I Drink While Making Thanksgiving Dinner

Posted on November 5, 2009 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the PR folks for Wines of Germany.

Rieslings have been gracing the pages of ye olde wine blog with much more frequency in the last year due to the Wines of Germany folks sending me quarterly shipments of new releases. Riesling was my first real wine love, though admittedly the sweeter side of Riesling. Over the years I’ve grown to very much appreciate the dry refined side of Riesling.  We pulled the 2007 Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt Scharzhofberger Riesling Spatlese from the last 2 bottle shipment to try the other night.  Even my mom really enjoyed this bottle and she’s not a wine drinker at all!  The wine had a real cork closure, clocked in at 7.5% alcohol by volume, and retails for around $29.

On the nose I found lime zest, honeyed pear, green apple, wet stones, flowers, white pepper, lemon, and spice. In the mouth I got peach, honey, lemon, spice, lime zest, honey, and apple.  Overall I found the wine to be spritzy and tingly in the mouth with a very long finish.  With the low alcohol content, this wine would be great to sip while you’re prepping your upcoming Thanksgiving meal. (What, I’m not the only one who drinks while I cook that big meal, right? RIGHT? Humor me!)

 

 

Filed under: German, Riesling, White, Wine | 1 Comment »

Wine With A Cause V

Posted on November 4, 2009 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Agent for Change Wines.

Last year around the holiday season I brought you a series of 4 posts on wines with a cause.  That is, wines whose producers donate part or all of their profits to charity.  I’m happy to start up this series again this year, and hope that in the coming months I will have several more wines to share with you.  Our first wine with a cause for 2009 comes from Agent for Change Wines.  Agent for Change Wines donate 50% of profits to community based organizations that care for the uninsured and underinsured.  If that sounds up your alley, consider adding a bottle for gifting this holiday season to your wino friends.  First up we tried the 2006 Agent for Change Paso Robles Zinfandel. It had a real cork closure, clocked in at 13.5% alcohol by volume, and retails for about $16.

On the nose I got blackberries, big black fruit, plums, spice, pepper, black cherry, and red edges.  Overall I found the nose to be fairly reserved with mostly dark fruit and a slight hint of alcohol.  In the mouth I found tart black cherry, black berry, spice, pepper, leather, and currants.  This was an easy to drink, not too complex wine with lots of tart fruit and just a bit of heat that faded quickly.

Add a wine that supports a charity you believe in to your holiday wine list and feel good about drinking wine with a cause!

 

 

Filed under: California, Red, Wine, Zinfandel | Leave a Comment »

It’s a Meritage

Posted on November 3, 2009 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Branford Wine & Spirits.

Sterling Vintner’s Collection holds a special place in my heart…we served the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Sauvignon Blanc at our wedding. Budget constraints and the ability of our venue to secure anything from their distributor (that’s a rant for another day…I handed them a list of 10 white and 10 reds that were NOT very obscure wines and they couldn’t get any of them!!) led us to Sterling Vintner’s which I have always found to be an easy, varietally correct, inexpensive crowd pleaser of a wine for parties.  Tonight we tried the 2007 Sterling Vintner’s Collection Meritage.  It had a real cork closure, clocked in at 13.5% alcohol by volume, and retails for as low as $8.

On the nose I found chocolate, pepper, smoke, berries, big berries, plums, black cherries, and chocolate syrup. Overall the nose was big and fruity.   In the mouth I found pepper, blackberry, black plum, chocolate, and some black cherry.  The wine was juicy with a slightly sharp finish that mellowed as it sat in my glass. I’d recommend this over a critter wine any day for way more bang for your buck at $8.

 

 

Filed under: California, Red, Wine | 4 Comments »

Two Seas

Posted on November 2, 2009 by Sonadora

When we opened this I thought that we had consumed an earlier vintage of the same bottle. I distinctly remembered the “Entre Deux Mers.” But I went back and looked through the blog, and while we had a bottle with the same title, it wasn’t from the same winery.  Tonight’s bottle was the 2008 Chateau Grand Rousseau Entre Deux Mers.  It arrived in a shipment from a wine of the month club that I got as a gift, had a pressed cork, clocked in at 12.5% alcohol by volume, and I think it retails for somewhere around $10-$13.  This bottle was the best of the wine of the month club…I haven’t really been a fan of any of the other wines that came in those shipments…in fact, some of them were downright awful!

On the nose I found lemon, melon, lime, tropical notes, apple, white peaches, lime zest, and citrus.  In the mouth I got more lime zest, tart peach, citrus, and slight tropical notes.  Overall I found the wine to be tart and acidic with a simpler palate than nose.  It was very refreshing and easily the best of the bunch from this wine club.

 

Filed under: France, White, Wine | 3 Comments »

Back to Bears

Posted on November 1, 2009 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Sean Minor Wines.

The UPS and Fed Ex trucks come to my door with alarming regularity.  Almost always it’s a surprise as to what they will be bringing.  I personally order anywhere from 20-30 shipments of wine a year myself….but during the fall and the spring, the delivery trucks arrive at least 2-3 times a week.  Just last week they delivered 22 bottles of wine.  It’s like Christmas every time I get a box! One recent box came bearing the most current releases from Sean Minor’s 4 Bears line, and we tried the 2008 Sean Minor 4 Bears Sauvignon Blanc this other night.  I tried the previous vintages of this line, you can read the reviews here. This time the line came with some new things, including a Pinot Noir. The idea is to create an affordable line of quality wines.  The Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc had a screw cap closure, clocked in at 13.5% alcohol by volume, and retails for around $13.

I first noted that I found the wine to be very aromatic…I could smell it wafting out of my glass.  I got grass, grapefruit, flowers, hay, tropical notes, honeysuckle, lime, and orange zest on the nose.  In the mouth I found orange, tangerine, grass, flowers, tropical fruit, and passion fruit. Overall the wine had nice acidity and I found it to be a very good effort for the price point.  Definitely a crowd pleaser for a party.

 

Filed under: California, Sauvignon Blanc, White, Wine | Leave a Comment »

Boo!

Posted on October 31, 2009 by Sonadora

Happy Hallowine all you spooky winos!

I tried to take pictures of our pumpkins, but it’s really hard to get lighting right with just a candle glowing!

So you get a bonus of me in last year’s costume.

Be safe and responsible this Halloween and if anyone gets any chewy sweet tarts, please share with me.

Filed under: Misc | Leave a Comment »

Cool Label….

Posted on October 30, 2009 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Sort This Out Cellars.

Not so cool wine. Overall, I really enjoyed the wines I received from Sort This Out Cellars. However, this bottle was the exception to the rule.  We tried the 2005 Sort This Out Cellars Rockabilly Red with our burgers the other night.  Although it clocked in at 13.5% alcohol by volume, I found it be overwhelmingly alcoholic.  It had a real cork closure and retails for $25.

On the nose I found spice, cranberry, raisins, alcohol, chocolate, and cherries.  In the mouth I got dark berries, dark cherries, and sour fruit.  The tannins, acidity, and alcohol just didn’t seem in balance to me and it threw off the whole wine.

 

Filed under: California, Red, Wine | 2 Comments »

Pig Roast!

Posted on October 29, 2009 by Sonadora

The Matthiasson Vineyard

After the Wine Blogger Conference, the Matthiasson Family kindly hosted a pig roast for any wine bloggers who still happened to be in the area.  Our favorite meat being roasted in a pit and the Matthiasson’s wines? Thea and Ashley and I were there, along with several other wine bloggers who we convinced to make the trek over to Napa with us!

Now, I’ve written about the Matthiasson wines before, and I maintain that their white wine is absolutely the best white wine I’ve tasted all year.  Hands down.  You can read my review of it here. However, with the roasted pig, which was divine, by the way, I would recommend one of the Mattiasson Red wines, probably the red blend.  But that didn’t stop me from enjoying just a little bit of the white wine at the pig roast….but not much seeing as how I was our designated driver!

Wine Country Dog LOVED the pig roast. Clean plate club!

Instead, I took some pictures, walked in the little vineyard that backs right up to the Matthiasson’s house, and chatted with some of the many wine folks the Mattiasson’s had invited to the party, including Judd of Judd’s Hill!  Who kindly invited us all back to his tiki lounge for drinks, but the merry band of wine bloggers was exhausted and in need of some R&R before another big day in Napa the following day.  I didn’t manage to snap a shot of the final roasted pig, so you’ll have to ask Ashley for that!  I highly recommend the Matthiasson White Wine for your upcoming Thanksgiving feast, though you’ll have to act fast to get any of it since they produce all their wines in extremely limited quantities.

Filed under: California, Vineyards, Wineries | Leave a Comment »

Tasting Bradford Mountain

Posted on October 28, 2009 by Sonadora

After tasting at C. Donatiello, we scooted next door with Chris to try the wines from Bradford Mountain Winery.  The label is produced on the C. Donatiello property with the tasting room also located behind the C. Donatiello tasting room. It’s a little difficult to spot, but a few people wandered in while we were there.  Chris jumped behind the bar to pour for us and tell us a little about the winery.

2007 Healdsburg Ranches Chardonnay: Pear, green apple, crisp, cool, lemon, tart, tropical notes.

2005 Bradford Mountain Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel: Spicy, pepper, black cherry, blackberry, juicy, black fruit.

2005 Bradford Mountain Grist Vineyard Zinfandel: Oak, cedar, spice, perfume, red fruit, big juicy fruit, pepper, tart berries.

2005 Bradford Mountain Grist Vineyard Syrah: Oak, spice, white pepper, violets, dark, tannic, juicy, black plum.

2007 Healdsburg Ranches Cabernet Sauvignon: Pepper, green peppers, black fruit, mint, herbs, tart fruit.

2005 Bradford Mountain El Grandote Dry Creek Creek Valley: Blackberry. syrup, blue fruit, chocolate, nice structure. My favorite.

I’ve tried some of the Bradford Mountain wines last year when Chris sent them to me as samples and I thought you could really see the winery finding a style as the years went by. My favorite out of those was the 2005 Syrah, which I also enjoyed again at this tasting.  I actually still have one set of Zins in my basement that I still need to try, I left them down there to see what a year of age would do to them.  I’ll haul them out soon and report back!

Filed under: C. Donatiello, California, Vineyards, Wineries | Leave a Comment »

Last of the Prums

Posted on October 27, 2009 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the PR folks for Wines of Germany in order to participate in a Twitter Taste Live.

With the Wines of Germany S.A. Prum Twitter Taste Live in the bag, I’ve had quite a few Rieslings lately that I truly enjoyed.  I would recommend any of the S.A. Prum Rieslings we tried as great accompaniments to any upcoming Thanksgiving dinners or holiday parties.  I think the wine lovers and newbies alike can appreciate the S.A. Prum line up of Rieslings.  Up last for the night we tried the 2006 S.A. Prüm Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Kabinett.  It had a real cork closure, clocked in at 9% alcohol by volume, and retails for as low as $20.

On the nose the wine smelled herbal with notes of honey, gasoline, lemon cream, wet stones, orange blossoms, flowers, and other orange fruit.  In the mouth I found honey, honeysuckle, candied apricot, candied, peach, candied peach, wet stone running through, and the herbal quality from the nose.  This was the “sweetest” wine of the group  and it kept evolving and changing as it warmed in my glass.

 

Filed under: German, Riesling, White, Wine | Leave a Comment »

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