Wine Party at Judy's house - November 18
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For this wine tasting, I wanted to do something a little different. I didn't bring any of the wines I brought last time and I brought all different varietals. Here's what we tasted.
1999 Basa - This is a wine Rich turned me on to. This is great for an aperitif or with a nice white fish. At $6.99/bottle, this is a great value.
Pride Viogner - I've become very fond of Viogner as my white wine of choice (ABC..., but I really like Chardonnay too). I picked up this bottle in August on a trip to Napa. This is definitely one of the better bottles of Viogner from one of my new favorite wineries.
1998 Rutherford Grove Petite Sirah - I picked up this bottle last month when I went to Napa with Andrea and Marlo (10/28/00). This was a winery we just picked at random and really enjoyed the warm, friendly atmosphere of the winery and the people there.
1997 Consentino Pinot Noir (Sonoma) - I'm not a big Pinot fan, but I did enjoy the Pinot's (Sonoma and Napa) available from this winery. This Pinot has a bit of a floral flavor that reminded me of lavendar. I also picked up this bottle last month in Napa.
1998 St. Francis Reserve Zinfandel (Pagani Vineyard) - My first taste of Zinfandel was of the 1997 St. Francis Reserve, which instantly made me a fan of Zinfandel (although I've been relatively disappointed with most Zins I've had). I picked this up on a Sonoma trip a couple months ago.
1998 Pirammima Shiraz - This was another wine Rich turned me on to. Last year's harvest, the 1997, was spectacular (I really wish I had stocked up...). The 1998 is still very good, esp. at only $18/bottle, although not quite as good as the 1997.
1996 Opus One - This bottle was given to me by a friend and this was the first chance I've had to taste the very highly acclaimed 1996 Opus One. It was such an interesting contrast to the typical California wines which tend to be very fruity and oaky (I have to admit I have a West Coast palette). This Napaa wine though reflects a very French flavor with its earthy nose and flavor. Rich and I both thought of green beans.
Cline Late Harvest Mouvedre - This was a very nice surprise. The flavor reminded me of raisins which would have gone nicely with a plum tart or something like that.. When I tasted this dessert wine at the winery, I liked it because it reminded me of a port with a nutty, brown sugar flavor, but I didn't really taste those flavors this time (perhaps if it had more time to breathe). This was an unusual and interesting wine, partially because it was a red dessert wine and I'm tempted to pick up more of this. I also picked up this bottle last month in Napa.
Beaulieu Vineyards Muscat - We made a bit of a tactical mistake in drinking this after the Cline. In any case, this was tasty, as Muscats often are and would go well with a torte of a a lighter fruit like a pear or apple.
