Wine Tasting Experience

Last week, we decided to open the last of the bottles that were received as gifts for the house warming.
We got 4 bottles then: French Cabernet Sauvignon, Californian mix of Tempranillo and Shiraz,
Italian Sparkling and German Reizling.
Imagine my disappointment when 3 out 4 bottles went bad.
So here I am, writing about the remaining bottle, that luckily survived.

WEINGUT EUGEN WEHRHEIM
2007er
Niersteiner Bildstock
Riesling Kabinett
Germany

When I opened the bottle, it had a sweet smell of honey.
And the taste reminds me of pears and honeydew melons.
It is really a very simple and refreshing wine, that can go with any food.
Though my first choice would be to pair it with fruits for desert.
I would recommend German Riezling as a good gift to people who don't have much knowledge about wines.
It is a good wine to start from.
You can get it in any wine store, or online for $14-17.

Protocolo
Vino De La Tierra De Castilla
2007
Tempranillo grapes
$8 a bottle.

I found this wine in a local wine and beer store 2 blocks away from my house.
When I opened it at home the first thing I smelled was grapes left in the sun for a few hours after picking them, and berries. It has a great sweet smell. But when I took the first sip it wasn't sweet at all. In fact it's a little dry, but not to much. The kind of dry that you can have more than one glass, but you can't drink it too fast. What I really like about this wine is that the usual wines made from Tempranillo grapes are usually a little overwhelming in flavor and you can't really enjoy food with them. They demand all the attention. This wine doesn't.
I think it would be a great table wine that will go along with almost any meat. I would also serve it with hard cheese such as Spanish Munchego.

This was the first official Wine Tasting event I went to. The event was held in the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.
The most important thing I learned: If you have 600 wines to taste, you HAVE to spit the wine. Frankly I felt really uncomfortable doing that. The result was, after tasting 30 wines I went home. With a headache.

But that didn't make the event less exciting for me. It was Incredible!!!!
So here is the list of the wines I got to taste:

Chardonnay Urraca 2007 - Argentina. Very smooth and fruity (which is a great deal for me because most of the Chardonnays I tried had this terrible oaky flavor) So here is my advice for choosing a good smooth Chardonnay. As young as possible. Not more than 2 years old, and preferably to come from either Argentina or Upstate NY. Will go great with some soft cheese such as Camembert or some shrimp. In general it's a really pleasant table wine.

Niege Apple Ice Wine NV (No Vintage year) - Canada. This one is like a great sparkling juice. It is very unique. And it will go great with desert and berries. This was the first apple ice wine I tried and to tell you the truth I wasn't amazed. I would serve it only when I make a really sweet desert table, then this wine will be a great adding.

Bodvin/ Aranydukat - Tokaji Sarga Muskotaly - Hungary. It has a wonderful smell of grapefruit and passion fruit. There is a slight bitter after taste left in my mouth which again reminded me of grapefruit (I'm not a big fan of this fruit). But in general it's very refreshing. Would be great to serve on a hot summer day with desert.

Groote Post - The Old Man's Blend 2007 - South Africa. This wine has a very unique biting flavor. The smell reminded me of the ocean. It was interesting to try it. Can't really imagine what to serve it with.

Arrogant, Frog - Lily Pad Noir - France - 2007. Made from Pinot Noir grapes. Now I am not a really big fan of French wines or the Pinot Noir grape. Because usually they are complex and most of them leave a heavy after taste. But this one was surprisingly light and very smooth to drink. It had no after taste. I would take a bottle of this for an informal dinner. I think I would serve it with baked chicken or even some types of fish (maybe tuna) would go well here.

Cresde Montpellier - France 2007. Made with Mourvedre, Syrah and Grenache grapes. Has a strong scent of berries (which is my favorite thing). Very fruity. Also has an after taste of berries. Great wine to serve with a plate of soft cheese.

Boe 2007 Social Club White - Brooklyn NY. Did you know there was a winery in Brooklyn? That was new to me, and I lived there :). But in overall it was a great wine. Made of Chardonnay grapes I can't really call it Chardonnay because it had a totally none Chardonnay flavor. This one was really fruity. And after I took the first sip I had an after taste of oranges left in my mouth. Really great table wine. Just make sure you get more than one bottle, because it goes away fast.

Boe 2007 Viognier - Brooklyn, NY. O.k so here's another great white from the Boe winery. Made with Viognier grapes this wine was light, smooth to drink and had a slightly sweet after taste. Just keep a bottle of this wine in the fridge for that hot day, when you can sit on a balcony or a back yard and enjoy a glass of chilled white wine.

Atwater Estate Winery - Dry Riesling - NYS 2007. If there was one area that really surprised me with quality wines it was Upstate New York. And here is a great example of one of the wonderful wines coming from there. This Dry Riesling was very pleasant to drink though it was less sweet than most of the German Rieslings (and I have great respect and love for true German Riesling). But what really caught me about this one was the after taste of honey. It was really pleasant. So in general it is a great table wine. You can serve it with a good meal. I personally think it will go well with any fish, and chicken. Also I would consider serving it with a platter of really sweet fruit.

Riesling - Ravines Winery - NYS 2007. Another great example of god Riesling from Upstate New York. Less dry, Also has a sweet after taste which I love. As to pairing with food the same as the previous wine.

Gewurztraminer - Atwater Estate Winery - NYS 2007. I read a lot about this grape type and was very excited to finally find it. It's not popular, but it has a really unique flavor. It reminds the Riesling by smell and taste, though it's a little dryer. But the wonderful thing about this one is that it has an amazing after taste of apples and pears. Definitely was one of my favorite wines there.

Foss Marai - Roos (which means Rose) - Brut - Italy 2007. Made mostly of local grape types (which were too hard to pronounce), and Sangiovese. Classic Italian sparkling wine. Slightly Sweet. Very pleasant to drink. But If you open it, make sure you have someone to get you home or better that you're at home.

Foss Marai - Cuvee - Brut - Italy NV. Basically very very similar to the previous wine. Just white.

Vina Costeira - Ribeiro - Spain 2007. This wine was slightly sweet. Would be a great wine to open with a plate of hard cheese.

Naranja. This was a SUPER SWEET orange wine. I really don't know what they intended this wine to be served with and I don't see myself buy it in the near future. But definitely an interesting experience.

Vino Verde - Jose Maria - Portugal 2007. Interesting wine. Smells like chardonnay, and has a similar sour after taste on the first sip. But it was less sour and it was smoother. Didn't like it that much, but if you are a Chardonnay lover and want to try something new but similar, that's the wine for you.

Bodegas Lopez Mercier - La Mancha, Torre de Rojas - Spain 2005. This was a Rose wine made of Tempranillo grapes. Now I'm a really big fan of the Spanish Tempranillo and I truly believed that tempranillo should be only red. But this wine was surprisingly good. It was light and refreshing. A very nice Rose wine with a great smell that only tempranillo wines have.

Now I know that some of the wines have more information than others. I hope that regardless you still enjoyed reading it and that I inspired you to try at least one of these. I'm also sure that there were dozens of other wines that I just didn't have a chance to try that were not less good. I will really appreciate any comments you have.

Name: Portrait of a Mutt
Winery: Mutt Lynch
Where from: USA, California state, Sonoma County
Year: 2006
Grapes: Zinfandel
Average price: $10-13.

I LOVE a bottle of young zinfandel. It just has this spicy, young spirit. And this bottle that I opened yesterday will be added to my list of great wines. When I opened it, the first thing I smelled were spices and a little caramel. I really wasn't sure about the caramel, so I left one glass of wine on the counter for the night. Now, 24 hours after opening it, I can clearly smell the caramel.
The taste is really amazing. It is young, and fresh and I could imagine a great stew like the french Boeuf Bourguignonne coming along with it.
I would serve this wine with beef or lamb. Made in any recipe. But I don't think it will go well with chicken, or turkey. The spices really dominate in this wine and it needs to be compared with an equally strong dish.
Enjoy