Tasting: Tinto

Coreto
Tinto 2008
Red/$6.95
Lisboa Region, Portugal

Store Review: This red from the Coreto range has loads of dark berry fruit with a hint of new oak creating a soft, velvet structure that makes it very to easy drink. Red currant and juicy acidity.

My Review:This one confused me, I wasn’t really sure what I smelled. Maybe just nothing because it wasn’t very full. Although I tasted the oak, I felt this wine was lacking complex flavors and a spicy flair which makes me love a red.

Tasting: Chardonnay

Morro Bay White Oak Estates
Chardonnay 2009
White/$5.95
Lodi, California

Store Review: Vanilla cream soda nose with a slice of fresh cut pineapple. Full body, tropical fruit, spice and pleasing vanilla oak note linger in the finish. Sweet flavor on the palate is from sur-lie aging the wine on the primary yeast lees for 7months. A versatile style of wine that can be served chilled with fine cuisine or a glass with friends. Certified Green by Lodi Rules Sustainable Winegrowers.

My Review: Smells woody mixed with fruity with a smooth, sophisticated taste. I definitely taste the oak, which I think enhances a Chardonnay.

Tasting: Frascati

Cantina Villafranca
Frascati
White/$7.95
Frascati, Italy

Store Review: Produced from a selection of the best grapes located in the Frascati Doc production area. Made from 45% Malvasia di Candia, 15% Trebbiano Toscano, 25% Malvasia del Lazio, 15% Grechetto (Greco). Intense yellow color with greenish reflections. Characteristic persistent fresh and fruity aromas. Excellent as an aperitif and paired with fish, seafood or white meat.

My Review: Smells like strong citrus fruit with a bitter taste. There is a bitterness at first but the finish is pretty smooth.

Tasting: Spumante Dolce

Lost Vineyards
Spumante Dolce
White/$4.95
Italy

Store Review: Pale silvery straw color. Floral aromas of apples, peaches, and potpourri follow through on a round, frothy entry to a fruity medium bodied sweet wine with good depth and tangy peach fruit and a breezy, harmonious green apple kissed finish.

My Review: This one was just sweet enough with a flowery aftertaste. I have learned to enjoy sweet whites in moderation.

Tasting: Cotes-du-Rhone

Charles Thomas
Cotes-du-Rhone
Red/$8.95
Rhone, France



Store Review: From a 140+-acre estate near the well-known Cotes du Rhone village of Pont Saint Esprit emerges this juicy Cotes du Rhone, a blend of 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache and 10% Mourvedre. Well- made, with loads of berry fruit and a heady, meaty, peppery nose with a hint of Provencal herbs, the wine is fresh, lively, and best drunk over the next 2 years.

My Review: Smells like a garden in spring with a mixture of herbs and flowers. The flavor tastes similarly complex to the smell, a reason I always love blended wines.

Dinner: Home Cooked Meal#3

February 10, 2012 Dinner

Wine: Georges Dubceuf, Beaujolais Nouveau, 2011

On the Bottle: The 2011 Beaujolais Nouveau is here! Refreshing, fruity, and perfectly balanced, Nouveau is the best served chilled with friends. The Wine is youthful, lively, distinctive and fun!



Menu:
- Australian white cheddar cheese
- Pasta
- Homemade sauce concoction:
     lean ground turkey
     a splash of the Beaujolais Nouveau wine
     sauteed mushrooms and zucchini
     store bought olive oil and garlic red sauce

This is my FAVORITE cheese! Australian White Cheddar

Freshly cut veggies

Sauteed mushroom and zucchini after adding a splash of wine

Veggies + ground turkey and base tomato sauce!

Pasta

My final meal! YUM

This Beaujolais Nouveau smells fruity with an even taste, not too full but not bland. It has a strong fruity taste with a tiny spicy aftertaste. Paired with Australian white cheddar cheese, the flavor of the wine was not brought out as much as previously experienced with cheese and wine pairings. The overall flavor when paired with the pasta dish was a bit fuller but still fruity and smooth!

Dinner: Home Cooked Meal #2

Wine Dinner Pairing/ February 4, 2012



Always inspired to try new wines, Sydney and I joined our friends in 409 for a delicious, home cooked from scratch, gourmet meal! Thanks Trevor!!

Menu:
Salmon with Mushrooms
Mashed potatoes
Boch Choy

My first time eating boch choy!

Sydney hard at work with the ginger

Salmon, boch choy and mashed potatoes

Wine:

San Elias, Sauvignon Blanc, Chile

San Elias Sauvignon Blanc 2009, Review from ABC Wine Ratings and Reviews

San Elias Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Origin: Colchagua Valley, Chile
Blend: Sauvignon Blanc (100%)
Alcohol Content: 13.0%
Bottle Closure: Screw Cap
Purchase Date: May 2010
Purchase Price: $7.99

Review: This wine is light gold in color with aromas of gooseberry, sweet bell pepper, and a touch of grass. There is a good balance of acidity to fruit flavor, and the finish is very nice, clean and refreshing.

The wine smelled very citrusy and without food it tingled on my tug with a fruity, tangy flavor. Fruits I tasted include lemon, lime, and orange! It almost tasted the exact same with the salmon because the flavor of soy sauce on the salmon overtook the flavor of the wine. Paired with the boch choy, however, it was smoother and less tangy but still delicious!

Tasting: Moscato

Tasting Feb 2, Vintage Cellar



Opera Prima
Moscato
Blush/$5.95
Castilla, Spain

Winery Review: This amazing value for an inexpensive Moscato sparkler that is great from many occasions. Its bright fruit aromas of lychee and lime are appealing and the flavors of honeydew, lime and lychee are delightful. Great for cake or fruit based deserts.

My Review: This Moscato has a beautiful flowery smell, like roses. I have has a lychee fruit before and I can actually taste it in the wine. It has a very elegant but fun taste.

Tasting: Multiplicity

Tasting Feb 2, Vintage Cellar

Le Lapin
Multiplicity/$6.96
Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Refosco
Paso Robles, CA USA
Store Review: Multiplicity is a blend of grapes that rabbit ridge is keeping under wraps for now. The nose is black cherry, blackberry, a little plum and some spice, with a touch of forest floor. The palate is full of fruit and spice, with flavors of black cherry and a slight cranberry note. Nice firm tannins and a medium finish.

My Review: Smells spicy and woody with a complex taste full of spicy flavors.

Tasting: Tempranillo

Tasting Feb 2, Vintage Cellar

Marques de Moral Crianza
Tempranillo: 2007
Red/$7.95
Valdepenas, Spain

Store Review: Medium Red. Aromas of redcurrant and cherry, plus a hint of dried rose. Fleshy and smooth, with moderate depth to its slightly bitter red fruit flavors. Finishes with decent breadth and grip, with the redcurrant element joined by a hint of white pepper.

My Review: Smells like spices with a smooth taste but is not very full. Sort of a hollow taste.

Tasting: Sauvignon Blanc

Tasting Feb 2, Vintage Cellar

Coldstream Hills
Sauvignon Blanc: 2009
White/$7.95
Yarra Valley, Australia

Store Review: Predominantly fermented at cool temperatures in stainless steel tanks, with a small portion barrel fermented in older French oak, the wine is blended, bottled and released three to four months after fermentation. The nose shows fragrant gooseberry characters with underlying passionfruit and lychee aromas. Minerally, stalky notes are evident and provide additional complexity. The palate is a fine and elegant style with zesty lemon acidity and length. Varietal characteristics of passionfruit pulp and gooseberry dominate with hints of lemon peel in the background.

My Review: This one smells more sweet than citrusy almost like welches grape juice. The taste, however, is bitter like strong lemon juice which I did not care for.

Tasting: Chenin Blanc

Tasting Feb 2, Vintage Cellar

Royal
Chenin Blanc: 2009
White/$4.95
South Africa

Store Review: This wine packs a deceptive punch. And that punch tastes of apples, pears and quince, with an appealing herbal note that helps it pair well with salads and other light fare. Don’t drink it too cold, or you might miss out on all the fruit.

My Review: With a very citrusy smell, the tangy fruit flavors of this wine are enhanced by a strong sniff before tasting. I mainly tasted orange but with an overall tangy sweetness.

Dinner: Chateau Morrisette

Wine: $20
Chateau Morrisette
Petit Verdot
Virginia 2008

Petit Verdot... Can you tell I liked it?

Appetizer: $8
Fruit and Fromage: assortment of house made and local cheeses with seasonal fresh fruit and crackers.

Yummy Fruit and Fromage

Dinner: $19
Mediterranean lamb chops: grilled lamb chops with greek style israel cous cous, and grilled asparagus.

Mouth watering diner - only enhanced by the wine

Petit Verdot alone tastes smooth but rich with a mouth watering fullness. Once paired with the cheeses, spicy flavors emerged with deep complex combinations of dark fruit and woody hints. With dinner, all of these flavors were similarly delicious but slightly less intense perhaps because of the higher fat content of the cheese.

Little Molly in the middle (only posing with the wine, she was our much appreciated DD, Thanks Molls!!)

Winery Visitation: Chateau Morrisette

Winery Tour: Saturday, January 28, 2012

It was such a beautiful evening

Chateau Morrisette

Chateau Morrisette use mostly oak barrels.  For the Chardonnay they use the most expensive type of oak barrels from France.  They use both synthetic and natural cork in their wines, but if they use natural, they have to store the wines upside down.
With red wines, they ferment the wine with the seeds and skins from the grapes and also press their grapes.

The wines are bottled at the winery where nitrogen is used during the bottling process at the end to help preserve the wine.

90% of their fruits and 100% of their grapes are bought from VA growers which is unique to this winery. The only fruit that is not purchased from Virginia is the blackberry for their delicious blackberry wine.

Fermentation = WINE

Deliciousness aging to perfection!

They packaged all of this in ONE day!

Beautiful vaulted ceilings

A little size comparison, tiny Molly

Happy Tourists :)

Tasting: Frosty Dog

Chateau Morrisette
Frosty Dog: 2010
Ice/$18.99
Virginia, USA

Store Review: Freezing resulted in a concentrated, aromatic juice, which when fermented became this sumptuous, complex dessert wine. Aromas of apples, citrus, and orange blosoms are accentuated by lively acidity. The lingering finish drips with honey, pear, and subtle mango flavors. This delightful wine is a gread dessert by itselt , and can also be served as an aperitif. Alcohol 11.6%

My Review: This sexy wine is exploding with intense layers of sweetness that qualify for “liquid dessert” status.

Tasting: Sweet Mountain Laurel

Chateau Morrisette
Sweet Mountain Laurel
White/$9.99
Virginia, USA

Store Review: A unique and refreshingly sweet dessert style wine made from Native American grape varieties. Firm acidity balances the sweetness, producing a crisp finish with aromas of freshly picked grapes. pour over fresh berries and sponge cake or blend with vanilla ice cream and fruit for a creamy dessert smoothie.

My Review: Delightfully sweet with aromas of an original concord grape juice, This wine tastes like eating the grape right off the vine.

Tasting: Our Dog Blue

Chateau Morrisette:
Our Dog Blue
White/$9.99
Virginia, USA

Store Review: This popular white wine is a semi-sweet Riesling-T raminette blend, using Vidal Blanc and Petit Mensang for added depth. Aromas of melons, citrus fruits, apricots, and delicate flowers highlight the soft finish of this soothing wine. Serve chilled with fruits and cheeses, fish, or spicy foods.

My Review: Wonderful for pic-nics or tailgates, this wine is the perfect level of sweet without being mouth puckering. smelled and tasted (in a good way) like some cologne I’ve smelled before but am not sure where. Perfect example of the synthesis of smell and taste.

Tasting: Merlot

Chateau Morrisette:
Merlot: 2007
Red/$15.99
Virginia, USA

Store Review: Reminiscent of Old World reds, this ruby red vintage fuses leather, black tea and tobacco box aromas with plum and berry flavors. Medium bodied, velvet-textured and slightly spicy, this wine pairs wonderfully with game meats, lamb, ad mushroom dishes. This wine was blended with Chambourcin, a small amount of Cabernet Franc for depth, and was finished with a bit of Tannat for added structure. Alcohol 13.2%

My Review: Earthy and spicy, this Merlot was my easy to drink without lacking fullness. However, I didn not pick out any of the fruity aromas.

Tasting: Chardonnay

Chateau Morrisette
Chardonnay: 2010
White/$15.99
Virginia, USA

Store Review: Pear and applesauce aromas float from this opulent wine. Tasting reveals refreshing citrus fruit, augmented by rich nuances of toffee, fig and vanilla. Smooth and creamy in texture, this wine features a lengthy finish infused with traces of melon and pineapple. Slow barrel fermentation and subsequent aging sur lies (on the yeast) for 8 months resulted in a well balanced and complex wine. Our Chardonnay pairs well with crap, lobster, and other rich seafood, especially with cream sauces; roasted poultry, mushroom dishes, and sharp cheese. Alcohol 13.5%

My Review: This wine had a citrusy bite with a tingle on the tip of my tung which was almost like a sparkling white wine.