» Wine Review

#WBC10 White Wine Speed Tasting Round Up

Emma Criswell — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 02:49:35 +0000

Same deal: one hour, twelve wines, five minutes each. Only difference is they’re white this time.

@Desertwindwine viognier creamy nose, touches of sweetness, very light for a viognier
Chard from a box! Don Sebastian and Sons Chard. almost grassy with lots of toasted oak. not bad, guess there is hope for boxed wine
Ortman wines chardonnay very toasty nose. Extreme toasted coconut finish, vanilla on the palate
Pithy Little wine Co. Sangiovese rose nice toastiness on the nose, watermelon jolly rancher on the palate and finish. nice change of pace
Parducci winery sustainable white, light and citrusy bold nose compared to the last two I’ve tried. slightly meaty aftertaste? what?
L’Ecole semillon good porch wine, simple, lots of vanilla
Dry Creek Vineyard chenin blanc vanilla on the nose granny smith apple, nice, light, and smooth
House wine white from Magnificent Wine Co citrus and apple, orange blossom white blend chard, riesling, gewurtz, pinot gris. Crisp and acidic
Molly Dooker Verdello “the violinist” heavy pineapple nose. Crisp citrus on palate, straw color
Worthwhile Wine Co Neethlingshof chard. citrusy nose, tropical fruit no oak so crisp almost tastes carbonated. complex finish
Concannon chard. creamy nose with some tropical fruit, , well balanced lots of pear on the palate, hints of oak. Not a buttery chard
Cornerstone cellars Sauv Blanc, crisp, bright, acidity on back palate. Pear and crisp apple They call it a good crab wine

**My favorite this time was House Wine white. It was really great, more complex than I would have anticipated and very well done.**

Review: Dry Creek Vineyard 2005 Somers Ranch Zinfandel and the Wine Soiree!

Emma Criswell — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:37:33 +0000

I definitely love a good Zinfandel, especially with a nice, saucy pizza. ( I learned that pairing from a wine maker friend in California) However, pizza was not what I had in mind when I picked up a bottle of this awesome Zin from Dry Creek Vineyard. Bill Smart had asked me to visit dry Creek Vineyard on my next trip to California, so I paid him a visit. After tasting through a number of their reds my heart was set on this one. A dry fruity zin with a nice balance of spice. That being said, I brought it home and had it with a parmesan, feta, and tomato pizza on wheat crust.

This 2005 zin is a nice ruby, almost amethyst in the glass, and is 14.9% alcohol by volume. On the nose there is heavy black cherry, less pronounced blackberry and a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon. On the palate once again black cherry holds the big gun and hits you first, followed by a mixture of blackberry, some spice on the back end, and a bit of acidity on the mid palate. It has a peppery, velvety finish which is nice for such a deep red. A friend commented how she enjoyed the finish the most because she is used to reds giving her “cotton mouth.”

I also enjoyed the rest of my glasses of this wine with the help of my new BFF: the winesoiree. I got to know the creator of the wine soiree via Twitter (which is where I meet all the best, and the worst people) and he sent me a coupon to pick myself up one of these. You see, I fell in love with it after I had a glass poured through one belonging to my friend Thea Dwelle (lusciouslushes.com) and was floored by the difference. I tried and reviewed a glass of the zin after simply letting it breathe for an hour, then tried it through the soiree. The difference truly is astounding. All of the subtle nuances of the wine came bursting to life; there were flavors and smells I hadn’t noticed before. Overall this is a great little gadget, and at $25 it’s well worth the money http://www.winesoiree.com

Review: Rodney Strong: 2008 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

Emma Criswell — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:15:25 +0000

Anyone who knows me, knows I’m a big fan of Pinot. Earlier in the summer Rodney Strong sent me a ‘starter kit’ complete with a bottle of their ’07 pinot, which I loved. Once I told them this, 4 days later I received a bottle of ’08 pinot for review. Man I love being a wine writer!

I enjoyed the ’08 pinot, just about as much as the ’07. It was a gorgeous dark ruby color, even a hint of amethyst ( I love red and purple) This blend is 98% pinot, 2% syrah; both from the Russian River Valley. I’m still working on being a fan of syrah, but it works well in this wine. On the nose there is a hint of rose petal coupled with various red fruit, especially some black cherry. It has the lovely, chewy, subtly toasted vanilla notes that I love about pinot with an even finish. After the wine opens up a little bit, it is even deeper in character with notes of french oakiness shining through.

My Valentine’s Day Was “Sher Bliss”

Emma Criswell — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:10:56 +0000

For Valentine’s Day this year I tried out my latest discovery. I recently met Cheryl Sher, owner of Sher Bliss wine and chocolate shop in Columbus, Ohio. She makes chocolates from a recipe that has been in her family for years, and also sells wine. It would only make sense to combine the two, right? Bliss in a Bottle is her creation: a bottle of wine dipped in chocolate! What could be better than pairing two of my favorite things? These bottles are so artfully done that you can still read the label. Mine is a sparkling Cabernet Sauvignon from Italy. It was dipped in dark chocolate and absolutely delicious! There are milk and white chocolate options as well. Cheryl says they are even beginning to add mint and raspberry to the chocolate so that it will better pair with the wine.

I had never tried a sparkling cab before and it was really interesting. This Altana Perlage Frizzante is organically grown and 11.5% alcohol It was dry and had all the characteristics of a regular cab: dark fruit, very rich, a hint of vanilla oak on the finish, and had just a hint of sweetness.

The bottle is covered in celophane so that the chocolate bits are caught there for you to enjoy instead of all over a counter top or floor. There are two strings underneath the chocolate that pop out above the bottle for easy cracking. ( I would have taken a video but I was sans makeup this particular evening; and I’m not out to frighten anyone) My friend Ryann and I had a nice dinner and followed up with this bottle for dessert. It was so pretty! And there was only one rule: we can’t leave anything in the bottle. Why would we?

To find out more about Sher Bliss, or to visit the store front visit http://sherbliss.com

http://blissinabottle.com

Review: Imperial Achaia Clauss: Mavrodaphne of Patras

Emma Criswell — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:39:05 +0000

This wine is the dream of all who have not yet mastered the ability to enjoy dry red wine. I’ve been asked “isn’t there a red wine that tastes good?” While I can’t find myself recommending this wine with a meal, it is sweet and it is red. Well, at least that’s what the bottle says.

This dessert red wine seemed to take on a much more amber hue while in my glass.It looked more like caramel sauce in color, but was pleasant. It had a very interesting nose bursting with plum and brown sugar. Hints of ginger and raisin danced around too. It’s very sweet on the palate, even more raisiny, with high acidity on the back end. Surprisingly full bodied for a dessert wine, it’s quite good. I’m never surprised that Greek wine treats me to a whole level of tastes that I’m not used to. The first wine I ever had was a Greek Retsina that tasted as if I had just sipped a glass full of pine needles.

The best pairing I can guess at for this wine is nothing other than dark chocolate. Even a bitter dark chocolate would be offset nicely by the sweetness of this wine.

Review: Artiste Mourvedre

Emma Criswell — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:35:14 +0000

Artiste normally only makes blended wines, but this one is 100% mourvedre. According to winemaker Bion Rice “it was too good to blend!”It is a great medium bodied red. A nose of light rose petal and red fruit with a surprising butterscotch finish. The finish of the wine is what intrigued me most, it isn’t sweet by any means, and the flavor of butterscotch is undetectable on the nose but bursts on the palate at the finish. I immediately fell in love with this wine after trying it and took home a bottle to Ohio from California. This Mourvedre was a limited release wine club wine, but I loved it so that they let me purchase a couple of bottles. The wine is 14.4% alcohol and was a 74 case production.

Mourvedre is on the right.

What makes Artiste stand out from the rest is their labeling process. Artists from around California submit artwork and Rice chooses his favorites to reproduce on the bottles. Reprints are then sent to wine club members and some are available for purchase at one of their two tasting rooms in Healdsburg and Santa Ynez, California