And the Rose Flows

Posted on August 4, 2008 by Sonadora

And flows, and flows….what better to drink in the dog days of August when you live in a (former) swamp? So we’ve been drinking a ton of Rose. I have at least one more to write about that we’ve consumed in the last week!

This Rose was a 2007 Toulouse Pinot Noir Rose. We picked this up at the winery for $22 minus some kind of discount, it had a real cork closure, and clocked in at 14.5% alcohol by volume. I’m not sure you can see since my massive dinner is blocking it, but the rose is the prettiest salmon color! We visited Toulouse on our last trip to CA this past March.

On the nose I found strawberry, cherry, raspberry, watermelon, and rose water. In the mouth I got strawberries, raspberries, spice, cherry, earth, and watermelon. The wine was tart, dry, and refreshing, with a crisp, clean finish.

I actually had a method to my madness of choosing this Rose to eat with the dinner pictured about. We had turkey burgers stuffed with brie and green apples, topped with arugula, on grilled ciabatta bread. At Thanksgiving, both Pinot Noir and Rose are popular choices to pair with turkey, so I thought, why not a Rose of Pinot Noir? It worked really well with the burgers, though I’m sad to report that I couldn’t actually take a full bite of this creation, the sandwich was too big. And next time, I’d spice up the ground turkey a bit, it was bland.

Filed under: California, Rose, Toulouse | 6 Comments »

The Goose is Loose!

Posted on June 18, 2008 by Sonadora

We stopped at Toulouse Vineyards in the Anderson Valley on the first day of our latest California trip. The tasting room staff at Roederer highly recommended the place, so we thought we’d give it a shot. I hadn’t previously heard of Toulouse, they are fairly new with their first vintage being made in 2002. Total, the winery produces about 2600 cases a year.

Upon entering, we were greeted by owner Vern and the winery dog Tess who directed us into the barn for a tasting. We picked the right day to come, they were just wrapping up harvesting olives, so Matt got to sample the wares!

Everyone was very friendly and seemed genuinely happy that we had stopped by. Including a tiny new bundle of white fur that was joining the winery dog staff. The new puppy didn’t seem to want us to leave and kept following us to our car!

2007 Rose of Pinot Noir: $22. Roses, watermelon, strawberry, dry. I really liked this one and we took home 2 bottles.

2007 Estate Riesling: $22. Floral peach, honey, light.

2007 Gewuartraminer: $22. Spicy, floral, fruity, honey, acidic, good structure.

2007 Pinot Gris: $22. Pear, peach, citrus, very nice fruit. 3 bottles came back to VA with us.

2006 Pinot Noir: $39. Cherry, leather, spice, earth, very light, tannic. Good, needs time.

2005 Estate Pinot Noir: $39. Fruitier then the 2006. Plum, cherry, bright fruit, vanilla, berries, maple syrup on the finish. We bought one bottle.

2003 Estate Pinot Noir: Raisins, sweet, almost port like, smooth cherry, very nice.

Overall, I thought all of the wines were solid and well done. I can easily recommend a stop at Toulouse, both for the wines and for the hospitality. And not to mention the dogs 🙂

Filed under: California, Toulouse, Vineyards | 3 Comments »

Goose on the Loose

Posted on April 18, 2008 by Sonadora

The wine for the night was a 2007 Toulouse Pinot Gris. We picked this bottle up on our recent trip to California at the winery. It cost us $22 (minus a discount, though I can’t recall what that was now), had a real cork closure and clocked in at 14.3% alcohol by volume. I owe you a post on our visit to Toulouse (where they have the most adorable little new puppy, though a solid white fluffy dog on a winery seems like it will get really dirty!) so watch out on that soon. Also, since our visit to Toulouse I noticed in the most recent Food & Wine magazine that they chose Toulouse’s Pinot Noir as on of the best Pinots!

The wine showed peach, pear, tropical fruit, and honey on the nose. Overall I got a very tropical feeling from the nose, though I couldn’t pin point the exact kind of fruit. In the mouth I got pear all the way through the mouth, though a touch of honey and some citrus showed on the back of the palate.

Overall, the wine was crisp, refreshing, and had great acidity. I really like this bottle of wine, and I’m glad we’ve got another one for porch sipping when it gets just a bit warmer here!

Filed under: California, Pinot Gris, Toulouse, White | 1 Comment »