Wine Tasting: FORK & CORK

This past Saturday, we had the privilege of going downtown, seeing a bunch of my friends, and getting to spend time with my girlfriend, all while drinking copious amounts of wine! I had been to Brew-Do last semester, and expected Fork and Cork to work similarly, but I was happily surprised to find that you didn't need to only pick ten wines to taste, because you could go to as many booths and taste as many wines as you wanted! I tasted more than 70 wines, but only wrote about some of the more interesting ones.

My Girlfriend and I at Fork and Cork

The driest wine I had at Fork and Cork was the Petit Verdot from Lazy Days Winery. It was so dark, tannic, and dry, that I could barely get any kind of fruit components out of it. Would probably be very good if it was aged first, since it was so dark and bold having just been corked.

The smoothest wine I had all day came from Amrhein's Wine Cellars. It was called ruby, a blended wine made from many different white and red grapes. It smelled very much like cocoa beans, and tasted almost like chocolate covered strawberries. And I don't mean it had hints of some smells that might have been chocolate strawberries, I mean that it smelled like i was holding my nose over a chocolate fondue bowl filled with fruit. I don't know how they managed that with just grapes, but it was impressive.

I also got to try pumpkin mead for the first time from Hill Top Berry Farm and Winery. It smelled very much like pumpkin spice, and tasted like pumpkin french toast, since it was fairly sweet.

The sweetest wine of the day was the bosa bag from White Rock Vineyards and Winery. They were wines in a bag, but tasted like fermented citrus juice, somehow in a good way. It almost tasted like a margarita, and could easily see how mixing tequila with it would be really good. It would't be the first time we've tried that, and it would probably be even better in this.

The best white wine of the day was the Squires Blend from Saude Creek Vineyards. It had a watermelon-jolly rancher taste, but wasn't overly sweet. It was acidic, tart, and really smooth.

The best red wine of the day was the Bordeaux blend from Trump Winery. It was dark, tannic, peppery, with lots of dark berry flavor, everything I look for in a red wine. If I had to use one word to describe it, it would be rustic. Would pair really well with pasta sauce.

The most interesting of the day was by far the Devils Kiss from Peaks of Otter. It smelled extremely peppery, but even the nose on it did not give away how hot this wine was. I've had and love almost all sorts of spicy food, from the hottest wings at Bdubs to pepper sauces that catch your mouth on fire, and this wine was far and away hotter than anything I've ever tasted. It took a good ten minutes for the hotness to go away, even after downing a bottle of water. Would definitely recommend.

I paired the Mountain Rose Cabernet Franc with a lamb and steak gyro from The Cellar. Going to their website, it actually says that the Cab Franc pairs well with greek, which is what I chose to pair it with. Its good to know that I can apply what I've learned in class! The tannins from the wine were cut down by the sauce in the gyro, and like almost all red wines, went well the steak and lamb.

Wine Tasting: Trentadue 34 Old Patch Red Lot 36

Name:  Trentadue Old Patch Red Lot 36
Variety: 85% Zinfandel,  15% Petite Sirah

Region: California

Country: United States
Year: 2011
Price: $15

Shop review: The Old Patch Red Lot #36 is a blend of 85% Zinfandel and 15% Petite Sirah. This one is fruity, juicy and bursting with wild raspberry sweetness. A brambly, underbrush earthiness cuts through the sweet fruit to produce a wine with a bit more character. Not as one-note as the price would suggest. Good Juice!

My review:  This was the first wine I ever bought from the Vintage Cellar, back when we went to the Saturday wine tastings because the wine class Thursday tastings didn't exist yet. Prior to this, the most expensive wine I had ever bought was a seven dollar bottle of sparkling Barefoot Refresh. It really blew me away how rich and bold the wine was, because I had never had anything like it. It instantly became one of my all time favorites, but every week I tried a new wine, and my tastes became more refined. Fast forward to the end of the semester, after almost completing the wine class and learning a lot about wine and my palette. Even after tasting so many other wines, some three of four times more expensive, this is still the best wine I've ever had. It is an intensely dark, red black color, which I now know means that there is a good chance that it is bold and tannic, and bold and tannic it is, although it has a very round taste with lots of fruit. I get dark cherry, plum, pepper, some oak, and a good amount of bell pepper on the nose and to taste. This wine also has a long, jammy finish to it. The first time I had this was with spinach and mushroom tortellini, and the second time with steak fajitas. Both times, it paired excellently with the food. I look forward to seeing their 2012 Vintage, which is supposed to be an even better year than 2011 in California.

Wine Tasting: Achaval Ferrer Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon

Name:  Achaval Ferrer
Variety: Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: Mendoza

Country: Argentina
Year: 2011
Price: $50

Shop review: This racy, supple Cabernet boasts a pure core of raspberry, cassis and black cherry coulis notes fortified by bright acidity and a firm, minerally backbone. Long, offering fine tannins and an aftertaste of crushed berries and graphite. Drink now through 2016.

My review:  On sale for $25. Again, I was hoping that this wine would be good, because I was looking to get a case of something to age, but this was fairly disappointing as well. It was very dry and tannic, which I liked, but it didn't have much flavor other than some hints of blackberry and cherry. I've had better wines that were much cheaper, even when compared to the sale price.

Wine Tasting: Trimbach Riesling

Name:  Trimbach 
Variety: Riesling

Region: Alsace

Country: France
Price: $44

Shop review: Beautiful straw color with green edges. Fine mineral fragrance with ginger, caraway seed, under-ripe pineapple and flowers. Flavors of white peach, quince and lemon on the palate with a lingering, clean and dry finish.

My review:  375mL on sale for $12. I asked for a dry Riesling, and this is what I got. The wine was indeed very dry, with lots of dried fruit on the nose and to taste. It also had a bit of a crisp, minerally tinge to it. I enjoyed this wine, but I've had others that were just as good, but cheaper. 

Wine Tasting: Latour Marsanny Pinot Noir

Name:  Latour Marsanny
Variety: Pinot Noir

Region: Cote d'Or

Country: France
Year: 2010
Price: $35

Shop review: Light medium cherry red color with pale meniscus; reduction, floral, tart red fruit nose; tasty, tart red fruit, floral, mineral palate; needs 2 years; medium-plus finish.

My review:  On sale for $18. I really wanted to like this wine, but in the end, I couldn't justify purchasing it. The wine was pretty earthy with some hints of berry, but it just sort of fell flat. I was expecting much more of a punch for a wine that should have been $35. 

Wine Tasting: Hacienda Gewurztraminer

Name:  Hacienda 
Variety: Gewurztraminer

Region: Sonoma Valley, California

Country: United States
Price: $12

Shop review: Excellent with fruit, soft cheeses, and roast turkey. 

My review:  This was the first wine I had during the Vintage Cellar's blowout sale. The wine  smelled strongly of  pear and apricot, and tasted citrusy. For only five bucks on sale, I would say this was a pretty good wine.

Winery Tour: Chateau Morrisette

This past weekend my girlfriends and I ventured out to Chateau Morrisette, which is a winery in Floyd, Virginia, which is about an hour away from Virginia Tech. We tried to get there in time to do the tour before the tasting, but got there a little late and had to do the tasting first. 

The wine building

Wine tasting bar inside

The man who poured our tastings for us was extremely knowledgeable about all of the wines that Chateau Morrisette offered, even about the ones that weren't on the tasting menu. We were able to try 15 wines, which was five more than what was on the menu. If anyone asked about a certain wine that wasn't on the main tasting list, he would gladly pour it for us. Chateau Morrisette was almost the exact opposite of Attimo, which wad previously visited. At Attimo, all of their reds were very good, while their whites were fairly bland. At Morrisette, the opposite was true. Even though reds are typically my favorites, the ones we tasted were all pretty tasteless, all lacking a good tannic structure. My favorites of the day were the cherry and blackberry wines, the Angel Chardonnay and Vidal Blanc, and their fortified Heritage wine. 

The wine tasting menu. The rest of their selections were on the back.

This was the first time I had ever had non-grape fruit wines, and they were all pretty good. We tried the cherry and blackberry wines, which each tasted like their respective fruits, unsurprisingly. Our server recommended using the cherry wine when cooking dessert, which I thought was a great idea, and plan to do so. The blackberry wine tasted like blackberry cobbler. I ended up buying a bottle of this at a later date, and mixed it with some red zinfandel. It was actually very good mixed with an extremely bold and tannic wine. My favorite of the day was the Heritage wine, which was fortified with brandy and aged in oak for 27 months. It was very dark and smoky and alcoholic, but was very smooth and even a little sweet. Although it was also pretty expensive, so I opted to take home a bottle of the Angel Chardonnay. Typically, I find chardonnay to be very bland and unispiring, but this was mixed with small parts of riesling, viogner, and vidal blanc, and was very good. It might even be one of the best white wines I've ever had. Afterwards, we sat out on the patio while my date drank a glass of wine and I watched. Someone had to be the designated driver. 

                                                

My date and I.

After we finished tasting the wine, we went a a quick tour of the winery. The loading and storage area for all of the barrels of wine was in a large room behind the tasting room. We learned that the entire building was made from reclaimed wood, and when it was built was the largest reclaimed building in the world. The dog on the label of all of their wines was inspired by Hans, the family dog, who drank all of the wine spills and sat around in their cellars drunk all day. Most of their wines were fermented in large steel tanks, and then aged in either American or French oak, depending on the wine. Only 10% of their wines come from their own vineyards, while the rest come from other areas in Virginia.

                                                  

Fermentation tanks

In the back of the building, we were shown where they bottle, label, and package the wine. On operation days, they can process over 20 thousand bottles of wine. This occurs year-round, because different wines come of age at different times.

Bottling room

I had a lot of fun at Chateau Morrisette, and would definitely go back. Now I know two great places in Virginia to get wine!

Wine Dinner: Wine and Food Pairing Date Night

A few weeks ago, my girlfriend and I somehow ended up with three different bottles of wine, and figured it would be the perfect time to complete on of the wine dinners. 

Wines of the Evening

The first wine we had was a Peter Mertes Platinum Riesling from Pflaz Germany, which we paired with brie and rosemary and olive oil crackers. The wine was fairly sweet, and smelled like honeysuckle and flowers, and was pretty bubbly, but not overly sweet, which I found surprising for a German Riesling. The wine paired extremely well with the cheese, although the crackers were a bit strong, and some of the flavor of the cheese was lost behind the very noticeable rosemary taste of the crackers. Otherwise, this was a very good pairing.

Brie, rosemary crackers, and Riesling

Next, we had the main course with an Entrada Malbec. We made cheddar turkey burgers, which had cheddar cheese mixed in with the ground turkey, which was then topped with avocado and tomato and served with sauteed zucchini. The Entrada Malbec was very warm and vegetal, which paired extremely well with the turkey, avocado, and zucchini, while the cheddar cheese melded well with the wine helped balance out the high amount of tannins. I would say that this was an even better paring than the Riesling and brie, and definitely the best of the night.

Turkey Cheddar Avocado Burgers with Malbec

The burgers were very thick

The last pairing of the night was Ghirardelli Cabernet Matinee Chocolate with Sycamore Lane Cabernet Sauvignon. The chocolate was really dark, with 72% cocoa, and had grape and raspberry flavors mixed in with the chocolate itself. The chocolate was very good, however, it didn't pair well with the Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine was very earthy and peppery, while the chocolate was really fruity. It would have been better with a Cabernet Franc than the Sauvignon, which was probably what the name was supposed to suggest. 

Ghirardelli Cabernet Matinee with Cabernet Sauvignon