I recently had the chance to taste two tempranillos side by side, and enjoyed them with my 90-year-old Italian Grammie’s famous spicy meatballs. The first one I opened was the Obra 2006 Joven, a lovely rioja from the Ribera del Duero region of Spain. It’s a very smooth-drinking wine that brought to mind the flavor of berries when it first crossed my tastebuds. I would take a bite of a meatball, soaked in spicy red sauce, then follow it with a sip of the wine, which complimented the tomato and garlic-y ground beef nicely. I asked my grandmother (who doesn’t drink) to smell the wine and tell me what she thought it reminded her of, and after taking a big whiff, she deadpanned, “Smells like wine.”

In contrast, the second bottle I popped, the Bodegas Luis Gurpegui Muga 2005 Tinto Primi, tasted slightly more peppery. The flavor of fruit was still there, but it was veiled delicately in a spiciness that precluded the black cherry finish. This wine is darker in color and more oaky, with more obvious and defined “legs” running in streaks down the inside of the glass. Again, I put this one in front of my red-headed Grammie and asked her what it smelled like. Upon inhaling deeply from the glass, she looked up and announced: “Winey!”

I really enjoyed both wines for different reasons. Where the Obra was rounder and easier to get right into, the Muga prickled the palate, playing off the red peppers buried in the meat. As the Muga sat on the table over the course of an hour, it opened up more, mellowing out and revealing a softer side.

The wines seemed to have very distinctive personalities and I ventured to compare them to women — perhaps two redheads at a bar. The Obra was voluptuous, curvy and quite friendly from the first taste. One could go as far as calling her “easy.” The Muga, on the other hand, started out a little sassy, almost playing hard to get. The complexity was enjoyable and memorable because of the way it changed throughout the meal, finally giving way to a mouthwatering roundness. When I mentioned this to my family as we finished our Sunday dinner, I joked, “Look, they even both have nice legs!” To that, my grandmother just rolled her eyes.

Nice to meet you! My name is Rick. I’m the guy in the photo above with Wines and Makers owner Andrea Godard. This picture is significant because it’s a candid shot from the first time Andrea took me to wine country.

Wait. I should back up a little. Andrea and I have been dear friends since middle school, when I thought she looked like Elizabeth Shue in Karate Kid . Throughout the years we’ve been in art classes together, listened to the Smiths in her vintage Falcon, snuck each other into bars, and lived together in San Francisco. She organized my wedding. I go fishing with her dad. And she took me to Sonoma for the first time ten years ago to taste wine.

When I heard she was starting this online wine community with her husband Kevin–who we actually met in a tasting room on that same wine trip above–I was thrilled because I know Andrea and Kevin are passionate about wine and the lifestyle surrounding its enjoyment. Andrea is a brilliant cook and hostess and Kevin has a wisdom about wine-making that comes with years spent in the business.

When Andrea asked me to write a blog about wine, I was a little intimidated, actually. Unlike Kevin, I’m no expert on the subject. My only qualifications for doing this are that I’m an experienced web-logger and that I do love to open a nice bottle in the evening. But Andrea put me at ease by explaining that she wanted this wine community to be different than most. My somewhat pedestrian experience with wine is exactly what she’s looking for, because that puts me in the same company as 75% of wine drinkers out there. I have a few different styles of wine that I enjoy regularly, I know how to swirl and sniff a glass, but I’m interested in learning more. To that end, we’re all in this together on the Wines and Makers blog.

This is the space on Wines and Makers where anything goes. I’m going to taste and review some of the wines you’ll find here, Andrea is going to post some of her musings and amazing recipes to go with the bottles she’s offering–hell, we may even get Kevin to chime in. We want this dialog to be open. I expect to be corrected, directed, and hopefully commended every once in a while for my observations as my own palette “matures.” Don’t hesitate to comment about recipes, add your own reviews, or recommend a bottle from an interesting wine producer that we may be sleeping on. We love hearing from people!

So with all that in mind, here’s to the start of a great party. Let’s slow things down and savor the flavors and experiences that go along with wine drinking.

Cheers!