Today, a young man from Grassy Creek Vineyard out of Elkin, NC came by and we had a wine tasting to see which of their wines we want to carry in the store. I’m a complete wine novice, my basic staple of wine consumption and history started at an age when I shouldn’t have been drinking anyway and consisted of Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill.
I’ve grown up since then.
Kinda.
Anyway, I really don’t drink much, anymore. I had a bottle of wine that my boss gave me on New Years Eve, 2008. I had one glass of it that night and then I poured the rest of the bottle out when I moved in February 2010, so I guess you can say I’m not much of a drinker.
Today, I drank from 13 bottles of wine. No I wasn’t falling all over myself or anyone else. It started with Grassy Creek coming to the store so Thais could sample the wines. He brought six bottles and they were wonderful. They even have a wine that is sold in a glass milk bottle in reflection of the dairy farm that existed before it became Grassy Creek. The samples consisted of about an ounce of wine poured into a dixie cup. It’s very difficult to see the clarity and color of the wine and the weird part is you can’t smell the wine as well when you’re tasting them from a dixie cup. We’re going to carry all six of the grassy creek wines we sampled. I’ll keep you posted on when they will be the winery of the week.
Later in the evening, Thais and her husband and my husband and I went to Yadkin Valley to visit the Sanders Ridge Vineyard which we will also carry at Barnhill’s. This was my first trip to a vineyard and winery. The grape vines were all bare sticks poking from the ground and tied to guide wires but I could easily imagine them bright with large green leaves and heavy with grapes. The wine tasting room is in a beautiful log cabin which seems enormous on the outside but is cozy on the inside. A pathway leads to a dock and gazebo by a lake and it was lovely, even still held in the stark grasp of winter, the trees waiting much more patiently than I am for their leaves to emerge and beckon the warmth of spring.
Neil gave three of us a glass and poured the first of seven wines. My husband didn’t sample the wares because he drinks even less than I do and he isn’t a fan of wine. He was also our designated driver (see? I told you I grew up). The interesting thing about my husband, Tim, is that he smelled each of the wines I sampled and he could smell the parts that make up the blends. We may make a wine connoisseur out of him yet!
The wines were all very good. I think I prefer the white wines over the red wines, but I also think I may prefer different wines whether I am eating or just having a drink. Some wines are very earthy and some are sweet. They’re all a little different and I’m learning what those differences are. At Sanders, I also tasted my first Muscadine wine and it was a taste unlike any of the other wines I sampled. At this point, it may be my favorite so far because it’s just so different from anything else I’ve tried.
When we left, I even got to keep the pretty wine glass with Sanders Ridge written on it. My first wine glass. There are over 90 wineries in North Carolina and I plan to amass an impressive collection of wine glasses!
The 2009 Vouvray is ready! Vincent Raimbault, Vouvray opens his doors this Easter with his annual Portes Ouvertes. Not only some lovely wines to taste, but also the troglodyte bread oven with be working again, cooking fouaces, brioches and bread with vine prunings and roots. You can watch (and taste) the delicious Rillons and Rillettes de Touraine being made in the traditional way. There’s fouaces with rillettes, goats cheese and garlic butter to try too.
Vincent Raimbault is a long term favourite of ours, both for classic and sparkling Vouvray at sensible prices. The 2008 Vouvray Sec and Demi-Sec gained a Silver Medal Au Concours des Vins du Val de Loire à Angers this February.
With wine tasting in the cave, there are exhibitions from three artists: Julien Hebras, furniture renovation, marquetry and wood turning, Carine Lepretre, painter and decorator from l’Atelier du Galet Rouge, and Yvette Kulwikowski, a local artist.
I started some water boiling in a skillet for the carrots, and sliced and salted the zucchini. Once the water was boiling, a threw in the baby carrots and put on the lid. I put a little oil in two cast iron skillets, put the tuna steak in one and the zucchini in the other. I broiled them while the carrots were pan steaming. When the carrots were done, I put them in a glass bowl, added a spoonful of apricot fruit spread and some Ceylon Cinnamon. I put the lid on the bowl and shook it to coat the carrots. I put some lemon juice on the tuna and plated it with the zucchini. I transferred the carrots to a regular bowl and served it all with a Mendocino Castle Rock “Pinot Noir”. Pinot Noir is in quotes because I have doubts about whether it is actually Pinot Noir. I’m quite the Pinot fan, and this doesn’t taste like any other Pinot I’ve ever had (it reminds me of a Merlot).
Thursday, March 11th Fritz Winery is bringing Sonoma County’s famed
Barrel Tasting Weekend to Press Club!
Join Fritz Winery President, Clay Fritz as he samples the Fritz 2009 Estate Reserve Zinfandel and 2008 Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon direct from the barrel and to your glass. Samples are FREE with glass purchase of the current vintage. So…buy a glass of 2006 Estate Reserve Cab Sauv or 2007 Zinfandel and get a barrel sample of the 2008 Estate Reserve Cab Sauv or 2009 Zinfandel Free!Tasting will be available all evening-from 4pm to 9pm.
*This post belongs to this week’s edition of Wine by Cush Magazine blog and published early in World of Cush also.
Yup! I keep right on sipping the fruit of the vine!
And as a result, here’s my take on another Merlot – this one from Chile.
Vineyard: Frontera (Concha Y Toro)
Wine: Merlot
Vintage: 2009
Appellation: Rapel Valley – Chile
Price: $7.99
Notes: Primarily plum aromas turn to jammy blackberry flavors with hints of cherry and toasty spice. It’s a simple medium-bodied red that is straightforward and enjoyable. Modest tannins bring a touch of chlorophyll (at times I thought even eucalyptus) in the finish.
Important: I am not a professional sommelier or wine connoissuer. I have taste buds, however, and know what I like. Please do not consider my thoughts to be an endorsement or diminution of any particular wine. You should always judge for yourself as likes, dislikes, and taste are very subjective.
After frequenting the same grocery store for over three years, I was almost brought to tears of happiness and disbelief one day after I heard someone say, “Hey Caro! How are you doing?” Now, this wasn’t just anyone. It was an EMPLOYEE!!!! An EMPLOYEE recognized me, used my first name and made me, for the first time ever since living in this town, feel like I actually existed while shopping for groceries. I have ranted with my best friend in the past about how sad it is that we go the same places and do the same things EVERYDAY, yet we rarely make connections with the people we see “in passing.” And my rants were well-founded because I was beaming for at least an hour after this friendly, personal exchange from someone who noticed me as a regular customer.
Now, sure. It did happen to be wine guy, but I don’t think that matters. I mean, I am a self-proclaimed wine snob(1) of sorts. Oh, and beer snob. And as such, I have spent some time in the wine aisle. But I had also spent some time hanging out at Bel Air on Thursday nights.
Ah, Thursdays. Remember when you were in college and Thursday night was THE night?? Who has parties on Fridays when they could on Thursdays? Yep! Well, Thursday nights are back, ladies and gentlemen! They are back and appropriate for us [insert age decade here]-haven’t-been-an-undergrad-in-quite-some-time-somethings. Or maybe the fact that I get excited about this just shows how lame I am on weeknights. (But you should SEE me on weekends!!!)
Well, the real reason that Ron the Wine Guy (holla!) knew my name is because 1) he’s got an AMAZING memory 2) he actually cares about getting to know his clients 3) he’s a really great guy, and 4) he sees us frequently for the Thursday Night wine tastings at the cafe in Bel Air. (I actually don’t run into him that much in the wine/beer aisle.)
Now, this applies to some of the local Sacramento Bel Air and Raley Markets, as detailed in this press release from earlier this year. Live elsewhere? I suggest that you check your local Bel Air or Raleys (or Nob Hill if you’re in the bay area) because many of these stores do these wine tasting events. Here’s how it works in the Sacramento area stores.
From 5:30-7:30pm on either Thursday or Friday (depending on your store), the store will do a winetasting with one of the distributors of a winery. Usually they’ll taste around 5 bottles total (sometimes more) from one or more wineries. Each flight costs $3. With this $3 you get the flight of wines being tasted, appetizers made freshly at the deli (they usually are quite unique and delicious), and a $3 coupon off your next “wine purchase”(2) of $10 or more. The coupon lasts for a month from the date of purchase, so if you might break down and buy a bottle of wine within the next month, that winetasting you had (and appetizers) was money well spent!! Additionally, if you like beer, they will sometimes do a beer tasting along with the wine tasting (see March 11). Now this is another $3 fee, but you get the same coupon and they’re usually tasting microbrews, which makes it WORTH IT!
I really enjoy going, and there is quite a scene there — truly, friendships have been made there and it’s interesting seeing the same people come back and eventually getting to know them through side comments/jokes and perhaps a conversation somewhere in there. Hey, I’m all about community, and I feel that it is not present most of the time so anything that resembles it makes me happy.
But, alas. It’s the Lenten season and hubby and I have tossed aside alkihol. So we won’t be able to make it to this month’s tastings, so go for us. Tell Ron we sent ya! At our local Bel Air (Bel Air – 3250 Arena Blvd. in Sacramento), Ron is tasing the following during the month of March:
March 4…………..Ghost Pines and Gascon Malbec Wines
March 11………….Chateau St. Michelle/Anatori Wines and Guinness Beer
March 18………….Matchbook Wines
March 25………….Acacia and A by Acacia Wines
The following is a list of stores in the Sacramento area that offer wine tastings on Thursdays or Fridays. Call them to see what’s on your menu:
Thursdays
Bel Air – 2760 East Bidwell in Folsom
Raley’s – 692 Freeman Lane in Grass Valley
Bel Air – 3250 Arena Blvd. in Sacramento (Natomas)
Fridays
Raley’s – 3935 Park Dr. in El Dorado Hills
Raley’s – 25025 Blue Ravine Rd. in Folsom
Raley’s – 6845 Douglas Blvd. in Granite Bay
Raley’s – 4000 Lake Tahoe Blvd. in South Lake Tahoe
Cheers!!
(1) [this is my attempt at a footnote] snob (n): one who engages in the criticism of something or others on the basis that he/she/it simply exists. But I’ll still drink bad wine occasionally, and I definitely won’t criticize wine unless it’s in the privacy of my car, home, around loved ones (usually only to the ones who didn’t bring the wine in question), or I’m put in a position when I feel it’s my duty to evaluate (i.e., winetasting). I’m no rampant snob. I keep it real.
(2) We’ve encountered different opinions about whether or not “wine purchase” meant total wine purchase, or the purchase of a $10+ bottle. Not that it matters. No one likes wine less than $10 anyway, right.
Tonight I am pulling the cork on a grape I know absolutley nothing about: the Mencia grape. (Do not confuse the Mencia grape with the show “Mind of Mencia”. If it tastes anything like that show, it will prove to be immature with little complexity and must therefore be immediately disregarded. OH SNAP!)
Tonights wine: 2007 “Pétalos” Bierzo, made by the Descendientes de José Palacio. (from Bierzo, Spain)
After doing a little reading I have gathered that this particular grape is often confused with Cabernet Franc, the Petalos is aged in French oak for only four months, and this grape often peaks early…much like Sinead O’Connors career. FACE! Let’s get to it:
Label: Descendientes De Jose Palacios Bierzo Petalos 2007
Price: $16.98
Color: deep purple
Smells Like: blueberry pie, cassis
Tasting Notes: berries, vanilla, a hint of spice at the finish. glamorous but edgy. a GaGa wine that would pair well with a disco stick.
Best song to pair it with: Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
