to be crisper and carry more tropical notes than other Sauvignon Blancs. They bring the word "zesty" to mind. Sauvignon Blanc is what put New Zealand on the map in the wine world. They started growing the varietal in the late 70's and early 80's, and the wine was a resounding success all over the world. It's now one of the most popular places for Sauvignon Blanc.

You may have noticed in the first picture that this bottle of wine is closed with a screw cap instead of a cork. Some of you may be thinking to yourself that the screw cap indicates that this is a cheaper wine, both in quality and cost. While that may have been true 20-30 years ago, it's no longer true today. Wine is an industry that often thrives on tradition and history. A certain type of wine snob will tout Old World (European) wines as always being superior to New World wines. Corks fit into this tradition, they are how winemakers have sealed wine for hundreds of years, but that doesn't mean it's the best way to seal wine. In the early 2000's New Zealand and Australia conducted studies on how to improve the way wine is sealed. With corks, you occasionally find a "corked" wine where the wine has gone bad because it's been contaminated by cork taint. This is a rare occurrence, but it does happen. With screw caps, there's no risk of corked wine, and the studies in New Zealand and Australia showed that wine can age just as well, if not better, when it's sealed with a screw cap as when it's sealed with a cork. Foregoing the cork does not affect the quality or taste of the wine. New Zealand and Australia took these studies and applied them, and now over 70% of their wines are sealed with screw caps, and the use of screw caps is gaining more popularity in other countries. So, just like you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, don't judge a wine by its screw cap.

Now, I'm sure you're dying to know what this wine actually tastes like. When I poured myself a glass, I immediately smelled tropical notes: pineapple, guava, passionfruit, and banana. There was also an underlying grassy and herbal scent. When I started sipping the wine, those tropical flavors were up front, but the sweetness of them was cut by a citrus acidity. I picked up notes of lemon and grapefruit. After swallowing the wine, a grassy kind of taste lingered in my mouth, mellowing out the sweetness of the tropical fruits. When I first took a sip of the wine I was worried that I was going to be overwhelmed by sweet fruit flavors, but the wine was more complex than I expected and it had other notes of flavor that balanced out the sweetness very well. In addition to being well-balanced, this wine was very light, crisp, and acidic. It provided the refreshment that I was craving.

Even though I was drinking white wine in the winter, I didn't want to pair it with a heavy winter food. That would not have brought out the best in the wine. Instead, I paired it with a bowl of shrimp fried rice. The tropical and grassy notes complimented the shrimp, peas, and soy sauce incredibly well. This wine would pair well with pretty much any white fish or shellfish, and also with a big refreshing salad. I thoroughly enjoyed this wine with this meal, and I plan on drinking it again later this week with mahi mahi tacos.

*I know I've been reviewing a lot of Winc wines recently, I just have a lot of their bottles in my wine rack right now, and I genuinely really like their wines. My fiance and I have tried other wine memberships/clubs, and Winc is still our favorite. If you're interested in trying a free box of three Winc wines (you just have to pay for shipping) feel free to DM me on Instagram and I'll email you a referral code. 

This post is is not sponsored or endorsed by Winc.

Kicking My Feet Up

This week I'm featuring a fun date night outfit. Even though my fiance and I have been together for almost four years, we make an effort to still go on dates regularly, and I always like to dress up and do my makeup for our dates. It helps keep the romance alive and our relationship more fun. The outfit that I wore out this past weekend would also be a great Valentine's Day date outfit if you don't like to wear bright red or pink, it would be a great subtle and more mature Valentine's Day outfit.

I am absolutely obsessed with the pants that I'm wearing. I love them so much that I own them in navy and black as well. They're from J. Crew and they're the most comfortable and flattering pants that I have ever worn. They're structured enough that I can get away with wearing them in a business casual setting, I wore them to work over the summer all the time, but they have a decent amount of stretch in them, so they're flattering, comfortable, and not too restrictive. They have large pockets on the front side that zip open and close. They are the best pockets I've ever seen on women's pants. They're position on the front of the upper thigh, instead of on the side/hip area, so that when you put anything in them they don't immediately make your hips look twice as wide. They're also big enough to fit most smartphones (they fit my iphone 6 with it's case) and still zip shut. The zipper keeps anything you put in the pockets close to your body, so the pocket doesn't sag at all. I've literally never seen better pockets on women's pants. I also really like the length of these pants. I'm 5'4" and I bought them in a petite size. They fit me like ankle pants, so they never drag on the floor or awkwardly bunch at my shoes. They look great with flats and with heels, but I will admit that they do not work well with boots or booties. The color that I'm wearing here is Vintage Merlot (I love the name almost as much as I love the actual color), and it looks great paired with black, white, cream, beige, and navy. They add some fun and color to a simple black top. I wear these pants, including the black and navy ones, 2-3 times per week in the fall and spring, and I can't recommend them enough. They're my favorite pants.

Since my pants were a fun color, I paired them with a somewhat simple black top. I got this top in the Draper James sale two weeks ago, and it's still available and on sale on the website. The material is kind of a stretchy jersey-type material that's very comfortable, and the bow and jewels around the collar add a feminine touch. I have a weakness for bows, so this top immediately called to me. The sleeves are 3/4 length, so it looks great with a bracelet. I wore my gold pave crystal chain link bracelet that I got from J. Crew years ago, and they have the same style on the J. Crew Factory site right now. It's a simple but glam bracelet, that goes with almost everything. It's big enough to make a statement, but is still somewhat delicate. I get so much wear out of this bracelet, and here the gold in the bracelet played well off the gold detailing around the collar of the top.


























The ankle length of my pants perfectly high-lighted these ankle-strap pumps. I don't usually wear heels casually, I generally only wear them to work or to formal evening events, but I recently found these incredibly comfortable, relatively low, block heels. I have to walk a couple blocks from the parking garage on campus to my classes, so I can't wear sky-high stilettos on the regular, but these pumps are definitely comfortable enough to walk around in. The ankle straps keep the shoes in place, so that there's no risk of my feet sliding forward and my toes ending up squished after taking a couple steps. They're low enough that the balls of my feet and my arches don't ache from walking around in them, but high enough that they still feel fun and glam. I can definitely see myself wearing these heels with black pants or black pencil skirts to the office once I start working full-time next fall. They're good quality and not overly trendy.



Top: Draper James.

Pants: J Crew, sold out in the Vintage Merlot color, similar pant available in similar color from Talbots.

Bracelet: J Crew Factory.

Shoes Nordstrom.

Weekly Window-Shopping

Hey guys, I've decided to add another weekly style-related post, because I feel like just one outfit post a week doesn't fully encapsulate or highlight my love of classic style. Starting this week, every Friday I will do a round up of new arrivals from some of my favorite stores and brands that caught my eye that week. I rarely go shopping in brick-and-mortar stores anymore, it's just so easy to shop online, so the fun of window-shopping has changed to browsing the websites of my favorite stores, and I want to share with you the things that I spotted in the online "window" each week that I would love to buy if I had an endless budget.

J. Crew Signet Circle Bag in Suede

Circle bags are very in right now, and for a good reason! The shape of the bag is very whimsical and adds a pop of fun to any outfit. I think this would be a great bag for Valentine's Day and for the upcoming Spring. The shade of blush is neutral enough that it would go with almost anything. Also, I love that it can be monogrammed!

Draper James Heart Field Shirtdress

I love a good shirtdress, but I often find that they can be very unforgiving in the hips for those of us with an hourglass figure. I love that  the skirt of this shirtdress flares out instead of being cut straight. It makes the dress much more flattering. The heart pattern adds a sweet touch to this adorable dress.

Tuckernuck Frances Ruffle Top by Sugarlips

It looks like Tuckernuck is gearing up for Spring and they have a lot of cute stuff coming our way. This top would be a great summer and spring staple paired with white jeans or royal blue shorts. It's subtley black and white striped, and it has an adorable bow in the back. I could see myself wearing this while sipping rose wine on a patio with my girlfriends.

Nordstrom Knit Peplum Top by Leith

If you're still on the hunt for a Valentine's Day date night look, and you prefer wearing a nice top and pants over a flirty dress, this top would be a great option. The ruffled peplum gives the top a fun and flirty look, and probably would be forgiving if you had an extra bite of cheesecake for dessert! And the bright red color paired with the v neck just scream DATE NIGHT.

Anthropologie Reston Tweed Blazer

I love how versatile this blazer is. If you work in an office setting you could wear this with a black pencil skirt of black work pants, but you could also throw it on over a pair of jeans for brunch on the weekends. A tweed blazer is a great classic item to have in your closet, and the colors on this one make in more fun and modern.

2016 Capuchon Carignane

This week I'm reviewing another Winc wine. I try not to review wine that I bought from the same place two weeks in a row, but I have plenty of Winc wine in my apartment right now, and the snow storm last week prevented me from going to a local wine shop or wine bar and hunting for a different bottle. I don't think that there's anything wrong with drinking a lot of wine from the same seller or store, but I like to give you guys some variety. It worked out fine though, because I absolutely loved this week's wine.

The wine I tried was the 2016 Capuchon Carignane. This wine was made with only one grape varietal, Carignane, and the grapes came from Mendocino County, California. Carignane wines are typically found in Southern France and Northern Spain, where it's not well respected. It's often used as table wine, and not often seen on good wine lists. However, Carignane grown on the coast of California has done surprisingly well in the past decade. Carignane grapes don't make very good wine until the vine is at least 50 years old, and many vines that were planted in coastal California 50-60 years ago are now producing excellent grapes. When Carignane wine is done well, it can be compared to Merlot or a Cote du Rhone red blend, so if you enjoy either of those two types of wine, I highly recommend looking for a bottle of Carignane from Mendocino or Sonoma counties in California.

Now onto the scent and flavor profile of this particular wine. When I swirled this wine around in my glass and sniffed it, I immediately got notes of bright red fruits: cranberries, pomegranates, raspberries, and even strawberries. I also smelled cinnamon, clove, and star anise, so there were some spices under the bold fruit scents. When I tasted the wine I got those bright red fruit notes again, exploding on my tongue, but it wasn't too acidic or sweet. The spices balanced out the fruit well, and I also got notes of red bell pepper and a hint of oak, which further helped balance out the fruit-forward nature of the wine. The wine was well-balanced and had light tannins. It was very easy and enjoyable to drink, and I found myself quickly pouring a second glass.

I paired this wine with a stuffed sweet potato, and I think it went incredibly well with that dish. I think this wine would pair well with almost any food though, save for a very delicate white fish or a hearty steak. It's an enjoyable wine that's not too bitter, and not too acidic, so it would compliment many different flavors and textures. I loved this wine so much that I already added another bottle of it to my next Winc order, and that's not something that I typically do. I can not recommend this wine enough.

Bows in the Snow

Durham was lucky enough to get another snow day last week. It's already snowed here three times this winter, which is very unusual. What's crazier is that we got almost a foot of snow this time!! We were only expected to get 1-2 inches, so the pervasiveness of the storm was a big surprise. I spent most of the day inside, with a warm drink, a blanket, and a book, but I went outside for a little bit to enjoy the rare occurrence of so much snow. Even though it was almost a foot of snow, it wasn't that cold out, it was barely cold enough to snow, hovering around 30 degrees all day, so I didn't need to wear a coat over my warm sweater.

I'm obsessed with this sweater, it's comfy enough to lounge around in all day, and warm enough to wear outside. I don't wear pink that often, but I do really enjoy this shade of bright coral. It's an easy way to add a splash of joy and fun to a dreary day. What really caught my eye about this sweater though, and the main reason why I bought it, is the bows along the back. They are the perfect adorable touch to an otherwise simple sweater. Multiple bows can sometimes be tricky to pull off, but since these bows are down the back, instead of in the front, they offer a more subtle note of girliness to the sweater. Another thing to note about this sweater, is that it runs a bit big. I'm wearing my normal size small here, and it's a bit billowy, and long enough that I feel comfortable wearing it with leggings. I'm considering getting it in another color in a size extra-small for a more fitted look.

I've been on the hunt for the perfect cream pom pom hat since the start of winter. I tried to order this one from J. Crew in early December, but the cream color was back-ordered and now it's completely out of stock. I ended up finding this one at Tuckernuck a few weeks ago and I love it. It keeps my head so warm and the dark ivory/light beige goes with everything. I like that the pom pom isn't the exactly same color as the hat itself, so that it stands out a bit and adds some fun contrast. This hat is incredibly soft, and good quality, I expect that it will last me many many winters.

Since I was playing in the snow, I covered my feet in the my trusty Bean Boots. I wrote about them in a previous snow post, but they are the best shoes for inclement weather. They keep all the water and snow out of my feet, so my feet stay warm and dry even when I'm walking in a foot of snow. I wore them in the days following the snow, after it started melting, and they saved me from potentially slipping and falling on ice. The path from my apartment to my complex's dumpster was covered in ice, from snow that had melted and re-frozen, and there were several spots on the ice that I felt if I had been wearing other shoes I definitely would have slipped, but my Bean Boots kept me from wiping out..

My snow day outfit was pretty simple, but it was the perfect balance of warm and comfortable. The sweater is comfortable enough to be a go-to lounge around the house sweater, but cute enough to wear out and about at well. Here's hoping for one more snow storm in the south before spring comes out way.

Sweater: Nordstrom, available in six colors

Hat: Barbour, available at Tuckernuck.

Boots: L.L. Bean

2016 Pas Ordinaire Red Blend

This week I'm reviewing a red blend that I got in my most recent Winc order. It's name, Pas Ordinaire, directly translates to not ordinary, but the spirit of the translation is that the wine is extraordinary! This wine is from Southern France, and it's a blend of Grenache and Syrah. It was aged in a concrete tank, instead of the typical oak or steel barrel. Most interestingly, this is a biodynamic wine.

Now, what is a biodynamic wine? Biodynamics is a style or process of growing and taking care of the grapes. There are various components to it, and some of them can seem a little bizarre, but I've never tried a biodynamic wine that I didn't like. Biodynamic wine growers use organic farming techniques, they don't use pesticides, and they use natural supplements to enhance the soil. These natural supplements are where it can get a little weird, in particular, I remember once that my fiance was completely freaked out and turned off by a wine once when the sommelier told us that the farmer fills a cow's skull with manure and buries it in the soil near the wine in order to improve the soil. He thought that sounded like some sort of black magic, but manure is a commonly used fertilizer, and the bone of the cow skull contains various minerals that can help and strengthen the soil that the grapes grow in. Biodynamic farmers also pay attention to the patterns of the planets and the moon, like astrologers, and allow the timing of planetary configurations to dictate when they plant the grapes. This is where I get a little skeptical about how much that can impact the resulting wine, but like I previously stated, I've never had a bad biodynamic wine, so I guess something those farmers are doing is working. When I'm ordering wine at a restaurant or deciding what to buy at my local wine shop, I don't really let whether or not a wine is biodynamic or not sway my purchasing decision, but I think it's interesting and kind of groovy (I tried to think of a better word to use here, but groovy seemed so appropriate) when the wine I've already decided on turns out to be biodynamic. However, if you care a lot about your produce being organic and you prefer your wine to be organic as well, choosing a biodynamic wine is a great way to ensure that.

   



















Moving on to actually drinking this biodynamic wine. When I smelled this wine I got strong notes of blackberries, cinnamon, and a hint of oak. This wine is a lovely dark and rich color, it's not a particularly bright red when you hold it up to the light. When I took my first few sips, I tasted blackberry, dark cherry, fresh fig, cinnamon, nutmeg, a hint of vanilla, a hint of oak, and a hint of toasted almond. My impression of this wine is that it's an easy-drinking red, fruit-forward, medium-bodied, light tannins, and relatively dry. This would be a great wine to drink with other people, because it's a good wine, but it wouldn't drag the attention away from your conversation.

I paired this wine with chicken parmesan and broccoli, which I thought was a great pairing. I consider chicken parmesan to be kind of a fancy comfort food, the tastes are simple and familiar, but it does take more effort to make than a big bowl of pasta, and I thought that a really good but very easy to drink red was a perfect match for that kind of food. This wine would also be great with a fun cheese and charcuterie board, or with a hearty stew. My fiance and I have plans to make a flemish beef stew, but sub in portobello mushrooms for the beef, and I think this wine would go great with that.

Lady in Black

Last weekend was my fiance's 24th birthday, so it was a good excuse to dress up and have a night on the town. I find that when I'm getting dressed up in the winter, I often reach for a classic little black dress. I need to wear tights with dresses in the winter (I'm not willing to freeze in the name of fashion) and my go to are just basic black semi-opaque tights, and they tend to look great with a black dress. I got this particular LBD from J. Crew this past summer, and it's a great all-weather dress. The material is relatively light, so it's comfortable in the summer with black sandals, or with bright red or blue sandals for a splash of color. But it also looks great with tights and black booties, so in the winter I can throw a coat over it and it's still a seasonally appropriate dress. I love this dress because it's essentially a simple shift, so it's very classic and timeless, but the ruffles and touch of eyelet lace around the neckline give it some pizzazz, so it's not boring. My fiance is a big fan of this dress, and he says that it gives me a bit of an Audrey Hepburn-Breakfast at Tiffany's vibe, which is a comparison that I love.

To keep warm, I wore my Kate Spade coat, that I received for Christmas, over this dress. I've written about this coat in a previous post, but I love in because it's incredibly thick and warm, it makes me feel classy and elegant, and there is a super cute bow detail in the back that is classic Kate Spade. This coat will be by go to elegant coat in the winter for years to come.

Since my dress, tights, and coat were all black, I decided to bring a black purse to keep with the classic, timeless look of all black. I got this purse from Kate Spade about two years ago, and it's a great evening purse. It's big enough to fit a card holder, smartphone, keys, and a lipstick or two, but small enough to still be a dainty evening purse. I love the quilted material, it gives the purse a very luxurious vibe, and the solid black color and gold hardware go with almost any outfit. Once I've started working full-time and actually have a real income, I want a medium-sized quilted Chanel bag, and this purse is a good placeholder until I'm at that point.

Because the hardware of my purse was gold, I was inclined to stick with gold for my jewelry. My earrings are House of Harlow 1960. They're an off-kilter square made up of nine pyramids with faux-diamonds at the tip of each pyramid. They're simultaneously glitzy and simple, so they go with everything, and they have a fun retro vibe that complimented the Audrey Hepburn look I was channeling. Since I wasn't really wearing color anywhere else, I decided to have fun with my watch. My watch is the Kate Spade Wine and Dine watch, and it's perfect for an evening out. It's a little too whimsical for an ordinary day in class or at the office, but the wine glass detail and the wine-colored band are perfect for a date night, or for dinner or drinks with a friend. Kate Spade has some of the cutest watches that I've ever seen, and since I love wine (hence the "pinot" aspect of pearls, pinot and parmesan) when I first saw this watch I immediately had to have it. I love to stack a simple bracelet or two with my watches, so for this outfit I added a Kate Spade bedazzled bow bangle that I got about a year ago. The bow detail on this bracelet compliments the bow detail in the back of my coat, and the gold base with some extra bling goes well with my earrings.

All together, I was very pleased with how this outfit turned out. Small details in my jewelry and clothing worked well together, and I felt very classy and timeless as I was wearing this. It was a great outfit for a winter-time special occasion, and my fiance liked the outfit, which is an added bonus, especially because it was his birthday.


Coat: Kate Spade, available at Macy's and Lorde & Taylor, similar available at Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's.

Dress: J. Crew last summer, currently has similar available here and here, similar also available at Vineyard Vines.

Purse: Kate Spade two years ago, currently has similar available here and here.

Tights: Basic drugstore black tights, for an extra touch, I recommend these.

Shoes: Steve Madden five years ago, similar from this season.

Earrings: House of Harlow 1960, also available on Amazon.

Bracelet: Kate Spade two years ago, similar available this season.

Watch: Kate Spade, similar with cocktail, similar with champagne

Keo St. John de Commandaria, Mavro

This week I'm reviewing a dessert wine. This is no ordinary dessert wine. I typically don't like dessert wines or ports, I find them to be too syrupy and overly sweet. This past October though, a local wine bar that I really like, Bar Brunello, hosted a tasting class on dessert wines. I went in hopes of finding some variety of dessert wine that I did like, and was very successful on that front. I generally don't like to write-off an entire group of wine, if I don't think that I like a broad type of wine, I'll do my best to find some version or variety that works for me. No two wines are exactly the same, so I think that it's always possible to find some version that you like. That's why I was determined to find at least one dessert wine that I liked. I actually ended up like most of the wines we tried as part of the class, but the Keo St. John de Commandaria really stood out to be, and I bought a bottle to take home and share with my fiance, since he wasn't able to attend the class.

St. John Commandaria is a wine from Cyprus, and it's made with the Mavro grape, which is an ancient grape varietal. This wine has been enjoyed for hundreds, if not thousands, of years and has won dozens of awards. The wine is considered to have no vintage, because it's made using a solera-style aging and blending system. The solera process is a technique where barrels of the wine are stacked, and each new year goes on top of the stack. The bottom barrel is tapped to bottle the wines, but is not depleted of the wine inside, the wine from the second-most bottom barrel is used to refill the bottom barrel, blending the wines from those two barrels. The second from the bottom barrel is then refilled using the third from the bottom barrel, blending the wine from those two barrels, and the process continues up the stack of barrels. The result of this process, is that, theoretically, every bottle of the wine ever produced and sold, contains a little bit of wine from every previous year that the wine has been made, since the winery started making the wine. This means, that the bottle of St. John Commandaria that I bought a few months ago, contained at least trace amount of wine from hundreds of years ago. I think that is incredible.

Now to the good part, what the wine actually smells and tastes like. When I took a big whiff of this wine, I first noticed the scent of over-ripe raspberries, then I got notes of dried fig and black licorice, and finally a bit of a cherry cough syrup smell. I know I said that I don't like syrupy dessert wines very much, but I like this one because the syrupyness isn't overwhelming. It's a much subtler note, and the wine is so complex, that the syrup blends in well with the other flavors and scents that are present. When I started tasting the wine, I tasted all the scents that I had previously smelled, with over-ripe raspberries and dried fig being at the fore-front. I also got notes of dried dates, blackberries, walnuts, dried dark cherries, and oak. While this wine is pretty fruit-forward, the fruit notes are primarily dried fruits, which leads to a very interesting and unique flavor. The dried-fruit emphasis comes through so much because the Mavro grapes are left on the vine until they become semi-dried, and then they are harvested. This wine also had a unique color. It doesn't look like a typical red wine or port, it has a much more amber color. This is likely another result of the grapes being left on the vine longer.




Since this is a dessert wine, I obviously paired it with dessert. My fiance and I enjoyed it with two desserts from a local bakery, a dark chocolate tort and a hazelnut mousse covered in a hard chocolate shell. I think that the wine paired better with the hazelnut mousse dessert because the walnut note played well of the nuttiness of the hazelnut, but it was still delicious with the dark chocolate tort. I also think this would go well with a pecan pie, or with some type of chocolate and raspberry dessert, to play off the fruitiness of the wine. I would definitely recommend this wine to anyone who has trouble getting into dessert wine, and for anyone who already enjoys dessert wine. My fiance is a big fan of port, and he thought that this wine was even better than most ports that he's had. Even though I bought this from a local wine bar, I did a little digging and found it available for purchase online as well.

Snow Day

As I mentioned in my previous posts, my family went to Vail, Colorado a few weeks ago, and while I don't like to ski, I did have fun just playing in the snow, watching movies in the cabin, and walking around the ski village. One of the days it wasn't that cold for Vail in the winter, so I didn't need to wear a coat and I took full advantage of the relative "warmth" by playing in the snow! Since I was coatless, I opted to wear a warm vest. I got this vest from Nordstrom earlier this season, and I absolutely love it. It's reddish burgundy and navy plaid, but it's not a sharp plaid, the lines of plaid are more faded and blend into each other. It's 100% cotton, so it has a cloth texture on the outside, instead of that shiny/slippery feel that some vests have. It's quilted, which gives it a lovely classic texture, and one of my favorite things about it is that the inside lining is polka dotted, and you can see the pattern peaking out when I fold the collar over. I paired the vest with a classic Ralph Lauren gray cable knit sweater. The one I'm wearing is a few years old, but Ralph Lauren puts out basically the same style of sweater every year, because it's such a timeless look. Since the vest is plaid, I typically wear it with a solid colored sweater underneath so that the vest is the center of attention. I often wear it with this gray sweater, but it also looks great with cream, beige, and navy sweaters.

I love wearing a statement necklace with a vest partially unzipped. The collar of the vest frames statement necklaces so nicely. With this outfit I chose the Perry Street Elenora Necklace. The stones that make up the petals of the jeweled flowers are a navy/dark gray color and they bring together the gray of the sweater and the navy in the plaid print of the vest. The necklace adds a fun dash of sparkle to an otherwise very classic, but simple outfit.

I don't get very many snow days in Durham, North Carolina, so I took advantage of the Colorado weather and wore my favorite Kate Spade Hi-5 mittens. My grandmother got them for me for Christmas three years ago, and I try to find some excuse to wear them every year. They're incredibly warm and soft, and the Hi-5 print adds such a lovely touch of whimsy to the mittens. Kate Spade had darling mittens every year, and they add a touch of fun to any outfit. In the time since I originally drafted this post, Durham actually got a good bit of snow due to the "bomb-cyclone" and I got another chance to wear my mittens!

Since I was playing in the snow, I had to wear my L.L. Bean Boots. They are my go-to all-weather boots. They are sturdy, dependable, classic boots. I reach for them whenever it rains in Durham, and they keep my feet completely dry. While I was walking around the snow in Vail my toes stayed warm. They also have great traction, which is a must in Durham, because on the rare occasion that it does snow, it melts and refreezes as ice very quickly, and these boots have prevented me from slipping on the ice many times. I got my Bean Boots in navy because that's my primary neutral color and I wanted them to go with everything that I own, but I think the camel/brown color is also a great neutral color that doesn't clash with anything.

Vest: Nordstrom, unfortunately it's sold out at Nordstrom, but there are some available in select sizes from Nordstrom Rack, and similar ones at Macy's and Talbots.

Sweater: Ralph Lauren from a few years ago, similar one available this season.

Necklace: Perry Street, similar available from BaubleBar and Kate Spade.

Mittens: Kate Spade three years ago, similar ones from this season and from Draper James.

Boots: L.L. Bean.

2016 Folly of the Beast Pinot Noir

This week, being back at home, I tried one of the Winc wines that I received in my box last month. In my first wine post I wrote about Winc and how much I like my subscription, it's a great way to try new styles of wine.

Pinot Noir is one of my favorite grape varietals, so I was really looking forward to trying this wine. However, I generally prefer French and Italian Pinot Noir over ones from California and the Pacific Northwest. Generally, I find that Pinot Noir from France and Italy are a bit more balanced than those from California and Oregon/Washington, and that the former are more fruit-forward, while the latter tend to be smokier and spicier. This particular Pinot Noir is from the Central Coast of California. California Pinot Noirs are often from the Central Coast, because the morning fog and cooler evenings provide favorable conditions for the grape.

After opening the bottle and pouring a glass, I spent quite a bit of time smelling the wine before drinking it. I'm constantly trying to improve my ability to smell notes in wine before I taste it. Here, I smelled a strong pepper note, with an undercurrent of black cherry, tobacco, and oak. This smell seemed consistent to me with other California Pinot Noirs that I've tried.

When I eventually tasted the wine, it was pretty consistent with the smell, but I picked up additional notes of plum and clove. The plum, dark cherry, and clove flavors seem to come first, but are quickly over-powered by the pepper, and the wine finishes off with subtle notes of oak and tobacco. The tannins were very mild and light, and the wine was medium-dry. This wine was consistent with my previous thought on California Pinot Noir. The pepperiness was a bit over-powering for my taste, I would have preferred the plum and dark cherry to shine through more, and to have gotten other dark berry notes as well, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the wine, and if you like a spicier Pinot Noir, I would definitely recommend this one. It was a good wine, just not my favorite location for a Pinot Noir to come from.

I drank this wine while eating a relatively mild Gouda cheese on multi-grain crackers. I think the wine paired decently well with the cheese, but the pepperiness slightly overwhelmed the Gouda, because it was a more mild cheese. I think this wine would've gone even better with a sharp cheddar that could have held it's own more up to the wine. I also think this wine would go great with brussels sprouts cooked with bacon and a little bit of balsamic vinegar. This wine is a more robust Pinot Noir, so it can pair well with food that has a strong flavor.

This wine is currently available from Winc for $18.