Falling For Wine

A hot weekend of 90+ temps, and a week in the 70s...I hope Fall is really here this time! I love fall, the leaves change colors, cute sweaters and cardigans, and Fall wine! Didn't know Fall had its own wine? Not technically, but in the Fall I tend to move away from the lighter, crisper, refreshing wines that I enjoyed during the hot Summer days to heavier more full-bodied wines to warm me up on those cold nights.

Today I tried out two wines to see how I feel about these going forward into the Fall season.

2008 Seghesio Dolcetto d'Alba
Piedmont, Italy
Grape: Dolcetto
Very fruity and floral, with violet and berry undertones. Full-bodied, with lots of fruit and a balance of acidity and tannins. Need a heavy food for pairing with this as the tannins are quite high. Steak, stew maybe. This is nice, but maybe closer to winter.

2009 JP Azeitao
Peninsula de Setubal, Portugal
Grapes: Castelao, Aragonez, Syrah
Ripe fruity red wine with decent tannins and acidity. Very food friendly (I drank this with pizza) and easy on the wallet retailing at around $8.

Guess I'm going to have to go with the 2nd one as the best wine for me, right now. But a wine that goes with pizza is pretty much going to be an easy sell for me.

The Last of the Summer Wine

Fall officially started this week according to the calendar...but someone forgot to tell Mother Nature. Temps during the day hit the 90's! So I figure I should definitely begin to drink up the rest of my 'summer' wine. Of course any wine can be drunk at any time during the year, there are some wines that are so crisp and refreshing that you automatically think, patio, picnic, beach favorite. Although I've been known to order a pitcher when eating tapas, Sangria is one of those drinks for me, especially white sangria. So I grabbed my Silver Birch Sauvignon Blanc from my Octavin Home Wine Bar and made some White Sangria. Sauvignon Blanc already has such a crisp citrus flavor that is really highlighted when adding citrus fruits and fruit juice to the wine. It makes for a tart, tangy, mouth-watering delicious wine beverage that you can serve with ice.

My recipe is below. Please note: I rarely use any kind of accurate measurements when I make my sangria so please be sure to just add the fruit and liquor to your desired taste. Isn't mixing drinks more fun that way?!

White Sangria

1 kiwi
1 lemon
1 lime
1/2 orange
handful of pineapple chunks
a few shots of whiskey
1 bottle of IZZE Clementine sparkling fruit juice
Silver Birch Sauvignon Blanc (Octavin Home Wine Bar)

Slice the kiwi, and quarter the lemon and lime to place in the pitcher. Squeeze a couple of the lime and lemon quarter in the pitcher before you throw them in the pitcher. Squeeze the 1/2 orange in the pitcher, then quarter it and throw it in too. Toss in the handful of pineapple chunks. Using the Octavin spout, fill the pitcher about 3/4 full. Stir the wine and fruit so the flavors will blend. Pour in the whiskey. Place the pitcher in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. Just before serving, pour in the bottle of IZZE and stir. Pour in glasses, let some fruit fall in the glass! Enjoy!

**I received the wine as a sample**

Loving the Loire

So many people tell me that they don't drink French wines because they have no idea of what's in the bottle. While actually exciting to me to buy and try 'mystery wine', I can understand the frustration of some people that make their wine buying decisions by actually knowing what they're buying. I thought about this as I attended a trade tasting for Loire Valley today. The Loire region definitely falls into the category of 'Consumer Confusion'. You kinda have to just know what grapes are grown in what region if you really want to consider Loire. Like if I asked you what melts in your mouth and not in your hand? You know what I'm talking about...right?! I even tried to think up a pneumonic device to make it easier...but what device can you come up with for 5 styles, 7 grapes and 11 sub-regions? If you know, please let me in on the secret!

The Loire Valley is said to be the heart of France and its wine region runs along a 300 mile stretch of the Loire river. It includes 65 appellations, several of which are AOC, and their styles run the whole gamut...still, sparkling, dry, sweet, white, rose, and red. See how this could be confusing? But Loire Valley wines are the most popular wines ordered in France due to their diversity or grapes, flavor profiles and price points.

The main white grapes of Loire are: Melon de Bourgogne (Muscadet), Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay. Main red grapes are: Cabernet Franc, Grolleau, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay, and Pinot Noir. I tasted all of these today and then some!

Some faves of the day are as follows:

Chateau de Sancerre, 2008
Sauvignon Blanc
Nice citrus and floral, smooth with a nice bite on the finish

Langloirs Chateau Brut Cremant de Loire
Sparkling Rose
Cabernet Franc, Grolleau
Tart strawberry with a juicy red fruit finish

Remy Pannier Vouvray, 2008
Chenin Blanc
Fresh flavors of white grapes with a hint of sweetness. Very pleasing to the palate and the acidity would be perfect with spicy or fried foods.

Cave de Saumur Saumur Lieu-Dit Les Pouches, 2009
Chenin Blanc
Fermented in stainless steel and aged on the lees, this creamy wine tasted of a freshly picked pear. The distributor mentioned that this would be great with goat cheese and salmon. I made a beeline for the food table.

Domain De Bel Air La Croix Boissee Chinon, 2008
Cabernet Franc
Dark fruit and olives sitting in a cigar lounge.

Les Poyeaux Saumur Champigny, 2006
Cabernet Franc
No oak, fermented and aged in stainless steel. This wine was very earthy with flavors of dark berries and an interesting spicy finish.



I will say that this tasting would have made it easy for the wine consumer as most of the wines here were Vouvray (Chenin Blanc) Sancerre (Sauvignon Blanc) and Chinon (Cabernet Franc). You can definitely remember 3 grapes and 3 regions long enough to get to your wine shop!

Super Bowl Sunday

I'm dressed, had a hearty breakfast, and the car is gassed up...I'm all set to head to Westminster, MD for the 2010 Maryland Wine Festival!! I am a total supporter of drinking local wines, especially ones from Maryland. I've visited several MD vineyards, written blog posts, and regularly purchase and request their wines at my local wine shops. So to have all the MD wineries in one place to taste all their wines, YAY!

The weather was perfect! I have a bit of a plan, I wanted to be sure to taste all of the MD Governors Cup Medal winners. A lofty plan I know! So of course as soon as I get past the gate I am sidetracked. I see the sign for Elk Run Vineyards and I want their Merlot. Deep ruby color, tastes of cherry jam, so delicious. Now on to the Premier Tent for the 'special' Maryland wines, but I see tent for Running Hare Vineyards so I have to stop and say Hi to my friend and owner, Barb Scarborough and taste their award winning Malbec and Sangiovese. OK, now I'm really headed to the Premier Tent...if I can find it.

After walking the entire festival, past the funnel cakes, grilled cheese tent, crab cakes, kettle corn, wine glass holders, I find it! There is food, Riedel glasses and the finest Maryland wines, all under one tent. And it's actually under a tent which means shade and a nice breeze! First wine in the tent is the Royele Blanc de Blanc from Cygnus Wine Cellars. 100% Vidal Blanc grapes made in the authentic Champagne style...crisp flavors of apple and pear with a few yeasty notes and hints of sweetness. This is on par with some of the sparklers I've tasted from CA. Another white of note was the Port of Leonardtown Winery's 1634 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay. Only the slightest hint of oak but delightful toasty and red apple notes.

Cygnus also had a vertical tasting of their Julian wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc blend from 2002, 1997 and 1995. The hysterical, and extremely knowledgeable, Carole from SE lead us through the tasting...and we agreed with many others that had tasted before us, Maryland wines can definitely age and the 1997 was amazing. Deep, dark fruit flavors and berry notes throughout. We did a Rose battle between Knob Hall Winery's Reserve Rose and Rose (Semi-Dry). Both made from the Chambourcin grape, I liked the dry style of the Reserve the best. Serpent Ridge Basilisk and Vintner's Cabernet, Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard's Circe, EVOE, and Comus Reserve are all wines to look out for at your wine shops and restaurants. I finished the tasting off on the sweeter side of things with Harford Vineyard's Peach Kissed. Delicate, well-balanced floral and peach aromas with a soft mouthfeel. The name is so appropo, I felt like I was kissed by a peach!I had an amazing time at the festival and tasted some old favorites and found some new ones. My only wish is that when tasting wines, I was able to speak with more people that were knowledgeable about the wines...I always happened to get into the line of the festival volunteer. But everyone did have loads of literature out so I was able to find out a lot of information from there. I definitely hope they have the premier tent again next year, it added another level to the festival and provided an opportunity to taste some of the more 'exclusive' Maryland wines.

The Weekend In Wine

What a weekend to be a wino! So read this quick, pick an event, and have a great time! Be sure to report back about where you went.Wine & Arts Festival of Manassas
Saturday 9/18 - 11 am - 4pm
$10 to drink wine
Historic Manassas Inc., will feature the first annual Manassas Wine & Arts Festival at Old Town Manassas. Attendees can taste the fare from local Old Town Manassas restaurants, while local artists showcase their work! Live entertainment by local entertainer, Jason Paul Curtis will headline the event with The Fabulous Bob Meyers Trio
Old Town Manassas
Battle Street
Manassas, VA 20110
http://historicmanassas.mymediaroom.com/wire/events/viewevent.aspx?id=10059

2010 MARYLAND WINE FESTIVAL
Saturday 9/18 & Sunday 9/19
$25 Admission
Carroll County Farm Museum
Westminster, Carroll County
www.marylandwinefestival.org

2010 Virginia Wine Festival
Saturday 9/18 & Sunday 9/19
$30 admission
Bull Run Regional Park
7700 Bull Run Drive
Centreville, VA 20121
www.virginiawinefest.org

Vintage Crystal
Sunday 9/19 - 2:00pm - 6:00 pm
$20 admission
Come spend a Sunday afternoon in Crystal City tasting some of the world's finest wines. Sample pleasurable eats from noteworthy restaurants and gourmet eateries. The afternoon will feature talented jazz artists from the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival.
Crystal City
2200 Crystal Drive, Between 20th & 23rd Street
Arlington, VA 22216
http://www.crystalcity.org/do/vintage-crystal1

State shows off its grapes at Maryland Wine Festival

I've been quoted! Can't wait for 'Super Bowl' Sunday...LOL!

State shows off its grapes at Maryland Wine Festival - baltimoresun.com

Tweet Tweet!

I love Twitter! Well, now that I know how to use it...I love it. Because at first I was not a big fan. Just sending out random thoughts and comments in hopes that maybe someone will hear you and possibly, maybe, hopefully respond back. It was really like having a conversation with yourself, always a good time. But now that I've met other wine professionals and wine bloggers, twitter is great! I participated in 2 Twitter tastings this week, one for the wines of NY, and one for the red wines of Argentina. Already being really familiar with Argentine wines, I was definitely excited going into this one. But I was very impressed with the wines of NY.

Under the hashtag #tasteny, we went through a tasting of a 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, NV Red, and 2007 9 Barrels Reserve Merlot. The Sauvignon Blanc was very light and crisp with good acidity and citrus notes. I didn't get a lot of those grassy notes that are characteristic of SB, which is good since I don't like those flavors. This went well with the cheeses and crackers that were available during the tasting. The 9 Barrels Merlot had a nice cherry cola flavor with a bit of herbs and figs. Since I'm not as familiar with producers or the wines of Fingers Lake, NY, this tasting was especially helpful for me and of course it's always better to taste with and discuss wines among wine lovers. But the true highlight of the evening was opening of the Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape as a celebration for our host's new job. And celebrate we did! Made from all 13 of the accepted CdP grape varieties, this is a very earthy dark red wine. Red fruits and spice on the nose with leather, pepper and licorice on the palate.

Next day was the tasting of red wines from Argentina! It's so nice to know people that are in the biz because they know about these tastings...and have the wine. This tasting had 6 or 7 different wines, most of them malbec or malbec was a part of the blend. I was intrigued by the merlot from Luiga Bosca. But my favorite of the night was the Bodegas Norton Privada. It had a nice spicy, earthy thing going on with loads of dark cherries and plums. My host was nice enough to let me take this bottle home. She's alright with me! For other wines tasted and wine notes, see the hashtag #winesofargentina #ttl

Virtually tasting wine with other people all across the US is a different kind of idea but it's really catching on. Hearing in real-time what other people think of the wines, and also being exposed to a people that you wouldn't have met or have anything in common with otherwise... I mean seriously, the internet really brings people together!

I'm looking forward to the next tasting, maybe I'll even host one soon myself!