Thursday, April 25, 2013

Tasting- Garnacha de Fuego Old Vines

Name: Garnacha de Fuego Old Vines
Variety: 100% Aragon Grenacha
Region: Catalayud
Country:Spain
Year: 2011
 Price: $8.95


Winery review: The 2011 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 was interesting to me.  At first inhale I got almost a cinnamon hotness.  After swirling it and letting the air in, I got more of a very fruit forward (mostly cherry) aroma and something that reminded me of laundry detergent.  The taste was fruity and pretty dry with a slight sweetness to balance it out.  It had a very spicy finish that hing around for a while.  Only having 4 wines brought a dilemma, so John and I tried something from our collection we hadn't yet and it did not disappoint.  I was a huge fan of this wine and would definitely consider buying a bottle on my next trip.

This wine was tasted on its own with no food.

Tasting- Reserve Grand Veneur Cotes du Rhone

Name: Reserve Grand Veneur Cotes du Rhone
Variety: 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Cinsault
Region: Rhone Valley
Country:France
Year: 2010
 Price: $14.95/ 750 mL OR $38.95/ 3 L


Winery review: As for their other values, the 2010 Grand Veneur Cotes du Rhone Reserve (70% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 10% Cinsault) displays loads of ripe flavors. It is very concentrated for a Cotes du Rhone, and is actually an amazing wine. Classic garrigue, black cherry liqueur,  avender, licorice and spice box are all present in this fullbodied, intense, and rich Cotes du Rhone. This is a sensational effort to drink over the next 4-5 years, although it might last even longer.
My review: This wine started with a cherry, slighty spicy aroma with maybe some sweet apple thrown in.  The taste was a slight black cherry that was very spicy on the palate.  It also had hints of what I believed be like a black licorice. I enjoyed this wine and would consider buying it in the near future.

This wine was tasted on its own with no food.

Tasting- Lobetia Tempranillo

Name: Lobetia Tempranillo
Variety: 100% Tempranillo
Region: La Mancha
Country:Spain
Year: 2011
 Price: $10.95


Winery review: Organically and naturally grown and made, this wine allows the varietal and the terroir to stand out cleanly. It shows a nice cherry color with a violet shade because of its youth. Red berries and cherries on the nose. On the palate it is fresh, slightly astringent, and harmonious with a long finish.

My review: This wine started with a peppery and dark berry aroma.  The taste brought that pepper with fruity notes.  It was overall a good balance with a slight smokiness.  This wine was more dry than sweet.

This wine was tasted on its own with no food.

Tasting- Lobetia Chardonnay

Name: Lobetia Chardonnay
Variety: 100% Chardonnay
Region: La Mancha
Country:Spain
Year: 2011
 Price: $10.95


Winery review:Organically and naturally grown and made, this wine allows the varietal and the terroir to stand out cleanly. Clean, bright color with a greenish-yellow tone. On the nose, exotic fruits like pineapple. Full flavored, fresh, with good acidity in the mouth, it finishes with tropical fruits.

My review: This wine had more of a pineapple and fresh grass nose.  The taste was very tart and fresh with a good balance of pineapple flavor and slight sweetness.  It also had a mildly fruity finish.  This wine was just alright.  The nose was pretty appetizing but the taste wasn't up my alley.

This wine was tasted on its own with no food.

Tasting- Trattoria Busa Alla Torre Da Lele

Name: Trattoria Busa Alla Torre Da Lele
Variety: 100% Pinot Grigio
Region: Veneto
Country:Italy
Year: NV
 Price: $7.95


Winery review: Named after the famous restaurant in Italy! This is their house white wine! Coppery color from extended skin contact, round and rich texture with juicy melon aromas and flavors with a sweet fennel note on the ultra smooth finish. Great value Grigio! Drink now.
My review: This wine started with a fresh fruity and almost metallic scent.  The taste brought a dry yet very fruity and well balanced with an almost sour finish.  Wasn't a huge fan of this wine but it wasn't bad.  Would consider trying again.

This wine was tasted on its own with no food.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Tasting- Zeppoli's (West Coast Wine Showcase)

Zeppoli's Italian Restaurant & Wine Shop puts on a wine dinner every other Sunday.  Located right off University Blvd. in Blacksburg, this restaurant offers a wide variety of wines and high quality (in my opinion) Italian food.  This week's focus was on wines from the west coast of the US, featuring wines from Oregon and California.
A nice little shop, hidden away behind a larger complex is Zeppoli's.  I have been here before on a couple of dates with my girlfriend and have yet to be disappointed.  This opportunity at a wine dinner offered an experience that I have not had yet, as wines were included in the price of $15.


This photo shows the layout of all the options we had for pairings of food, as well as the plate that I created.  There was cheddar, swiss, white cheddar with horseradish and chives, and colby jack cheeses, white and wheat crackers, Italian and olive bread, teriyaki chicken and rice with mixed vegetables, mannicoti, mini BBQ buns, flat-bread made with roasted garlic, spinach, roasted red peppers, and Gorgonzola cheese, and then pizza bread.  This variety allows for everyone to have a somewhat different experience as you can choose to just eat and sip wines along the way, or to pick and choose what goes with what.  I did the latter option, following the tasting guide when possible, and mostly sticking to red sauces for the red wine.

 This picture shows all the wines that we had the pleasure of tasting that night.  I will be sure to go through each of them, giving initial reactions to the nose and taste, then the taste after I ate something.  Overall the selection was heavily weighted towards the California wines, but also had some Oregon wines thrown in.

We started with a 2011 Firesteed Pinot Gris from Oregon.  Having 12.6% alcohol, this wine brought a strong mango aroma.  The original tasting brought a strong citrusy melon flavor that I quite enjoyed.  I started off light by eating some crackers.  They really only intensified the flavors that I experienced the first time around which is expected as crackers are pretty bland with salt.  JP really enjoyed this wine and said later it was his favorite of the night.

From here we moved on to a 2009 Lamplighter Chardonnay from California.  Boasting 13.5% alcohol, this wine brought an almost tropical punch nose.  The initial tasting had somewhat of smooth oaky vanilla flavor.  After trying out the teriyaki chicken (which was amazing), the wine was a lot more citrusy and almost sour.

Next we had a 2011 White Knight Viognier from Clarksburg, California.  This wine had a very  light fruity aroma to start us off.  The first taste brought a high peach, green apple tart finish that stuck around.  Trying a few of the cheeses with the wine brought a more blended flavor as nothing really stood out, but the tartness still remained. 

We then tried the 2011 Beringer Chenin Blanc from California.  With 11% alcohol, this wine had a very light sweet floral aroma.  The taste brought a crisp citrus flavor with a very spicy finish.  I tried this with the BBQ bun, which brought a sour taste on the palate and stronger spice on the tongue.  This was one of my favorites for the night.  The picture of John is meant to signify his liking of the wine as well.

We continued by jumping into the red wines.  We started these off with a 2011 Simple Life Pinot Noir from California.  With a mixture of the Pinot Noir, Barbera, Grenache, Tempranillo, and Merlot grapes, this wine had a dark berry and sweet apple nose.  The taste was very acidic raspberry with a nice toffee finish.  I ate some of the mannicoti,  which curbed the acid down greatly and made it much more pleasant, almost a sweet flavor. 

From here we got to try the 2011 Riven Rock Cabernet Sauvignon from California.  This wine is a house wine of Zeppoli's and the owner seemed to be quite proud of it while our host was not as impressed.  It had a very generic grapey aroma, taht had nothing outstanding about it.  The taste was also very grapey with nothing more coming out.  Trying it with the pizza bread made the grape flavor come out more, the wine became sticky, and the finish stuck around much longer.  Not really thrilled about the wine.

Next was the 2008 Renwood Syrah from the Sierra Foothills in California.  This wine had a jammy aroma with nothing else of significance.  The taste was fruity, almost sour with a slight oak and a spicy finish that stuck around.  Again with the manicotti, the sour was subdued, the oak was intensified, and shortened the finish.  Not bad at all for a red (I'm more of white wine guy right now).


                                           View of the area of the tasting and their area for storing

Continuing on with the 2010 Cypress Vineyards Merlot from the Central Coast of California.  Having 13.5% alcohol and made from 80% Merlot, 16% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Petit Syrah.  This wine really only smelled hot, very alcoholic and it burned the nostrils.  The taste was still strong in the alcohol, with a spicy cherry and oak flavorings to tag along.  With the flat-bread I got more of the frutiness, but blended them together.

Finally (or so we thought) was the 2010 Trentadue 'Old Patch Red' from Lot #34 in California.  Being made up of 41% Zinfandel, 25% Syrah, 24% Carignane, and 10% Petit Syrah, I got a dark berry jammy aroma with almost a dark cherry tint.  The taste was that of spicy cherry again, with a long smooth fruity finish.  Trying this with the pizza bread brought out more of the spice and had that dark berry flavoring.

Finally (for real this time), the host surprised us with a 2006 Roadhouse Russian River Valley Zinfandel from his own personal collection.  This wine had a light peppery aroma with nothing else specific coming out.  The taste was that of a dark berry that was almost sour and a spicy finish.  I had finished my plate by this point and had no more food to try with it.

Overall I really enjoyed this experience.  I got to try a good deal of different wines from the West Coast and see what effect food had on them.  I have only had a little experience with food and wine so this was new for me.  My favorites for the night were the Beringer Chenin Blanc and the Simple Life Pinot Noir.  Something from both categories, I was pleased.  Everyone else at the table seemed to get a lot out of it and we really enjoyed the time we spent together. It also left me with a craving more teriyaki chicken....that might be on the menu soon!






Sunday, April 21, 2013

Winery Visit- Attamo Winery



On Friday April 19th, three of my friends and I visited Attimo Winery for a short visit and tasting.  I have been to smaller wineries before, and looked forward to visiting one in Virginia.  Attimo Winery is in Christiansburg Virginia (not sure how because it way out there) and their menu offers many a wines.


Upon arrival we got a wonderful view of the grape fields that house a majority of the grapes they put into their wines.  Unfortunately, we would not be getting a tour of the facilities but thus gave us an idea of what we were dealing with.  Entering the premises, we chose a seat close to where John's good friend Mr. Jeff Ownes (aka Sweet Velvet) would be playing music for the night.  Then we got to glance at their selection of wines.  All of them bore special names that we were told each had a story to go along with it.  This in itself got me excited for the tasting as we would not only get to taste local wines but hear stories as to why they are named what they were!  We chose to do the standard tasting plus a few extras to get a nice variety of wines.  After a few tastings we were joined by Anne Ownes, Jeff's wife, and daughter Sarah!  What a cute little baby to join in the festivities.

Anne ordered what she told us to be her favorite wine Off The Cuff.  We had the pleasure of tasting this specific wine not only moments ago and it was my favorite by far thus far.  It is a semi-sweet wine that has 67% Riesling and 33% Chardonnay.  This continues to show the trend that I absolutely love the Riesling grape.





The rest of the wines we had the pleasure are listed below with a short description.

1. Yesterday's Song - Made of 100% Chardonnay it began with a fresh and light apple aroma with a hint of pear.  The taste had a dry, somewhat tart and crisp pear flavor.  Nothing really outstanding here, but overall an enjoyable wine.

2. Masquerade-  Also made of 100% Chardonnay it began with a very light floral scent.  The taste started off dry and very smooth and then came a buttery and creamy flavor.  This wine was interesting as I was not expecting the almost butter popcorn finish.

3.  Sonnet 98- Made of 100% Vidal Blanc, this wine had a crisp fruity aroma with a hint of honey.  The taste was lightly sweet on the tongue but dry on the finish.  It reminded me of a crisp vegetable flavor with smooth honey to balance.  Wasn't a fan of this wine but it wasn't bad.

4.  Off the Cuff-  Made of 67% Riesling and 33% Chardonnay, this wine only had a fruity aroma to start us off.  The taste brought about sweet grapes flavor with a long smooth finish.  My favorite of the bunch.

5  Just Kissed Blush-  Made mostly of Vidal Blanc with a kiss of raspberries for flavoring, this wine had very fruity aroma with the obvious hints of raspberry.  The taste was too sweet, it reminded me of a Juicy Juice flavor with alcohol in it.  Way too over the top, wasn't a fan.

6. After Midnight-  Made of 75% Merlot and Zinfandel and some blackberry for flavor, this wine had a fresh spicy fruit kind of aroma.  The taste was that of light fruit with a sweet twinge, slight spiciness.  Nothing really stood out at me on this wine, not great.

7.  Bull Frog Symphony-  Made of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chambourcin, Petit Bordeauxand Zinfandel, this wine had a rich spicy almost oaky aroma with hints of pepper.  The taste was a good balance of spice and sweet with a light peppery flavor and hints of fruit.  Pretty good wine here.

8. Deep Silence- Made of 100% Cabernet Franc, this wine had a dark berry aroma with hints of pepper.  It was very complex and I thought I got a whiff of smoke?  The taste brought that dry berry flavor and left it with a spicy finish.  Pretty good wine, we got more to have with dinner.

9. Vertex-  Made of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that was grown in Charlottesville, this wine had a druity jam aroma with hints of oak.  The taste brought a strong oaky flavor that was very dry and had a spicy twinge.  This taste came along with a very light fruity flavor.  Wasn't my cup of tea.

10.  AD 325-  Made from 100% Chambourcin, this wine had a slight sour cherry aroma with hints of other fruits.  This wine really didn't have a lot going for it in the taste department as all I got out of it was a dry taste with a cherry twinge.

11.  Sweet Berry Sunset-  Made of 50% of the Bull Frog Symphony mixture and 50% raspberry, this wine had an extreme berry aroma (presumably raspberry( and almost an outdoorsey smell.  The taste brought that sweet berry with a spicy finish.  Not bad, but not great.

12. Seduction-  Made from Tinto Madera, Touriga Nacional, and Souzao and then fortified with brandy, this wine had a strong brandy aroma with an almost licorice scent.  The taste was like a sweet raisin with hints of raspberry.  Could definitely taste the alcohol in this one, so its a pass for me.


After tasting all of the wines, we ordered some food and a bottle of Deep Silence for the table.  John's appetizer of chips and pineapple salsa came first and we got to try that in combination with the wine.  Drinking the wine in conjunction with the chips not only intensified the flavors from before, but also brought about a sweetness that was not noticeable during the tasting.  This experience makes me want to start pairing more food with wines to be able to have more experiences with wines and find hidden pleasures.

We ate our food, listened to the sweet melodies of Sweet Velvet, and played some bingo!  Overall the experience was amazing.  We got to try out some local wines that had a lot of potential, even tasting several that have won awards!  I wish the weather would have been a little better so we may have been able to get a short tour, but such is life.

On the way out we made sure to get another glimpse at all of their different wines and take a bottle of our favorite home.  I got a bottle of the Off the Cuff as even at the end of the tasting it was my favorite by far.


Food, friends, wine, music, and bingo....what else could you ask for?