These retail between $50 and $75.  Make opening a wine bottle a breeze. Look like a pro. No more struggling, pulling, or sliding the corkscrew in at an angle and seeing it break off in your wine!  Just book a wine tasting party in August and win!  I can easily drive 30, maybe even up to 50, miles from Louisville KY to your home. Let me bring Napa Valley to you and your friends with great wine, lots of fun, and a chance to win!

White Wine from Wine Shop At Home

We had a sampler of half and half, white and red.  A Milan Pinot Grigio 2009 was up first.  We actually began with that as guests arrived, so it was our first wine to talk about.  Several of them liked this wine.  The second was a lesser-known wine type, an Evo Albarino 2009.  We discussed this one in a bit more detail, since it wasn’t a common type of white wine.  After I would give the group some suggested wine and food pairings, they would expand the list on their own, adding other meals to the list.  The last white was  a Chardonnay, a 2008 under the label Sunfish.  The group had somewhat of a mixed reaction; for the Chardonnay lovers, it didn’t seem to be what they were used to.  It lacked the “buttery” taste they usually associated with a Chardonnay. However, many did like it, even if it was a bit more crisp.  Possibly it was younger than the Chardonnay they were used to.

A red wine from Wine Shop At Home

Next came the reds.  Some were glad, others missed their whites.  Strange how so many people seem to quickly have a preference for one or the other.  The first red was Noveau Muse Tempranillo 2008.  This was another new type of wine, and had a mixed reaction.  But some did like it, saying it had a light taste, not the typical heavy sensation they think of with reds.  The next was the proverbial Cabernet Sauvignon, a 2007 by Halcyon.  The club members who enjoyed reds liked this one, but those who preferred white wine thought this was heavy, which is to be expected.  Our final wine was a Merlot, a 2008 Talmage Cellars.  I liked rounding out the tasting with this big red; its not particularly dry, and has tastes of many fruits that give it a pleasurable palate.

Now that I do know the difference and know that reds should be a room temp, or only very slightly chilled, I find that it is taking a lot for me to make that change.  Somehow, wine at room temp seems odd.  Really I can’t think of anything else I drink at room temperature.  Maybe that is why I assumed all wines were served chilled.  It is still hard to stop from putting my reds in the cooler but I will say I am beginning to taste more flavors and layers in some reds, and the aroma of some wines are definitely different. 

So, as I learn my lessons the most difficult way possible, as always, at least I can talk about the differences and that they are noticable.   My chianti has a wonderful, distinctive, lingering taste, the slow burn of alcohol that I know I never tasted when it was cold.  Apparently, chilling it compacted the taste, or reduced it somehow.  But it does still seem odd to drink room temp wine; maybe I will find myself drinking more whites or chilled sparkling wines through the summer and switching to the big reds come wintertime!

California Red Wine

Foppiano vineyard is located in Sonoma County, California. In 1896, Louis Foppiano purchases a working winery “Riverside Farm” in Sonoma County; this is the beginning of the Foppiano Vineyard. In 1937, Foppiano Winery became the first winery to bottle a wine in Sonoma County. Currently, Foppiano Winery is under the direction of the 5^th generation of Foppiano. In 1995, the winery began to transform to a 100% red wine brand; all white wines will be produced under the Fox Mountain label.

Lot 96 is a wine you can simply enjoy with your everyday means and share with your family and friends.

The wine is very dark red, hinting towards purple. It has a very pleasant scent, with an aroma of deep dark fruits, like cherries, or plums, maybe. Lot 96 is made with several different varieties of grapes, so there is no one distinct varietal scent, but a great blend of fruits and aromas.

Lot 96 is a semi-dry wine, with the fruit taste hitting the palate first, creating a burst of acidity, followed by the tart, dry tannins. It has a medium body, with a nice aftertaste, not too long, but not dropping off too quickly either.

I enjoyed this wine, since the flavors seemed very complex, with 1 wave following another. The dryness was not overly stiff, and the tart flavor really paved the way, bridging the distance between the fruits and the tannins quite well.

Lot 96 is considered a rather “simple” red table wine, not in terms of flavor, but because it is innocuous enough to be served with simple meals. Pair it with pizza, hamburgers, spaghetti, particularly with marinara or meatballs, or even a simple grilled steak.

It’s an easy wine to serve to guests, and enjoyable to drink after dinner, sitting around watching a movie.

I really enjoyed this and it is definitely one I would purchase again. It’s not an expensive wine, under $15 I believe, so quite easy on the budget. It would also be nice to serve when I have friends or family over, since it is not overwhelming or too tart/dry for most people to enjoy.

medium body, very enjoyable

From 2007, this is a red wine from the central coastal area of California.  Alcohol by volume is 13.5%.  The description on the bottle is:

     “an exciting blend of cabernet sauvignon, petite sirah and barbera to create an adventurously robust yet smooth red wine”.

From the website, there is a bit more detail:

“The grapes were fermented in upright stainless steel tanks at a cold temperature to retain aromatics and fruit flavors. The components of this blend were aged separately in a combination of neutral oak and stainless steel tank. Grapes were harvested from several different Central Coast vineyard properties including Marina, Raboli, Wente, Smith, and Silva.At Tamás Estates we’ve made it our passion to fashion California wines in a style honoring their varietal heritage. With Double Decker Red we’ve taken it a step further by crafting a proprietary blend of red wines including Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah and Barbera to create an adventurously robust yet smooth red wine with mouth-filling flavors of blackberry, black cherry and plum, and a smooth, spicy finish.”

For my own tasting notes (completed prior to going to the website), I found this to be a relatively simple wine, somewhat surprising after they mention a blend of 3 grapes, but it a very pleasant, enjoyable wine.  Double Decker Red is a dark cranberry red color with a light aroma.  It is a semi-dry, but only slightly; there is not “‘dry mouth” after taste to this; however, it is not a sweet cloying red.  The tannins are a bit muted, possibly a reason for lack of dryness. It is a medium-bodied wine, with flavors of berry and spice.  I thought it has a very balanced flavor, without a long finish.  There is no 1 flavor or bouquet that stands out above the others, so the blends are very integrated.  I enjoyed this wine quite a bit, and it is definitely one I could drink throughout an enjoyable evening with friends.

As I slowly work on creating tasting notes, I think what a wonderful history this will be and how it will become a testament of all the different wines I try.  I doubt that I do this when I go to a tasting, since I may taste 5-7 wines fairly quickly, not taking time to make notes and definitely not having any information from the bottle itself.  So those notes I may not enter in my blog, unless I make one entry and simply cover the thumbs up versus thumbs down overall for each style of wine.  At least 1 place here that has tasting fairly often does provide you with a tasting card that has information from the vintner; however, others simply pour and show you the front label.

If you want to check out the wines offered by Wine Shop or schedule a tasting, please click the link and go to my website to contact me directly.

Wine Tasting For You Site

So, today I wanted to start with some basic information. Trust me, you don’t have to be a wine snob to have fun with a wine tasting. And you really don’t have to know anything at all; I will be your personal guide through the process at your next party. But if you want to know a bit more about what wine terms mean and what you might hear or read about the taste of wine, hopefully I can fill you in a bit. This, I hope, will be a series of articles that will go over basic terms and what they mean, why we use them, and why do you care about them if you just want to drink a glass of wine. One of the primary goals of Wine Shop is to help everyone find wine more simple, not complicated and intimidating.
OK, wine is fermented grape juice, but besides wine and yeast, what does that mean? In the taste of a glass of wine, you will find flavors that reflect the area or region the wine is grown in, the growing season and type of soil, and the weather of that area: did the grapes grow on the coast or on a rocky hillside? Was it a wetter rainy season than usual or drier than it’s been for years? How long did the grapes ripen on the vine compared to continuing to ripen after cutting? Were the grapes frozen before they were pressed (this is a particular process that produces what is known as “ice wine”). A sensitive palate can tell you lots of things about where the grapes were grown, such as the difference between clay and dark loamy soil. It can provide hints to a drier than normal growing season, where the grapes are typically a bit smaller, and may ripen more quickly, not allowing quite as much time for the juice to sweeten inside.
Literally hundreds of varieties of grapes are used to make wines all over the world. In Europe, varieties are blended together to create wine. So, wines there are often named after the region in which they are made, such as Burgundy or Bordeaux. But outside continental Europe, wines are typically made from only one variety of grape. The type of grape becomes the name of that type of wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay. However, in recent years California wineries have began to create ultra-premium blends called “Meritage.” Meritage is usually a blend of grapes that are used to create Bordeaux, including mixes of red and white grapes.
The characteristics of a bottle of wine depends on the grapes used, the vineyard location and the winemaker’s techniques. The style of wine can refer to the type, such as sparkling, blush, dessert, or fortified. But style can also refer to specific regions of the world, like Chianti and Champagne. Or style can refer to the physical characteristics of the wine itself, such as crisp, bold, full bodied, acidic and more. So, don’t despair when trying to figure all this out; regardless, the part to concentrate on is what you like. Begin with the wine’s taste, how it “feels” in the mouth, how long the after taste remains, and your preference for dry, sweet, and/or sparkling.
I will discuss the particulars of taste in my next posting. Click the link on the logo to check out my wine tasting store!