Go For The Gold - Update

The winners of the Maryland Governor's Cup have been announced. Congratulations to Fiore Winery's Sangiovese 2007 for winning the Best in Show! The rest of the award winners are listed here http://www.marylandwine.com/mwa/awards/govcup10.shtml. Go out and pick up a winner soon! Or, visit all the wineries in one place at the Maryland Wine Festival, September 18th and 19th. Hope to see you there!

#Cabernet Day

So, I'm a complete wine nerd. How else do you explain coming home, opening a bottle of wine, taking pics of the bottle and the glass, and posting my pics and thoughts on twitter? And PRESSED to see what other people were drinking and thinking... Clearly you agree with me! But so what, I love it! For one, I'm completely addicted to twitter, and second, the wine community out there is fantastic!

Cabernet Day ws a social media event organized by Rick Bakas of St Supery Vineyards where people got together and had parties to drink and tweet about various varietal Cabernets (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc) or blends (Bordeaux, Meritage, etc) and posted their reviews and pics on Twitter or their blogs. People as far away as Australia tweeted about their wines and some even held wine tasting parties. It was interesting to hear some of the comments and also see some of the people on UStream that did live video of their events. Search #cabernet on twitter for a recap of some of the conversations.

I kept it local and had the Albemarle Rose from Kluge Estate Winery in Charlottesville, VA. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Merlot and Malbec (Bordeaux Varietals) this wine tasted like a Jolly Rancher candy. Sweet cherry flavored mixed with juicy peaches...this wine was perfect for the 90 degree day we had, and my long day at work. To pair with this wine and keep it local, I ate a Maryland crabcake. I had a few other wines that fit the bill for Cabernet Day, but didn't want to open too many bottles to drink alone. I'll definitely have to fix that for the next time, the #HolidayWine event won't catch me drinking by myself again!

August A Tale of Two Cities (ATTC): Chardonnay

The world of wine is more vast and complex than I could have ever imagined. There is always something to learn, a new varietal, new blend, new AVA, DOC, DOCG...you just have to know that you will be on a continuous learning process. In a quest to continue my wine education with an in-depth study of varietals, I decided to take one varietal from 2 different countries and do a comparative tasting. I know, I know...genius!!

Starting things off basic, and with what I already had on hand, the first head-to-head varietal is Chardonnay. Chardonnay is probably the most widely planted grape on the planet and also the most versatile. As stated in Wine Enthusiast Magazine, "It’s not easy to know what any bottle labeled Chardonnay will taste like. Will it be steely and crisp, loaded with green apples and lemony citrus? Will it be fleshy and fruity—a bowl of stone fruits, tropical fruits, bubble gum? Will it taste like buttered popcorn? Toast and coffee? Ancient sea life soaked in chalk? In truth, Chardonnay can be any and all of the above. "

Perfect! I grabbed my fellow tasting partner and Venture Brothers fan, Brock Wino, to taste along with me as he has the nose of a wolf...in a good way :-) Chile vs. California, let the tasting begin!


Chile (Los Vascos) -- Pale lemon/yellow in color and very vegetal in aroma. Crisp notes of citrus, herbs, and a hint of minerality were also found on the nose. After a the swirl, sniff, and sip, fruit flavors of apple and lemon coated the palate. Tart with pretty high acidity but the surprise was the creamy, soft finish.

California (J Lohr) -- The color is a big difference already, this was a much more golden yellow. Now this is a 'typical' CA Chardonnay, oak and smoke and tobacco were all I smelled at first sniff. After letting it sit in the glass for a bit, I got a little bruised red apple. Flavor mimicked the aroma, more oak and bark with hints of apple. A twist though, a slightly nutty finish. I felt like there was less acidity but more alcohol in this style, yet Brock Wino thought they were about the same. Perhaps the oak barrel fermentation and aging had a lot to do with that.

Extreme differences in visual appearance, aroma, and flavor profiles of these two wines. Same grape, two continents, why the difference? I initially thought climate, but after further research, both are from cool climate regions. Guess the winemaker 'intervention' made all the difference here. 'Typical' California Chardonnay is known for being oaky and buttery, and this one was no different. Malolactic fermentation took place for 4 months and the wine was aged sur lie in a 50% French oak barrel. In English: this Chardonnay will exhibit notes of apple and yeast from the malolactic and butter and oak from the barrel aging. Unfortunately I could not find much information on the winemaking techniques of the Los Vascos so I'll just assume stainless steel fermentation (by its taste).

So there you have it folks! I'm not going to say which one I enjoyed more...they were both good wines in their own way. But if you aren't a fan of the oakier style of Chardonnay, the California one is not for you.

VA Wine in the Midwest

There is such a big movement in Virginia (I'm trying to add Maryland to that too) to Drink Local' and I enjoy their wines. So I purchase them in retail shops and look for them on restaurant wine lists. Imagine my excitement when I saw a Virginia wine on the list at a wine bar in Chicago! Right there on the wine list was the Barboursville Pinot Grigio! I even let out a little yelp, my friends thought I was crazy. Go VA Wine!

Making Up for Lost Time

It's Friday night and I'm out with the girls on the patio of Market Bar in Chicago. They have wine!! And nothing says patio wine like a crisp rose. The sole rose on the menu was Zoe Rose from Greece. Always being one to try something new, I ordered it. Wine the color of cherries came to the table. And it was DELISH, a floral bouquet in glass!! While it did have tart flavors of red cherries, it also had notes of cranberry, strawberry and a little lemon zest. The bright, crisp acidity made it a perfect wine to break my wine 'fast' and even better for the patio. My girl took a sip, and she was sold too! Clearly this is what I'd be sipping all night. Which is a great thing because we had a little incident with vodka the night before. (That's a whole 'nother story!)

I went home to get a little more information on the wine, more importantly where I could get it from. The wine is from Domaine Skouras in Peloponnese, Greece and made from the regional grapes Agiortgitiko and Moscofilero. Funny that I picked a wine with moscofilero as it's a grape I was just introduced to and fell in love with a few weeks ago. Such a soft, perfumey aroma. And available in several wine shops around the Chicago area, this wine is retailing for about $9 - $12. A steal for a great rose that I would drink all year long! If only I can find it around here....

On the House

I'm at home visiting my parents, clearly there is no wine at the house. Unless I'm down with the Strawberry Hill that nobody knows how long it's been in the fridge. So on Day 3, I'm out for pizza and I take a chance on the house wine...a 'Burgundy'. Sike! I am clearly drinking a light concord grape juice aged with oak chips. But what did I really expect for $5 a carafe! No worries though, the deep dish stuffed pizza will more than make up for it!

Go For The Gold

I often pay attention to wine scores and awards that certain wines/wineries have, but this week I was on the other side of things. I was a judge for the Maryland Governor's Cup Wine Competition! Yeah, OK, I was a little bit excited. Excited at the honor of being chosen, excited because of the amazing wines I'd be able taste, excited to be a part of given Maryland wines some much needed accolades and recognition. So at about 10AM this morning I sat at my table and waited for the first flight.

Clearly I can't give too many details because the final scores aren't out yet. But I will say that I found some real gems after going through 6 flights! Apple wines, chambourcin, meritage blends, sangiovese, roses, and white blends came across my table. Not even sure how many wines were tasted total as each flight had different amounts. Maryland really produced some amazing wines and sent their best stuff to be judged. Stay tuned for the final update once the medals have been awarded!