Making the Best out of Senior Year

Hello there to everyone who is following me or even just glancing at this page every once in a while!  I have been pretty darn adventurous in the last week.  This past Sunday I competed at a freestyle skiing competition up at Snowshoe, WV.  I actually managed to come in first place!!!  With that came a free pair of skis, goggles and $250 to now spend the proper way, ON WINE.   Then reality came hauling back.  I had three tests on Monday and Tuesday all of which went pretty bad but hopefully everyone else did just as badly so maybe I will feel better.  But Monday was my birthday so even though I couldn’t do anything it was an ok day?! 

I would like to tell you about a little experiment I did on Tuesday night (not on purpose actually).  So I was drinking this Beringer Riesling which I gave a pretty good review to.  Now I was snacking on some pretzels before I started drinking this and holy crap!  Did it taste like pure sugar water or what??  I was shocked and almost turned off the bottle of wine it was so sweet.  But me being a poor college kid, I went ahead and kept drinking. Well I had then walked away and started to eat some chocolate covered raisins.  I poured myself another glass and the wine did a complete 360.  It was dry with beautiful flavors coming out and it was shocking because now I loved the wine.  To me it was amazing that something as simple as that could make such a big different. Now I know how important food pairing is with wine!

Finally piece of information before I let you scroll down and see what I have tasted this week… I have a very burnt tongue that I used to taste the wine and so I can’t promise these reviews are going to be accurate to even my standards.  I made some wonderful homemade chicken noodle soup last night for my Honey who is sick as a dog.  And I was so excited to try it that my tongue got the worst of it!  Now the soup was fantastic but my tongue definitely doesn’t like me right now.

Now read on and just for your viewing pleasure only, I hope your wine rack looks like mine (I know you wish you had a ski rack) J

~R.V.

Tasting - Monte Aman Tempranillo

Name: Monte Aman

Variety: Tempranillo

Region: Arlanza

Country: Spain

Year: 2009

Price: $5.95

Shop/wine critic/Winery Review: Fermentation of selected grapes in stainless steel tanks at controlled temperature. Aging in American oak casks for 5 months followed by 3 months in the bottle before being released in the market. Inky ruby. Ripe cherry and plum on the nose. Smooth and fleshy, with deep dark fruit flavors complicated by bitter chocolate and anise. A spicy quality adds lift and focus to the weighty fruit. Offers an appealing mix of power and energy and drinks very well right now.

My Review: MMMMMMM, Tempranillo, how I love this grape!  I started with a smell of this and the first thing I notice is that there was NO spice.  Not even a hint which is something I am usually really good at catching (which I hope meant it wasn’t in there).  It all has some nice cherry hints on the nose which was very predictable but nice.  The taste of this wine totally caught me off guard when I first tried it.  WOAH Chocolate!  It literally hit the tongue and I thought I was tasting a chocolate wine.  It really caught me off guard it was that awkward chocolate and alcohol mix.  Now as I tasted it a few more times, the chocolate did fade away and I got more cherry in it but the finish was all chocolate.  I was surprised, it did grow on me and I really enjoyed it.  This was actually the bottle I bought and for its price there was no way I was going to beat it!  I am interested if the next time I taste it will it still taste like chocolate?  And of course, I cannot wait to open it with some food because I think this wine will go great with any meal!

Food Review (link to when I actually open it)

Tasting - Cortenova Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

Name: Cortenova

Variety: Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

Country: Italy

Year: 2010

Price: $6.95

Shop/wine critic/Winery Review: Deep ruby red color with violet highlights and a pleasant and fruity bouquet. Full bodied, soft tannins and good acidity. Excellent with pasta dishes and red meats.

My Review: Before we get into the review, I did learn something about this type of grape.  This is the ‘work horse’ grape of Italy.  A lot of their wines have this grape but it is not going to scream complexity.  It is of decent quality but it is nowhere near a Chanti out of Italy.  With that in mind, I took a nice whiff of it and it wasn’t too boring.  It has a hint of spice on it but relatively light.  The taste portrayed even less spice but it was not bad at all.  It was definitely a medium-full body wine that sits on the tongue nicely as you drink it.  I didn’t mind it and it’s good bang for your buck but that is as far as I go.

Tasting - Maipe Chardonnay

Name: Maipe

Variety: Chardonnay (with a little Voignier mixed in)

Region: Mendoza

Country: Argentina

Year: 2012

Price: $7.965

Shop/wine critic/Winery Review: Brilliant yellow golden color with green hints. The wine is crisp and filled with white peach, pear, green apples flavors, toasty vanilla. Elegant and luscious wine, well balanced. Crisp and long finish. Pairs well with creamy soups, pork, veal, vegetables.

My Review: Now that I am getting more knowledge about wines, the first thing I asked was it aged in oak?  Only 30% of this was aged in oak which meant there would be hints but it wouldn’t knock you out with it flavors.  I was excited about this because too much oak in Chardonnay just turns me off  So on the smell I definitely got hints of the oak barrels but it doesn’t overwhelm.  It actually just tingles the nose enough to be enjoyable.  In the taste phase, the character from the oak comes through but only just slightly at the beginning.  It then fades off and leaves you with a light finish that is quite enjoyable.  I thought it sat nicely on the tongue and the best part of this wine is that it would be very enjoyable by itself (siting in a rocking chair watching the sun set).

Tasting - Villa d’Orvieto

Name: Villa d’Orvieto

Variety: Grechetto, Procanico, and Malvasia

Country: Italy

Year: 2011

Price: $6.95

Shop/wine critic/Winery Review: It’s a blend of Grechetto, Procanico (Trebbiano), and Malvasia. Fresh and crisp, it has a beautiful, floral bouquet. It is wonderful with appetizers, fish, chicken, and salads.

My Review: The first thing I noticed when this wine got poured was the fact that the color was almost opaque.  And the smell kind of reflected that.  It had a little sweeter smell than the sparkling wine but just a hint but that was all I could get.  There was no complexity only simplicity on the nose.  When I got into the taste I really couldn’t pick anything out.  It was light on the tongue, on the finish and it didn’t stay with me.  This might have been ok if I was drinking it on a warm summer’s day but it snowed this morning!  As I drank it I thought about how wonderful this would be with some cheese, crackers, maybe a pear or apple slices.  But that was the problem; this wine was so light that you would need to have it with food to give it a little more body and to maybe use it as a pallet cleanser between tastes.

Tasting - Dibon Cava Brut Reserve

Name: Dibon Cava Brut Reserve

Variety: Macabeo Xarel-lo Parellada

Region: Penedes (Barcelona)

Country: Spain

Year: Non-varietal

Price: $9.95

Shop/wine critic/Winery Review: Light gold with plenty of bubbles, this wine has aromas of apples and pears with pleasant floral notes. Crisp and light-bodied on the palate, stone fruit flavors are accompanied by a mild minerality and balanced acidity. A delicious sparkler for a great price!

My Review: So we started off this wine tasting wine with a nice good ol’ sparkling wine.  The smell of this wine was very light and airy and had hints of apple on the nose.  When I tasted it the floral notes started to come through.  Now as my pallet has developed I have noticed that I really don’t like floral tones in my wine!  With that being said, I was not too impressed.  I think it was a fine sparkling but it was a good introduction for my burnt tongue which is all I can say about it.

Tasting - Sean Minor

Name: Sean Minor

Variety: Red

Region: Napa Valley

Country: US

Year: 2009

Price: $13.95

Shop/wine critic/Winery Review: Our 2009 Napa Valley Red Wine is deep ruby in color and displays aromas of ripe blueberry, dark cherry, cassis and vanilla. On the palate, flavors of blueberries and dark cherry combined with hints of oak spices that coat the palate. The soft tannins and sweet oak balance lead to a long and lingering finish.

My Review: For a wine tasting, how do you get more enjoyable than a red from Napa? The smell had a nice spice but the overall it was a very even bouquet.  The taste of this had hints of cherry but surprisingly not a lot of spice.  It sat on the tongue for a good 30 seconds but it did not have strong tannins.  It tasted mostly of Cabernet Sauvignon but it is a mix of more than 6 grapes which were very well blended together.  It was a great California red that I would highly suggest to anyone looking for an easy to drink red!