Cincinnati Intl Wine Fest

A few thoughts this year, first, I seem to have been excited about the right things. The ability to try different style of the same grape within seconds of each other is one of the key opportunities of the wine festival. For example, I was able to taste the Simi Sauvignon Blanc, a nice example of Californian style SB, and across the aisle was Thorny Rose,  which had a very nice counter example of New Zealand styled SB. The grassiness was even more pronounced when directly compared with the more acidic California counterpart.

If you are looking for a really nice selection of Rieslings from different regions and sweetness, Schmitt Sohne and Estates (booth 107) had a very nice selection of 5 different wines.

The still Pedro (booth 2) was a really nice wine and helps to show another side to what is usually made into sherry. McNab (booth 28) was as solid as always and highly recommended for a stop. Valeta had a Vijiriega that was a nice native Spanish grape that I had never tried before. It had a distinct mineral flavor that helps to showcase something unique to the region.

The sparkling wines were worth their own pass, but were mostly in the lower numbered booths. Vinum (booth 7) had a very nice showing with both their sparkling and a nice rhone based white wine. Across the aisle, Terry Theise selections had two examples of grower Champagne that helped to show the difference between a wine with Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir as the lead varietal.

Cutting Edge (especially booth 32) showcased a rather wide selection of wines. The 2011 wines from the pacific northwest were all tasting extremely well. The Four Grace Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris were both examples of this well made wine from that year. Learning more about the overall growing season from 2011, makes me interested in what other wines I can find from that year to try.

Michael David (booth 38) also had a very strong showing of their selection. Petite Petite, Rage, and Incognito were all very good. Ferrari Carrano (booth 42) had a very nice “patio pounder” with BellaLuce. It was also a part of a large number of stainless steel fermented wines. Oak seemed to be less of a consideration from most places that focused on having the grape do most of the work. Trinchero (booth 76) also provided a nice range of red wines.

To end the tasting, I would recommend Wineworth Importers (at booth 6) to try through a really nice selection of ports. The ten year old, which can be found in half bottles for around $20 in Kentucky, had a great almond flavor. When you get to the vintage 1996 port, the nuttiness and sweetness become apparent. I also learned that they avoid loosing large amounts of the vintage by combining barrels and reducing the amount of exposure to the air. This means that one barrel was sacrificed every few years to top off the others. It was a new piece of information for me.

I tried to get to as many different places as possible, what did I miss? Was there another star of the show? Let me know in the comments,

I’m happy to see what everyone else enjoyed.

Celeb Wines

Stop the presses! Brad and Angelina are releasing their very own vino. No doubt they can as they own a 1,000-acre estate in Southwestern France. Plus they’re rich and famous.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt will release a 2012 vintage pink rosé, Miraval, sometime in mid-March – the grapes harvested from their vineyards in France. The wine, named after Pitt and Jolie’s Chateau, is a result of a partnership with French winegrower Marc Perrin.

Plans are already underway to release white wines this summer. Will you try the power couple’s new wines?

Wine-Flavored Teas

If you like tea and wine, this just may be your drink. I saw this in the March issue of InStyle Magazine – wine-flavored tea. Vintage TeaWorks makes a variety of loose teas in celebration of several wine flavors, including:

• White Tea Riesling
• Oolong Chardonnay
• Green Tea Sauvignon
• Rooibos Noir
• Black Tea Merlot
• Pu-erh Cabernet

Each canister makes about 30 to 35 cups and price range is $15.99-$18.99. www.vintageteaworks.com.

FREE Friday Aisle Tastings at The Party Source

This Friday, February 22, The Party Source in Bellevue continues their Friday Wine in the Aisles Tastings. This week they will be pouring several Zinfandels and Zinfandel-based blends.

The Friday series takes place from 4-8 p.m. The tastings are free and no reservations are required. Here is a list of the next four tastings and the wines that will be featured:

February 22 – Zinfandels
March 1 – Chilean wines
March 8 - International wines & wines from Kentucky’s Lover’s Leap Winery
March 15 - South African wines

For details about these and other Wine Tastings happening at the Party Source, visit their website.

We recently had family in town – my husband’s brother and his family. Neil is a wine aficionado like me, and was thoughtful enough to bring some of his favorite wine to share.

Ghost Pines 2010 Merlot ($15-$17) is big and bold with dense flavors of black cherry, ripe mixed berries and hints of chocolate and toffee. This is a fat and juicy wine, not too tannic.

It’s smoother than most Merlots that I’ve tried – and I don’t drink Merlot very often – with a fairly long finish. It had a little bit of a sour aftertaste for me, but not enough to ruin the experience.

This winemaker’s blend features grapes from the winegrowing areas of Sonoma and Napa Counties, aged in French and American Oak.

If I were to buy a Merlot to keep in my wine reserve, this one would be at the top of my list. Thanks, Neil, for introducing me to to this wine.

Pinot Meunier is the other red grape used in the production of Champagne. In fact, it accounts for roughly 40% of the total plantings of vines in that region. The two “noble” grapes of Chardonnay (found alone in Blanc de Blanc) and Pinot Noir (found alone in Blanc de Noir – usually. This can also have Meunier as Cresta has explained) have long overshadowed the humble Meunier. If you have tried all three type of Champagne and not found the same sharpness or acidity in either of the sole varietal versions, what you are noticing is the Meunier. American and Australian bubbly producers also grow Meunier to help produce an offering closer to the traditional Champagne.

The flavor when produced alone produces a jammy wines with moderate acidity and low tannin. It makes a very nice drink now wine that usually doesn’t need a large amount of time to open up. There are very few producers who make a still version of Meunier and even fewer who make a sparkling version. Chandon, Eyrie, Wilakenzi, and Bouchaine are a few of the wineries who produce a still version. Chandon is usually available in Kentucky and Ohio. The rest might need to be a special order from you local wine store or a direct order from the winery. The only sparkling version of Meunier I have had was at the 2012 Cincinnati Wine Festival. It was imported by Terry Theise can called Aubry Brut, sadly that is the extent of my notes on that selection.

Personally, I enjoy the sharpness of the Meunier on its own. It provides a balance lending towards acidity with enough tannic structure to make a nice wine that is easily paired with lighter foods. If you get the chance to try one of these, take it. Especially if you like Champagne or want to taste one part alone from the others to try and see if you can tell the make up the next time you try some bubbly.

Thanks to Alphonse at DEPS Fine Winne, Kevin at Party Source, David at Water Tower Fine Wines, and JP at Party Town for their help with this article. Please support your local wine shops and any of these four folks will be more than happy to help you find some unusal wines if you stop in and see them.

Castillo de Monjardin La Cantera 2009, another selection from our wine club, is a delicious rich, fruity wine.

Garnacha (knowns as Grenache in France) is the most widely planted grape in Spain. Because it is not a very acidic or tannic variety, Garnacha is typically blended with other grapes, such as Tempranillo and Syrah.

This wine is 100% Garnacha.

Bright ruby in color and very aromatic. It is very easy to drink. Fruity, yet earthy, filled with the taste of raspberries and currants and a little bit of spice. Aged in an oak barrel for six months, this wine has a nice structure. I definitely recommend it.

I believe you can purchase for somewhere between $10 and $12.

Growing up under a successful watercolor artist (my mom) I was constantly surrounded by all types of artist and art. I love the fact that when wine comes together with art it makes me all giddy inside. That’s what I thought about when I tried Ed Hardy wines for the first time…now I know a lot of you out there are saying oh yeah the guy that makes the loud t-shirts.

I must admit I’ve always loved his color choices and his tattoo art. When I heard about his wines I didn’t want to try them, I thought they were probably over done and they’re just out there for the name. But recently I hosted a wine tasting and one of the wines was the Ed Hardy Moscato. I really enjoyed it, it was a drier moscato not a typical sugary sweet Californian Moscato. It had tastes of peach and melon and it was refreshing. I looked at the label and saw that the grapes were grown and bottled in France. The price was right too: $7.99 a bottle.

After trying that I bought a different wine, the demi-sec Diamond Sparkling Rose`. Great wine it wasn’t bitter and it wasn’t sweet it was a blend of dry with a hint of sweet. The blend of Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, and Pinot Noir tasted perfect, this was light with a hint of cream, berries, and a little yeast after taste.

Now with this being said, I haven’t tried any of the other wines. I believe I like these 2 wines because they are inexpensive, light, and you do not have to over think them. Plus they are pretty bottles to look at after you’re finished with them. Great wines for a night with friends. What’s your thoughts on Ed Hardy Wine please give me some feed back on the other wines.

A couple of weeks ago Cresta shared with us that Aldi Grocery stores sell wines. I thought I would check it out, and what I found was a pretty great deal. I purchased 4 different bottles of wines from Aldi all priced under $7; none of the other wines were over $9. Here’s my reviews of the 4 wines I purchased.

• Landshut Riesling $5.99 – Had a wonderful floral bouquet with tastes of honey and sweet melon. I would have to agree with Cresta that this is a very sweet Riesling but this would be perfect if your having asian spicy foods. This wine would pair with spicy Thai foods, hearty seafood stew, or served as a great desert wine.
• Villa Malizia Pinot Grigio $5.99 – A very light and crisp Pinot Grigio that had tastes of citrus and pear. It actually tasted better after it warmed up a little. (I decided stop chilling and drink it at room temperature.) This is a great summer wine that you can pair with salads, fish dishes, and light pasta dishes. I really enjoyed this Pinot Grigio.
• Gonfalone Chianti $6.79 – This is not your typical Chianti, it was very light but with some tannins and had tastes of smoke and leather. It was light like a Pinot Noir but had some characteristics of a Syrah. I personally didn’t enjoy it BUT if you are into a light Pinot Noir then this is your bottle to buy.
• Toca Diamonte Malbec $5.99 – This by far was my favorite one. The bouquet was black cherry and a hint of floral and tastes of clove, oak, berry, and black cherry. I really enjoyed this wine, I wanted to grill a steak after having a few sips of the wine. This would definitely compliment a great steak, hearty pasta dishes, or just drank alone with friends. If you’re into big hearty wines this is a great one for the price.

I can’t wait to go back and try other wines that Aldi has to offer. If you have an Aldi Grocery store in your neighborhood just remember you can pick up some wine for dinner while you’re grocery shopping.

On the drive across Kansas, a state that seems to be roughly 12,000 miles across, Michelle and I noticed a billboard for the Oz Museum. With her love of the Wizard of Oz and my desire to not be in the car for a few minutes, we decided to make a small detour to Wamego, KS. Wamego was a very nice little town and in addition to having coffee at The Daily Grind, next door was the Oz Winery.

The winery offers free samples while they are open and this gave us a chance to try what they had to offer. The dry whites were tasty, especially the Poppy Fields, a balanced Pinot Gris. The wine was well made and we ended up with a few bottles.

Oz Winery is worth a stop for anyone on their way through the Sunflower State.

And if you want to know more about our cross-country road trip, from Cincinnati to San Francisco, you can follow along over on the Posterous Blog.

]]> http://www.wine-girl.net/2011/09/oz-winery.html/feed 0 http://www.wine-girl.net/2011/06/think-pink-2008-belle-glos-pinot-noir-blanc.html http://www.wine-girl.net/2011/06/think-pink-2008-belle-glos-pinot-noir-blanc.html#comments Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:58:52 +0000 Michelle http://www.wine-girl.net/?p=3108 The last rose I’m sharing with you is probably my favorite rosé of all time, period. It tastes more expensive than it is … it looks more expensive than it is.

2008 Belle Glos Pinot Noir Blanc, Mendocino County, California
$18.99, Water Tower Fine Wines

Have you heard of Caymus? They’re rather well known for their Cabernet. So well known, in fact, that in order to focus on some rather nice Pinot Noir, the winemaker had to open a separate winery. In 2001, that’s how Belle Glos came to be.

Belle Glos is distinctive for its wax-dipped bottles, a la Maker’s Mark. The Pinot Noirs all have a dark red wax, but this rosé sports a brilliant pink. It’s actually a gorgeous bottle. I had to have it as soon as I saw it in the store. (The wax has a pull tab, making it easy to remove from the top. A tip: don’t stick it in the freezer.)

The wine has a wonderful aroma of flowers and wild strawberries. You can see in the photo that the wine itself is almost a jewel-tone. The rosé is made from pinot noir, which is my favorite red grape.

I’ve never said this about a rosé before, but this is a sexy rosé. It makes sense, as pinot noir can be one of the most sensuous wines around, but rosé? My hats off to the winemaker. This has a lot of big dark berries and just a kiss of strawberry.

This isn’t one of those light, prissy rosés; this wine has some heft to it. We drank it solo, but I bet it would also prove to be an excellent food wine, holding up to some heavier pairings.

Enjoy!

My review:

$10.99, Water Tower Fine Wines

Grenache, also called Garnacha, is one of the most widely planted red grape varietials, and is the most widely planted grape in Spain. Grenache is often found in Southern Rhône wines, which explains my fondness for it. I do love my Rhône. In fact, Grenache is often at least 80% of the blend of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

The Artazuri rosé has this amazing bright color. It’s not really captured in the above photo, but it’s sort of the pink of my pinkest Playgirl Floribunda roses I planted outside our house, or the pinkest hibiscus flower. It’s pretty darn close to red, while still retaining all it’s pinkness.

On the nose there is a lot of flower and mineral, partnered by raspberry. Kevin commented that the nose was reminiscent of homemade raspberry pancake syrup.

It’s not a hefty rosé. Instead, it’s light and airy, calling out to be paired with seafood on a hot and sunny day. It’s filled with raspberries and some cherry and it goes down fast. Really fast. Kevin and I rarely finish an entire bottle of wine on the first night anymore, but I handily polished this one off.  As for Kevin? He had a glass or so, and he admitted it was good. But it wasn’t his kind of wine – it didn’t tap into his inner pink as our previous rosé had. He likes his pink wines to be less light and more heavy.

Our ratings:
Michelle  Kevin