Tasting notes for individual wines.
In case you didn’t know, April 17 is Malbec World Day. So designated by Wines of Argentina since 2011. Wines of Argentina is an organization that promotes Argentinian wine worldwide and assists Argentinian wine producers it developing their export strategy.
The other day we were sent some wine as tasting samples from Wente Vineyards for an online tasting. Wente Vineyards and Charles Communications do this every so often. It is a lot of fun plus we get to taste some nice wine. A group of bloggers are sent samples and we all get online at the same time to taste and share notes.
This is a varietal we were introduced to by our good friend, Dave. One Monday night, a couple of years ago, he brought a bottle of 2008 Pasos Vineyards (1) Tannat. It was inky dark, had complex dark fruit flavors with eucalyptus and perfumed scents. The tannins were substantial, but well integrated. We loved the combination of fruit flavors and big tannins. This experience with Tannat was enough to prompt us to look for it on wine lists and in wine stores.
The tasting at Fine Wines of Stockton last Thursday night was all about Chile. We tasted six wines, two of which George told us were Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Carmenere. Our assignment for the evening was to identify the two Cabernets. As an aside, George wanted us to think about whether Carmenere could be a substitute for Cabernet Sauvignon.
We had the good fortune to spend some time recently visiting with Antonio Pasos of Pasos Vineyards. His tasting room is located in Vino Piazza, The Winery Plaza in Lockeford, California.
A couple of weeks ago Nancy and I went up Highway 4 to Bear Valley, Ca. to do some cross country skiing. We go several times each year and usually go straight up and back. This time, though, our trip took a twisted turn.
We recently completed a series of three wine tastings at Fine Wines of Stockton entitled Red Wines of Tuscany. We tasted six Rosso di Montalcino, six Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and six Chianti. We chose our top two wines from each tasting and those six wines were our focus for the Tuscan Taste-Off. We will choose our two favorites from this group of six wines.
Recently we received some sample wines to try from Trione Winery in Geyserville California. We had not heard of Trione before and were intrigued by their story. For more than thirty years they have been providing grapes for some of the top wineries in the area such as Duckhorn, Kendall-Jackson and Sonoma-Cutrer among others. They farm almost 700 acres in the Russian River Valley, Alexander Valley and the Sonoma Coast. Only since 2005 have they decided to make their own wines, they opened their tasting room in 2008, and so far they have garnered several awards with subsequent vintages.
Our Thursday night tasting at Fine Wines of Stockton was a polite version of “Stump the Chump”. Alan organized the tasting this week and gave us a list of six wines at the beginning of the tasting, each a different varietal. He opened five of them and did not tell us which one he did not open. Our job for the evening was to identify the varietals.
Thursday night at Fine Wines of Stockton, we completed the third in a series of four Red Wines of Tuscany tastings.
We enjoy wine, food and travel. Pull That Cork is a chronicle of our wine adventures, the food and wine pairings we create and our travels which are increasingly organized around wine.
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