Willamette Wine Tasting

A few weeks ago I had a wonderful experience while visiting wineries in Oregon’s Willamette valley and while they were all good, the folks at Anne Amie provided a unique and special experience for me. I joined Thomas Houseman, Winemaker along with Andy Gribskov and Tammie Crawford both assistant winemakers in a tasting for some of their upcoming releases.  Not knowing what to expect, I sat down to 7 glasses of an unlabeled white wine.  Prior to tasting, I was told these were a fortified wine which was to be the next release, the 2009 Amie, which is a Late Harvest Muller-Thurgau wine.  Also know as “Stickes”, this would be classified as a dessert wine.  The Muller-Thurgau varietal is used in some of the other wines made by Anne Amie and could be described as similar to Sauvignon Blanc without the grapefruit flavors.

The tasting wasn’t meant to be challenging. Thomas asked me to indicate which were my favorite 2 glasses out of the 7 and then 2 favorites from the next 6 glasses.  In short, each of the samples held a slightly different percentage of alcohol produced from fortifying the wine with Brandy, thus giving each of the samplings a slightly different taste.  The goal was to sample 13 glasses in total, narrow the picks down to 4, which will be tasted later for the final decision.  I was happy to know that of my picks, I had 3 of the 4 as my favs.

The last tasting we did was for the next release of their Rubies, which is a red blend of Cabernet, Syrah and Merlot, also fortified and a dessert wine as well.  With this tasting we had 6 glasses and I’m happy to share that 1 of my 2 favorites will be the new release.  It was unanimous for which sample we all liked.  For aromas, the Rubies samples I tried had hints of blackberries and cherries followed by little spice. It’s slightly sweet tasting with dark berry flavors as well.  As the tasting notes say from the 2008 release, this is a dangerously perfect match to chocolate.

I know it may sound weird to those of you who have done tastings before but to be invited to sample the future of a wine is a great honor and I owe Thomas and his entire staff a big thank you for including me. 

Don’t miss some of the other great wines I liked from Anne Amie such as:
’09 Muller-Thurgau (close to a Sav. Blanc w/out the grapefruit flavors)

’09 Pinot Gris (citrus w/ hint of spice)
’07 Willamette pinot Noir (hint of spice on the nose, very smooth tasting and 22% new oak).

New Beverage Trends

Benchmark Hospitality Releases Beverage Trends

HOUSTON

Benchmark Hospitality International released its Top Ten Beverage Trends for 2010. The beverage trends were released in response to requests following the distribution of the company’s popular annual dining trends.

“This is an exciting time for the beverage industry, with lots of positive changes occurring,” said Mary Watson-DeLauder, chief sommelier for Benchmark Hospitality International.  “Some of the changes are economically driven, some taste oriented and still others created out of necessity in response to changing palates and a new generation of consumers.”

The top ten trends are:

1.       Unoaked chardonnays are replacing the big oak wines of the past. Several wineries have backed off on oak completely to focus more attention on the fruit characteristics of the chardonnay grape.

2.       Sauvignon Blanc continues to gain popularity, with New Zealand leading the pack. California, Virginia, Chile and South Africa are producing great examples of this wine as well.

3.       More obscure grape varieties like Torrontes, Bonarda, Carmenere, Albarino and Chenin Blanc are being embraced today. These also tend to be less expensive alternatives.

4.       Champagne sales are down this year, but sales of sparkling wines are up. New and innovative cocktails and punches are making great use of these less expensive sparkling wines.

5.       Sangria is making a comeback – often mixing in less expensive wines currently on the market.

6.       Basic cocktails like martinis, mojitos, margaritas and sidecars are being revamped with fresh new ingredients such as herbs, spices, and unusual fruits and vegetables. House-made simple syrups are being infused with herbs and spices.

7.       Novelty is important. Bars are finding contemporary ways to serve traditional cocktails including, for example, wine popsicles.

8.       Beer dinners are growing in popularity, demonstrating the compatibility of beer with food. Beer is also working its way into cocktails, such as with beer margaritas.

9.       The slow food movement now includes enjoying locally produced beverages. All 50 states have at least one winery, and most produce herbs and spices for flavoring cocktails, vodkas and rums.

10.   The popularity of wine and wine-pairing classes is gaining for groups.

Penascal Estate, Tempranillo-Shiraz $6

Spain (Castilla y Leon)

I must apologize for not having postings over the past few weeks.  Life, work, travel and such has got in the way.  Non-the-less, I’m back!

It’s not often you think a six dollar bottle of wine is going to do anything for you but I’m never shy to give it try.  Worst case is I use it for a London broil marinated if I don’t like it.  Well this Tempranillo-Shiraz never made it to a marinated!  It was quite the surprise given its price point!

With aromas of cedar, leather and black pepper spice, I had an idea this wine wasn’t going to be boring.  Flavors of blackberry, plum and a hint of strawberries gave this a nice fruit forward taste.  On the finish I’d say it had medium tannins with a trace of black pepper.  The blend is 85% Tempranillo, 15% Shiraz.  It’s definitely an easy drinking wine to go with Italian or Spanish foods.  I found this wine at Sam’s club.

Forefathers Shiraz ’05 $16

McLaran Vale, South Australia

I hadn’t heard of this wine and as many of my purchases are based on trying something within a reasonable price point, for most average wine drinkers, this one fit the bill. There are so many Shiraz wines available these days from different countries and regions. Given this scenario, I’m not sure on my thoughts yet for this varietal’s differences coming from these various regions. Either way I like it as a stand alone wine or in a blend.

With aromas of dark berries, plum and black pepper, this resembled a true Shiraz. On the first taste, a tart fruit sensation touched the outside edges of my tongue. Plum and vanilla followed although drying out quickly. On the finish, a spicy pepper and silky feel with mild oak rounded flavors out.

This wine definitely smoothed out and opened up its flavors after 30 minutes in the glass and resembled a wine at twice the cost. It’s wine maker is Nick Goldschmidt who was involved in a wine called Fidelity which was a blend I posted here last year.

Wine Quest

I wanted to take a moment and share with you a event being held for a wonderful cause which I'll be attending. The Wine Quest Annual Wine Tasting & Auction, June 11-13 in Orlando, FL. I hope to have many new wines to share with all of you from this event which is dedicated to helping about 1,000 people per day in our community. Quest helps people with disabilities achieve their dreams of going to school, having a job, living on their own, and experiencing summer camps.

This is a fantastic way to both help the community and taste some great food and wine. If you're local to the area or in town then, don't miss this!

Event site - www.winequest.org/events.html

Organization site - www.questinc.org

Quest is a United Way agency and CARF-accredited service provider.