Happy New Year, Winos! This 2012 featured (drum roll please) . . . The 1%! Kudos to Terri, our host and the creative genius behind this month's theme.
First things first, the spread:
Featuring Parano Cheese (a/k/a Ricki's cheese), risotto balls from Taylor Gourmet, an amazing Barefoot Contessa salad, spinach squares, and homemade light artichoke dip. Extra treat: sitting around a real, rustic, absolutely gorgeous dining room table.
Without further ado, the wines. In light of our dress-for-excess type of theme, we were ideally supposed to buy wines off of either (a) the Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2011, or (b) Wine Enthusiast Best Buys of 2011. Unfortunately, most were difficult if not impossible to find, so we ended up bringing some of our own "off-list" favorites, or wines we were informed were similar to wines on the list.
In order of tasting:
1. Gruet Blanc de Nois: $14, 12%
Rating: 3.88
--Peach color
--Smells sweet, like green apples
--Tastes dry/smooth, more like actual wine than the next sparkling wine.
This wine was on the Specator list. According to the folks in the wine shop, Gruet is amazing every year.
2. Seguras Viudas: $12, 12
Rating: 3.5
--Light color
--Smells dry
--Tastes tart, perhaps like grapefruit. Very clean, but possibly flavorless.
--More bubbly,“fuzzier” than the last sparkling wine.
3. Yalumba 2009 Viognier, S. Australia: ~$12, 13.5%
Rating: 2.16
--Yellow color
--Smells grassy, like cat pee , a little oaky
--Tastes oaky, like a Chardonnay. Smooth.
4. Nipozzano Chianti Rufina: $30, 13%
Rating: 3.44
--Smells smoky
--Tastes like dark cherry, plum, almost like port
--Fruit forward
5. Hiddencroft Vineyard Cabernet Franc 2008, Virginia: $23, 13%
Rating: 3.81
--Very dark color
--Smells like plum, pepper, chocolate, a little alcoholic
--Medium-full bodied
This wine, which was aged in French and American oak for 22 months, won a Gold Medal in the 2011 Virginia Governor's Cup. We decanted this one:
6. Valle Andino 2008 Carmenere, Maule Valley, Chile: $17.99, 14%
Rating: 3.66
--Dark purple color.
--Smells like pepper
--Tastes like pepper, raspberry, honeysuckle. Spicy
7. Jip Jip Rocks 2009 (55% Shiraz, 45% Cabernet), Australia: $13.99, 14.5%
Rating: 3.56
--Smells like raspberry, eucalyptus
--Tastes like dark cherry, herby (thyme/oregano/basil), strawberry jam.
8. Hillsborough 2008 "Onyx," Virginia: $32, 13%
Rating: 3.88
--Smells like dark fruit
--Tastes like deep plum
--Rich, low tones.
According to the label, the wine should smell of dark chocolate, black current, mineral, and vanilla.
The overall rankings:
1. Onyx
1. Gruet
3. Hiddencroft
4. Valle Andino
5. Jip Jip
6. Seguras
7. Nipozzano
8. Yalumba
Last but not least, no wine club is complete without a little added twist -- maybe some light humor, a little education (whether on pop culture or weighty matters), and a little wine-related knowledge. This month, we bring you the following:
- http://www.wine.com/ -- some of the ladies' preferred place to buy wine. Apparently shipping costs are unbelievably low!
- http://surisburnbook.tumblr.com/ "A study in Suri [Cruise] and the people who disappoint her."
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarfism -- just a brief lesson to avoid offending little people and to combat ignorance.
- Geography (never my strong suit) may actually be helpful in more ways than one. ;)
See you next month!
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