Posts Tagged ‘carneros’

A very nice person representing Bouchaine Vineyards and Long Island Wine Council was kind enough to offer some wines for me to try, and see if we could not get the stigma of L.I. wines out of the sticks and onto the map. Well, it’s already on the map big time, but not here in California. Believe you me, I wish I could get more Long Island wines out here in Los Angeles. That’s a lie actually. I wish I could get ANY Long Island wines out here in Los Angeles. The offerings:

Jamesport Vineyards Reserve 2007 Sauvignon Blanc. $30

As the bottle description indicated, there were indeed clear hints of banana and flowers, but also definite Macintosh and Granny Smith apple flavors. Nice.

SPECS:

-Versatile drink.

-13.5% alcohol.

- Not sweet.

-Paired with guacamole and hummus platter.

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Borghese 2007 Chardonnay. $17

Sweet tropical fruit and citrus, vanilla and pear. This Chardonnay is definitely on the sweeter side, but I enjoyed this with hot and spicy homemade shrimp Pad Thai and it worked well in this case. I would not say say it is as viscous as a Viognier or anything, but if you are looking for a Chablis, keep looking.

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Sherwood House 2003 Oregon Road Merlot. $17

12.5% alcohol. Low tannin, dust, chai tea and cardamom, odd aftertaste. I’m curious what the 2003 Merlot tasted like, let’s say in ‘06 or ‘07, because to me at this point, there was an excess of rubber and strong random essences. But that doesn’t mean that there is not a more recent vintage that is worth a look. Because there probably is. The low alcohol is always appreciated.

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And I was lucky enough to also try some Carneros area wines, known for their Pinot Noir and Chards:

2007 Bouchaine Carneros Pinot Noir and 2007 Bouchaine Estate Pinot Noir, Napa Valley. $45

To my surprise, I actually enjoyed the non-estate Pinot Noir better. Maybe my taste in Pinots are changing, but I preferred the definite rose, orange peel, pencil lead and balsamic aromas over the dark, juicier estate fruit.

SPECS:

Appellation: 100% Carneros Napa Valley

Varietal: Pinot Noir

Alcohol:  %14.5


Thanks so much to Jen for all the tastings!

Thursty Thursdays- Log: Stardate 2.18.10

A fantastic band of merry drinkers and I have decided to start a little wine club called Thursty Thursdays, where we try 1 or 2 bottles and see what we can learn. Okay, maybe 3 bottles sometimes. But that’s only because our awesome pourer is generous! We try and keep a reasonable sized group, but we are full of the love-age so the number of peeps change depending on the week. But a few things are always certain:

1) It will be hot as hell in the room.

2) There will be a cheese of some kind.

3) We eventually have a clunker vino in the midst.

4) We have damn good taste and always will have a winner wine too.

5) There will be mega laughter.

6) The next Thursday can never come fast enough.

Here is a recording of the ‘60 Second Sip’ with our Thursty Thursday tasting group.

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This weeks wine highlight:

2007 Famous Gate Pinot Noir

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Ready Room:  office tasting.

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Specs and Reactions:

- 14.1% alcohol

- Appellation: Carneros

-It rocked.

- Monique rocked for brining it in the first place.

- Rich sensed cedar box.

-The out-of-control pairing of horseradish cheese blew out Kevin’s tastebuds.

Analysis and query:

Would do it again? Heck yeah.