March Artist - Rachael Montague
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THE DATE! MARCH 2ND! 5-7pm
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'1st Friday Artist Reception!'
wine tastings by SPANN VINEYARDS
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First tasting of the new year! Starting the New Year with a bang - this tasting we have a total attendance of seven. A combination of winery owners, vineyard owners, sommeliers, massive point garnering winemakers, tasting room personnel and budding aficionados Eddie, one of the newbies, to the group that is, works the Westwood tasting room on the Sonoma Plaza and is pursuing becoming a Master Sommelier. He really brought it tonight. It was really interesting listening to Eddie give his reasons why he thought a wine had either age or type of oak or why he leaned towards a certain varietal or another. Tonight was tough though and most of the wines were not guessed, a great variety some eclectic varietals from around the world and some common popular varietals from our own backyard. The latter being the ones that stumped us the most! …in no way thorough in my note taking, next time I'll do better, promise. ok, digging right in…
nose: aged a bit, licorice, brown baking spices in the mouth:dry, high alch.14.8, cranberry, raspberry , plum we thought maybe: 2005 Cinsault, Sonoma County Cab 2008, young Bordeaux, New World Rhone, Rhone varietal due the pepperiness, the verdict please: Arrowood 2001 Cab Sauv, - available a Wine Library for $34- man we were blown away - the SoCo Cab was closest but most everyone leaned towards a younger wine, 2001, crazy! This wine ages really well and I am stoked, I bought a Magnum of this exact wine at auction, its resting in my cellar now. 2. color: Ruby red nose: I can't f*@^ing distinguish aromas! - DISCLAIMER: ...this was a personal statement, not at all reflective of the rest of the distinguished panel. As a matter of fact let this be a disclaimer for the rest of the my blogs, any less than reputable comments or in general poor taste will most definitely be mine and mine alone. I am pretty much the only uneducated jackass in the bunch, I'm just smart enough to know who to hang out with... in the mouth: green grassy, super tart, pomegranate, unsweetened cranberry juice, young our Guess: Pinot 2008, 14.5, 2009 Spanish Grenache (garnacha) ummm: I didnt make note of the brand…Bordeaux 2008, Lauguedoc $16 glen Ellen market - crap, at this point we start thinking new tasting group name, maybe, I dont know, Dead Pallate Tasting Group, seems appropriate. OK we'll blame it on hefty enjoyment over the holidays. . 3. color: crimson (boring overused descriptor), visualy old world dirty nose:super funky nose, in the mouth: tart, dry , instead of mouthwatering mouth drying watermelon jolly rancher, bright firm acidity, molasses coffee, cherry, bitter finish, rich dark fruit, tomato beef stew, young unpleasant tannins, cherry cola & ginger star berry jam guess: Hungarian oak (not soft like French or earthy like American) odd varietal, Chile 2008 or 2009 , Napa 07 Zin, pinotage, 09???, , mediocre Barolo , funky so 2004-5 , Pinot Noir esque, NZ Pinot . voila: Zeni Teraoldego Rotaliano 2006 - $27 Valley Wine Shack- OK this was a tough one after all what is that that Varietal anyway? The varietal it turns out is a distant cousin of Syrah. Best guesser of the evening, Christian, he is the CEO of the new Moon Mountain Vineyards group (correct name?) was closest with "mediocre Barolo" - Christian was closest with all of the wines this evening. 4. color: deep dark red, the concentration of color makes one think…thick skinned grape (this tidbit came from Eddie) nose: a hot young thing (back to me on this one) in the mouth: sweet, no finish, prune, nice tannins, a bit of rs (residual sugar) because it's so fruity it takes away the possibility of older wine, French and American oak a bit of chicory flavor, nice glide in the mouth (due to sugar/glycerine), riper fruit so drink now, guess: New World California Zin, Zin a bit older 2003,4 or 5, Central Coast Pinot, Cali Rhone blend, GSM Paso Robles 2007 itsa: Talty 2007 DCV Zin $38 at the winery 5. color: crimson, yadayadayada nose: stinky funky nose in a good way ,nice tannins, earthy gamey leather, cigar box,really sexy nose , peppery , 2009 Chateaunuef du Pape, honeycomb cereal, a familiar savory comfort wine, hint of pertrol, loved the finish, not much new oak guess:, old world rijoa, Bordeaux, 2001-3 RRV or Petaluma Gap Pinot, young Burgundy, "the Gaminess pepperiness made me think Syrah 2005 central coast" Old World French Pinot one of the more delicious of the evening: 2007 Joseph Druhin Chorey-les-beaune Pinot $25 Whole Food Market. 6. color: rim variation "awesome f$#%ing food wine" this was actually not my comment, but it translates well, and, I agree nose: licorice taffy nose in the mouth: leathery, , sugary raisin, molasses, lingering tannins, weight on the pallets, a bit of oak. Italian tomato stewy thing, fresh, warmth 14.5, meat, cassis, leather, sweet, cherry blackberry pie, grilled meat blackberry with maple syrup nose, tobacco leaves, - new world structured wine guess: Zin, New World 2006 or Italian, 1998 Nebbiolo , 06 Syrah North Coast, Ca 05 06 Syrah, New World Cab, 2003 GSM Paso Robles interesting: Masi, Amorone 2001 originally $60 ish - classic from the region - I ended up with this wine for the evening, had it with Chicken in a spicy tomato broth, great match. Local winemaker Michael Scorsone spent time in Italy making Amorone, him out over at Adobe Road Winery. 7. color: very light straw color nose: honeyesque, floral in the mouth: slight pertrol, nice acidity, oily viscosity, it's ripe, honey peach vanilla guess: Rhone white, Viognier Santa Barbara area 2007, Viognier, French Viognier, Rhone White blend, young Pinot Griogio or a New World Chenin Blanc, Italain PG 2009, blend of Chard Semillon Vig, Santa Barbara ta da…Navarro Vineyards, Chenin Blanc, 2009, $13 at the winery key take aways:
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| Monday tasting group Blind tasting 12/19/11 Ok fellow wine lovers blind tasting #2 under wraps. A small but excellent group of individuals fighting the good fight carrying on and all that jazz. Greg Nemrow - from the Audelssa tasting room - Ryan Hays and myself. Four bottles in brown bags with corks pulled and we're off... The feedback/guesses (pre bag removal) followed by the unbagging: 1 - Platnum Gold color with a nose of; sweet oak , butterscotch & hazelnut. On the palate, smooth, nice acidity, slight honey notes with hint of grapefruit. New World Chardonnay Vintage 2007-9 - Honestly a very well made wine! it was : Cote Bonneville, Wa. 2009 Chardonnay $52 2- Ruby Red, big nose;cotton candy, cedar, molasses, Xmas holiday notes. Raisens, sweet, lt tanins, fig, BBQ sauce, Raisenettes meet Rasberry Jam, Old World Italian red wine. unbagged - Coturri, Mendocino Ca. 2007 Primotivo $28 3- Garnet purple, Coco, Raspberry ( I never knew it was spelled this way, with the "p" that is), light French oak on the nose. Smooth light tanin on entry cherry and blueberry fruits with baking spices ripe but not over ripe fruit. New World, Sonoma Coast 2008 Pinot (Someone guessed a light DCV Cab! - I wont reveal the name perhaps we'll blame it on to much partying the night before) revealed - Goldeneye, Anderson Valley 2007 Pinot Noir $55 4- Cranberry Red, aroma of Pastrami Smoke, Vicks Vapor Rub & Cranberries, on the palette; tannin prevalent but not overwhelming, a bit of clove, slight bitter finish, cannabis stem ( not a killer green bud flavor more like outdoor Sativa ) - Cab/Merlot blend another guess was SoCal coastal Syrah unveiled - Macrostie, Carneros 2006 Merlot/Cab (96/4) $14 at Sonoma & Glen Ellen Market That wraps up the first 2 tastings in the first year of getting together. Clearly some of us will benefit immensely from this group, myself first and foremost. Cheers, see ya all in the New Year! |
Iron Chef
So we were at the bar and we were drinking but we weren't hammered...yet. Mila and I were waiting for our Snobby Ass Wine Club buddies to join us for an evening of amazing food at the Dry Creek Kitchen. I happened to notice Marc at the bar - not difficult, his hair is a Mohawk and his attire is very definitely New York Cool. Bottom line is this dude is humble and appreciative of his new found fame and glory. Iron Chef, lets face it, that is amognst the crème de la crème of chef titles and he deserves every bit of the accolades. I remember watching him during the Next Iron Chef competition and was super stoked to have met him, cant wait to check his place in NYC. I asked if life is much different since the win and his says "Absolutely, I get to hang out here in wine country with good people such as yourself". He was in town to be one of the celebrity guest chefs at Charlie Palmers Pigs & Pinot event. Marc spoke kindly of his friend and fellow Next Iron Chef competitor, local favorite, Duskie Estes. Duskie and her husband, John Stewart own restaurants Zazu & Bovolo, we've been to both and they are great!
Cheers Marc!!!
