Neat Thoughts About Food, Wine, Travel & More
Domaine Pascal Cotat
The pale green color of this wine in the glass is a little deceiving to what this rich wine tastes like. On the nose, it’s an explosion of tropical fruit. In the mouth, it’s opulent with juicy grapefruit, lime and papaya. Nice mineral levels that complement the lushness of this Sancerre. This wine has a 14.5% alcohol level and can improve with some cellaring.
Style: White
Grape Type(s): Sauvignon Blanc
Region: Loire Valley, France
Around $50
Yes, I’m continuing my homage to Merry Edwards, but this time, it is not Pinot Noir I’m clamoring about, it is Merry’s delicious 2010 Russian River Sauvignon Blanc.
On the nose, this wine is floral with a ton of tropical fruit notes. On the palate, there is pink grapefruit, Meyer lemons, a drizzle of honey and Asian pear.
The wine’s six month fermentation in seasoned French oak barrels created a Sauvignon Blanc with real backbone and depth. This isn’t a pale, watery Sauvignon Blanc made to be sipped as an aperitif on a hot summer day. It’s a rich, well-balanced, bright wine that is wonderful paired with fish or seafood but can also hold its own with spicy dishes.
Super wine for fans of Gewürztraminer and dry Riesling. A bit of a splurge for some Sauvignon Blanc drinkers, but certainly worth every penny.
Style: White Wine
Grape Type(s): Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Musque
Region: Russian River Valley / Sonoma, CA
Around $30
Paired this delicious wine with sea bass a few weekends ago and it was a great combination. The 2007 Montagny 1er Cru Les Coeres is a classic example of white Burgundy. It’s rich yet offers a nice level of acidity and minerality. It’s floral with intense fruit on the palate but features a long crisp finish. Just a beautiful example of what vignerons should do with Chardonnay.
Style: White Wine
Grape Type(s): Chardonnay
Region: Burgundy, France
Around $35
Monday evening, I took my dad and his spouse, Rolande, to the Wine Library Super Tasting being held at beautiful The Manor in West Orange, NJ. The event coincided perfectly with my dad’s yearly pilgrimage to see me in New Jersey from Quebec, so I was excited to surprise them with tickets to the tasting.
A portion of the proceeds from the event will benefit The Gateway Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Fund, which is geared toward students pursuing technical and career oriented education.
With over 700 wines being poured, it was imperative that I arrive at the event prepared. To add to the excitement of attending the tasting, I created a database where names of the wines we wanted to taste along with their table numbers could be added. From there, I had my dad and Rolande compile a list of wines they would like to sample and I built mine. There was no overlap – they opted for strictly French and I diversified. Once the list was compiled, I ranked the wines by table number and also by wine type and printed the grid that we each brought a copy with us. Simple and efficient!
Here is our master list:
Being organized allowed us to taste all the wines we wanted to sample, it kept us focused and it avoided the familiar “where do you want to go next? I don’t know, where do you want to go next?” situation that arises from poor planning.
The 2011 Wine Library Super Tasting was a super event indeed and one I’ll be certain to attend in future years. Thanks to the friendly staff of the Wine Library for being so helpful, as always and for making its patrons feel much pampered.
Cheers,
Veronique
I had the pleasure of sampling several Jacob’s Creek Reserve wines at a recent tasting and the 2009 Jacob’s Creek Reserve Adelaide Hills Chardonnay was among them.
As those of you who know me already know, I’m not a passionate fan of Chardonnays, especially oaky ones, so I had my reservations about sampling try this Australian oaked Chardonnay.
In the glass, the wine is a little greener in color than I’m used to seeing in Chardonnays of other regions.
On the nose, this wine is bold with lemons and yeasty notes.
On the palate, this Adelaide Hills wine is rich, sourdoughy with plums and Meyer lemons. The finish is both nutty and crisp with oaky notes.
Around $11.
I had the pleasure of sampling several Jacob’s Creek Reserve wines at a recent tasting and the 2010 Jacob’s Creek Reserve Barossa Dry Riesling was among them.
I’m a huge fan of Rieslings, especially dry ones, so was excited to try this Australian Riesling. In the glass, the wine is pale with a hint of green. On the nose, it’s light and fresh with green apple and lime On the palate, this Barossa Valley wine it’s a bit more Sauvignon Blanc than I’m used to for a Riesling, but really enjoyable. The lime from the bouquet carries over and is paired with Meyer lemons and crisp acidity on the long finish.
Around $17.
I paired this wine from Alsace, France with lobster over the weekend and thought it was a good match.
In the glass, this wine is deep golden hinting at a heaviness and richness. On the nose, there’s honeyed sweetness but in the mouth, it’s anything but sweet. The 1999 Trimbach Gewürztraminer isn’t light-bodied by any means, but it’s not as bold on the palate as the nose indicated it might be. There are floral notes and juicy honeydew flavors with a crisp, dry finish.
This wine is okay for me and I like that it’s available everywhere, but I think there are Austrian, German and Finger Lakes examples of this varietal done in a better way for the same price point.
Wine Spectator: 87 points.
Around $15.
I paired this Austrian wine with lobster this past weekend and loved how the clean, mineral flavor cut right through the rich crustacean.
The nose on this Riesling is lemony and with floral and nectarine notes. In the mouth, it’s fresh and crisp with a zippy, dry and mineral finish.
I loved the 2009 Weingut Brundlmayer Kamptaler Terrassen Riesling with lobster, but it would be great with most seafood, grilled fish and spicy Asian dishes.
Around $25.
Had the pleasure of sampling this Pinot Grigio from Marlborough, New Zealand with Jim Robertson from Brancott Estate. Jim believes that a wine should do two things: wow you and by yummy. I’m not usually a big fan of Pinot Grigio, but this little number wowed me and tasty yummy.
This New Zealand wine is pale yellow in the glass misleading what’s to come in its taste. On the nose, this wine offers aromas of juicy pear, wet stones with some grassy notes. In the mouth, the 2010 Brancott Pinot Grigio shows bright minerality with a finish that caused me to pucker up from the bright acidity. A zippy, refreshing wine that could be great as an aperitif.
Serve this summer white just lightly chilled at your next get-together.
Around $12.
This Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand displays what is typical of the region for this varietal – burst of bright fruit with a tangy finish.
I first sampled this Brancott Estate wine when it was really cold and some of its aromas and flavors were masked. As it warmed up a bit, the nose was bright pink grapefruit. For those wine drinkers who can’t easily identify aromas displayed by certain wines, the grapefruit is prominent and easy to pinpoint on this Sauvignon Blanc. The citrus notes continue in the mouth with lemon and lime flavors that finish with zippy acidity.
Great summer white at a very affordable price point.
Around $12.
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