The theme for Thursday night’s wine tasting at Fine Wines of Stockton was “Summer Sippers”. George and Gail put together a group of six wines that meet their definition of Summer Sippers, that is white wines with lots of flavor, good acidity and not much perceivable sugar.
May is Finger Lakes Wine Month, a month-long celebration of the wines and wineries of the Finger Lakes AVA (American Viticultural Area) in New York state. As part of the promotion of this celebration, the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance organized an online tasting of wine from five Finger Lakes wineries.
Just about one year ago, we tasted a selection of saké made by SakeOne, a premium saké brewer located in Forest Grove, Oregon. We were sent several samples of infused saké which we tasted on their own and used to make cocktails. We wrote about that experience in a prior post.
We recently received four tasting samples from SakéOne and participated in tasting via Twitter. We learned quite a bit about SakéOne and saké.
St. Jorge Winery – Portuguese Varietal Wines in Lodi. We recently had the most interesting visit to this picturesque Lodi winery. St. Jorge Winery (1) produced its first vintage in 2008. We have tasted St. Jorge wines in the past. Several times someone has brought a bottle to an annual crab feed we attend. We have always liked the wine, usually a Verdelho, and have been curious to try their other wines. We decide to take a trip out to the winery to see what their wines are all about.
Thursday night at Fine Wines of Stockton we tasted wines from the Rhône River Valley. The valley is long, stretching from just south of Lyon, along the river to the Mediterranean, some 150 or so miles (3). Over twenty grape varieties may be used to produce wines in this region, with specific requirements for individual AOCs (appellation d’origine contrôlée).
On a recent spring day, I took a trip to Napa Valley with friends to do some wine tasting. We wanted to stop at a winery we had not visited before, and chose Clos Du Val. Located on the Silverado Trail in the Stags Leap District AVA (American Viticultural Area), Clos Du Val was established in 1972 by American entrepreneur John Goelet and French winemaker Bernard Portet. The pair made an extensive search for the perfect location to produce Bordeaux and Burgundy style wines and chose what would become Stags Leap District and Los Carneros AVAs.
The Thursday night tasting at Fine Wines of Stockton featured Zinfandel. We live in the heart of Zinfandel country. Lodi, just 15 minutes north of Stockton, has significant plantings of Zinfandel as do the Sierra Foothills. The tasting included five wines from the Sierra Foothills and one from Lodi. It was our mission to identify the Lodi wine in the group.
As the weather begins to warm, we naturally start to think about what to drink during the summer months. During the warmest months, I prefer lighter wine in general. Rosé always comes to mind. The Thursday night tasting at Fine Wines of Stockton was, of course, Rosé.
We recently had the opportunity to participate in an online tasting of wines sourced from vineyards that have been certified as sustainably grown through the Lodi RulesTM certification program. The tasting was organized to celebrate Earth Day by the Lodi Winegrape Commission and Charles Communications Associates on behalf of growers and vintners in the Lodi Appellation. The wines were provided to us, we tasted them and shared our impressions via Twitter during the tasting.
The Thursday night tasting at Fine Wines of Stockton was all about Syrah. We tasted five Syrahs, four of which were from California, one from southern Oregon. George and Gail were unavailable to do the tasting, so Alan presented these wines. Let’s see what we can learn about Syrah.
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.
