Zolo Torrontés 2007

Just a quick little note on another new grape for me..

and what an exciting find!!

This lovely wine from the Mendoza province of Argentina is a gorgeous pale yellow with beautiful green highlights and offers a delicate, yet incredibly aromatic, nose of tropical flowers and herbs.

And, the taste was just as incredible: brisk acids, medium-bodied and the flavors of white peach, pear, and a hint of lime. 

The finish can only be described as loooooong, soft and smooth.  Absoultely wonderful…. Absolutely yummy!

Enjoy this one not chilled to truly experience all its remarkable layers

Badger Mountain NSA Organic Riesling 2007

I was told that organic wines have a long way to go to match the quality of ‘regular’ wines, but my adventurous spirit won the day and I thought “What the heck… either way, I’ll have something to blog.”  And, can I just say “Hooray for adventurous spirits!!”  This little gem surprised me in the way it developed.

On Day 1, this beautiful pale gold wine offered beautiful aromatics of apple juice, pear and a hint of watermelon and the inital attack on the palatte is exactly what Riesling fans want: sharp acids and the minerality of those river rock that Gary V is always mentioning.  The mid-palatte opens with a very crisp apple and extremely soft pineapple flavors.  Then finishes with something that makes me think ’spicy oak’… kinda like if you were to put a piece of oak through a pepper grinder.  That’s exactly what popped into my mind.

Day 2 was the day of surprises.  The apple juice aroma nearly completely fell away and what was left was the gorgeous aroma of fresh ripe pear.  But, on the taste, the sharpness had a raw garlic-like bite to it.  The flavor profile had changed a bit, too, and I found myself thinking I’d stumbled upon a Perrier with pineapple juice (with that oak pepper sprinkled on top).

Definitely different for me… definitely adventurous… definitely something I’d enjoy again sitting by the pool on a hot summer day to wash away the day and welcome in a relaxing evening.

To get your “Wine On” or not…

OK so I meant to post this a couple weeks ago, but starting my new job interfered with my real life.  However I think it is still a relevant post, I hope you enjoy!

The last weekend of July was the IPNC (International Pinot Noir Conference) annual event. The event is touted as “an intimate gathering of Pinot noir lovers enjoying a weekend of wine, food and conviviality”. This years specific theme was “Sustainability without Sacrifice”. The question I have for the community is: Is it worth attending these type of functions?

Before I get into the question, it is only fair to have a better outline of what the IPNC does: For three days there are multiple tours and seminars one can attend. In addition, there are guest speakers, guests chefs and many tastings of course.  There are several dinners that include wine, all of which you can enjoy at the Linfield campus with easy access to your dorm room (yes you can really stay on campus!).

Also to be fair I have to say I attended the finale dinner (Salmon Bake) and the compressed version of their wine tastings (60 wines in t 3 hours) However, I did speak with many people who attended all the seminars and tried the wines over several days.

So to the question…

As an an educational exploration it is a great way to get a lot learned in a short period of time. Also my experience with other programs leads me to believe that immersion is a great way to really absorb a lot of information quickly. However the expense and time can be prohibitive. The 3 day event is not particularly family friendly. There are long periods of time away from your room and no good places for naptime (which can be a problem for some adults too). What I found particularly enjoyable was the Salmon bake. There were many (and I mean lots) of bottles of wine floating around. It was an enjoyable way to experience some good food, wine and good friends.

Ultimately I enjoyed the dinner the most which seems to confirm the “community” based wine exploration philosophy. at least at this time, for me… How about You?