The much anticipated wine tasting and blogging night
This evening we will begin our festivities with:
a list of who is here (code names if necessary)
a list of what we are drinking
a list of what we are eating
and possibly the music we are listening to - currently as I am setting things up and waiting for my guests I am listening to Three Dog Night's album "Cyan" on record specifically at this moment the song is "Shambala"
Wine:
- Columbia Vally 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon
- Eola Hills 2009 Oregon Pinot Noir
- 2008 Red Dimond Shiraz
- Erath 2009 Pinot Gris
- Apothic Red 2009 Winemaker's Blend
- Hardy's Whiskers Blake Classic Tawny
Food:
- Fruit
- Dried cranberries
- fresh (from my garden) strawberries
- Nuts
- Almonds
- Walnuts
- Chocolate
- dark chocolate covered espresso beans
- Bread/crackers
- French Baguette
- Wellingtons crackers assortment:
- Traditional
- Multigrain
- Stone Wheat
- Round Wheat
- Croissant
- Cracked Pepper Water
- Cheese
- Feta
- Kasseri
- Aged Asiago
- Amish Blue Cheese
Who's Here:
- Gnosh
- Dyne
- Darby
- and Me!!!
How this works is everyone at the table gets to comment on each wine. My guests have a wide variety of experience with wine which is making the conversation great!!
ReplyDeleteI'm excited I hope everyone enjoys these comments.
We started off with the Pino Gris
I smelled a bouquet of flowers and oak with a hit of sweetness
To taste it was light not really full bodied but it was a nice summer wine with a linger that wasn't long but it was nice and refreshing.
Overall for a Pino Gris I would drink this again. I prefer red but this is a good middle of the day in the hot sun wine. I would drink it with any heavy food. It was great with the fruit and some of the lighter cheeses and nuts.
Nice crisp wine with hints of citrus and oak. Really brings out the flavor of food. Not bad to sip but a little dry on its own. Great on a hot day with a light pasta.
ReplyDeleteMy very first actual glass of wine. Really intriguing to me, I'd certainly be willing to try more. Crisp indeed, not terribly sweet but good on the tongue. Definitely one of which I can see myself drinking more in the future.
ReplyDeleteThe Helvetica of wine. Light, crisp with a hint of honey and lemon this wine blended beautifully with feta, cranberries and nuts. A great sipper for a hot summer afternoon and a light lunch.
ReplyDeleteSo next we drank the port - Wiskers Blake -
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the first times that I have had port (although I have had cognac)
Overall it was very sweet and that was a concern for me. However with stronger cheeses and things the port balances out. With Walnuts it was also great, however the berries were so sweet that I couldn't deal with the taste.
Hints of caramel, cherry and chocolate. Very smooth and complex port. Great for a first time port drinker. Quite syrupy and sweet but not overly so. Really a fantastic port in the sub $15 price range.
ReplyDeleteNever had a port or a tawny before. I like it better than Cognac. Tasted like maple and coffee hard candy. Enjoyed it with the strong cheeses and bitter chocolate. Bit rich for every day but nice for a stormy evening playing chess?
ReplyDeleteMy first port as well. Very, very sweet. Reminded me a lot of this one ten (or twenty?) year old scotch I shared once with a friend.
ReplyDeleteNow on to the Apothic Red. A table wine , a blend of Zin, Shirah and Merlot. Hints of cherry and vanilla on the nose but pure vanilla when you drink it. Very smooth and drinkable but not a lot of character. I've never had a wine with such a strong single flavor, reminded me of vanilla yogurt. Not bad but too easy to drink without much character.
ReplyDeleteNot very memorable. Very cherry on the nose and vanilla in the mouth but then gone. For the price not worth it.
ReplyDeleteThe Apothic Red was a very drinkable wine; by which I mean, it was very easy to swallow. There wasn't much of a linger in the taste, which was acceptable to me as a newbie.
ReplyDeleteNext up is a Red Diamond Shiraz. This tastes like shiraz, I hate shiraz this neither makes me hate it less or like it more. Thin, salty not bad with seafood but overall I hate shiraz.
ReplyDeleteFresh and spicy, light and mellow. Not bad. Makes me want crab.
ReplyDeleteThe Shiraz was very like a shiraz except I have had Shirah with longer notes afterward. I really like Shiraz although I do agree that it is salty. This is comparative to barefoot but I would rather have barefoot for the price. This is a 12 dollar bottle that needs some help. It really doesn't linger at all. Although it is a bit more complex than what the blend was that we tasted earlier. I would not however recommend this for the price. The bottle was a 12 dollar price. Personally, I would prefer barefoot.
ReplyDeleteThe Shiraz was interestingly spicy, if by spicy I meant it tasted like spices (not spicy as if I'd bitten into a habanero). It was salty but I had no issues with that. Could have done with a longer lasting aftertaste.
ReplyDeleteNow, onto the Columbia Winery Cabernet Sauvignon.
ReplyDeleteAlright, this wine was very different for me compared to the others (though that goes without saying). It was easy to get a sense of the scent and flavor of the wine. It stayed longer in the mouth than earlier wines, and the aftertaste was pleasant. Would definitely drink more in the future.
Berry and oak notes on the nose. Spicy and fruity finish. Nice lingering flavor. Too thin and dry for a cabernet. I like my Cabs to be a bit sweeter and a lot bigger. Not a bad wine but not quite full enough to be a go to Cab.
ReplyDeleteNow we're talking. Bodied, round with a fruity start and a oak finish. A nice glass for an evening of Vampire fantasies.
ReplyDeleteCab - good for a cab. Better than most 5 to 6 dollar wines in its category. good berry smell and woods, oak or hickory. Plus a nice spice - pepper, oregano, and basil. Not really flowery or sweet. Nice dry taste but has a really nice linger. A bit more acidic than I like - not as balanced as others, but decently better balanced than other wines like columbia crest or barefoot.
ReplyDeleteI would recommend this as a decent red cab-sau for the 9 dollar price that it has.
Moving on to the Pinot Noir:
ReplyDeleteHmmm. A much more balanced wine than the others. A long lasting taste and a very distinguished one at that.
The undisputed queen of the evening is the Eola Hills Pinot Noir. Nice body, light, balanced and delightful.
ReplyDeleteAwesome night guys!!
ReplyDeleteIt is now almost 4am and we are still here chatting after almost 8 and 1/2 hours of wine and good cheese and food stuffs.
We are going to do this again so be aware. Next time there may be different rules so I will keep you posted. Hope all the reactions are helpful
but if now we will try to do better. Also, I have some pics of the wine bottles we tried so you can see the labels if you want to try them yourselves.
Thanks for reading and
Happy Vino!!