Tuesday Wine Down

Posted on January 30, 2007 by Sonadora

Leah of DC Gastronome told me a few weeks ago that she and some friends were hosting a wine happy hour today. I had said I could probably make it, and Matt and I made plans to attend. Now, come to find out, Leah is the new co-host of Meetup DC’s Wine Group! (I was slightly confused when the second invite showed up in my non-blog email, but quickly figured it out.) And, tonight’s activity is her happy hour.

I have yet to attend a Meetup event, so this will be my first. And it looks good. It will be held at David Greggory in DC, with I gather is on the corner of 21st and M. Happy hour starts at 4:30pm and goes until 10:00pm. The Meetup group is scheduled to gather at 6ish. I’ll be there, with Matt in tow and I’d love to meet some new people in the area…I just moved here in September and don’t know a lot of folks yet (especially any that really enjoy wine!).

Looks like the specials are $4.75 wines by the glass (doesn’t say which wines though), $4.25 Microbrew Drafts, Smirnoff vodka drinks $5.00 and Sangira for $3.75. Some good looking appetizer specials, all at $5.00 and a small but tasty looking regular menu. Fairly decent wine menu, though a bit lacking in bottles under the $30 mark….oh well, hopefully the wine by the glass specials will be interesting!

So come on out! I’ll be the one in a gray suit and I now have kind of blonde hair (my picture up in the corner was taken in October when I decided to be auburn for the fall/winter until I got bored of it last week.) Hope to see you there!

Filed under: DC Gastronome, Meetup | 4 Comments »

A Virginia Red that Merits a Look

Posted on January 30, 2007 by Sonadora

I will be the first to say that I have tasted red wines at a good handful of Virginia Wineries. And usually, I’m not all the impressed. We don’t have a fantastic climate here for some red grapes, it’s hard to get some to ripen before the cold sets in. However, I have recently had a few Virginia Pinot Noirs, and I must say, they are really coming along.

Last night I served Roz of Beadimous‘ Zuppa Toscana (Matt really loved it and requested it again this soon!). Last time, we drank a Roederer Pinot Noir with it one night and I thought it was a good match. I figured I’d try again with this bottle of 2005 Pinot Noir from Swedenburg Winery. We picked this up at Swedenburg a few weeks ago for $18, it has a real cork closure and is 12% alcohol by volume.

I found ripe raspberries in the nose and mouth of this wine. It also had undertones of strawberries and spices (mostly black pepper) in the mouth. It was smooth and delicate and I thought it paired very well with the creamy and slightly spicy soup. A very light wine in the mouth and a great effort for a red from Virginia. Overall, it had flavors kind of like a subtle (if that’s possible) raspberry jolly rancher.

Matt wasn’t such a fan, he found it sharp, which I thought was odd, the flavors seemed very smooth to me and the finish was simple and easy

Filed under: Pinot Noir, Red, Swedenburg, Virginia Wines | 3 Comments »