Last night we celebrated my 26th birthday at Chopstix with some friends and family. Ken ordered a bottle of 2008 Vintage Mark West Pinot Noir, and we all got a chance to enjoy it. I must say, it had great flavor. It was a very heavy wine, with dark fruit flavors (cherry, strawberry, plum maybe?) but also had a kick of spice to it. It was oaky, but fit the flavor right.
I don't have the bottle obviously, so I can't quote the labels description, but I did skim over the Mark West website today. The 2008 Pinot actually won a lot of awards! It was #1 in its catergory in the Wine Trials. (Basically it is a big blind tasting, where they use paper bags to cover the bottles, and the best wines are chosen based on flavor. It also was named the "Steal of the Year" By Sunset magazine. But anyway, I found it neat that this wine is 100% pinot noir grapes...no mix. They are grown, vinted and aged in California.
I've enjoyed leasrning a little bit about each winery, wine and vineyard with each bottle I open. OH, and for my birthday, Teri bought me red wine glasses. Now we can successfully swirl our wine without sloshing. :-)
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
1998 Reserve Salmon Harbor Chardonnay
Last night we had wine and dinner night at Beth's. Teri made wondeful potato soup. We couldn't decide what kind of wine to bring, but I went with the Chardonnay because I figured the buttery flavor would go with the white "sauce" of potato soup.
We've had this bottle for a few years, so it was finally time to drink it! It's supposed to be a decent bottle....it scored an 86, and as the label says, it's a reserve. This is supposed to mean it came from a specially selected barrell of wine chosen by the wine-maker because it had something unique and special about it compared to the rest of the barrells. However, we've come to learn that some brands like to mark 'reserve' on all their bottles, simply so they can charge more per bottle.
This wine had a very deep color. Crude to say, but it was sort of the color of urine. Or maybe sparkling apple cider. It was very thick. Buttery is the only word I can really come up with to describe it. While its rated as being fruity, we didn't find it had much identifiable fruit flavors...the fruit was very subtle, and overwhelmed by the buttery, rich flavor. It went okay with the soup, but I must note it was TERRIBLE with m&m cookies. Ha.
Noah didn't really like this wine at all. I'm interested to try another Chardonnay to see if it is just Chardonnays in general that he doesn't enjoy. I found it to be okay...better than many chardonnays I've had (of course, we tend to usually buy cheap wine so I guess that is not saying much). So for now I will just say it definitely was better than the stuff out of a box. :-)
We've had this bottle for a few years, so it was finally time to drink it! It's supposed to be a decent bottle....it scored an 86, and as the label says, it's a reserve. This is supposed to mean it came from a specially selected barrell of wine chosen by the wine-maker because it had something unique and special about it compared to the rest of the barrells. However, we've come to learn that some brands like to mark 'reserve' on all their bottles, simply so they can charge more per bottle.
This wine had a very deep color. Crude to say, but it was sort of the color of urine. Or maybe sparkling apple cider. It was very thick. Buttery is the only word I can really come up with to describe it. While its rated as being fruity, we didn't find it had much identifiable fruit flavors...the fruit was very subtle, and overwhelmed by the buttery, rich flavor. It went okay with the soup, but I must note it was TERRIBLE with m&m cookies. Ha.
Noah didn't really like this wine at all. I'm interested to try another Chardonnay to see if it is just Chardonnays in general that he doesn't enjoy. I found it to be okay...better than many chardonnays I've had (of course, we tend to usually buy cheap wine so I guess that is not saying much). So for now I will just say it definitely was better than the stuff out of a box. :-)
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Oak Leaf Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc
Tonight I picked up a bottle of Oak Leaf Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc at Walmart for $2.97. Ha. Pretty cheapo wine, so I wasn't expecting much. It doesn't even have an explanation on the back of the bottle! So all I really know about it is that it is vinted and bottled in California.
We were having pizza for dinner, and I honestly didn't know (and still don't know!) what kind of wine you match with pizza. I wasn't in the mood for a red wine, so I grabbed this one because it was on sale. It has a very acidic, grassy smell...which set me off a bit. But I was pleasantly surprised by the taste. It was crisp, sweet and citrisy, with a very short and mild finish. Maybe I just am attuned to liking cheap wine. lol. But I enjoyed it. I figure if I can buy something I enjoy for $2.97 a bottle, why not!
We were having pizza for dinner, and I honestly didn't know (and still don't know!) what kind of wine you match with pizza. I wasn't in the mood for a red wine, so I grabbed this one because it was on sale. It has a very acidic, grassy smell...which set me off a bit. But I was pleasantly surprised by the taste. It was crisp, sweet and citrisy, with a very short and mild finish. Maybe I just am attuned to liking cheap wine. lol. But I enjoyed it. I figure if I can buy something I enjoy for $2.97 a bottle, why not!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
2006 Vintage Chateau Ste Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon
On Friday we opened a bottle of wine we bought at Chateau Ste. Michelle. The grapes are grown locally in the Columbia Valley.
The bottles description: "Magical combination of sun, soil & water - the "terrior" of Washington State's world class growing region produces long-lived Cabernet Sauvignon with intese aromas and flavors. Dominated by rich black fruit, this wine shows a suppleness achieved by extended aging in small oak barrels."
We were told at the winery to eat this with red meat, so we paired this wine with pot roast and vegetables. It definitely had an oaky flavor, and had a very deep fruity taste. Standing alone, I found it a bit bold and drying. However, after taking a bite of pot roast, I enjoyed it much more. I thought it paired really well!
Noah felt the opposite. He liked it at first, but thought it the finishing taste lasted too long, and it had too much black fruit flavor.
We finished this bottle the next night with crackers, medium cheddar cheese, and apple slices. It liked it with the triscuits, and it was okay with the cheese, but it tasted awful with the apples! I guess that's why your supposed to drink lighter, more acidic and citrusy wines with fruit! I can't
The bottles description: "Magical combination of sun, soil & water - the "terrior" of Washington State's world class growing region produces long-lived Cabernet Sauvignon with intese aromas and flavors. Dominated by rich black fruit, this wine shows a suppleness achieved by extended aging in small oak barrels."
We were told at the winery to eat this with red meat, so we paired this wine with pot roast and vegetables. It definitely had an oaky flavor, and had a very deep fruity taste. Standing alone, I found it a bit bold and drying. However, after taking a bite of pot roast, I enjoyed it much more. I thought it paired really well!
Noah felt the opposite. He liked it at first, but thought it the finishing taste lasted too long, and it had too much black fruit flavor.
We finished this bottle the next night with crackers, medium cheddar cheese, and apple slices. It liked it with the triscuits, and it was okay with the cheese, but it tasted awful with the apples! I guess that's why your supposed to drink lighter, more acidic and citrusy wines with fruit! I can't
For more information on this wine, Click here and review the fact sheet. It covers the weather that season, the aging process for this bottle of wine, and food pairing suggestions.
Also, we we mentioned earlier, no wine is 100% what it says...
This bottle was:
76% cabernet sauvignon
20% syrah
2% merlot
1% cabernet franc
1% malbec
2006 GatoNegro Shiraz
On Thursday we had dinner at Bethany's house. Noah and I brought a bottle of GatoNegro Shiraz. We actually bought this wine over a year ago. Right before I found out I was pregnant with Keegan, we went to Safeway and picked out 6 bottles of wine at random that we thought we should try. Shortly after, I found out I was pregnant, and we never drank any of them. So what better time than now?
The bottle describes the wine as a blend of cherry, raspberry and tannins. It had a very strong and recognizable oak flavor. It was very bold, and almost a bit too bold for me. It was very drying in my mouth. Noah really liked it. It went well with the our entree. We had it with meat lasagna, ceasar salad, and bread with vinegar and oil.
I'll be interested to try another shiraz and see if it was just this particular shiraz I didn't care for, or if shiraz in general is just too bold for me.
The bottle describes the wine as a blend of cherry, raspberry and tannins. It had a very strong and recognizable oak flavor. It was very bold, and almost a bit too bold for me. It was very drying in my mouth. Noah really liked it. It went well with the our entree. We had it with meat lasagna, ceasar salad, and bread with vinegar and oil.
I'll be interested to try another shiraz and see if it was just this particular shiraz I didn't care for, or if shiraz in general is just too bold for me.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Our Newfound Love Interest...
For our five year wedding annniversary, Noah and I spent the night in Redmond, WA and visited wine country in Woodinville. He and I have never had the luxury of visiting a winery, or wine bar. We were excited for a new adventure. We never realized how much it would intrigue our minds and tastebuds!
At our first stop, we spent one on one time with a wine educator at Columbia Valley Winery. She reassured us that no question was a dumb question, and that you could possibly taste ANYTHING in a wine, sonot to hestitate to state the flavor we might find ourselves discovering. She taught us how to gauge coloring, and how to properly swirl our wineglass, and smell the scent it releases. We both are struggling to know and identify individual fruit, woods and tannins in the wine. But our wine educator said it is a talent that develops over time and experience. She said she savors every smell and flavor when she is eating, trying to close her eyes and remember how each cherry or loganberry tastes and smells. She said she finds herself buying odd spices and fruits at natural markets, so she can better identify them in tastings. We had no idea it took so much experience and research!
She then taught us the proper way to "taste" wine, and not just drink it. It's an acquired talent that allows you to taste and smell the wine at the same time. We tasted 6 different wines and left feeling like we'd spent the whole afternoon in school! It was amazing!
We then continued on to the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery across the street. In this location, they actually bottle wine. We took the winery tour and learned the intricate cycle that is needed to create a quality wine.
So while you may understand and know wine, here's some facts I learned that intrigue me:
First, I never took into consideration what the year of a bottle of wine meant. Yes, I understood it meant that was the year the grapes were harvested and the wine was made. Beyond that, I assumed it what just a way of seeing how long the wine had aged. Instead, I learned that if you know your wineries, and their location, you can judge some wines based on the weather of that particular year. For example, to make a sweet dessert wine, the grapes must be harvested while frozen. The weather must drop below 14 degrees. The grapes then must be hand picked in the wee hours of the night, and processed immediately. That is why sweet dessert wines come in smaller bottles, and during certain years are more expensive, or nearly non-existant. The earth must provide ideal weather conditions to produce a good bottle of wine for the year!
Second, I learned that if you open a bottle of wine, and it tastes gross...there's a good possibility that wine is BAD. I recall a few years ago Noah and I opening a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, thinking we would try a red wine for the first time. Noah described the flavor as mildewy shower curtain, but we gagged down our wine, not wanting to waste a bottle simply because it was too bold for us. Now we know that bottle was probably corked, and should have been thrown away. It's possible for a bottle to grow bacteria on the base of the cork, infecting the wine and ruining it. This happens more frequently than you'd think, about every one in twelve bottles is corked. That is often why many Reisling are bottled with twist caps (not because it's a cheap bottle of wine!) and why some wineries are switching to the rubbery corks.
Third, we learned that most wine is not 100% what the label claims it to be. If the bottle says merlot, there could be 60% merlot, and 40% another type (or multiple types) of wine. This is because when they are making wine, they have it in huge vats. As the wine maker goes through and tastes the batches, he may intermix the different types of wines in order to create the flavor he wants. Some wineries will state the percentages in the print on the bottle, but often they will not.
There is so much more that Noah and I desire to educate ourselves in the future. We've fallen in love with wine, and have found it to be an art we want to pursue. That is why we've decided to start this blog. For ever bottle of wine we explore, we wanted a way to record what we tasted, how we liked it, and how it went with the meal we served it with. This way, as we drink more and more types of wine, we'll have a way to track the styles we like, and learn to fine tune our ability to pick out a suitable wine.
So here...our journey begins!
At our first stop, we spent one on one time with a wine educator at Columbia Valley Winery. She reassured us that no question was a dumb question, and that you could possibly taste ANYTHING in a wine, sonot to hestitate to state the flavor we might find ourselves discovering. She taught us how to gauge coloring, and how to properly swirl our wineglass, and smell the scent it releases. We both are struggling to know and identify individual fruit, woods and tannins in the wine. But our wine educator said it is a talent that develops over time and experience. She said she savors every smell and flavor when she is eating, trying to close her eyes and remember how each cherry or loganberry tastes and smells. She said she finds herself buying odd spices and fruits at natural markets, so she can better identify them in tastings. We had no idea it took so much experience and research!
She then taught us the proper way to "taste" wine, and not just drink it. It's an acquired talent that allows you to taste and smell the wine at the same time. We tasted 6 different wines and left feeling like we'd spent the whole afternoon in school! It was amazing!
We then continued on to the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery across the street. In this location, they actually bottle wine. We took the winery tour and learned the intricate cycle that is needed to create a quality wine.
So while you may understand and know wine, here's some facts I learned that intrigue me:
First, I never took into consideration what the year of a bottle of wine meant. Yes, I understood it meant that was the year the grapes were harvested and the wine was made. Beyond that, I assumed it what just a way of seeing how long the wine had aged. Instead, I learned that if you know your wineries, and their location, you can judge some wines based on the weather of that particular year. For example, to make a sweet dessert wine, the grapes must be harvested while frozen. The weather must drop below 14 degrees. The grapes then must be hand picked in the wee hours of the night, and processed immediately. That is why sweet dessert wines come in smaller bottles, and during certain years are more expensive, or nearly non-existant. The earth must provide ideal weather conditions to produce a good bottle of wine for the year!
Second, I learned that if you open a bottle of wine, and it tastes gross...there's a good possibility that wine is BAD. I recall a few years ago Noah and I opening a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, thinking we would try a red wine for the first time. Noah described the flavor as mildewy shower curtain, but we gagged down our wine, not wanting to waste a bottle simply because it was too bold for us. Now we know that bottle was probably corked, and should have been thrown away. It's possible for a bottle to grow bacteria on the base of the cork, infecting the wine and ruining it. This happens more frequently than you'd think, about every one in twelve bottles is corked. That is often why many Reisling are bottled with twist caps (not because it's a cheap bottle of wine!) and why some wineries are switching to the rubbery corks.
Third, we learned that most wine is not 100% what the label claims it to be. If the bottle says merlot, there could be 60% merlot, and 40% another type (or multiple types) of wine. This is because when they are making wine, they have it in huge vats. As the wine maker goes through and tastes the batches, he may intermix the different types of wines in order to create the flavor he wants. Some wineries will state the percentages in the print on the bottle, but often they will not.
There is so much more that Noah and I desire to educate ourselves in the future. We've fallen in love with wine, and have found it to be an art we want to pursue. That is why we've decided to start this blog. For ever bottle of wine we explore, we wanted a way to record what we tasted, how we liked it, and how it went with the meal we served it with. This way, as we drink more and more types of wine, we'll have a way to track the styles we like, and learn to fine tune our ability to pick out a suitable wine.
So here...our journey begins!
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