Tasting - Arca Nova Vinho Verde

Arca Nova Vinho Verde

Name: Arca Nova
Variety: Loureiro 50%, Arinto 40%, Treixadura 10%
Region: Vinho Verde
Country: Portugal
Year: 2016
Price: $9.99

Wine Review: "This is a soft wine with its creamy fruits assimilated into the tangy texture. There is plenty of acidity to give this wine its cool character as well as its citrus and green-apple flavors. Drink now." 85 Points (Roger Voss; Wine Enthusiast)

My Review: This wine was a light straw color with small bubbles.  It smelled of several different fruits and veggies: green apple, pomegranate, and sweet potatoes.  It tasted of apricots and had a pleasant fuzziness.  The aftertaste was a strong green apple flavor.  I drank this wine with my dinner, which was a meal from HelloFresh since I had gotten a free box to try from my boss.  With their Mediterranean veggies, the wine's sweetness was cut and everything just meshed perfectly.  The fruit flavors in the wine balanced very well the veggies and hardiness of the couscous in the dish.

HelloFresh Mediterranean Veggies

Tasting - Belle Glos Pinot Noir

Belle Glos Pinot Noir

Name: Belle Glos Pinot Noir
Variety: Pinot Noir
Region: Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey, Central Coast, California
Country: United States
Year: 2016
Price: $58

Wine Review: "A rather forceful example of the grape variety, the 2016 Belle Glos Las Alturas Pinot Noir comes through with fine black fruit aroma and flavors. Wood shows up on the palate as the wine completes its journey to its finish. Pair the wine's richness with a well-marbled steak."  90 Points (Wilfred Wong; wine.com)

My Review: My boyfriend surprised me after I took the GRE on Friday and then took me to dinner at 622 North for my birthday.  He picked out this wine and we split the bottle.  This wine was a dark magenta color and very subtle in flavors.  It smelled of a woody raspberry jam, with a hint of blueberries.  It had a slight acidic and blueberry taste.  The aftertaste was pleasantly acidic.  I really enjoyed this wine on it own.  But it got even better with food.  With Salmon Croquettes, the slight acidity of the wine was cut  and the berry flavors were more pronounced.  I had the Atlantic Salmon entree.  With this food, the acidity was cut even more and the berry flavors were pronounced with some plum ones as well. 

Atlantic Salmon

Salmon Croquette

Dinner-Palisades 2/21 Argentina vs South Africa

Wines from around the world and Rachel's hand

On Wednesday, I went to The Palisades Restaurant in Eggleston with two of my friends from crew--Chelsea and Rachel.  Since we have erg sprints this Saturday and Rachel is only 20, they just watched me drink while eating their pizzas.  Side note: not sure how pizza is going to be that much better before 2ks, but whatever.  

Our waitress brought out the four wines: a 2016 Pinotage from South Africa, a 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon from Argentina, a 2015 Torrontes from Argentina, and a 2015 Chenin Blanc from South Africa. 

The Chenin Blanc was produced by the Simonsig vineyard in Stellenbosch region of South Africa.  Without food, this clear straw colored wine smelled slightly grassy and tasted like pears and melons, mainly honeydew melon. When eaten with the Chicken Peri Peri, this wine looses the melon taste and gains a pleasant earthly one.

Starting @ 1:00, moving CW: Lamb, Salmon, Chicken, and Pork

The Alta Vista Torrontes was extremely light without food.  It had a floral smell and taste, both of which very very light.  With the Salmon Cakes with Chimichurri, this wine took on a grassy component and a very smooth body.  I think these pair well and really enjoyed this combination.

Without food, the Alta Vista Cabernet Sauvignon had strong pepper and woody characteristics in both smell and taste.  It's taste also contained a jammy aspect, maybe some cherry.  When paired with the Lamb Locro, the spiciness on both was cut and the jammy aspect became more pronounced.  I also really enjoyed this pairing.

I didn't try the Barista Pinotage with the Braai Spiced Pork Shoulder because I don't eat pork.  The wine by itself was very good.  It had an almost skunky smell, which sounds like it will be unpleasent, by was actually really good.  That skunky smell translated to a woody skunky taste.  I like this wine on its own, but think it would have been farther improved by a spicy dish.

DTN Lesson 1: Why We Drink Wine with Meals and How Food Alters the Taste Perception of Wine

Marchese di Pani Chianti

Name: Marchese di Pani Chianti
Region: Chianti
Country: Italy
Year: 2016
Price: $10.99

I did this lesson when I went home one weekend.  This wine was the closest to the suggested wines at the Food Lion near my parent's house. 

1.  When I first opened the wine, it smelled a little jammy and of red berries.  It had a high acidic taste, with some woody (cedar) and slightly spicy flavors.  It had a pretty light body.  It was very astringent on the after taste.

Only Asiago Cheese at Food Lion

2.  After 2 hours, the wine still smelled jammy, but now it had a spicy component.  It tasted spicier and had a heavy wood competent.  It's body was smoother, but still light.  It was less astringent this time.

Wine and Cheese

3.  The only hard cheese I could find at the food lion was this Asiago cheese.  It seemed softer than I thought a "hard" cheese should be, but it still tasted good.  The wine tasted sweeter and not as spicy with the cheese.  It still had a light body.  However, there was no astringency with the cheese.

4.  Since I don't eat red meat, I tried the Chianti with shrimp and spicy cocktail sauce.  We also had corn pudding and broccoli.  The wine with the shrimp tasted very light and fruity.  Its body was extremely light and there was no astringency.  The wine was still pretty astringent with the broccoli and not as sweet.

Dinner, Mom's face, and Tyler's hand

5.  When I tried the wine the next day, it smelled very mild and maybe kind of horsey.  However, the horsey smell could have been cause I had just came from the barn.  It tasted woody, earthy, and vegetableie.  The body was now medium light.  It was much less astringent.  Oxygen coming into contact with the wine allowed the tannins to soften. 

Tasting - Sideshow: No. 3 The Charmer Shiraz

Sideshow Shiraz

Name: Sideshow: No. 3 The Charmer
Variety: Shiraz
Region: South Eastern Australia
Country: Australia

Year: 2017
Price: $5.99

Wine Review: "Boysenberries and tea on nose. Attack is unripe dark fruit. Hollow mid. Finish is bitter with hints of cocoa and spice. I gave this one an extra half star for price point." 3.5 stars (Robert Wright; vivino.com)

My Review: This wine was a deep strawberry color.  It smelled of a peppery jam and blackberries.  It tasted peppery, spicy, tannic, and like raspberries.  It had a mild astringent taste, but a stronger astringent aftertaste that was still very yummy.  I really enjoyed this wine.  I'm shocked that it was less than $6.

Tasting - Stella Mia Prosecco

Stella Mia Prosecco

Name: Stella Mia
Variety: Glera
Region: Prosecco
Country: Italy
Year: none
Price: $9.99

Wine Review: "Very easy and fresh, this is the kind of Prosecco to drink at a summer poolside party. Citrus, talc powder and peach appear on the bouquet and this sparkler is lean and fresh on the finish." 84 Points (Wine Enthusiast)

My Review: This wine was a very light straw color, with small bubbles.  It had a funky grass odor, but it was still pleasant.  It tasted of pears and had a light sweet after taste.  I would drink the again, especially at this price.

Tasting - Hive and Honey Gewurztraminer

Hive & Honey Gewurztrminer

Name: Hive & Honey
Variety: Gewurztraminer
Region: Monterey, CA
Country: USA
Year: 2016
Price: $7.99


Wine Review: "Typically aromas of cat pee that I have come to expect on the gewurzaminer....however, this one does seem to be balanced with nice notes of citrus. Grapefruit. Very sweet. Also tastes of grapefruit. Made me actively shiver/cringe after drinking. Still yet to find a gewurzaminer I would buy but if that's your thing - go for this one, it's not entirely hateful." (Phillip R; vivino.com)

My Review: I thought everything about this wine was subtle, but that could be because I have a cold... What I could smell was kind of a stinky floral something.  When I drank it, I got a peachy lemon taste, with what I thought was clove honey.  The honey taste could just be that I couldn't place something, and I saw honey on the label.  It had a light sweet, metallic after taste.  I had this wine with my dinner, which was mushroom chicken, baked with rice, and steamed broccoli.  The taste of the wine didn't change with the broccoli.  The sweetness of the wine was muffled by the rice, and was quite nice.  The chicken brought out the metallicness of the wine.  It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't great. 

Tasting - Espuela del Gaucho Torrontes 2016

Espuela Del Gaucho: Torrontes

Name: Espuela del Gaucho Torrontes 2016
Variety: Torrontes
Region: Mendoza
Country: Argentina
Year: 2016
Price: $6.99

Wine Review:  "Nice flavors of pear and apple. Medium body. Neither sweet nor dry. Very enjoyable for another Argentina wine. Would buy again at this price." (Stephen Bryson; vivino.com)

My review:  This wine was pretty good for its price.  It had a light crisp, floral, almost grassy smell.  It tasted like sweet citrus fruit, with a hint of green apple.  This wine had a lingering taste of of green jolly rancher that stuck around for a bit.  I didn't try this with any food.