Onward with Chilean Pinot Noir

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Sonadora

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

Alas, I was so close to catching up on my older tasting notes. And yet again I failed. I pulled out a notebook to jot down notes for the Carmenere and Curry Chilean Wine Tasting the other night and lo and behold discovered some notes from the April Pinot Noir and Syrah Chilean Tasting. Not wanting to fail in my self-proscribed mission of detailing all the wines I taste, I thus present you with the first note I found. This is for the 2009 Valdivieso Reserva Pinot Noir. It had a screw cap closure, clocked in at 14.5% alcohol by volume, and retails for about $17.

Four takeaways from this wine:

1.) It needed time for the alcohol to blow off and settle in.

2.) The nose offered up a lot more than the palate delivered.

3.) I think perhaps $14ish would be a better price point for this wine.

4.) Overall the jury is still out for me on Chilean Pinot Noir.

On the nose I found sour cherry, earth, cinnamon, spice, a little pepper, and leather.  In the mouth I got cherry, dark cherry, and sour cherry. The palate was a bit simple, offering only cherries to me, but it had good structure and acidity.

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Filed under: Chile, Pinot Noir, Red, Wine | Comments Off on Onward with Chilean Pinot Noir

And the Winner is…….

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Sonadora

Comment #10 Stephanie!

Congratulations Stephanie, you are the proud owner a new White Wine Vinturi! (I had a couple Stephs/Stephanies enter, this winner’s email starts with the word “iowa.”)

I’ll shoot you an email for your mailing address and we’ll get that right into the mail for you.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Filed under: Misc | Comments Off on And the Winner is…….

Vinturi Giveaway!

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Sonadora

A few weeks ago I received the Vinturi White Wine Aerator as a sample for review from the Vinturi company. Along with that, the Vinturi folks offered to do a give-away on my blog! So who does that benefit? You! All you need to do to win is go here on Facebook and like Vinturi, then come back here and tell me you did so and want to win. I’ll enter all the comment numbers in a hat and pull a winner in a week or so! The Vinturi White Wine Aerator retails for about $29 and would make a fun stocking stuffer for your favorite wino…or keep it for yourself!I’ve never done a give-away before, but I thought I’d give it a shot and see how it goes.

Now, I can see you shaking your head. Aerate white wine? Who does that? I must admit I was skeptical as well. I’ve never decanted or aerated white wine. I hosted a tasting last week and ran the Vinturi through its paces. The results? Sauvignon Blanc didn’t really seem to benefit, Riesling got a whole lot more aromatic, as did Viognier. It seemed to me to have the same results as letting your more aromatic whites warm up a bit. Pretty neat.

Toss your hat into the ring to try to win your own. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it too!

Filed under: Misc, Wine | 21 Comments »

Scary and Spooky

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Sonadora

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the winery.

One of the very cool things about running this wine blog is the opportunity it gives me to learn about producers I’m not likely to have otherwise discovered.   Here is another one of those instances, where the folks from Ash Hollow Winery in Walla Walla, WA reached out to me.   The more I taste of the wines from Walla Walla, the sadder I am that I had to skip last year’s Wine Blogger Conference there.  That whole 20 weeks pregnant thing put a damper on my wine drinking last summer!  Just in time for the Halloween season, we tried the 2008 Ash Hollow Headless Red. It’s a blend of 58% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Syrah, and 8% Malbec.  The had a real cork closure, clocked in at 14.1% alcohol by volume, and I can’t find the retail price.

Four takeaways from this wine:

1.) I’d never heard of Ash Hollow until they started following me on Twitter a few weeks ago. That’s a shame, if this wine is any indication of the rest of their line up.

2.) The video they made to promote the wine is funny: Link

3.) I was fighting Matt over my fair share of this wine, that’s how much I enjoyed it.

4.) The label is awesome for Halloween.

On the nose found pepper, spice, plum, violets, chocolate, and blackberry syrup. The wine had a wonderful aroma, it just jumped out of the glass.  In the mouth I found blue fruit, blackberry, black cherry, spice, earth notes, raspberry, and chocolate.  Overall the wine felt luscious and supple and plush on the palate, with delicious fruit.

 

 

Filed under: Red, Washington, Wine | 6 Comments »

Cluck Cluck Cluck

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Sonadora

Fall is here! I think I was just clamoring for summer a few days ago, or so it seems, but the crisp weather and leaves turning color have made me dive head first into the lovely fall season. And with fall comes big spicy reds and heavier whites. Like this 20 Rueben’s Blend from Twisted Oak Winery.  This bottle arrived in a club shipment, cost me $19.20, has a real cork closure, and the bottle got recycled before I could record the alcohol content.

Four takeaways from this wine:

1.) I love Rueben’s Blend in place of a Chardonnay.

2.) Keeping with my recent theme, I’m giving the Rueben’s Blend a nod for inclusion in your Thanksgiving wine list.

3.) I really wanted to drink this curled up in front of a fire place after a day of skiing.

4.) Twisted Oak makes some of my favorite domestic wines. If you aren’t familiar with them, check them out.

On the nose I got creamsicle, pineapple, honey, lemon sugar, spice, and candied pineapple. Mmmm, candied pineapple. In the mouth I found more pineapple, apple, tart apple, lemon curd, and cream.  Good acidity complements the rounder fruits in this wine and makes it a great choice for your Thanksgiving dinner.

Filed under: California, Twisted Oak, White, Wine | 1 Comment »