Technology Is An Amazing Thing!

A friend of mine sent me a text while having dinner at a restaurant in Florida last evening  (I live in California.) She was asking me to help her choose a bottle of wine - not much unusual in that, however, she took photos of the wine menu and sent them as well so I could actually peruse the wine list!  It was fun reading through all the wines and helping her choose but a few minutes after we finished conversing it suddenly hit me that no one was going to be bringing me a taste of that wine!

So...I pulled a bottle we had tasted in class yesterday and poured a little.  Showing the fat and sassy side of white wines, we studied oaked Chardonnays and White Bordeaux.  Quite pleased with Barons De Rothschild (Lafite) Selection Prestige AOC Bordeaux 2009 -- round in the mouth, nutty on the palate.  Not quite the red Bordeaux my friend was enjoying but it certainly worked for me!

Done With Disney, Next Up A Week At Wente Vineyards!

Just finished a WineFUNdamentals event at the Anaheim Convention Center for one of the largest conventions in the State (CDA -- California Dental Association).  Great program, fun wines!  Favorite wines of the evening...La Crema Pinot Noir and Trinchero Cabernet Sauvignon - Chicken Ranch.  Then off to Downtown Disney for dinner and into Disneyland for staff appreciation!  Realized while we were there that the Disney Food and Wine Festival would have been going on ( it was canceled this year due to the restoration of California Adventure) -- Can't wait for it to come back in 2012 -- hoping to be asked to speak again!

Came home with a cold...but off in the morning for a week long United States Sommelier Association certificate course at Wente Vineyards in Livermore --  blind tasting test on Friday, hopefully by then I can breath!

Not being able to breath isn't stopping me though -- enjoying 2009 Crios Torrontes -- it's amazing how much like a Muscat the Torrontes varietal can smell (I know this from tasting this same wine on a normal nose day) -- it's still tastes pretty good even with a cold!

Eleven Week Course and the World of Wine to cover!

Tasted 10 wines in class yesterday -- mostly white aromatics and possibly a few too many for the newer-to-winetasting students.  By the time we were done, their palates were wiped.  But, it's only an eleven week course and the world of wine to cover so taste we must!  What a great opportunity to taste through a wide variety of varietals, countries, and styles.  The last three were not as much aromatic as they were to show the difference between aromatics and more rounded wines (also, because they're good and my favorites!)  Most interesting wine of the day, Kenneth Volk Malvasia (not suggesting it -- however, I do like most of his wines) and best wine was an Albarino from Spain.  Love that with wine, there's just so much to learn!
What's Your Favorite Aromatic?

There Are Few Wines I Would Call Amazing...

Not too ripe and not too thin, Clos De L'Oratoire Des Papes 2007 is AMAZING!  It's perfect for both the American and the European palate with the juicy fruits (Americans) and elegant complexity (European) of black berry, sour cherry, espresso and minerality.  A lovely wine from AC Châteauneuf-du-Pape (for you history lovers - new chateau of the pope, google the "Avignon Papacy")  and the really great news is you can find it at Costco!  

But find it soon as the Wine Spectator gave it a 91 score so it won't be available long.  Frankly, it deserves a higher score but maybe Clos De L'Oratoire Des Papes doesn't spend that much in advertising...

Interesting -- The Most Inoffensive Word In Wine Tasting

Tried an "interesting" wine today.  Actually, it's the fourth day in a row that I've tasted the same wine from the same bottle and I must admit, that I prefer it best today, probably because the oxidation has made it almost sherry like.  Interesting is the best word to describe this wine's taste as it is a safe word for a wine writer.  The "meaning" is left up to the reader.  Push to shove, I would define interesting as neither great nor completely insipid.  For those of you without a child studying for the SAT exam, insipid means dull, bland, unexciting.  The wine?  Senorio de Fuentealamo Macabeo.  Serious wine students should try it as rarely will you find this varietal botteling in the United States.  For the rest of you who just want a pleasurable glass of wine to enjoy on a Friday afternoon, join me as I've already moved on to Shoreline Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough...

My mother (who I adore) likes to lecture to the extent that my sister and I actually numbered her lectures and now simply say "yes Mom, we know, lecture #15 would be appropriate at this time."  I think I've inherited that trait as I'm about to give you my lecture on Riesling, the same one I just gave my students.  Riesling is a great varietal and usually produces a fabulous wine especially if it's from specific producers in Germany, Alsace (France) and Washington State.  Riesling can be made dry, off-dry or sweet and pairs well with many different types of food.  A couple of common descriptors for Riesling would be petrol (yes, gas but good gas), lime, stone fruits, lemon chiffon and honey.  In class, we recently tried two examples with different sugar levels but both extremely well made:
2008 Trimbach  Riesling AC Alsace -- yummy lime, petrol and lemon.  Dry. Wonderful for a warm day (today is our first 90+ day of the year.)
2007 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Riesling, Columbia Valley -- much less expensive and much more petrol on the nose along with stones fruits (apricots, peaches,) a hint of minerality and off-dry (on the sweeter side of a table wine - also very good on a hot day.)
Consider a Riesling for Mother's Day.  My mother's favorite wine was and is Green Hungarian and since very few wineries now produce it (with good reason) I'm impressing my mom with a Riesling because if she's drinking wine, she's less likely to lecture!