Wine Tasting - April 18

Name: Wilson Daniels Sauvignon Blanc

Vintage: 2010

Region: Central Coast, California

Price: $7.95

Tasting Notes: Orange blossom and citrus permeate the aromas. Alluring flavors of orange and grapefruit dominate the palate. Bright acidity balances the plush mouth feel, resulting in a clean finish.

My Review: The smell of this wine was had strong orange and citrus components.  The taste was tart and crisp with apple and grapefruit flavors.  I liked this wine, but it wasn’t great.

Name: Black Ridge White Zinfandel

Vintage: NV
Region: California

Price: $3.95

Tasting Notes: This fruit forward White Zinfandel displays fresh aromas and crisp flavors of strawberry, raspberry, and cherry. It is incredibly food friendly and will pair well with burgers, sandwiches, fruit salad, and more.

My Review: I hadn’t had a white Zinfandel before that I liked, but I actually enjoyed this one.  The smell was sweet with cherry aromas.  The taste was light and sweet with some strawberry and other berry flavors.  Since this wine was so good for such a cheap wine, I decided to purchase it.

Name: Chandon Sweet Cuvée

Vintage: NV
Region: California

Price: $9.95

Tasting Notes: This wine is an innovative sparkling wine style revealing vibrant stone fruit and floral aromas with rich, luscious mouth feel. This wine enlivens the senses and sparks spontaneous moments, complementing your passion for a good life.

My Review: This wine had a very sweet and fruity smell.  The taste was slightly floral but had a weird aftertaste that I did not like.  I like the mouth feel of the bubbles, but not really much else about the wine.

Name: Concannon Shiraz

Vintage: 2008
Region: Central Coast, California

Price: $7.95

Tasting Notes: This is an extremely rich, full-bodied wine with a dark fruit core. Aromas of blackberry, blueberry, cassis and dark cherry are followed by more berry fruits and chocolate and mocha on the palate.

My Review: This one had an extremely interesting aroma! Very potent, I couldn’t quite pick out the descriptor, but I definitely got some blueberry.  The taste was slightly dirt-ish and earthy, but not too strong.  It was also slightly dry.

Name: Ksana Bonarda

Vintage: 2008
Region: Mendoza, Argentina

Price: $9.95

Tasting Notes:  The bouquet is floral and lightly jammy, with berry aromas and a savory note or two. To the uninitiated, this is a great introduction to Bonarda. Finishes solid. Very sweet, berry smell with some rooty undertones. Kind of dry, makes your lips pucker.

My Review: I liked the smell of this wine – very jammy, sweet, and rich.  However, the taste didn’t match up – it was VERY dry, earthy and spicy and was probably my least favorite of the wines during the tasting.

Wine Dinner

Wine Dinner with the Family

            A perfect time to celebrate!  I had just been accepted into Montana State University’s Graduate program and my mom had just finished chemotherapy – so my mom, step-dad, sister, boyfriend and I all got together to have a nice wine dinner.  I picked out the three wines (one white and two reds) and my step-dad prepared the food to go with each wine.           

We started off with smoked shrimp from the grill and crackers with Havarti cheese to compliment the first wine – Chateau Ste Michelle Pinot Gris 2011 (Columbia Valley, Washington).  The smell of the wine was crisp and clean with lots of green apple aromas.  The wine itself had a slight effervescence to it that I really enjoyed along with a fruity taste and a great finish – there was no acidic “bite” at the end like I was used to.  With the cheese and crackers, the wine didn’t change much but it did compliment the food very well.  When tasting the Pinot Gris with smoked shrimp, the acidic undertones came out a bit more.  Overall this wine was a winner with the entire family (and was only about $11)!

            

Next, we had a Kenwood Vineyards 2010 Merlot from Sonoma, California.  The smell was extremely strong (which made me a little nervous) with lots of berry, oak and black cherry flavors.  However, the taste was much lighter and much more enjoyable than the smell.  It was extremely smooth and also had some hints of chocolate.  This wine also didn’t have the usual acidic alcohol “bite”.  We paired the Merlot with a nice salad with lots of vegetables.  When tasting the wine with the food, more of the fruity, plum flavors were apparent (maybe due to the earthiness of the salad).  It also made the wine slightly more dry, but not in a bad way.  Again, this wine was enjoyed by everyone (except my boyfriend, who isn’t much of a wine drinker).  

The last wine of the night was a Beringer Founders’ Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 from Napa, California.  The aromas on this wine were strong, like the Merlot, and had spice, berry, and vanilla flavors.  When I tasted this wine, I couldn’t believe the smoothness!  All the Cabernet’s I’ve had to this point were very bitter, acidic and hot (from the alcohol), but this one was so drinkable and enjoyable!  This was then paired with a nice, juicy steak and baked potato.  This complimented the wine very well but I didn’t really detect any significant changes of the flavor profile. 

Overall, this was the best wine experience I have had throughout the semester in Geography of Wine.  It was great to spend time with my family talking about the wines and sharing the knowledge I had gained from the class – they were very impressed.  I don’t know if I just happened to pick out three good wines or if the “feel good” site and situation affected my perception of the wines – but either way I really enjoyed them and had a great time.