I’m a Vintner!

Posted on June 22, 2015 by melsmosaic

I got to check out this great Blend Your Own Bordeaux competition last week. Wasn’t sure what all this would entail other than wine and some form of mixing. This took place at American Eats Tavern, just outside of DC, and was in the company of Master Sommelier Andy Myers and Barboursville Vineyards Chief Sommelier Jason Tesauro.

The evening started off with some bubbly and intros and then the rundown on what had to be done.

(that’s the Master Somm)

We had four varietals to play with (Merlot, Cab Franc, Cab Sauv and Nebbiolo) and we would taste them and play with each to determine how much of each we wanted to combine to make our own perfect blend. It was a chemistry class with all the toys we had, too.

In our instructions, we received definitions of each piece, percentages for mixing and what all we could do.

Playtime!!!!

You could not just plug the pipette with your thumb to fill it. You had to actually suck on it to get a good amount in there.

After determining your best (personal) blend based on taste and trial & error, it was bottling time. You also had to label it to the best of your ability.

The after-shock was quite a mess.

We were told when we started blending that there would be awards for the best wines. Jason from Barboursville was the main taster/judge of the wines, while Andy and the Somm from American Eats also took part. They had 15 or so wines to judge…the rough life of wine folks.

After their long-lasting time of judging they had some announcements to make. Much to my surprise, I had a podium finish!!! I brought home the bronze medal. That meant great bragging rights, my wine and a bottle of Barboursville vino. I am now a vintner. What more could I ask for?

Canned Wine

Posted on June 20, 2015 by melsmosaic

I have seen and heard about wine changes, packaging-wise. Was in a rut the other day and saw one in a can. Had read good reviews about it — Underwood’s Pinot Gris, so decided to give it a try. Wow, pretty impressive. Very crisp, fruity, light, some little bubbles to best describe, since it’s in a can. You can get 2+ healthy glasses out of this. Was glad I grabbed it because it’s definitely on my list to keep around. I also love their tagline ‘Pinkies Down.’

Sangria…en France

Posted on June 5, 2015 by melsmosaic

France doesn’t have to mean just (straight) wine. When you’re in SW France you can mix some stuff in it. When in Dax, since it’s so close to Spain, I saw a good amount of sangria on menus. So, of course had to give it a try. Stopped by Cafe de Bordeaux.

Ahh…delicious.

What was even better? The price! Think a very healthy half bottle of wine.

While sipping the sangria, enjoyed looking at this great fountain. Later touched the water…naturally very warm. Pretty interesting.

Dax Farmer’s Market

Posted on June 4, 2015 by melsmosaic

I have been off the blogging scene recently because of an oh-so-rough trip to Ireland and France. I am now starting to recap said vacation…

One of the best parts of the trip was why I went — for a friend’s wedding in SW France, in a small town named Dax. It’s about a 90 minute drive from Bordeaux.

My friend’s fiance had told me about the must-do the morning of the wedding, the local farmer’s market. It ended up being about 2 blocks from the hotel. WOW. The place was making Pike Place look weak on some levels. Some 3+ hours later we returned to the hotel with lunch to enjoy outside. I grabbed Paella, as this town is close to Spain so they get some of their influence. Others grabbed cheese and sausage, bread, veggies, some had nice flatbread-like pizza. And, of course, wine!

Almost too good to be true.

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Napa Cellars

Posted on May 3, 2015 by melsmosaic

Was working another wine tasting recently and was introduced to a new wine(ry) in CA — Napa Cellars. That’s the great thing about doing the tastings — finding all sorts of new wines (and getting paid to do it)! The name sort of explains it all, location-wise. The varietals were their Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. Both were great wines.

The Sauv had a crisp fruit taste – lemon, grapefruit. The vintner describes it as “aromas of vibrant gooseberry, pineapple and fresh pink grapefruit followed by flavors of pear, guava, passion fruit, lime, sweet clover and melon.” The price was $18 (on sale from low $20s)

The Pinot was amazing (I love Pinot!) and had some subtle leather and cherries, and unique spices. It had a good, medium body to it. When you read their comments you get “aromas of ripe cherry, sweet tobacco, raspberry, cedar and subtle spice followed by deep red cherry flavors and fantastic acidity.” The price was $16 (also on sale from low $20). These prices are in DC, so love to find out how much they vary from state-to-state, sale-to-sale.

Check them out if you’re looking for something new.

Breathe, Decant, Aerate

Posted on April 10, 2015 by melsmosaic

I received a free copy of Cook’s Illustrated in the mail recently (can’t complain about that) and there was a funny/interesting piece about letting wine meet oxygen. There are so many thoughts about how long you should let a wine breathe, if it should be decanted, if you can use a simple aerator. It also depends on what varietal, the age of the wine and more. So these guys have some fun tips on doing this quickly. What do you think…and how do you normally aerate your vino?

Rioja

Posted on April 10, 2015 by melsmosaic

Popped open a new bottle of Rioja last night that I found in my wine rack. Don’t know when I bought it or if I knew why I bought it. It was Vivanco Rioja Reserva 2008. Wow…very nice. The nose had light oak on it. The wine itself had some fruit — I got cherries and strawberries, and a bit of spice. I saw on the label that I had scribbled $24. DIdn’t see that before I opened it, just to have a glass of wine with a weekday dinner. Oh well, definitely worth it.

Predator

Posted on March 24, 2015 by melsmosaic

Came across a new (Old Vine) Zinfandel last week that is wonderful. It’s Predator in Lodi, CA. It has some nice fruit, I tasted mostly cherries, then the other taste(s) I found was leather. There was something else that I just couldn’t place. Was also thick/chewy, but not overwhelming. Great wine, and I found it in the DC-area for about $12 (at Total Wine). Totally recommend checking it out if you’re looking for something new.

South Africa or Spain?

Posted on March 19, 2015 by melsmosaic

I think I’ll have them both, if you don’t mind. While enjoying a couple of the recipes I’ve posted recently, my friends were so kind as to bring over some great wine to pair with the food! So, of course we had to open them.

One was simply masked in a nice Williams Sonoma bag. I pulled it out and could not have opened that bottle fast enough. It was my favorite varietal — Pinotage, from South Africa, of course! Oh Pinotage, how I love thee. I was so happy it was a screw top to quickly open it. My only problem was that I did not have a (wine) glass at my fingertips. It was the Spier (Signature) Pinotage. It had very nice fruit to it, though it did not hold the traditional smokiness of Pinotage. It was light and had great character.

Then we decided to open the second bottle to do some comparison. This was from Spain, the El Burro Kickass Garnacha. Love the name. And let me tell you, it lives up to it. The first thing I tasted was chocolate! There were also some berries in there. Nowhere did they mention chocolate on the label, but even having some the next day…chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. Amazing.

It was a great evening of friends, wine and food. Can never go wrong with that.

Oh, Chateau

Posted on February 23, 2015 by melsmosaic

A couple years ago I visited Sonoma and one of the wineries my friend and I checked out was Chateau St. Jean. After the initial tasting, they of course give you the rundown of their Wine Club. My friend told me to treat myself and sign up. Their wine is amazing and I deserved it.

So last weekend there was just bad weather going on and I decided to open up a nice bottle of wine, just because. There was nothing happening, there was really nowhere to go/there was no way I was going to go do anything. I pulled a bottle of Chateau St. Jean (2009) Syrah out of my wine rack. I opened it. It had a nose of berries and bark — yes, bark, ok, maybe some would say wood, but I got bark. The taste just made me stand still. I can barely explain how good it was. Raspberries, blackberries, that bark, and tiny bit chocolate. Some darn, darn good wine. The best part is that I know exactly why I have the bottle and enjoyed it all the more because of it. Cheers!

Do you have a favorite bottle for some reason? Do you remember a bottle you bought for a specific reason?

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