Bordeaux Varietal Blind Tasting

This past Sunday, the wine club gathered for yet another tasting of wines and related pontification. The topic of the night was Bordeaux Varietals. Here are our notes and pontifications from the blind tasting. It was a fun night with some great wines.

Back after a two months hiatus ...

It has been almost two months since my last post. Its been quite hectic with a job change, son's fifth birthday and now the holidays. I had to take a hiatus from blogging. But, by no means, it was a hiatus from wines. I tasted a lot of wines during this period. Some of the ones I remember are listed below with whatever I remember about them.

1. 2007 Six Mile Creek Vineyard Quintessence (Finger Lakes, Ithaca, NY, USA) - a Bordeaux style blend with dark fruit and a bell peppery nose; Quite Good.
2. Ventosa Vineyards Vino Rosso (Finger Lakes, NY, USA) - A nice blend of Lemberger (53%), Merlot (32%), and Cabernet Franc (15%).
3. 2006 Atwater Estate Vineyards Cabernet Franc (Finger Lakes, NY, USA)
4. Buttonwood Grove Winery Diva Sparkling wine (Finger Lakes, NY, USA)
5. Viña MontGras Carmenère Reserva, Chile - Lost Bordeaux varietal with an amazing survival story; Amazing aroma with black pepper on the nose and a soft, silky texture; I absolutely love it and will buy more.
6. 2009 Charles Smith Wines Kung Fu Girl Riesling (Columbia Valley, Mattawa, WA, USA)
7. 2008 Trevor Jones Boots Shiraz (BarossaValley, Australia) - I still do not like Shiraz and I do not understand what the fuss is all about the Trevor Jones name.
8. 2009 Del Rio Vineyards Rose Jolee Early Muscat (Rogue Valley, OR) - Extremely aromatic with Rose and Peaches on the nose; tangy, a bit sweet on the palette; overall delicious; goes very well with spicy food.
9. 2007 Selbach-Oster Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), Germany - Crisp and Dry
10. 2007 Ortman Family Vineyards Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley, OR, USA) - Quite Good. And, with the attractive price that it is going for at Mustard Seed Market, I am buying some more.
11. 2007 Erath Winery Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley, OR, USA) - Very Good.
12. Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley, OR, USA) - Very Good as well.
13. 2006 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley, OR, USA) - This is the BEST. I seem to have found the best Pinot. Amazingly balanced palette and aroma. I just loved it.

 I also tried a great Spanish Garnacha but do not remember its label.

I did miss a Zin tasting of our club. Here are the notes from that wine tasting.

On a separate note, I did go to a local Beer Tasting. I love beer but did not come across anything extraordinary at this tasting.