Weekend Wine Tasting Notes - Catch-up #3

So this last weekend tasting note is a bit tough for me to do, given that it's a review of a wine I made - the 2008 FetZin. It's tough because if I'm too positive about it you could obviously say I'm biased, but if I'm too negative you could say I'm being modest, so I'll just do my best to give my honest opinion. My honest opinion is I love this wine. The background is - I wanted to start testing my wine making skills so this past fall I purchased some grapes through a local fruit distributor. I bought about 70 lbs of Zinfandel and 70 lbs of Cabernet Sauvignon. Both varieties came from Lodi, CA. The Zinfandel grapes were beautiful. Dark colored, full clusters and very firm. (The Cabernet's were not so hot but we'll discuss them later). I bottled this Zin about a month ago and was pretty excited about it at the time, I believe it's only gotten better over this first month in the bottle. First thing I'll say about it is even though there is no residual sugar (it has a fairly high alcohol content of 15%) it almost tastes sweet in your mouth. The nose on the wine is vanilla, oak and cherry. When I taste it my thoughts are black cherry, chocolate, blackberry, and vanilla. One of our guests who tried it called out another flavor that I totally agreed with - fig. This is a wine that is almost perfect either by itself or with a desert. Not sure I'd recommend it with a meal, unless it was something really spicy. The flavor is "sweet" enough for someone who doesn't typically drink reds to enjoy, but it's also a "big" red wine so the red wine fans will also really like it. When my wife and I first tried it her first comment was this tastes just like the Rombauer Zinfandel we had in Napa (Rombauer was a great Zin that retails in the $30's). I'll sum it up by saying I'm very excited and pleased by my first real wine production. Unfortunately the 70 lbs of grapes only produced a little over a case of the wine. I want as many honest opinions on this wine that I can get, so if you're interested and we're getting together, let me know I would love to share the Zin with you. That's all for now, enjoy the first miracle!

Wine Tasting Notes - Weekend Catch-up #2

We had a real treat over the weekend as some company brought over a bottle of 1999 J Pinot Noir. J is a vineyard in Sonoma that my wife and I had visited last summer and it probably ended up as our favorite Sonoma winery (although I admit we spent most of our time in Napa). By the way, if you're planning a trip to Napa/Sonoma, let me know, happy to provide some suggestions. J is known for it's Brut and it's Pinot Noir, so when I saw this I was very excited to pop the cork. Now being a '99 I will say that's getting up there for a Pinot Noir. Typically a Pinot will age well for 5-10 years so this one was up there. Fortunately it had aged well, with the only indication of it's age being that it had a bit of cloudiness when poured. The nose was perfect for a good Pinot Noir, nice and fruity. The drink itself was soft as a pillow and had a great fruitiness. Overall I loved this wine, just like I do several other varieties from J. I would totally recommend their wines and am very happy to have received this from our guests. I encourage you to find some J next time you're out and as always, enjoy the first miracle.

Wine Tasting Notes - Weekend Catch-up #1

So I'm a bit behind and need to catch up on my notes from the weekend. Three wines to review and I'll give them each their own note here. I'll start by saying - Friends are great! - especially when they bring wine over! Twice this past weekend we had friends over who brought a bottle each, and each time something I had never tried. So first off we have an interesting one, a 2002 Meritage Red from Grande River Vineyards in Colorado. You read that right, a red wine from Colorado. What's interesting is I've always said one would think Colorado could produce some good wines, after all, they get the most days of sunlight of any state in the union. This was my first chance to actually try a wine from Colorado. Well, I have to say, it was drinkable, but probably little more than that. One of our friends actually poured her glass out while 2 of us were fine finishing up a full glass. It turned out to be an extremely dry wine and left you truly feeling like cotton mouth. Flavor wise it was really not bad at all. All in all, I was glad to have finally tried a Colorado wine, and very grateful for our friends having brought one back for us, but probably wouldn't recommend it if you're taking a trip to the mountains anytime soon. Up next, something with some age from Sonoma. Enjoy the first miracle.

Wine Tasting Notes for 3-25-09

Ok, tonight's a fun very affordable wine. My wife made brushetta for dinner and decided to open a bottle of CK Mondavi Chardonnay to go with it. This is a wine that retails for under $10 and can be found almost anywhere. Although it's a Chardonnay this drinks as a much fruitier and less dry wine than you might expect from a Chardonnay. On the nose I get aromas of fruits such as pineapple and peach. Upon first sip I get the usual buttery note typical of a Chardonnay. In your mouth it's all fruit and reminds me more of a Pinot Grigio than a Chardonnay. This is a good wine for a meal with a little spice and for just sipping on a hot summer day (which by the way it's not here in good old Cincy, rained pretty much all day). Anyway, for the taste and the price I'd definitely recommend this anytime your looking for a fun white wine. Hope you have some sometime and as always, enjoy the first miracle!

Wine Tasting Notes for 3-24-09

Ok, tonight we decided to open up something from one of our favorite wineries - a 2006 Merlot from Goosecross Cellars in Rutherford (Napa Valley), Ca. This is a very small winery (~9000 case production) that you won't find in retail. You can buy directly from them at the winery, on their web site, or do like we did and join their wine club. www.goosecross.com.

The 2006 Merlot goes for $42 on their site, and club members get a 10% discount on all wines. So this wine was absolutely terrific. The aromas I got immediately were of charred oak, cherries and even strawberries. It's a Merlot so yes it's a dry wine, but wow is this ever a soft, silky wine in your mouth. It's really full of very pleasing berry flavors and sits on your tongue easily before going down. It leaves just a bit of a tartness in your mouth, but nothing overly sharp or displeasing. Even though it's obviously a bit harder to find I would absolutely recommend you order a bottle or two from their website. The great thing about their small production size is that it's ok for them to ship to Ohio (for those of you in my state. FYI the current rule is, if a winery produces over 50,000 cases annually they cannot ship to OH, but this rule varies state by state and it's a ridiculous rule). Anyway, I hope you decide to check them out and let me know if you do. They also produce fantastic Zinfandel, Cabernet and Syrah among other varieties. That's all for tonight, enjoy the first miracle!

Wine Tasting Notes 3-23-09

Ok, so I probably don't drink wine EVERY night, but I do enjoy a glass or 2 on most evenings, so i figured why not start posting some tasting notes while I'm at it. After all, my dream is to one day open my own winery, and I fully believe effective use of social media will be an important part of making that successful, so I might as well start now.

So, tonight's wine for review is a Sebeka Cabernet Pinotage from South Africa. This past Saturday night an old friend from Germany stayed with us overnight and brought this as a thank you gift. Having just sampled some South African Pinotage at the Cincinnati Wine Festival recently, I was anxious to pop the cork on this. A bottle of this retails somewhere around $10 (but hey, I didn't buy this one! In case you're shopping for it, it has the Cheetah on the label).

This is a very dark, deep red wine, I really like it's color. The nose on this wine (in other words, it's smell) is like a berry jam. You get a sweet grape and blackberry aroma from the glass. As I take a sip, my first impression is that this is a very soft wine, easy to drink. For those who aren't big red wine fans, this is a great "starter" red wine. There's no bitterness to it as it sits on the tongue and goes down very easy. The mix is 65% Cabernet and 35% Pinotage and the Pinotage adds an almost sweetness to the typical Cabernet flavor. Again, this blending makes it an easy drinking wine for someone who may not yet be a fan of the dryness of Cabernet. We had this with some bacon-wrapped BBQ chicken and my only complaint would be that it can't quite stand up to a dish with flavors like that. It's great on it's own, or probably with a milder flavored meal, but a bit flabby for something with BBQ flavors. It also leaves your mouth a bit dry or parched feeling, which is more typically of a dry red like Cabernet.

Overall, I liked the wine, and at the price point I would definitely recommend it. So try a bottle next time your out shopping and let me know what you think. And stayed tuned to see what tomorrow (or the next night) brings.