Shake It Up!

I tried something a little different this month for The GrapeVine Tasting Club. Instead of just going through wines and sniffing and tasting and doing the whole, regular wine tasting thing...we mixed it up a bit, literally. Cocktails are so popular now from new inventive one, to re-creating old classics with a new spin. So since I'm a wine girl, I figured my cocktail spin would be making them with wine and sharing that recipe with the Tasting Club. We made like 9 different drinks, trying a couple of different wines with the same recipe and changing the alcohol. The crowd had a few favs, and there was only 1 real miss...Wine Spritzer. But they still had fun tasting everything. A few had a little too much fun if you know what I mean, LOL!

Here are a couple of the main drinks. They're all super easy and hopefully you'll enjoy some of these at home or your next party.

Kir & Kir Royale
Creme de Cassis, White Wine (Sparkling Wine for Kir Royale)

Sour Grapes
Pinot Grigio, Sour Mix (we tried this with Sauvignon Blanc as well)

Wine Spritzer
White Wine, Club Soda

Calimocho
Rioja, Cola, Shot of Rum

Ice-tini
Ice Wine, Vodka (we used a white wine & a red wine)

Something Blue
Hypnotiq, Ginger Ale, White Wine

Learning a Thing or Two

I've been hosting The GrapeVine Tasting Club for about 6 months now. Each month I know to expect a different crowd, with different tastes, different levels of knowledge. But for North vs South, I got a nice little surprise....

One of my faithful tasting club members was very interested in a wine I ended up not using for the tasting and so she asked to try it. I can never say no to someone who wants to try a new wine! So I gave it to her with the condition that she provided me with a few tasting notes. I think she's been actually paying attention to me these past few months ;-)

Not bad for a $9 wine!! Definitely has a lot of tannins. I like that. Dark fruity taste. Nice dark color. Peppery. Smelling it brings to mind smoke. I tried it when I first opened the bottle. Then tried it with an aerator. I like both ways. Stronger when first opened. After with the aerator, lighter. Something to drink with red meat but I would like it with a spicy Arrabiatta sauce (insert Homer's drool). Definitely wouldn't have picked this out of a line up.


What can I add to that? Only that she's talking about the Pisano Cisplatino from Uruguay 60% Tannat, 40% Merlot. Thanks for the great review!!

You Make Me Blush

It's the 3rd Sunday of the month, so you know what that means...The GrapeVine Tasting Club! This month we tasted rose wines. We did things a little different this time and tasted them all blind so that people would be able to give an honest assessment of the wines and not be turned off just by knowing the name of it. I also threw a little something into the mix that I didn't want people to know about until the end ;-)

Domaine de la Bergerie's Cremant de Loire was served as the guests arrived. A sparkling rose from France, this was the crowd's absolute favorite. Very light and fruity with bubbles, this is perfect for sipping this spring on the patio, and your picnic, or just because you feel like it.

Tegernseerhof Zweigelt (Austria)
I think all the flavors of the zweigelt are in the skins because very few were left over in this wine. Very light, like pastel pink in color, you had to really concentrate to discern flavors in this one. I was able to pull strawberry and lemon zest, but the crowd didn't know what was in the glass.

Jean Curial et Fils Macon Rose (France)
Made solely from the Pinot Noir grape, refreshing red fruit flavors of of cherries and raspberries were present on the palate.

J Mourat Fiefs Vendeens (France)
A blend of Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, and Negrette came together like a fruit cup in my glass. Guests got flavors of strawberry, melon, grape, cherry. I hid a bottle of this take home.

Sutter Home White Zinfandel (CA)
I don't really think I need to say anything else about this :-)

Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon (South Africa)
Pretty full-bodied for a rose. The color was even a dark, magenta like pink. A bit of tannins on the palate but still a pleasant flavor of strawberries, red cherries and raspberries. Most weren't expecting a flavor this heavy from a rose.

Carafe WineMakers Ocean Breezin' (VA)
People actually thought I had thrown in a Boones Farm or Arbor Mist with this one! Very fruity on the palate, this wine is described as a raspberry white zinfandel.

We tasted 7 wines total, 6 having their identities hidden. And what did we find out?? That some people really do like White Zinfandel, they just won't drink it because of the stigma attached to it! I held up the 4th bottle and asked who liked it, a fair amount of hands went up. But when I pulled off the paper to reveal it's identity, hysterical! Someone gasped, people laughed...one lady said, 'I don't care what it is, I liked it' Well said! That is what it is really all about, drinking what you like. Who cares what the critics say or what your friends say, if you are spending your money, buy the wine you like to drink. I probably won't want a glass of that but hey, I know how to BYOB :-)

How Sweet It Is

The GrapeVine Tasting Club was back on Sunday! And what a beautiful day it was...the weather was around 70 and the sun was shining bright. Perfect for the deliciously sweet wines we would be tasting. People often ask me about sweet wines, or dessert style wines so I figured the only way to learn about them is to taste them. How Sweet It Is - a tasting of dessert, fortified, and just plain sweet wines - is recapped below.

I started the afternoon off with a cocktail. Dow's White Port with tonic and a twist of lime. Refreshingly perfect for the warm weather. A couple of ladies sat on the porch out front to sip this cocktail. Once we got the dessert bar all set up, it was time to really get into the tasting.

Up first, Jackson-Triggs Vidal Icewine.
Icewine is produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing a more concentrated grape 'juice' which lends to a more concentrated, very sweet wine. Unfortunately due to the process of making this wine and the amount produced, icewine comes in 375 mL bottles.

Royal Tokaji 5 Puttonyos
Hand picked Aszu berries are macerated with top quality base wines. The resultant Aszu wines mature at different sweetness levels, generally 4, 5 or 6 puttonyos.
A medium golden amber colour, on the nose showing orange peel, mint, figs and cinnamon. The palate is sweet and rich with cinnamon, apple, coupled to grapefruit aftertaste.

Keo St. John Commandaria
Harvested grapes are spread out in the sun to dry until they achieve a higher sugar density. Once achieved, the grapes are crushed and fermented until the process stops naturally due to the high sugar content. The must is then aged in oak barrels for a minimum of two years.
Reddish-amber in color, this sweet wine has a powerful bouquet filled with dried fruits, spices and oak. It is luscious and full-bodied. We tasted this one by itself in the glass, then I had a special treat for the guests. We poured this over ice cream...and the crowd went wild :-)! OK, maybe not wild, but it was delicious and they did love it.

Bodegas Gutierrez
Pedro Ximenez Sherry
PX as it's called for short is made by drying the grapes under the hot Spanish sun, concentrating the sweetness, which are then used to create a thick, black liquid with a strong taste of raisins and molasses thast is fortified and aged in a solera. This one we served over angel food cake, berries and ice cream. Another hit!

On the dessert bar we had angel food cake, lemon pound cake with and w/o glaze, chocolate chip cookies, 3 creamy cheeses, baguettes, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and apple tarts. The desserts, cheeses, and fruits offered the guests the opportunity to taste the differences in the sweetness levels of the wine when paired with different items and showed them that you don't just have to think of sweet wines as a drink for dessert. They can be used used in a cocktail, an aperitif, or mixed in with the dessert.

So glad I had some of the PX left, I can't wait to make an adult sundae later...