All American Wine Tasting

The invitation read…

If you are interested in some fun and informative summer wine tastings, please let me know. I would like to host a few events over the summer months. Cost will  be nominal to help cover the cost of the wines.

I’m a recently awarded Certified Specialist of Wine and am developing a business plan for wine education, parties, wine country travel planning and more. I have lots of textbook knowledge and need more practice talking about wine with others! Your feedback on the sessions would be helpful as I move forward with this project. Beginners welcome. (I’m not selling anything. 😉)
Cheers!…

So last night I hosted my first wine education event. My guests were 9 neighbors who responded to this invitation posted on our neighborhood Facebook site. A few were old friends, and a few were strangers. We had such a fun evening, and I appreciate the positive feedback and their willingness to try some new wines. Our theme was All American Wines: Red, White and Blue. Yep, blue. Read on…

Here’s a summary of what we drank and a brief note on each selection:

New Mexico

Gruet Brut American Sparkling Wine, non-vintage

What a bargain! Really nice sparkling out of a high-altitude site in New Mexico. I didn’t follow correct sparkling wine etiquette (nerves) and almost put out an eye, but the rest of the evening went more or less as planned!

New York

Wagner Vineyards Finger Lakes Riesling – Dry 2013

No fruit on the nose, but definitely an aromatic grape! Got that typical petrol aroma. Super dry and very high acidity.

Virginia

Horton Vineyards The Tower Series Viognier 2016

Nice mouthfeel, a popular wine for many Chardonnay lovers. Several people intend to drink more Viognier now!

Oregon

Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2014

Ah, what a lovely, complex Pinot Noir. The perfect combination of fruit + earth.

Texas

Pedernales Cellards Tempranillo 2015

Wow! Texas wines are getting better and better. It definitely has the oaky-smoky thing going on. Those who like the bigger reds definitely discovered a winner.

Washington

Apex Cellars Columbia Valley Red Blend “The Catalyst” 2013

Let’s hear it for the blends. This cab, merlot, syrah blend hit all the right notes. Amazing value at $17.

California

Olabisi Solano County Green Valley “Old Vine Wirth Vineyard” Zinfandel 2008

Yes, 2008! I was a bit nervous about this selection since I hadn’t actually tasted this wine in many years. This was a sentimental choice, and boy was I surprised at how good it was! Extra concentrated, plenty of fruit left, perfectly balanced (even at over 15% abv) and the lengthhhh….. Meeting and tasting with Ted Osborne of Olabisi was one of the impactful events that set me on a path to study wine.

Finally, we finished on an unusual note. Just so that we wouldn’t take ourselves and our wine tasting too seriously, we tried a blue offering out of California. Yep, it’s a California sparkling wine that has blueberry flavoring added in. We discussed the marketing of wine, and how every wine has a story. This story and this wine screamed “artificial” to me, but to each his own! The wine is Blanc de Bleu Cuvee Mousseux.

I can’t wait to meet with my neighbors again next month! I’ll be researching Australia and New Zealand wines in preparation for our next class.