Anderson Island - The Wine

My friends and I will use most any excuse to get together, but the reason for this weekend was all about the wine!  The last time we got together for dinner it seemed like all of us were asking our wine expert (she's an expert because she knows more than us) Sherri about wine.  She suggested we get together for a wine tasting.  We decided to make a weekend of it!

We were instructed to each bring a bottle of our choice, in the $15-$20 range.  Since I like reds and tend to like Merlot better than others that's what I went with.  All of the wine turned out being red, but mostly blends and Kristin brought a $50 bottle, just to see if we could notice a difference.  To take bias out of it we covered all the bottles in brown paper bags and did a blind taste test.

 

 

Sherri brought these very cool glasses...

 

She also brought this...

 

The flavor wheel had all kinds of possible flavors you might smell or taste in your wine.  Did you know you're supposed to smell the wine before you drink?

 

Jennifer is smelling and Sherri is explaining.   Sherri gave us all note paper so we could take notes on each wine.  We recorded smell, taste, finish, legs... Did you know wine has legs?!  I will never have a glass of wine again without looking at it's legs.  To see the legs you swirl it in the glass and watch how it slides down the edge of the glass when you stop swirling.  Some legs will be thick and travel slowly, one of the wines had almost no legs and they separated when moving.  I don't think that's something you want the legs of your wine to do.  Some wines will also color the glass slightly.  Next time you have a glass of red, check it out!  Of course most of you are probably already wine savvy and already knew about smelling and legs.  I'm a little slow sometimes.

Initially I was completely lost.  The first wine smelled, well... it burned my nose.  (That's not me in the picture, but I'm sure I had the same face!)  I didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing, but I went with it.  I couldn't really taste anything specific, except it was spicy.  I thought I smelled pear, but I couldn't be sure.  Number two was very similar to the first one, I really couldn't taste any difference.  I was really hoping I wasn't wine illiterate.  It turns out I wasn't, number three was much different!  It was delicious!  I tasted apricot, it was smooth and had no burn.  It also tasted a little green to me.

Number four was shockingly icky!  I thought it tasted, according to the taste wheel, like petrol (yes the fuel).  It turned out being the worst tasting one to me.  Interestingly the next day I sampled it and it tasted great!  Go figure!

We continued on through all eight wines.  The reveal was very fun!  There were three stand outs for me, including the $50 bottle made by Spring Valley called Frederick.  I also enjoyed a wine from the Columbia Valley made by Dunham Cellars called Trutina.  For a surprise Sherri brought a red Zinfandel made by Rocking Z, it was very tasty!

We decided that next time we will do the tasting by grapes?  It think that's what you call it when you pick one kind, like all Merlot or all Syrah.  I'm just excited there will be a next time!!!

Here's my note page.  Please don't mind the messiness or how I wrote less and less and the tasting when on.

Sherri if you're reading, you'll be interested to hear that I tried some of the Ghost Pines Merlot last night and I liked it!  Wine is crazy, or maybe it's my taste buds.

Until next time my friends, CHEERS!

Comments

[Julie]

I think maybe the reason you like the wine the next better, is that it had more time too breath.

Some wines, I believe ( I'm not an expert mind you) need time to breath b/f drinking especially reds.

I wished I lived closer, I would love to be w/ you all at the next wine tasting.

[The Incredible Woody]

What a fun time!! I had no idea wine had legs - I'm a little slow too.

[Meg]

Thanks for the wine lesson. I'm a white wine drinker, but I keep thinking one day I'll be adventurous and try something new...like a red. Glad you learned something new, too.

[♥Tracey♥]

I am not a wine fan, but I would be happy to hang with the girls for any reason! Looks like fun!

[noble pig]

I studied under the professor at UC Davis who invented the wine aroma wheel, Dr. Ann Noble when I did my viticulture and enology degree. Yes, always swirl and smell the wine first, this is why you never pour a full glass.

And wine can smell like petroleum. The most common being Riesling made in Germany. I have had many petroleum wines and the odor usually blows off but can also be a good thing.

Sounds like you had a fun time with this.

[Snooty Primadona]

I love it that you received some schooling in wine. Years ago we had been part of a wine tasting club & always had a blast while learning & tasting the wines. We'd always cleanse our pallets with sorbet between different bottles, which really helped.

I've also found that I detest a wine with some foods & adore it with others. But, that is the way some wines are.

[Mental P Mama]

LOL. I like your last one: "burns nose"

I don't know if I would have been able to keep taking notes!