On Saturday, we ate, drink and were merry with good friends. Over the last 2 years, I have really been digging the red wines. To me, reds *are* more complex animals and hard to figure out both in the tasting and making. But I drink what I like and it spans from sweet to dry. I look at the craft in the style of wine in reds more so than whites. It seems there’s more tinkering done in the cellar with red wines… and rightly so.
These are NOT all the wines that were available. They were this years, “featured selections.” My idea is to feature a diverse group of wines from sweet to dry and cheap to expensive, both red and white. People liked some, but not all. Seems my homemade peach wasn’t so hot. In fact, it tasted soapy 🙁 – But, I plan to play with it some more. You watch, I may just bring it around. My Plum wine however, was something to get jiggy to.
Here was the official line up, but it didn’t include many wines that were brought… and additional wines that were pulled from the cellar.
Reds
2007 Menage A Trios (a blend) – Folie A Deux
2007 Chianti – Ruffino
2005 Syrah Petite – Stags Leap
2005 Syrah – Columbia Winery
2004 Syrah – Red Bicyclette
Whites
2007 Voignier – Stags Leap
2007 Moscato – Sutter Home
2007 Gewurtztraminer – Chateau St. Michelle
2006 Savignon Blanc – Bogle
2007 Chardonnay – Bogle
Sparking
2005 Champagne – Valley Vineyards
My Homemade
2007 – Concord
2008 – Peach
2008 – Plum
2008 – Strawberry
2007 – Niagra Ice Wine (juice from a kit… real deal stuff)
Thankfully, my wife shares the passion enough to where we’ve sinfully set up a budget for wine-buying. The goal was to put some good stuff in the cellar, but it’s so hard to keep our hands off it! So the cycle repeats. We find ourselves being wine junkies to the extent of grabbing a quick bottle of the shelf to try something new. It’s cool when you find a good $5-10 bottle that you really like. The point of my featured selections is not to wow or woo. It’s to expose everyone to a variety of wines… and particularly, ones I’ve been drinking lately. Around here, we “drink what we like.” If you like it, and it happens to be priced right, remember who introduced you to it 🙂
Wine is fun and finding people who appreciate it the same is a blast. Thanks to all those who contributed something to the wine and food. What a great experience. See you at the next taste.
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