Rain or Shine?

I know that Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer, but did it have to end so abruptly?? It's been raining here one minute and the sun is shining the next. And the cold front came in the very next day! So with summer being over, kids back in school, but it's not really fall yet...what do I drink in the meantime between-time? I'm not ready to let go of the summer completely and pull out the big Cabernets and Zinfandels, but I also can't continue to drink sangria or the light crisp summer whites that I've grown accustomed to...

On the suggestion of my wine merchant, I went out on a limb to try something that I've never had before, something that I believe is between the seasons so to speak. I opened a bottle of Paul Lehrner Blaufränkisch. Blaufränkisch is widely planted around Austria and produces a dry, fruity red wine that is sort of like the baby to a Zinfandel and can be served slightly chilled. Receiving a 90 in Wine Spectator, I had great expectations for the Paul Lehrner. Very aromatic, this wine smelled very earthy with rich black fruits. The palate hits you with spice at first, then settles down to fruit flavors of blackberry and black cherries. Slight hints of oak follow on the smooth finish. Expectations exceeded.

With the spicyness in this wine, I believe it would go great with barbecue sauce (a fav of mine!) or smoked meats. I actually drank this as an aperitif because I'm watching my food intake for my fitness boot camp, my 'cheat' meal was on Labor Day :-). I did use some wine preserver for this one so I can try it with food this weekend. Nothing like a little wine and barbecue to hold onto the summer...

The Darker the Berry, the Darker the Wine

Cahors is Back, Cahors is Black, Cahors is Malbec! That statement was on the cover of the promotional materials for wine tasting I attended yesterday at The Dupont Hotel. Cahors is one of the lesser known wine regions of France, but with the fine representation yesterday, that won't be the case for long.

Cahors, located in Southwest France, became an AOC in 1971 and is now making its move to center stage with the growing popularity of Malbec around the world. Cahors producers 19.5% of all the Malbec in the world...but the greater known Malbec regions in Argentina produce over 70%. Well, Cahors was doing Malbec long before Argentina. Malbec from Cahors is affectionately nicknamed "The Black Wine" due to its dark color in the glass. At present, Cahors wine must be made with at least 70% Malbec. It's often blended with Merlot to offer rounder, mellower characteristics or Tannat to reinforce the Malbec grape flavors and to allow for greater aging potential. Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon are prohibited in Cahors blends.

Typical flavors of French Malbec are violet, black currant, cherry, licorice, vanilla, menthol, and truffle. The Cahors wines of the tasting were divided into 3 categories which made it easier to know what you may like and how to pair it before you even took a sniff or sip. Tender & Fruity, Feisty & Powerful, and Intense & Complex. The Tender & Fruity is most suited to the American palate with the fresh fruit flavors of cherry and black currant and light tannins. These wines pair perfectly with poultry or grilled meat and can even be served as an aperitif. My personal favorites were the Feisty & Powerful ones. These wines showed much more complex fruit flavors, heavier tannins and great balance in the blend.

Wines of Note from the Tasting:

Chateau la Coustarelle Grande Cuvee Prestige -- aged for 1 year in French oak but didn't impart a strong oaky taste on the palate, smooth flavors of black fruits and violets were present

Chateau Pierre Le Grand -- fresh flavors of blackberry and woodsy notes on the palate with a slightly chalky finish. great balance of fruits and tannins.

Chateau de Chambert -- very earthy on the nose but black cherry and minerals on the palate. 25% of this wine was aged for 1 yr in French oak which softened the tannins a bit and lended to a round complex finish. definitely an example of a 'black wine' with its dark dark inky color in the glass.

Chateau Armandiere Diamant Rouge -- slight hint of oak on the nose but replaced by strong black fruit and mushroom flavors on the palate. pretty high tannins in this one but the black cherry flavors provided a great balance.

The Whites of France

Last night was another meeting of the WSET Tasting Club. Ok, so that isn't the official name but that's what we have for now. This was the first time that the whole group was able to get together since the class...and let me just say that this group is a riot. Well, so am I...I guess. At least Peter thought so since he hadn't heard me say more than 5 words during our 11 weeks of class :-).

The night started with a ridiculous spread of cheeses and charcuterie presented by Dona and her hubby Chris (thanks guys!) Then we headed to the patio for pre-tasting sips of Ken Forrester Sauvignon Blanc. I proceeded to be eaten alive by mosquitoes as I sat enjoying the wine and conversation, to the point that I actually thought I was breaking out in hives! No big deal, the wine was great and I'm not really a big sauvignon blanc fan. But I will give this one a 2nd glance in the wine shop, very fruit, crisp with high acidity but not the grassy herbal taste I'm used to with sauvignons.

Back inside we sat down to a placemat with 12 glasses and people began pouring out the wines in their paper bags (this was a blind tasting). We entered out wines on a spreadsheet when we came in and then they were wrapped. The spreadsheet was printed out so we could match the wines we tasted to what we thought they were. Funny thing though, we had 2 red wines in front of us and 1 red on the sheet. Found out later that the 2 reds were the same thing! If that wasn't funny enough, we had 7 whites on the list...but only 6 in front of us. The joke behind that was that 2 of the whites that we were tasting were the same thing AND 2 of the ones on the list were still in a bag on the living room floor!! They never made it into the tasting, HAHA!! We all got a good laugh out of that one.

But enough about the tasting shenanigans. On with the notes. There were actually 7 whites and 1 red, one of the whites was a champagne.

First up, a 2007 William Fevre Chablis. I brought this one, seeing as though I actually went to this winery on my trip to Burgundy, it was a natural choice. And a great choice. Chablis is the greatest example of Chardonnay in my opinion, with its dryness and high acidity, there is no oak aging so the fresh citrus fruit flavors and minerality come through on this one. Clearly I was able to select this one correctly blind.

2007 Sancerre -- Not your average sauvignon blanc, with flavors of apple and banana on the nose. The palate was surprisingly different with crisp grapefruit and lime. Medium on the finish but a great wine that is ready to drink now, but can age. My 'guess' was correct at first, then I 2nd guessed myself and got it wrong.

2007 Entre Deux Mers -- A youthful white with citrus, limey fruit on the nose. Dry with high acidity, this wine displayed the citrus flavors on the palate along with grass and mineral notes. I don't believe this wine will get much better with aging so I would drink it within the next year. This was my first taste of an Entre Deux Mers from Bordeaux and I was very pleased. With that being said, I didn't get this one right either.

2002 Les Pierres Girard Anjou Blanc -- At 7 yrs old, this already developed wine was a bit closed on the nose fruitwise, just giving honey, stewed scents. After a bit of swirling we got the intensity on the palate. Fairly high in alcohol and body, rich tastes of pear, pineapple, and apple came forth. A bit of almonds and minerals on the finish, I think this one has done all the aging that it's going to do.

Michel Turgy Reserve Champagne -- Since we could clearly tell this was a Champagne we actually tasted it first, but it was in the 5th tasting spot. Pale and lemon green in color, the nose of apple and yeast that are typical of champagne came through. With racing acidity on the palate and an intense taste of toastiness, yeast and melons. A very good example of a true champagne, some of the tasters believe this could actually get even better with age. I'm not one to age champagne, I say pop the bubbly when you buy it!

2006 Castelmaure Corbieres -- Well, when you have a white wine tasting and someone brings a red...it's not too challenging to blind taste. Medium garnet colored in the glass, this developing red had red fruit and smoke on the nose and the palate. While very balanced, the Corbieres offered no real depth in its flavors. Perhaps a bit more time in the bottle will allow development of richer and riper flavors.

2007 Trimbach Riesling -- Pale, lemon green in color this Riesling stayed true to form. Scents of honeydew melon and petrol floated from the glass before the swirl. On the palate were more citrus fruit flavors and even sort of the taste of petrol. Very well balanced with alcohol and acidity, this wine was very good and will get even better with a bit more age. My confidence was back up with this one, I got it right!

2006 Trimbach Pinot Blanc -- It was fairly tough to pinpoint what I smelled with the pinot blanc, I just knew that I smelled something. Good thing I was tasting with a group. Once someone pinpoints a smell, that's all you need. Wet wool, someone yelled out...and that is exactly the smell I got from this one. Very dry on the palate but a very intense taste of hay and pineapple with a medium finish. A good wine to drink as an aperitif right now or let it sit in your cellar for awhile and see what happens. As this was the only wine left on my list, there was no guessing or thought process involved in selecting this one :-)

A Weekend of Tasting

What a whirlwind weekend! If there were free spirits to be had, I found them this weekend! With that being said, no one wants to read (nor do I want to type that much) everything I drank. So only the best of the best will be discussed.

It all started on Friday at Cafe Atlantico at their free rum tasting. This was my first spirits tasting so I wasn't sure what to expect. There were 5 different rum producers on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the restaurant and each had at least 3 different rums to pour for tasting. We drank out of communion-like cups, which is great because I definitely did not want to go down for the count at 5pm. I started with Neisson Rum from Martinique, they had the fewest amount of people at their table at the time, and they were making 'cocktails'. That is in quotes because I'm not sure you can call it a real cocktail in that tiny cup. Pyrat from Anguilla was next, they had a rum that had been aged for 40 years! I didn't even know you aged rum that long. But I'm glad they did, it definitely had a smoother, richer oak taste. Mt Gay from Barbados was the last rum on the 2nd floor, I tasted their 3 and then moved over to the water table for a glass and a seat.

After a small break, and the realization that I hadn't had much to eat that day, I headed to the 3rd floor to see how far I could get with those. There were only 2 more so I figured that I'd be just fine. I saw a familiar rum and walked straight to it. Appleton from Jamaica! I have mixed, shot, and sipped Appleton for many years and was very interested to try the different offerings they had available. There were 4 rums for tasting each with a different age level or blend level. The best was the Reserve which had been blended with 20 different rums. Drinking a rum with that blend and age would definitely make me think twice of dumping some Coke in that glass. At my last stop was Flor de Cana of Nicaragua. It was a bit hard to enjoy this table because there were so many people standing around it just chatting. If you've already gotten your rum, move out of the way already! Apparently free t-shirts were being handed out so people lingered. Flor de Cana had 3 different rums: 5 yrs, 7 yrs, and 12 yrs. I actually liked the 7yrs the best. Not as smoky or rich as the 12 yr but much smoother than the 5 yr. I drank another glass of water and headed out. No need to hang around there, I went to the tasting by myself to go somewhere to have a conversation and maybe taste something else.

I got one of my girlfriends to come out and we met at Proof. So I chased my rum with wine! I love that Proof has 2 oz pours so that you can get a taste to see if you like it, or you can just drink several different things. I chose the latter. I ordered the cheese plate and drank a Txakolina, Ansonica/Cattaratto, and a Verdejo. The txakolina is so perfect for the summer! Crisp, refreshing, and with a slight bit of 'fizz', this Spanish grape is one to keep your eye on. Of course the entire Spanish region is definitely up and coming in the world of wine anyway. Pick your favs now so you can say you were at the beginning of the trend.

Fast Forward to the next fun tasting, Cork Wine Bar for French wines. There were 6 wines total, 2 sparklers from Limoux (white and rose), 1 sparkling Chenin Blanc and 3 types of Aligote. Or should it be 3 Aligotes...what is the plural for Aligote anyway?? As much as I love Chenin Blanc, South Africa and Vouvray, the sparkling chenin is not for me. It had a such a dry taste, none of the residual sugar or fruitiness of a regular chenin blanc. As far as the Aligote, anything from Burgundy is at the top of my list right now. Extra points because it was Aligote which you rarely see in stores, let alone at a wine bar for a tasting. There was nowhere to sit in the entire bar so no full glasses for me. I came home to enjoy a full (and free) glass of Vin de Pays d'Oc Chardonnay in front of the tv.

So sorry the weekend is over. But not to worry...tasting club is tomorrow! More French whites. I'm bringing Chablis...can't go wrong with Burgundy. Will report back tomorrow.

Pinot on My Mind

On Monday night my WSET tasting club kicked off with its first meeting. There were only 3 of us for this one, but we knew we had to get it started or else we would never do it. I'm so glad we did! The meeting was great...and now I'll plan my schedule around the tasting club schedule....the 2nd or 3rd Monday of each month.

This month was a horizontal tasting on Pinot Noirs, with a Cabernet Sauvignon thrown into the mix to check our tasting skills. Our host for the month, Tim, had a fantastic setup. He served us an apertif of Chardonnay from Sonoma Cutrer. His wife, Ann Marie (a definite hostess with the mostess) had prepared trays of cheeses and charcuterie and pistachios. The glasses were placed at the table on a sheet with numbers that corresponded to each wine. We had tasting sheets from the Master Sommelier program to assess each wine by aroma/flavor and structure charateristics. There were even spit cups to use while we assessed the wines. I clearly went back after the tasting to finish off the glass of what I liked!

As for the actual tasting of the wine, all 5 wines were tasted blind, and we all kinda knew which one was the Cab (Wine #2) first sip. The smell gave it away too, it had a slighty earthy, musty character. It was a Chateau Greysac Medoc, tasted delish though.

Wine #1
Regional Bourgogne
A slight floral hint appeared on the nose while flavors of red fruit, fresh raspberries were apparent in this dry red. There was also an earthy, soil component. The rest of the tasters noted that this wine had probably seen time in a French or American Barrique. I definitely need more work with 'oak' tasting.

Wine #2
Chateau Greysac Medoc
The dryness and high tannins of this wine were a dead giveaway. The black fruit on the palate confirmed what we thought, this was the cabernet.

Wine #3
Cote Nuits Village
Aromas of red fruit and strawberries practically jumped out of the glass on this one. Hints of florals and soil also appeared on the palate. This wine also saw time in a French Barrique. But that strawberry... I went back for a full glass.

Wine #4
Chalone Monterey
After tasting the 'original' pinot noirs from Burgundy, it was a bit easier to tell that this one was from California. While having the dryness and medium tannins that are indicitive of Pinot Noir, the red fruit flavors in this wine weren't nearly as fresh and ripe as the Burgundies. We didn't believe that this wine spent any time in oak.

Wine #5
Saintsbury Carneros
Hints of spice and black fruit were present in the aromas and on the palate in this one. Off-dry with medium tannins, this wine had a great fruity finish...that I actually did finish ;-)

Again, a fantastic tasting for our 1st one. We continued the evening talking about wine, books, travel, a whole lot of stuff! Then we had our coffee and prepared our minds for the 1 1/2 hr drive back home. Thanks to the O'Hare's!!!

Spain in the Summertime

This past Sunday, I had the privilege of attending a free wine tasting of Spanish whites at Cork. Now I'm pretty familiar with reds from Spain and even some of their fortified wines, but with it being the middle of summer, I had to put the reds down. I do love my Albarinos right now, but would definitely like to see what else Spain had to offer as far as white wines are concerned.

The tasting consisted of 3 tables with 2 wines each starting with sparklers and ending with an aromatic and crisp white. I have definitely found some new wines to sip this summer, I even sat at the bar after the tasting to have a full glass of a couple of my faves. And I can add a few more grapes to my Century Club list, 100 grape varieties here I come! Here are the wines and tasting notes (according to Cork) listed below:

2008
Avinyo Vi diAgulia
Penedes

Undergoing a secondary tank fermentation, this wine has a slight fizz that made it a perfect wine to start the tasting with. With crisp, fresh flavors, this wine is best enjoyed with friends at a picnic or the start of a cookout. Serve well chilled.

Avinyo Cava
Penedes

This Cava uses the traditional grapes of Parellada, Xarel-lo, and Macabeo to create this fresh sparkling wine. It is also aged on the less for 18-22 months giving a toasty, biscuity flavor on the palate.

2007
Ameztoi Txakolina
Getaria

I had never heard of this wine or grape before in my life. But I'm sure glad I am now familiar with it. While not a sparkling wine in the sense of how it is made, but this wine uses residual carbon to give it a kinda natural 'spritzy' quality. With lime on the nose and the palate, this was definitely my favorite! Drink this as an apertif or with shrimp cocktail.

2008
Ostatu Blanco
Rioja

A blend of the viura and malvasia grapes, this wine has steely, mineral aromas. This is mainly due to the fermentation in stainless steel tanks. On the palate you get hints of bright lemon and ripe citrus fruits. Another perfect choice for these dog days of summer.

2007
Do Ferreiro Albarino
Rias Baixas

I already have a love for Albarino's, and this is another producer I can add to my list. Do Ferreiro actually adheres to organice principles in cultivating the grapes and ferments each parcel separately so that they maintain their individual character until blended for the final product. This albarino had sort of a chalky aroma, tasted of ripe peach in the palate.

2008
Vina Mein
Ribeiro

This wine is a blend of treixadura, godello, and laueria with small amounts of albarino, torrontes, albilla, and cano for good measure. Many rivers crisscross Ribeiro, which creates a cool, damp environment perfect for making clean, crisp whites. Aromas of honeysuckle, apricot, are present. On the palate, it’s slightly dry, but light bodied and refreshing, with tart apple and citrus flavors. Pair seafood with this one but go easy if you use lemon.

Just Glad it's Over

So, on Monday night, I took the exam for the WSET Advanced course. I studied for this exam for like weeks! The class is already 10 weeks of instruction (it started in March) and then a 2 hr exam. Which of course, you have to read the book, the powerpoint slides, the study guide...etc in order to have half of an idea of the world of wine and spirits and what may possibly be on the exam.

The exam started with a 15 min blind tasting. The wine was red (which I'm not good at tasting). We had to assess it using the WSET approach, hoping that our instructor got the same nose and felt the same tannins that we did. Then we had to guess what the wine was from the 4 items listed (we all got that one wrong!) and also guess what the price point was. Luckily for us, we all figured that our instructor sticks to mid-priced wine and definitely wouldn't get a high priced wine for us to blind taste for this exam and spit out. Actually, the tasting wasn't all that bad. I was mostly worried about the 4 short answer questions that would be after the 50 multiple choice.

I had reason to be worried! I may be OK with the short answers though because there were 100 total points and I need 55 to pass. I pray that I got at least 55! I definitely think I knew enough to get the necessary correct from the multiple choice part. The question with the map definitely threw me for a loop.

But as I said before, I'm just glad it's over. No need to review and see if what I put was right or whatever. There is nothing I can do about my answers now. I just pray that I passed!!