WIne Dinner #1

Today I had my friends over to cook dinner together and enjoy an evening of good food, good wine, and good conversation! We listened to some jazzy music and really enjoyed ourselves! We wish we could do this every night! We had so much fun hanging out and trying new wines and foods together! We prepared 3 different courses to pair with 3 different wines. For our first course we had Caprese with a Savignon Blanc, our main meal was comprised of parmesean breaded chicken tenderloins, mashed potatoes and mixed veggies, and for dessert we had sponge cakes with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

Name: Daquel
Varietal: Savignon Blanc
Region: Landerrouat
Country: France
Year: 2017
Price: $9.95

My Review of Pairing: The first wine we tried was a Savignon Blanc from France purchased at the Vintage Cellar. The wine at first smelled very bitter, but when I tasted it ,it didn't taste bitter, but had more of a sour taste to it. For our first course, we had caprese- fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzerella, balsamic vinegrette, salt and pepper- it was delicious! I thought that the caprese paired with the Savignon Blanc was the best pairing of all of our courses this evening! The acidity of the balsamic contrasted the acidity of the wine and helped to bring out some of the fruity undertones of the wine. Overall the wine was okay by itself, but it definitely tasted better accompanied by the food! It was a very good pairing.

Name: Stonewood
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: Not Specified
Price: $9.95

My Review of Pairing: The second wine we tried was a California Pinot Noir. I could immediately smell the cherries and dark berries in the wine. The wine was very smooth and easy to drink on its own, and was probably my favorite of the wines we tasted tonight. We paired this wine with our main course, which consisted of parmesean crusted chicken tenderloins, homemade redskin mashed potatoes, and mixed veggies. The wine didn't really add too much to the meal, but it tasted good enough on its own to go with the chicken. With some bites of the chicken I could taste more of the fruity flavors of the wine. The pairing wasn't great, but the wine itself was very good, and so was the chicken we made!

Name: 14 Hands
Varietal: Moscato
Region: Washington
Country: United States
Year: 2015
Price: $9.95

My Review of Pairing: The last wine we tried was a Moscato. It smelled fresh and sparkly, even though it wasn't a sparkling moscato. It tasted sweet and fruity with a little hint of honey as well. We paired this wine with sponge cake and fresh strawberries. The wine paired with this dessert made the wine taste less like alcohol and more sweet, like fruit juice. The fresh strawberries really helped to bring out the sweetness of the wine.

We had so much fun with this wine dinner! We want to start making it a weekly tradition! We felt so relaxed cooking together and enjoying our meal together. All of the wines we tried were delicious and the food we prepared was great too! Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience!

Tasting - Annalisa

Name: Annalisa
Varietal: Malvasia
Region: Asti
Country: Italy
Year: 2016
Price: $9.95

Online Review: The wine label describes this wine as "Produced from Malvasia grapes grown in Northern Italy. Cherry red in color. Smooth, grapey, sweet and fun. Serve chilled.

My Review: This was my favorite wine of the day. It was nice and light and sweet. It smelled sparkly, and sweet, kinda like candy apples. It was very easy to drink, light and crisp and fresh. Definitely one of my favorites. I would get it again.

Tasting - CK Mondavi

Name: CK Mondavi
Varietal: Red Blend
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: 2015
Price: $9.95

Online Review: The wine label describes this wine as "Our winemaker's rich, red wine blend is full-bodied with juicy flavors of boysenberry and plum. It is a balanced, luscious blend that finishes smooth and soft making it a perfect accompaniment to any table. Out family winery has hand-crafted fine wines for four generations. We harvest grapes at their peak of ripeness from our 1850 acres and prime California vineyards creating wines to be enjoyed every day- whatever the occasion".

My Review: This was surprisingly one of my favorite wines of the day. I normally don't tend to like red wines, and this one was very rich, but very good. It had very strong aromas of plums and berries. It tasted very ripe and jammy, but still had a hint of sweetness to it that I would not expect from a red wine. It was a heavier wine, but the fruit flavors were prominent and pleasant. I would drink this wine again.

Tasting - Vigna Lenuzza

Name: Vigna Lenuzza
Varietal: Refosco
Region: Friuli
Country: Italy
Year: 2011
Price: $5.95

Online Review: The wine label describes this wine as "intense ruby red. Winy and austere smell, lightly tannic on a wide "green" ground with a light and deep hints of coriander. Dry smell, tidy herbal smell and however elegant. Excellent persistency. Excellent with meals of the regional kitchen".

My Review: This wine was a softer red color. It smelled sweet and smelled like it had some hints of cherry in it. It didn't taste very sweet, but instead was rather tannic. I could taste some dark cherry flavors and definitely had a full body mouthfeel.

Tasting - William Fevre La Mision

Name: William Fevre La Mision
Varietal: Chardonnay
Region: Maipo Valley
Country: Chile
Year: 2016
Price: $9.95

Online Review: The wine label has a description of the winery saying "Our winery is located in the best growing region of Chile and combines extraordinary climatic conditions with a rich tradition of French winemaking. Its proximity to the Andes Mountains, low yields, selection of grapes, carefully controlled fermentation and maceration allow us to obtain this elegant, generous, complex and fruity wine".

My Review: This wine smelled like sour apple to me. It had a very acidic taste and tasted slightly sour as well. It was enjoyable, but still not my favorite, as I am still training my palette to appreciate red wines more. Personally i feel like this wine would have been better with food to go along with it.

Tasting - Mont Pellier

I went to the free wine tasting at Vintage Cellar this week. These wines were all overall fruity and for the most part very pleasant.

Name: Mont Pellier
Varietal: Viognier
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: 2015
Price: $8.95

Online Review: Online reviews of this wine described it as a "classic American style Viognier with honeysuckle aromas and peach, apricot flavors. Slightly sweet with low alcohol. Nice for the price." Another review described it as "a nice light white wine that is great for spring sipping. This one was great to enjoy with friends."

My Review: This white wine was sweet smelling, and also gave off some light fruity aromas. To me, it tasted very dry, and it kinda burned my mouth as I drank it. Was not my favorite wine, maybe it would have been better with food to bring out the fruity flavors.

Wine and Cheese Pairing #1

This was my first wine and cheese pairing! My friends and I decided to have a wine and cheese night this Friday to wind down a long and busy week for us. We chose 3 different wines and 3 different cheeses to try for this pairing. The first wine we tried was a white Gewurztraminer that my roommate had recommended to me that she tried the first week at the free wine tasting at the Vintage Cellar. When I went to Vintage Cellar to purchase the wine, the man who worked there recommended pairing this wine with a sharp cheddar cheese.

Name: Crane Lake
Varietal: Gewurztraminer
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: 2017
Price: $5.95

The first wine we tried was a Gewurztraminer from California. My roommate had recommended it to me and I thought it was really good. The wine smelled really sweet, pretty typical of most white wines. When I tasted it it tasted slightly dry but slightly sweet as well. It was very easy to drink. We paired it with a sharp white cheddar cheese, per the recommendation of the wine experts at Vintage Cellar. The sharp cheddar cheese helped to cut the alcohol flavor and made the wine taste juicier and more sweet. The cheese overpowered the wine slightly, but overall was a good combination.

Name: Sabor Real
Varietal: Tinto de Toro
Region: Toro
Country: Spain
Year: 2007
Price: $15.00

The second wine we tried was a Spanish red wine suggested to us by Randall at Vintage Cellar. It smelled very rich and warm at first, and I also smelled some hints of nuts and berries. When I tasted it, it wasn't as rich as I thought it would be, and was relatively easy to drink for a red wine. Randall recommended that we pair it with a Manchego cheese, which comes from the La Mancha region of Spain. The cheese was very dry and hard and didn't have much flavor to me, but helped bring out the fruity flavors of the wine and helped balance out the tannins.  It was a good wine and cheese combination.

Name: Barefoot Red Moscato
Varietal: Moscato
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: 2017
Price: $6.49

Barefoot Red Moscato is always my go to wine to buy when I want something fresh and easy to drink. This wine smells very fruity, and you can instantly smell the peach hints that are in it. This wine is very sweet and sugary and tastes like sangria to me. The bottle suggests that this wine be paired with soft cheeses, so we paired it with Laughing Cow creamy Swiss cheese. The cheese didn't really bring out the flavors of the wine, but it didn't hurt it either. It was an okay combination.

Tasting - Pierre Olivier

Name: Pierre Olivier
Varietal: Rose
Region: Catalan
Country: France
Year: not specified
Price: $9.95

Online Review: A value sparkling Rose, made with Tempranillo grapes from around the French/Spanish border (next to the Pyrenees). This wine is aromatized with a very little amount of raspberry flavor, giving a nice mouthfeel, with an extra aromatic boost.

My Review: This wine smelled really sweet, kinda like candy- Smarties or Sweet Tarts. It also tasted very sweet and sparkly, and also had a little sour bite to it too. It was a very fun wine to drink.

Tasting - Terre de Savoia

Name: Terre dei Savoia
Varietal: Nebbiolo d'Alba
Region: Piedmont
Country: Italy
Year: not specified
Price: $6.95

Online Review: The wine label describes this wine as "red color with orange reflexes, intense aroma and dry flavor. In accompaniment to red meats and cheeses".

My Review: This was my least favorite wine of the ones I tried this week. It had a very strong, pungent smell. It smelled slightly of apple and spices. When I tasted it, it tasted strongly of leather and car parts. It was disgusting. It was very tannic, and brown colored. Not my favorite at all.

Tasting - El Cortijillo

Name: El Cortijillo
Varietal: Tempranillo
Region: La Mancha
Country: Spain
Year: 2017
Price: $5.95

Online Review: Online reviews of this wine describe it as "dry soft tannins, lite berries easy and simple". Another review described it as "Delicious immmediately out of the bottle, a good balance of fruit and earth. Very characteristic Spanish young Tempranillo".

My Review: It smelled heavily of cherries to me. It tasted very full bodied to me, and tasted very tannic. It was surprisingly light and dry feeling as I drank it. It was overall pretty easy to drink, I would get it again.

Tasting - Tres Ojos

Name: Tres Ojos
Varietal: Rosado
Region: Calatayud
Country: Spain
Year: not specified
Price: $6.95

Online Review: The wine label describes this wine as "a blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha, this wine has pretty pink color, berry-fruit on the nose with strawberry/raspberry aromas, fresh and crisp on the palate with plum/berry fruit. Drink chilled with tapas, appetizers, pasta and rice dishes or on its own.

My Review: This wine was pink and I thought it would be like a rose. It smelled very flowery and sweet. When I tasted it, it felt very warm, but tasted too flowery for my liking, and also had an acidic aftertaste. It wasn't my favorite, but wasn't that bad.

Tasting - Barth Rene

I went to the free wine tasting at Vintage Cellar on February 14th. This was the first wine I tasted.

Name: Barth Rene
Varietal: Pinot Blanc
Region: Alsace
Country: France
Year: 2012
Price: $9.95

Online Review: The wine label says that this wine is "soft and delicate, fresh and supple, is the ideal all-purpose Alsace wine. It is perfect with most foods (seafood, country buffets, fish, white meats...)

My Review: The wine didn't really have much of a smell initially besides just generally smelling fresh with some hints of sweet smelling grapes too. When I tasted it, it tasted floral to me, slightly acidic, and easy to drink. Overall it was a very light and fresh wine.

Tasting - Fratelli Blaze

This was the last wine I tasted at Vintage Cellar. It turned out to be my favorite!

Name: Fratelli Blaze
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon/Pinot Noir
Region: not specified
Country: Ukraine
Year: not specified
Price: $8.95

Online Review: I could not find any information on this wine online, other than it is unanimously described as SWEET!

My Review: This was by far my favorite wine that I tried today. Though I could tell the bottle had been opened for a while before they had poured it for me, I could still tell that it was meant to be a sparkling wine, even though it was not very fizzy when I tasted it. It tasted very sweet and fizzy. I could definitely tell that it was meant to be a dessert wine. It had some hints of raspberry in it too. Very fruity, sweet, and delicious! I ended up purchasing a bottle before I left.

Tasting - Eikeboom

This was the fourth wine I tasted at Vintage Cellar.

Name: Eikeboom
Varietal: Pinotage
Region: Western Cape
Country: South Africa
Year: 2015
Price: $6.95

Online Review: Online reviews of this wine describe it as "The Eikeboom Pinotage tastes like a cross of Pinot Noir and Zinfandel. It has some finesse and some power all together. It is juicy, fruity, new world Rhone style fruit bomb with a touch of oak, vanilla and coffee flavors. There is a good minerality as well, giving some lead pencil notes, quite delicious. 

My Review: I was not particularly fond of this wine. I could smell some of the oak and coffee flavors described online. To me, it tasted very rich and heavy. It was a bit too dark for my personal liking. Overall not horrible, but definitely not my favorite wine and I would probably not get it again.

Tasting - Jekel

This was the third wine I tasted at Vintage Cellar.

Name: Jekel
Varietal: Monterey Pinot Noir
Region: Monterey, California
Country: US
Year: 2015
Price: $9.95

Online Review: The winery described this wine as "This medium weight Pinot Noir is rich with layers of bing cherries, rosehips, and lavender herbs. Its opulent richness will exceed your expectations-- lingering just a bit until an inevitable smile appears." Some online reviews described it as "Slightly acidic, with cherry flavors predominant. Acidity particularly noticeable on finish"

My Review: Unfortunately for me, this wine did not live up to all the hype of the online reviews and descriptions. Of all the wines I tasted, this one was my least favorite. It initially smelled very warm and oaky. When I tasted it, I could taste the oaky undertones and the warmth of the wine, but it also tasted slightly moldy and gross as well. It was not very easy to drink and I would not get this wine again.

Tasting - Ch des Arnauds

This was the second wine I tasted at Vintage Cellar.

Name: Ch des Arnauds, Les Caprices d'Anais
Varietal: Bordeaux Rose
Region: Bordeaux
Country: France
Year: 2017
Price: $7.95

Online Review: "This vivid pink-colored wine, 50-50 Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, is soft, with gentle fruitiness and crisp edge. Acidity and a herbal edge add more textured character. Drink now."

My Review: This wine was visibly pink. Initially it smelled fruity. After smelling it again I could smell more of the floral undertones. This wine was also relatively easy to drink, pretty refreshing. It had some sour aftertastes and a little bit of a sour apple flavor as well.

Tasting - Cantina Villafranca

This week I went to the free wine tasting at Vintage Cellar. This was the first wine I tasted.

Name: Cantina Villafranca
Varietal: Frascati
Region: Lazio
Country: Italy
Year: 2016
Price: $5.95

Online Review: Online descriptions of the wine described it as intense yellow color with greenish reflections. Characteristic persistent fresh and fruity aromas.

My Review: After swirling and sniffing the wine, I first smelled some of the fresh fruity flavors described by man others online. After taking my first sip of the wine, it tasted crisp and a little dry to me. I also noticed that it had a little bit of a pear aftertaste. Overall the wine was very fresh tasting and easy to drink. I would definitely consider getting it again.