Wine Tasting - Sauvignon Blanc Seaview

Name: Yealands Estate
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Country: New Zealand
Region Yealands Estate
Year: 2008
Price: $21-->$7.95

Wine Review: This aromatic wine shows lifted flavours of blackcurrant with underlying notes of wet stone and thyme.  The palate is elegant yet full with sufficient weight and texture, balanced by a flinty minerality.  This wine is a fantastic match with foods such as cheese salad, poultry dishes and a wide range of seafood dishes including freshly shucked natural oysters, prawns, green lip mussels and creamy scallops.

My Review:  Yealands was an alright wine.  I have a hard time getting into the dryer whites, but here again I feel like it could be an awesome wine with certain foods.  It wasn't that it was out of balance, it just didn't have the flavor profile for me.  I thought that it was too earthy not enough spunk in it.  Still, I'm sure it could have it's strengths come through with the right foods.

Wine Tasting - Angove Viognier

Name: Angove
Variety: Viognier
Country: Australia
Region: ?
Year: 2009
Price: $15-->$5.95

Wine Review: Bright light straw in colour with some green hues, this wine has a lush ripe tropical fruit aroma.  This is a fuller bodied white which fills the mouth with heady flavours of apricot, peach and citrus.  Angove Nine Vines Viognier is perfect for today's relaxed life-style and is the ideal accompaniment to grilled prawns with chili and garlic or roast pork.

My Review:  I can't lie, tropical fruit white wines are pushing their way to my favorite types of wines. The more out there the fruit flavors are the better.  It's tough to read these food pairings while having just a taste.  I would love to try these food pairings especially after having done a wine dinner this past week.  All of the wines that I had tasted this day were pretty good and priced so cheap!

Wine Tasting - Librandi Ciro Rosso Classico

Name: Librandi Ciro
Variety: Rosso Classico
Country: Italy
Region:?
Year:?
Price: $14--> $7.95

Wine Review:  Don't let the pale garnet color fool you:  this is a substantial wine.  Aromas of red fruits and spice complement the undertones of cranberries, wild berries, and plums.  On the palate, ripe tannins and good body make for an incredibly rich, yet easygoing red wine.  Pair this wine with sausage, spicy curry sauces, hot soppressata, and tandoori chicken.

My Review:  I was not a fan of this wine.  I can attest to a lot of what the wine reviewer said about this wine, but it jsut didn't work well for me.  I must admit that I have had similar wines with sausage and they worked well with it, so I am curious to as to how well this wine would pair with such types of food.

Wine Tasting - Garnacha de Fuego

Name: Garnacha de Fuego
Variety: Grenache
Country: Spain
Region: Aragon
Year: 2011
Price:  $8.95

Wine Review: The Garnacha de Fuego, a 100% Grenache cuvee, was aged in both stainless steel and neutral French oak.  There are 10,000 cases for the United States.  This amazing wine boasts a dark ruby/purple color along with a sweet kiss of jammy black cherries intertwined with crushed rock notes that give the wine an undeniable minerality.  As it hits the palate, a full-bodied, voluptuous texture takes hold and the flavor profile moves towards blacker fruits (ripe raspberries and black currants) intermixed with camphor and forest floor.  This full-bodied, rich, glycerin-filled effort should drink well for 4-5 years, perhaps longer.

My Review:  This wine had a 92 rating and I can agree with it.  It was such a complex wine with some many exciting flavors.  The minerality of the wine and the dark fruit such as plum or black cherries came together perfectly.  It was like the old world and new world came together wonderfully.  I would love to find more wines like this one.

Wine Tasting - Rosemount Estate

Name: Rosemount Estate
Variety: Moscato
Country: Australia
Region:  ?
Year: 2012
Price: $12 --> $3.95

Wine Review: Clear, medium-lemon yellow in appearance; lovely citrus and honeysuckle aromas with lemon, honeysuckle, apple and ripe yellow plum flavours.  Serve chilled with angel food cake or fresh fruit and mild cheeses.

My Review:  This particular white was a nice finish to the tasting.  It's honeysuckle aromas were quite refreshing after some of the more bitter reds of the day.  A wine for this price is hard to pass up.  I would love to get it and try it with some angel food cake.  I think the wine review was on the same pallet wavelength as myself.

Wine Dinner - Home "Steak & Greens paired with the Old World!"

First off, I just want to thank you for making this an assignment as it brought my roommates, strangers, puppies, and others and I together to make an excellent steak dinner with multiple sides, as opposed to the usual West End or Owens dinner.  I not only had some excellent practice making steak, asparagus, and artichokes, but also thoroughly enjoyed pairing dinner with a bunch of good wine.  

We had 5 different wines which including a Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, and a Shiraz.  I suppose I'll just focus on three to make it less chaotic, for those I choose the Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfindel and Shiraz.  The Sauvignon Blanc, Villebois, is a 2012 vintage from France.  The Shiraz, Fat Bastard is a 2012 vintage from France as well.  The Zinfandel, JC van Staden, is a 2012 vintage from Lodi, California.  We had lots of food including cheese & crackers, steak, artichoke, asparagus, and taters.  

Our puppy Ollie was down for the count after the first round of food pairings.  But no worries, he rallied later and had some great input in our wine discussion. 

We started off pairing our Sauvignon Blanc with some Cranberry cheese spread.  The garlic herb crackers we used were perfect with the cheese.  The wine and cheese together were fantastic.  It really brought out the minerality of the Sauvignon Blanc from the start.  

After the appetizer (Crackers & Cheese) we moved the party to the back room where we enjoyed pairing the two red wines, Shiraz and Zinfandel, with our steak and  veggies, asparagus and artichokes.  I must say that I really enjoyed the Zinfandel paired with the steak.  The Zinfandel was very well balanced with hints of both dark fruits and light spice on the back end.  Washing down a bite of steak with it was quite the delight. 

The asparagus was so well cooked.  We roasted it in the oven with oil, salt, pepper, and soy sauce.  I thought it paired much better with the zinfandel as well.  I'm not sure if the Shiraz didn't pair as well or if it was just because I wasn't as much of a fan of it as I was of the Zinfandel.     

I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this Sunday evening.  It was a great finish to a long day of school work. Look forward to another wine dinner pairing next week!

Wine Tasting - Avery Quinn

Name: Avery Quinn
Variety:  Chardonnay
Region: Napa Valley
Country: U.S.
Price: $6.95
Year: 2011

Wine Review:  The 2011 vintage marks a return to form for this great value Chardonnay.  The aromas feature creamy, mellow, golden apple, pineapple, fresh butter and a touch of vanilla.  Then rich, ripe, flavors of yellow pear, pineapple, fresh apple, cream and buttered toast swell up and fill your mouth before a juicy, apple and caramel inflected finish makes your mouth water (and smile!).

My Review:  I have to say that the wine review for this one was really quite accurate of my own experience.  Several of those flavors like pineapple and apple came initially and were followed by a smooth caramel finish.  I would definitely recommend this chardonnay, it is very well made!

Wine Tasting - Omo Ze Bel

Name:  Omo Ze Bel

Variety: Merlot

Country:  Sicily 

Region: N/A

Year: N/A

Price: $6.95

Wine Review:  This bright, soft Merlot comes form a hilly vineyard on the Alcesti family estate in beautiful Sicily.  It has hints of red cherries and freshly cut hay.  Exceptional value.  

My Review: I would rank this as second best wine of Thursday's tastings.  Although it was slightly tart, the cherry flavor that came through was delightful.  Definitely worth 7 bucks!

Wine Tasting - El Sierro

Name: El Sierro
Variety: Tempranillo/Cab
Country: Spain
Region: N/A
Year: 2011
Price: $7.95

Wine Review:  Dark ruby in color with rich aromas of red fruit and light spices.  It is a real knock-out with delicious flavors of dark cherries, blackberries and vanilla all perfectly integrated.  The Tempranillo provides wonderful spice and fruit, while the Cabernet Sauvignon gives structure and depth with beautiful use of oak.

My Review:  El Sierro was described as being lightly spiced.  I found that it was very heavy in spices, almost too much so.  Fortunately, the vanilla came through just after to smooth it out for a nice finish.  I would have to say it was the use of oak that made this wine a uniquely balanced and enjoyable wine.

Wine Tasting - Toso

Name: Toso
Variety: Moscato
Country: Italy
Region: Unknown
Year: Unknown
Price: $9.95

Wine Review: This Moscato is reminiscent of honeysuckle and rose petal.  The quality is equivalent to a top level Asti Spumante DOCG.  Sweet sparkling wine obtained from a careful selection of the Moscato grapes.  It has a pale straw yellow color with fine foam and bubbles.  Tropical fruit flavors, refreshing.  Excellent to match desserts, fruit and dried pastries.

My Review:  I found this wine to be very crisp and refreshing.  It was quite sweet, but not over the top.  The tropical fruits came through really well and balanced well with the honeysuckle/flower flavors.  It's carbonation was also an excellent aspect of this wine.  Thoroughly enjoyed this particular wine tasting.

Wine Tasting - Atlas Cumbres

Name:  Atlas Cumbres
Variety: Torrontes
Country: Argentina
Region: ??
Price: $5.95
Year: 2010

Wine Review:  Yellow colour with greenish nuances.  Very intense aroma of fresh grapes, flower perfume and mature peaches.  Fresh in the mouth.  Light and easy to drink.  Ideal with seafood, Thai and Chinese food.

My Review:  Very overwhelming flowery perfume taste.  I didn't get the intense fresh grapes aroma, just flowers.  Not a fan of this wine!  Maybe I'd give it another shot with some of the ethic food mentioned in the review.