Archive for the ‘Rose’’ Category
In a more perfect world I would have made some pointed and in-depth piece about what bottles of bubbles I was opening for the friends I was having over to my house on New Years Eve. We do not live in such a world. While I did come across tweets and pieces about people opening $100 bottles of sparkling wine and champagne, I just couldn’t justify that, in no small part because I knew exactly how the evening was going to descend (into a raucous good time).
I do, however, feel as though I owe it to the new year, and to the bottles that I opened, to show the bottles that I provided for the evening. Friends brought over others, but here’s a picture of the bottles that I provided for the festivities.
There are a lot of different wine sites out there giving suggestions on what you should be pouring during your Thanksgiving festivities. Since, however, it’s been fairly well established what varietals go well with the traditional Thanksgiving feast, I thought I would change it up and let you know what I’m pouring at dinner, or rather, what I’m taking up to my parents house to pour for the army-sized feast my mother will be cooking.
2009 Coastal Vines Pinot Noir – Sonoma, CA – $10
Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir
Region: Spain
Cost: $13
Winemaker’s Notes: Pale, bright raspberry pink, with an abundant, uninhibited mousse. Intense raspberry aromas, backed by strawberry and aniseed, and a hint of cherry caramel. Red berry flavours dominate the palate, complemented by strawberry, touches of peach, watermelon, and lemon. There is a lovely minerality which adds to the complexity, and just a hint of sweetness which will increase its versatility in both food pairings and when it will be drunk.
My Review: My wife and I picked up this bottle at a local store after having dinner last week as the bottle looked interesting and we didn’t have any bubbles in the house, something we’re trying to do a better job of remedying. While neither of us was familiar with the maker, a Cava made with 100% Pinot Noir was intriguing so we bought and this past week, opened.
I hope everybody had a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend filled with friends, family, cookouts, and good wine. On Saturday my wife and I decided to jump on the Virginia Wine Trail and hit a few vineyards – some we had been to before and others we hadn’t visited yet. Four vineyards, several bottles, and a wine club membership later and we lived to tell the tale, and now I get to share it with you.
- A shot from outside White Hall Vineyards
We started out our tasting at White Hall, partly because of the area we were looking to go tasting in, they were the first one open, but also because I we hadn’t actually been out to the tasting room in many years. On the Saturday morning we stopped in they were pouring 9 different wines and my wife and I were happy to sample them all.
We started out with two Chardonnays, the 2008 Chardonnay ($15) and the 2008 Chardonnay Reserve ($24). The stainless steel Chardonnay featured all the usual citrus and pear notes I would have expected, but had a smoother finish than I anticipated, though certainly not “oaky”. The 2008 Reserve featured a bit of oaky nuttiness on the nose and while it had the “oaked” finish I would expect, it was subtle and even my wife, who doesn’t usually care for oaked Chardonnay, preferred it to the stainless steel.
Last night I had the chance to participate in a Twitter tasting of several white wines from Virginia. These wines were geared towards the summer (and if you’re not from Virginia believe me, it’s getting hot), and for those participating from outside Virginia, were a small hint of what to expect in July during the 2011 Wine Blogger’s Conference being held in Charlottesville. Here’s what I thought.
2010 Keswick Vineyards Verdejo
I’d never had a Verdejo before (at least that I remember), and I wasn’t aware that anybody in Virginia was making one. The wine was very light in the glass, nearly clear, with a little bit of citrus on the nose and a nice subtle citrus flavor on the palate with just the tiniest bit of petrol on the finish, though I think I was the only person that got that so maybe I was just hallucinating. I didn’t pair it with anything, but a few people during the tasting recommended pairing it with goat cheese which I could definitely see being a good pairing. This would make a great deck wine thank to how light it is and while $18 is a little more than I usually pay for a wine that I just sip on the deck, it’s not outrageous either.
2010 Veritas Sauvignon Blanc Reserve
As a fan of both Sauvignon Blanc and Veritas Winery I was ready to try this one. Light yellow in the glass with a hint of sweetness on the nose which fortunately did not carry through to the palate. In the mouth the wine was a nice blend of citrus and tropical notes but without the hard acid bite on the finish that I sometimes associate with Sauvignon Blanc. $25 is a bit much for me to pay for a Sauvignon Blanc, but it is a Reserve and it was very good, so it’s certainly not a waste if you spend the money on it.
2010 Boxwood Topiary Rose’
I had the chance to taste Boxwood for the first time back in February at a dinner for Taste of Loudon and so I was pleased to see them in this selection as I enjoyed them in my previous experience. The 2010 Topiary Rose’ was a medium-dark pink in the glass with a hint of an almost orange color running through. I didn’t get too much nose from it, though there was some strawberry and dried fruit. In the mouth the strawberry and dried fruit carried through with a touch of mineralality – a trait in light wines I’m coming to enjoy the more I experience it. This was one of my two favorites for the evening (the other being the Veritas Sauvignon Blanc), and at a price of around $14 it’s a great value for a summer wine.
2010 Jefferson Vineyards Viognier
Our first Viognier of the night was bright yellow in the glass (I mean it looked like a yellow highlighter). I got mostly apple on the nose and in the mouth a lot of honeysuckle and tropical flavors that gave it the feeling of sweetness. Mind you the wine only has .65 residual sugar, but I got that impression either way. This was definitely a wine that I wanted to pair with spicy food to help cut the sweetness of the wine. This was probably my least favorite wine of the night, especially when you factor in that it costs $25 a bottle.
2010 Chrysalis Viognier
Ever since Taste of Loudon I’d been wanting to visit Chrysalis and while I haven’t had the chance yet, I was happy to get to try the newest vintage of their Viognier that I enjoyed so much at that dinner. The wine was light yellow in the glass with a subtle floral aroma that carried through to the palate with a subtle lavender note on the finish coupled with a hint of sweetness. I liked this one better than the Jefferson Vineyards Viognier and it’s certainly what I would call a more “typical” Virginia Viognier. My only complaint is that at $29 it’s kinda pricey.
2010 Lovingston Petit Manseng
Our final wine of the night. The 2010 Petit Manseng from Lovingston was bright yellow in the glass with a waxy, footy aroma that I’ll admit was a bit odd. However, this didn’t carry over into the palate where the wine had notes of pineapple, some effervescence, and a sweetness that wasn’t syrupy, but would have made me guess that the wine had more than 1% residual sugar if I hadn’t had the tasting notes. That said, this would be a good pairing with some curry or other spicy food and is a great value at around $14 for anybody that prefers sweeter wines.
I want to thank John at the Wine Cellar for hosting, and all of the organizers for putting together another great event. This tasting made me even more ready for the Wine Blogger’s Conference in July. If you’re on Twitter and want to learn more about Virginia Wine, you should check out the hashtag #vawine and #wbc11 as you’ll be seeing those pop up more and more in the coming months.
On Friday, I was fortunate to be invited to a lunch in Vienna to sample some Argentine food and wine. The Culinaria Cooking School was kind enough to host us as myself and others sampled a host of Santa Julia wines from the Zuccardi Family of wines, all paired with great Argentine food in what may have been one of the best lunches I’ve had. As with all good things, it started with bubbles.
We were each greeted with a glass of the Santa Julia Rose NV ($13 SRP), made from 100% Pinot Noir. The wine was a deep pink in color with aromas of strawberry that I would expect. In the mouth were subtle fruit flavors which went well with the light bubbles in the wine. All in all, a great way to start the lunch.
Our first course was a selection of Zuccardi Olive Oils with some fresh baked bread and Beef Empanadas, which had some hard-boiled egg in them, which I found to be absolutely brilliant. To pair with this we had a 2010 Santa Julia [+] Torrontes and a 2010 Santa Julia [+] Malbec ($10 SRP for both). The Torrontes had nice floral notes on the nose, and a slight sweet finish that was a nice counter note to the subtle spice of the empanadas. The Malbec was jammy and fruit forward, with dark fruit on the nose. Read the rest of this entry »
