Oldest Drinkable Champagne found in the Baltic is "totally awesome"

Emma Criswell — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:32:00 +0000

The diver who found the champagne, believed to be Vueve Clicquot because of it’s cork design said the bottle he opened tasted "totally awesome." I’m not surprised, the wreck was 55 meters down and totally dark. Those are prime cellar conditions right?

The ship was believed to be traveling to France and destined for the royal court. There are still believed to be around 30 bottles amid the wreckage. Each one is estimated to bring $70,000 at auction.

Wines that Give Back

Emma Criswell — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:19:19 +0000

My latest article for Palate Press features four different wines from around the country that support worthy charities, some don’t take profit at all.

The article has already been featured in the blog of the day section on winebusiness.com, read the full article here.

#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.**

#WBC10 Red Wine Speed Dating, I mean, Tasting Round Up

Emma Criswell — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 02:34:46 +0000

Here’s how it went: one hour, 12 wines, and 5 minutes per wine maker. They came to our tables randomly and poured us all tastes, while we sipped, swirled and spat we also had to pay attention to what the wine makers were saying. It was quite the whirlwind and tons of fun. I tasted 12 whites, too, but since I’m a red girl I’ll start with them.

Unfortunately, there were a couple I didn’t get to post for one reason or another, but here is my red wine Twitter round up:

@Worthwhilewine company Dark Lady pinotage mocha and smoke on the nose bacon and chocolate palate, I like this
Monthaven octavin container cab sauv central coast boxed wine this is a cab? that’s all I can say
07 Banfi Belnero sangiovese /cab/merlot very young, but good potential
RT @vino_g: Dark Lady of the Labyrinth Pinotage – smokey bacon and coffee….Breakfast! I like it!
Nicholas Cole Cellars Camille red wine blend. Very interesting. Medium body, meaty
@dustedvalley Boomtown cab bright red fruit, some cocoa great wine for $15
Buty Columbia Red Aviva cab/syrah blend. Nose of espresso and cocoa, beautifully balanced. I might just swallow this one
Hogue Cellars Genesis Meritage fruit forward, grips the palate, coffee finish
@kenpayton how one tastes after smoking http://twitpic.com/209tg0 (this photo was too funny not to add)
@DCVGuy dry creek zin! beautiful nose, can def taste the petit sirah it mellows the zin, raisiny
Maryhill ’07 Zin spicy, easy on the palate, tannic finish good food wine
@JordanWinery 2006 cab sauv dark fruit , hints of cocoa and smoke

**My overall favorite red is the Red Aviva from Buty, hugely surprising, beautiful blend. I loved it.**

#wbc10 the place to meet people

Emma Criswell — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 20:08:36 +0000

Living in Ohio, most of my wine friends I only know via the internet. We chat on Twitter and Facebook, but I rarely get to go to any of the events or Tweetups, therefore I was really excited to get to meet everyone at the Wine Blogger’s Conference.

The conference itself was everything I had hoped it would be, fun, informative, lots of great people, and most importantly never dull.

I arrived around 11 pm on June 24th and after a $124 cab ride from the airport (don’t ask) I finally got to lay down at the Marcus Whitman hotel .

While palate fatigue was a daily occurance (they had wine tables set up at 9 am) and I never did adjust to the change of time zones ( I was in bed at 10 and up at 5 am) I had so much fun. People I only got to talk to through Twitter were even better in real life. I even got fake married while I was there, but that’s another blog post entirely. Here are some of my favorite people:

Remy Charest, and David Honig

(check out all my ribbons)

Joe Roberts (1WineDude) who won blog of the year.

Melissa Dobson.Hoping to be just like her when I grow up.

Tia Butts. Love her!

Oh, were you wondering about the wines we tried? You’re going to have to wait for another post. =)

I’ve Discovered…

Emma Criswell — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 01:30:16 +0000

…that it is impossible to blog and write research papers on wine at the same time. I mean, I’m sure it’s possible, but I didn’t want to, takes up too much time.

I also discovered today that I am a very traditional writer, and I need to work on my blogging style. I tend to write books for you all, my dear readers, and I’ve come to find out via my Media and Web Delivery class that you want pictures and videos instead of lots of info. So I’ll try to do that more often.

Not today though I’m sitting in the Denver airport waiting to fly to the Wine Blogger’s Conference, lovingly known as #WBC10 in the Twitterverse, and I’m awfully excited. Hopefully I can get back on this blogging kick again now that classes are winding down and my degree is almost in the mail.

I’ve also discovered once again, to be open to change. Though my heart has been in CA wine country for two years, I think I’m going to NYC for awhile. Lots of reasons and soul searching behind this, but life has somewhat come full circle with this particular planned move. Until I decided to switch to the wine industry, I wanted to be a reporter in New York. Funny how things happen this way, isn’t it?

Finally, another change. I’ve decided to change my blog’s name. As you can see on the header my lovely little blog will now be called Wine and Stilettos, I plan on changing the URL soon, but as with everything, it needs to go one step at a time.

Look for me at WBC, Salute!

Review: Kelley & Young 2008 Kathleen Rose

Emma Criswell — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 18:29:37 +0000

A long overdue post from St. Patrick’s Day!

As I was immersed smack in the middle of finals week and a total of 50+ pages of various papers to write, I wasn’t able to put aside the time to review this awesome little rose on time. (Grad school must be put on alert to stay out of the way of my wine time.)

I digress, as a matter of principle I really wanted to enjoy wine from an Irish wine maker on St. Patrick’s day. While I couldn’t force myself to dye this green, thoughts of Irish country side were firmly planted in my mind.

St. Patrick’s Day in Athens, Ohio was very mild this year, and we decided to grill turkey burgers stuffed with feta on a wheat bun with spinach and barbecue sauce to compliment the rose. As Kathleen Kelley told me, the idea for this rose was formulated around a dinner table, so I thought it only fitting to enjoy the fruits of her labor if you will, around my dinner table.

I always love surprises, actually, I hate surprises I’m too much of a control freak, but I love surprises in my wine. On the nose the Kathleen rose was yeasty, almost a pastry scent with a hint of strawberry, very interesting. The flavor profile of wine developed throughout the glass, upon first taste the wine was strong in strawberry and cream flavors with some acidity mid palate with pear and oak on the finish. About 30 minutes later we discovered a nose of apple and red raspberry along with strawberry and a hint of raspberry on the palate.

The rose is lower in alcohol content than most, 13.2% because it is picked earlier in the season that most crafted in the saignee style. 210 case production.

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