A Catch-All Kinda Week

The past two weeks have been full of midterms and projects, so I've taken my break moments to do a little wine-homework and sample a couple different bottles one at a time rather than do an official tasting.

The first one I got to share with my parents when I went home for a weekend. My father enjoys the hunt of finding different sweet wines for me, which is awesome. This one he found in Wegman's (fancy healthy-food grocery store) wine section.






Name: Chateau St. Michelle
Variety: Riesling
Region: Columbia Valley (Washington)
Country: United States
Year: 2012
Price: $10
Pairing: Dried Snap-peas and Flax-seed Crackers

What they say: "The Chateau Ste. Michelle Dry Riesling is a dry, crisp, refreshing style of Riesling with beautiful fruit flavors, crisp acidity and an elegant finish. It offers inviting floral and mandarin aromas with a clean finish. This is an incredibly versatile food wine and my favorite with oysters."

What I say:  For a riesling, this had a refreshing dryness to it. It had a soft sweetness, that really came more from the gold apple and melon-y flavors rather than a straight sweet. The apple was strongest on the nose, the melon was only in the taste. The dryness left the finish with more of the floral notes rather than leaving the sugar as a riesling usually wood. This made the combination with the food, which were slightly salty but mostly ruff veggie and seed flavors, quite nice. The seed crackers helped pair with more fruity notes in the wine, like having a slice of apple right there on the cracker. The snap-peas had a light flavor that was nice with the more floral finish, pairing plant with plant.

This next one is going on my list of "wines Callie would drink anytime, anywhere." Since it's sparkling, that's probably inappropriate but hey- drink what you like. At this time, I was had also just bought a new beta fish (seen on left, isn't he a cutie?!) and wanted a pretentious name for it, since well, look at him. I looked at the bottle of the lovely wine I was drinking and it fit perfectly- meet D'Asti Towler. 




 
Name: Cameron Hughes, Lot 411
Variety: Moscato D'Asti
Region: Sori
Country: Italy
Year: 2012
Price: $12
Pairing: British Literature essay

What they say: "Lot 411 has a luscious floral nose with notes of jasmine, honeysuckle and white peach coming through on the palate. Beautiful and bright, this is the perfect apertif."

What I say: This was a really yummy wine. The peach and honeysuckle were really forward and were just delicious, these are some of my favorite flavors. They are right upfront on both the nose and the tongue. The bubbles (which I discovered is what "D'Asti" means) were pretty but minimal, which was a nice touch, since the bubbles go straight to your head, but not a huge distraction from the strong fruits that were going on. I like that it was honeysuckle rather than honey, because that slight blossom taste on the finish was really crisp and fresh. The body had a little syrupy-quality, but it was offset by the bubbles, so I fully enjoyed it.

This wine I enjoyed with sweetheart and fellow Geography of Wine student. She had tasted it at the Vintage Cellar and loved it, so she was sweet enough to bring the bottle over and we had a few sips. Here you can also see a few "wine crystals" at the bottom!


Name: Flonheimer Adelberg (from Wein Keller Erback)
Variety: Silvaner
Region: Rheinhessen
Country: Germany
Year: 2010
Price: $18
Pairing: Good laughs with a great friend

What they say: “The fruity, mouthwatering wine has a nice acidity-sugar balance and comes from the so called 'Rheinhessen-Switzerland', the heartland of Rheinhessen. It has a floral bouquet and is full of lemon zest, hint of passion fruit, and smells like yellow fruit, lemon-grass and green tea, all wrapped around a pleasant creaminess and a semi-dry profile. The finish is zippy and refreshing. Perfect for party on the deck as it comes in a liter bottle!”

What I say: The nose was full of fresh green herbs (that I couldn't quite place, but certainly herb-ish), pear, and melon. Seriously, I wish they made a candle out of the stuff. It was a nice balance of fresh crisp feeling and sweet coating on the tongue.The flavor had these same as the aroma, but with an added brown sugar that I thought was lovely. There was a strong green apple at the back/finish, with some of the acidity of the fruit but it was balanced by the brown sugar. I rather liked it, but I don't think you could eat it with anything unless it was spicy- with all the brown sugar going on. But it was a nice refreshment to share with a friend while on a break!

This next wine I also got to enjoy with my lovely parents. It was their 31st wedding anniversary and I accompanied them to a sweet restaurant named La Petite. We each chose a different wine to go with our dinner and dessert. The waitress was very nice and happy to help me pair my wine with my dinner.



Name: Conde Villar Rose' 
Variety: Espadeiro
Region: DOC Vinho Verde
Country: Portugal
Year: 2013
Price: $10.89
Pairing: Garlic Sauteed Lump Crab meat & Creme Brulee 

What they say: "This is a great wine to enjoy as an aperitif, or to drink with a meal. It pairs very well with fish plates or grilled meat or even a salad. Perfect pair with Japanese food."

What I say: This was a lovely, light rose. It was sweet, very floral that had a dryness on the end. It was very flowery, which I don't normally like a ton but really went well with my food. The garlic crab was sooo delicious on its own, but paired with a light floral the flavor exploded. The floral fought off the strong garlic and made them balance so nicely on my tongue. With the Creme Brulee, which is very sweet, the wine turned its drier side up. It made the more plant flavors come out of the wine, which was fascinating. It was like I had a totally different wine all of the sudden, both of them tasting wonderfully. Though I know this happens when you pair wine with different foods, it was really fun to experience it.

The last wine, I picked up myself at Kroger. It was pink and kinda cheap and I wanted to try a new wine, so I just picked it up. I shared with Katie when she came over with her own wine, and hers significantly trumped mine.


Name: Pinetti Rose'
Variety: Rose Blend
Region: Sicilia
Country: Italy
Year: 2010
Price: $7
Pairing: Giggles and another glass

What they say: "A tribute to modern Italian style and its chic sophistication, Pinetti celebrates la dolce vita with a wine sure to pique your palate. This wine embraces time honored traditional winemaking and a refined flair for style. Relish in a Pinetti evening of casual elegance; sipping wine, laughing, and enjoying close friends and family in the Italian way."

What I say: I really did not like this wine. It's aroma was full of light strawberry and white pepper, so I was really hopeful. However, I was disappointed. I should have stuck with just sniffing it. The taste had rhubarb leading the pack, which I normally like, but it was followed by this weird celery taste, and finished with a very sour back bite. When I had my roommate taste it, she said it reminded her of day-old bread. It was very disappointing and I felt like I wasted my money. I will not be trusting this brand ever again.

James River Cellars Winery Visitation

      Last week was Spring Break, and I headed home to Port Royal Virginia from some much needed R&R. My parents rewarded me for my good-daughter-ness by treating me to several fun adventures, including a trip to the James River Cellars, in Glen Allen, VA.

Leaving Richmond, you drive through a small town with concrete buildings- a place you would never imagine would lead to a few grape vines and a sweet little house. It is right next to a golf driving range, so we were a little concerned about getting hit, but it was a quite day at the range. If you continued walking around the house, there are a few tent-structures (you can almost see these in the road picture above) where they often held weddings in the area secluded by the trees. 

We walked in and were immediately greeted by two very enthusiastic workers, one of whom I believe was Sebastian Nagy, the Vineyard Manager (this comes in to play later).

The space was rather nice. I was spoiled by wineries that had much more open tasting areas, but it was still a bright, welcoming place (seen here -->).

...also my father and I accidentally wore matching colors. We're classy like that.

The wines we had were rather yummy, but not as great as some other wines I have tried. I would put the winery as a whole in the middle tier of the ones I've gone to as a whole. However, because of our timing, we did get some special treatment of said wine. There were two wines, a Vidal Blanc and a "Hanover White" that weren't on the tasting menu- but they had just been bottled and were looking for a few less-knowing tasters to give their description thoughts, Mr. Nagy was very pleased to hear when we would agree with him and when we would come up with ideas that were the opposite of him- it entertained him to see what unexperienced tongues could detect. Here are three of the ones I had fun reviewing:

Name: Chardonel
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: Chesapeake Bay 
Country: United States
Year: 2012
Price: $15

What they say:"Tired of the snow? Close your eyes and yearn for spring with this lovely hybrid of Chardonnay. It has been known to display aromas of pineapple, honey, and pear, even as its provocative nature tends to cause trouble. Chardonel attempts to burst through the gloom of the winter, so that it may party outside."
What I say: This was a fun wine, a combo of their own Chardonnay with Cornel University's (I think they have done this with a few wineries). Its nose is full of pear and other tropical tree fruits. The taste is like a pear slathered in honey- it reminded me heavily of a Riesling feeling. It had a sunny touch to it- very bright and cheery. 

Name: GewrÜztraminer

Variety: GewÜrztraminer

Region: Chesapeake Bay 

Country: United States

Year: 2011

Price: $20

What they say: "These grapes are harvested early in order to achieve the proper balance between acidity and natural sugar. There is citrus and floral essence to this wine, with honeycomb and green melon aromas, which can seduce the heart and confuse the senses. It smells sweet, yet has an elegant finish that is quite surprising." (They also told us this is the founding grape of this winery in particular)

What I say: On the nose there was a lot of red apple and honey, but I wouldn't say there was honey crisp apple. It had a huge smell of sweetness, and yet there wasn't a lot of sweet on the actual taste of it. There was more floral on the tongue than anything else- almost a pollen sweet. I enjoyed it, and would drink it on a picnic but I wasn't huge on it. 

Name: Montpelier

Variety: 100% Cabernet Francs

Region: Chesapeake Bay 

Country: United States

Year: 2012

Price: $15

What they say: "As a blend of two separate Cabernet Francs, this vintage refuses to play by the rules and looks to establish its own reputation. With stimulating flavors of cranberry, red apple, and freshly washed strawberries, this scandalous vintage conceals a well-structured backbone underneath rousing familiarity." It's a pink color, they said they left it with the skins for a much shorter amount of time than normal. It also never touched a barrel, but went straight to bottle after having sugar added to it.

What I say: The nose of this wine was fuuuull of sweet strawberry jam- a thick feeling of the fruit. The taste followed with the same strong strawberries but there were also some heavy notes of fresh cranberry. It tasted as if Thanksgiving took place in the summer (yes, odd but true). I could have had this whole bottle since it went down so smoothly. 

     Though this trip wasn't as formal as other ones that I've had, and perhaps not my favorite, it was a lovely experience and the people were very welcoming and sweet. I wouldn't order their wine, but I would go back to hang out with the cool tasters.