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May 3, 2005
Wine Tasting at Home (2)
Karen and I had a wine tasting at our house for Joan (AKA Mary Poppins) and her friend Steve. I worked at a small, local winery about 10 years ago. While employed at Oakwood Cellars (no longer in business), I read lots of books about wine, winemaking, and grape growing. I also received my first subscription to Wine Spectator. After spending the day pouring wine for visitors and reading about the latest vintages, I would rush to the liquor store to pick up something I had read about before they closed shop. I also had the chance to occasionally teach a beginning wine class.
Joan wanted to learn some of the basics, so we tasted six wines. We started with a German Riesling Auslese from the Mosel area that was actually quite good-- maybe the best I have ever had (I'm not a fan of sweet wines). We moved to a 2002 Texas Fume Blanc by Grape Creek. This Sauvignon Blanc is sweeter than most, but nice for a hot summer day. Finishing the whites was a 2002 Chard by Columbia Crest. This Grand Estates Chardonnay has got a beautiful buttery finish.
Moving to the reds, I had a hard time deciding which varietals to include. I love Petite Syrah, but it is really not in the mainstream enough to warrent tasting. I do not like most Merlots, so I left it out completely. We started with a 2000 Steele Pinot Noir from California, that had an unbelievable refined taste. We had a 1999 Steel Zinfandel that was a little out character for Zin in that it didn't have the peppery flavors typical to the varietal. After the Zin, we had a 2002 Dynamite Vineyards Cab, that was really tasty. To finish the evening we had a taste of Eaton Hills Port Style Cab.
I was surprised at the amount of wine knowledge I have retained from those days. We spent lots of time laughing...a good time to be sure!
The Wine Army
Six Wines
Posted by Rich at May 3, 2005 4:40 PM
Comments
Wish I could have been there. I am assuming you consumed all the bottles :)
Posted by: jeremy at May 4, 2005 6:36 PM
Not ALL of them...at least not that night...
Posted by: Rich R at May 5, 2005 9:24 PM
