Wedding Wine: 2005 Joseph Swan Trenton Estate Vineyards Pinot Noir

Last night Erica had the bottle of wine James from Spec's in The Woodlands chose for our wedding.

This was unlike most Pinot Noir I have had recently. This was a more traditional pinot. This wine was delicious. Make sure you decant this wine, when first opened it was tight. After 2.5- 3 hours in the decanter and a few trips threw the Vinturi this wine really came alive and continued to evolve with each pour. On the palate bright red fruit (think cherries) with hints of leather, spices and the mineral/earthiness of a traditional Burgundy. This wine truly covers the entire palate. The balance between acid, fruit and tannin was very well done. This was a special wine.

Cheers!

Just Another Friday Night!!!

Tonight we tried 2 new wines:

Camraderie Cab Franc: Great wine from Washington State, big flavor up front almost reminded me of eating Pomegranate Seeds. (Will Buy Again)

Orin Swift Abstract: Blend of Grenache/Syrah/Petite Sirah, Scored 92 by Specatator. Flavor and nose were amazing (Wild Berry and Sage). A must buy!!

Plan on having a big night tonight, Cheers!!!

Wine By The Glass

Made a quick stop in 2900 the other day for a glass of wine and appetizer. To my surprise they had changed up the by the glass menu, ended up trying a Freemark Abbey Merlot. Dont know the year but will get more details on it soon. It was great, tasted it with Sopes.

Winter Warmer

There is nothing better when it is 10 degrees outside than a nice, sauvignon blanc. Last night we drank the 2009 Villa Maria cellar series. It was a great wine. Light and crisp with flavors and aromas of tropical fruit, especially passion fruit. Will definitely get a few more bottles when summer rolls around.

It was a 5 for 5 Weekend

I was able to taste 5 wines this weekend, and all although very different were spectacular in their own way.

1) Chalone Vineyard 2008 Syrah: I stopped by World Market Friday afternoon and saw this normally priced Syrah ($24.99) on sale for $10. As much as I love Syrah I figured at worst I could cook with it. Well lucky me it was great, typical Blueberries and Spice but great everyday wine for the price. I went back Saturday and bought 4 not realizing this saved me another 20% the total came to $8.38 a bottle. Think we found a new everyday wine.

2) Murphy Goode 2003 "Wild Card" Claret: Yes 2003 and Oldie but a "Goode", brought this home from Houston during Christmas. I didn't know what to expect, but after about an hour in the decanter I was pleasantly surprised. The color on it was closer to Amber rather than the typical bright red berries, pretty neat to see a wine change over the years and still have great flavor.

3) Cameron Hughes Lot 173 2007 Cab Sav: After having the Lot 200 last week we didn't know what to expect but as is the case most of the time Cameron delivers again. Great on the nose and opened up even more with time.

4) 2006 Da Vinchi Chianti Reserva: This used to be a go to for my neighbor and I, however the last bottle we opened changed our perspective. He had one more bottle left so we decided to give it one more shot with a homemade Goat/Feta/Mozzarella/Caramelized Onion/Italian sausage Pizza I made. This time around it was much better, needed the rich Italian food. Think Leather on the nose.

5) Turley Zin: I was fortunate enough to walk into this one, someone brought it over to my neighbors house last night, I will get the details on year and vineyard later but anytime you have a chance to taste Turley you can't pass it up. And It didn't disappointed.

Like I said 5/5 this weekend, doesn't always happen but I sure love when it does. Look forward to hearing more from me next weekend. Cheers!!!!

2006 Chateau St. Jean Cinq Cepages

Erica and I received this wine as a wedding gift. Cinq Cepages is Chateau St. Jean's flagship wine. It is a blend of Cabernet, Merlot, Cab Franc, Malbec and Petite Verdot. Each Varietal is aged in oak for two years before bottling.

This wine is big, we poured it through the Vinturi twice and decanted it for two hours before drinking. The wine was big, even after two hours. It was not until the third hour it really started to shine. It was a fairly dry wine, staying true to its goal of being a Bordeaux style cabernet based blend. There were notes of cedar, black berries, currants and herbs with smooth tannins(after 3 hours). A very nice wine that was said to be one of the weaker vintages. I would like to compare it to the 05' but for $85 I'll have to pass.

Columbia Crest Two Vines Vineyard 10 White

Unlike Saturday night, tonight we got what we paid for, a $6 white blend. This blend from Columbia Crest (chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and semillon) was ok. Light to medium bodied with a slightly floral aroma. On the palate the wine had very sweet green apple, pear and plums. In our a opinion it was overly sweet. Again, $6.