I am a firm believer that if you treat people right and expect the best in people the world rewards you two fold. This is one of those stories. A story about reconnection, place, and about the forming of my trip to France.
I made my first trip back to Healdsburg to reconnect with the winery, Bruce (whom I stayed with during harvest), and to check out the Culinary Institute of America where I will spending an entire month immersed in wine, haha, ok well its called wine immersion which is a 30 day course in wine, wine 8 - 5! And get this, for breakfast, lunch, and later when the desert class starts, we will be guinea pigs for the training chefs! The campus is amazing., it's the old Christian Brothers winery built maybe sometime in the 1930s. Its made from all grey stone, which is probably why it is called CIA Greystone! A very cool place and I can't wait to start my classes.
Upon arriving in Healdsburg a sense of nostalgia washed over me, thinking of the farmers market in summer, the great people, the winery, harvest, and everything I encountered while I was living up there. There have not been many places where I have ever felt like, wow, I could live here for the long term. I have lived/visited in some great cities and have had fun in them (Washington, D.C., Manhattan, Milwaukee, and Denver). However, none of them (except Denver) have left me with the sense of HOME. Even though I spent nearly 4 years in Washington, D.C. it never felt like home. Again, I had a lot of fun there and miss my friends dearly. California on the other hand fells like home to me, specifically, San Francisco and Healdsburg. Finally, after searching my entire adult life searching for place (and profession), I think I have found it!
Anyways..... I returned home after visiting with the aforementioned places and people. About a week later, the tasting room manager at the winery called me and asked if I would want to work in the tasting room. We began talking about my trip to France and making sure that they knew I would be gone for that month. She mentioned that she knew someone in Southern Rhone who wrote a French blog, I said "French Word of the Day?" She, "Yes!" I couldn't believe it, I have been an avid reader of the blog for the last year, such a small world. She said, "they are a wonderful family and just email her." Also, the family owns a winery, Domaine Rouge-Bleu!! To make a long story short, I emailed Kristin, author of the blog, and she replied the next day with, "we'd love to have you by the winery!!" I was so excited, still am, she also threw in there, "too bad you won't be here in September to help with harvest".....hmmmmmm! Woooooooooo! France, only 3 months away. The 3 of us on the trip, keep going back and forth..... are we going to come back? To put this trip into perspective I did a little calculation, if we average 8 wineries a day and assuming they pour 4 different wines, we will have tasted over 900 unique wines during the trip. Holy guacamole batman that's a lot.
I'm in the process of moving back to Healdsburg for class so I haven't been able to post a new tasting note. I start class on Tuesday!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
2008 Mountfair Inaugural, Virginia
A couple things to start off. I'm trying desperately to keep up with my tasting notes every Wednesday, please excuse my tardiness. I don't know why, days now, just seem to fly by (man I love when I rhyme)! Between planning the trip to France, learning to cook, learning French, researching starting a business, drinking wine, eating at restaurants, working in the tasting room at the winery, I am barely keeping my head above water, I think I need a shallower pool. Whoa is me, haha, not really, life is great!
I was looking back through my tasting book and I stumbled on some early tasting notes, while I will admit I am certainly still an amateur (hence the Wine Immersion at CIA) this tasting note is one of my earliest and around when I decided to pursue wine full on.
There seems to be a lot going on in the world of viticulture in the United States. As we are a fairly young nation compared to the rest of the world, so is our viticulture. Yes, we have California, and have Oregon and Washington State however there seems to be new plantings and vines coming to age in places like Virginia (tasted), Arizona (tasted), Texas Hill Country (haven't tasted) to name a few. The wine I am about to talk about is from Virginia, specifically just west of Charlottesville. Thomas Jefferson had struggled to grow vines at his Monticello estate (which is beautiful). There seems to be a new lease on the wine coming from Virginia. If I recall this Mountfair that I tried was the wineries first efforts hence the name Inaugural I suppose.
2008 Mountfair Inaugural, Cabernet Franc/Merlot, Monticello, Virginia
consumed sometime in 2009, $20.00
If I recall this wine was pretty good for the price and I probably drank it way too young. A blend of 66% Cabernet Franc and 34% Merlot sweet, plum, vegetative (from the Cab Franc), spice, a little damp earth. A nice ripe fruit blast in the front palate, mid and finish were lacking. I wrote down that it was quite oakey, possibly too much oak? For the price of $20.00, I called it a good buy.
For all of you east coasters near Virginia, here are a couple wineries I remember liking and that I'd love to revisit so send me some!! Barboursville winery (Barboursville Wine), Virginia, try their Octagon, I remember it being pretty dang good back then. Also, try Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, Maryland, west of Washington, D.C. maybe two hours (Sugarloaf Winery). Happy tasting and Happy Friday!
I was looking back through my tasting book and I stumbled on some early tasting notes, while I will admit I am certainly still an amateur (hence the Wine Immersion at CIA) this tasting note is one of my earliest and around when I decided to pursue wine full on.
There seems to be a lot going on in the world of viticulture in the United States. As we are a fairly young nation compared to the rest of the world, so is our viticulture. Yes, we have California, and have Oregon and Washington State however there seems to be new plantings and vines coming to age in places like Virginia (tasted), Arizona (tasted), Texas Hill Country (haven't tasted) to name a few. The wine I am about to talk about is from Virginia, specifically just west of Charlottesville. Thomas Jefferson had struggled to grow vines at his Monticello estate (which is beautiful). There seems to be a new lease on the wine coming from Virginia. If I recall this Mountfair that I tried was the wineries first efforts hence the name Inaugural I suppose.
2008 Mountfair Inaugural, Cabernet Franc/Merlot, Monticello, Virginia
consumed sometime in 2009, $20.00
If I recall this wine was pretty good for the price and I probably drank it way too young. A blend of 66% Cabernet Franc and 34% Merlot sweet, plum, vegetative (from the Cab Franc), spice, a little damp earth. A nice ripe fruit blast in the front palate, mid and finish were lacking. I wrote down that it was quite oakey, possibly too much oak? For the price of $20.00, I called it a good buy.
For all of you east coasters near Virginia, here are a couple wineries I remember liking and that I'd love to revisit so send me some!! Barboursville winery (Barboursville Wine), Virginia, try their Octagon, I remember it being pretty dang good back then. Also, try Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, Maryland, west of Washington, D.C. maybe two hours (Sugarloaf Winery). Happy tasting and Happy Friday!
 |
| Sugarloaf Mountain Winery |
 |
| Sugarloaf Mountain Winery |
Friday, February 11, 2011
2006 Saint Damien, Gigondas
2006 Saint Damien, Southern Rhone Blend, Gigondas, France
consumed February 2011 with family, Retail $29.99
This wine was a purchase on a whim really. I had never heard of the winery and did absolutely zero research on the winery itself. A total impulse buy, part of a bigger buy from one of my favorite wine shops. They were having a bin clearance so I purchased the wine for a really good deal. The price above reflects what retail is currently according to some online sites.
A stunning wine from the Southern Rhone and is on the list of wineries to visit on my trip! Unlike the Northern Rhone which is comprised of 100% Syrah, the Southern Rhone is typically blended with any combination of 13 red grapes. In Gigondas, the wines can be made with a maximum of 80% Grenache, a maximum of 10% of other Rhone varietals minus Carignan, and a minimum of 15% Syrah and/or Mourvedre (Gigondas AOC)
The Saint Damien (Vieilles Vignes, they have multiple wines, this is their 'base' wine) is a beautiful full bodied powerful but restrained wine. It is a blend of 80% Grenache and 20% Mourvedre, yes, no Syrah which is typically in Rhone wine both North and South. Prior to drinking the wine I had no idea what the blend was but assumed that there was at least some Syrah in it. Upon opening the wine it was rich, red fruit, blueberry, raspberry, and jammy. A deep intense maroon color, quite opaque, full in the mouth, with a nice smooth structure, and a peppery/fruity mid palate and finish. After tasting and smelling the wine I realized that it was different, I noted that it was different from Syrah, is Syrah in the wine? As mentioned above, no, there wasn't any which explains how the wine was totally different than anything I have tasted. I have noticed that typically a jammy noise with a lot of fruit like this wine is typically high in alcohol. Unfortunately, I didn't write down what the alcohol content was on this wine but I can say that it was beautifully balanced and not too overpowering. Don't get me wrong it's a bold wine and would likely go with gamey meat or simply a nice steak. I will say that the 2006 was still quite tannic and probably could age for sometime if you're willing to wait. I couldn't!
****
consumed February 2011 with family, Retail $29.99
This wine was a purchase on a whim really. I had never heard of the winery and did absolutely zero research on the winery itself. A total impulse buy, part of a bigger buy from one of my favorite wine shops. They were having a bin clearance so I purchased the wine for a really good deal. The price above reflects what retail is currently according to some online sites.
A stunning wine from the Southern Rhone and is on the list of wineries to visit on my trip! Unlike the Northern Rhone which is comprised of 100% Syrah, the Southern Rhone is typically blended with any combination of 13 red grapes. In Gigondas, the wines can be made with a maximum of 80% Grenache, a maximum of 10% of other Rhone varietals minus Carignan, and a minimum of 15% Syrah and/or Mourvedre (Gigondas AOC)
The Saint Damien (Vieilles Vignes, they have multiple wines, this is their 'base' wine) is a beautiful full bodied powerful but restrained wine. It is a blend of 80% Grenache and 20% Mourvedre, yes, no Syrah which is typically in Rhone wine both North and South. Prior to drinking the wine I had no idea what the blend was but assumed that there was at least some Syrah in it. Upon opening the wine it was rich, red fruit, blueberry, raspberry, and jammy. A deep intense maroon color, quite opaque, full in the mouth, with a nice smooth structure, and a peppery/fruity mid palate and finish. After tasting and smelling the wine I realized that it was different, I noted that it was different from Syrah, is Syrah in the wine? As mentioned above, no, there wasn't any which explains how the wine was totally different than anything I have tasted. I have noticed that typically a jammy noise with a lot of fruit like this wine is typically high in alcohol. Unfortunately, I didn't write down what the alcohol content was on this wine but I can say that it was beautifully balanced and not too overpowering. Don't get me wrong it's a bold wine and would likely go with gamey meat or simply a nice steak. I will say that the 2006 was still quite tannic and probably could age for sometime if you're willing to wait. I couldn't!
****
Thursday, February 3, 2011
2009 Layer Cake, Shiraz (G's Tasting Series)
2009 Layer Cake, Shiraz, Australia
consumed January 2011, with family, Retail $12.99
I don't even know where to start with this, this is going to be a quick post. I love the idea of trying to find deals that also are descent wines. This is not one of them. The wine was unbalanced (too much acid), "hot" (too much alcohol), and nothing really going on. I am sure there a tons of Syrah (Shiraz is Syrah) out there for that price and at a higher quality. I will be on a quest to find that. Look for a post coming sometime in the future about a Syrah or Shiraz for 12.99 or lower that will be worth buying.
Until then happy hunting!
consumed January 2011, with family, Retail $12.99
I don't even know where to start with this, this is going to be a quick post. I love the idea of trying to find deals that also are descent wines. This is not one of them. The wine was unbalanced (too much acid), "hot" (too much alcohol), and nothing really going on. I am sure there a tons of Syrah (Shiraz is Syrah) out there for that price and at a higher quality. I will be on a quest to find that. Look for a post coming sometime in the future about a Syrah or Shiraz for 12.99 or lower that will be worth buying.
Until then happy hunting!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)