Author Archives: lilliebette

Summer is almost in our rear view folks which means a lot of fun festive pairings in our future! Today we visit an old favorite of mine, salty licorice. I have paired licorice before on this blog and licorice was the inspiration for Uncorked Unwrapped after a long night nursing a bottle of Malbec with licorice. So here we are, back with the ole muse and I must say, I certainly hit the mark this time.

So lets crack open my first delicious find from my candy haul and dive into a delicious pair.

The Wine: Norton, 2011, the Winery at Bull Run

The Candy: Salty Black Licorice Coins

I don’t know if you could actually buy anything with these

The Dream: 

I have paired Norton before  but it didn’t go so well. But the rich and dynamic flavors demanded another pairing and I thought this licorice was just the ticket. It’s a nice balance of salty and licorice flavor. Both the Norton and the licorice are incredibly strong flavors that I imagined would mesh very well.

Just LOOK at the color of that wine, doesn’t it just make you swooooon?

The Reality: 

A home run folks!

The Norton has an interesting and complicated bouquet. The wine truly smells like a vineyard with slight aromas of dirt and grapes, but not in a bad way. There’s also a hint of sharp mustard and maybe…ketchup? The texture is smooth without any bite, although the wine is tart.  I love Nortons. Delicious!

The licorice is on the harder side and there’s a lot of chewing involved. You get a nice build up of licorice flavor in your mouth before sipping the Norton. They combine beautifully. The wine doesn’t sour and its richness fills the mouth and mingles nicely. Perhaps it is because licorice is truly such an earthy flavor. Just lovely!

What a nice way to kiss summer goodbye! We will start featuring seasonal candies soon as well as chipping away at that giant bag of candy I bought.

oh em gee readers I came across the best candy store in the Indianapolis Airport. On my way back from a business trip, I stopped in and dropped over $30. Let’s just discuss this store.

-There was a table dedicated to Hello Kitty Candy

-A wall of jelly bellys

-Now and Later

-Salty Licorice

-PEZ. SO MUCH PEZ

-Gummis galore like these apple rings

-A lot of throw back candy like Ring Pops

-Caramel Apple Suckers

-Haribo. So much Haribo.

-Kahlua Chocolate

And so much more. I couldn’t buy everything because I only have so many hands. A little advice store? If you had baskets I would have bought so much. When it comes to candy, I don’t know restraint.

Anyway, you have some sweet days ahead readers. And my mom is giving me fancy wine!

Hello!

Last weekend Sam & I used our Living Social deal to visit Winery at Bull Run in Virginia. This has been our second winery tour this year. This is also our second visit to a Virginia winery and so far we’re fans.

Winery at Bull Run

The winery doesn’t grow most grapes on the property, but they do grow the Norton. It is also surrounding some pretty interesting stuff if you are into Civl War history. They even have some artifacts in the tasting room, which is fun. There is also some some ruins of an old house and it has a signature of a World War I (?) soldier on the side. I should have taken notes on this signature but I was….altered.

We enjoyed the tastings! The Chardonnay had a delicious, buttery finish and we picked up another bottle of Norton, which is an unique Virginia-grown grape. Many of their whites had lovely notes of apricots.

Lovely yellow Chardonnay

Oh and there was some tasty hummus to have with our drinks!

AND some rad decorations

It was a lovely time and if you are in the area, head on over! I left delightfully tipsy with a handsome designated driver, what more can you ask for?

Oh! I also got some cool knick knacks to make my old wine bottles shine. That in a new post….

Had an amazing time at the winery at Bull Run in Virginia! Read all about it in my next post.

We are at the last candy in the Istanbowl Candy Bowl…the Canga bar. No, I have no idea how to say that, but it looked crunchy, chocolate-y, and caramel…y so I bought it. At the same time, it struck me as a bit boring. Is it essentially a pay day, except with more chocolate…and lumps?

Well, the “meh” attitude I had towards this candy blossomed into a “meh” pairing. But maybe you need something bland after last night’s Breaking Bad?

The Candy: Canga

The Wine: Lab, Vinho Regional Lisboa, Rosé

Ruf

The Dream:

The dream was more like a sleepy thought. I thought a red would be too strong, but some dumb part of my brain thought a white was wrong. So I picked….a rosé? I mean, they are lovely and refreshing and all, don’t get me wrong…but I never had a rosé that I remembered. I thought that maybe the light sweetness would refresh the heavy chocolate.

I really can’t explain away this decision.

It does photograph nice

The Reality:

The wine doesn’t really have a lot of flavor really. The wine is sweet and slightly dry but not incredibly flavorful. The Canga is indeed chocolately, nutty, and full of caramel. But it’s all too bland. All. Too. Bland. Like I said, a lot of Meh.

Tasty candy bar though.

Meet our international partner for our next post!