Tasting - Morro Bay White Oak Estates: Chardonnay

Name: Morro Bay White Oak Estates  

Variety: Chardonnay
Region: Lodi, California

Country: USA

Year: 2009

Price: $5.95

Wine Makers Notes: Vanilla cream soda nose with a slice of fresh cut pineapple. Full body, tropical fruit, spice and pleasing vanilla oak note linger in the finish. Sweet flavor on the palate is from sur-lie aging the wine on the primary yeast lees for 7 months. A versatile style of wine that can be served chilled with fine cuisine or a glass with friends. Certified Green by Lodi Rules Sustainable Winegrowers.

Smells Like: woody - oak, strange fruity smell - probably a tropical fruit. The strangeness could be the fruit mixing with the woody scent.

Tastes Like: earthy and nutty. There was a nice smooth sweet-ish finish.

Tasting - Cantina VIllafranca: Frascati

This tasting was a new experience for me. Went to the Vintage Cellar after class to taste some wines! It if very difficult for a novice taster like myself to fully put the smells and tastes to words. So here is my best attempt.

Name: Cantina Villafranca 

Variety: Frascati
Region: Frascati

Country: Italy

Year: no year

Price: $7.95

Wine Makers Notes: Produced from a selection of the best grapes located in the Frascati Doc production area. Made from 45% Malvasia di Candia, 15% Trebbiano Toscano, 25% Malvasia del Lazio, 15% Grechetto (Greco). Intense yellow color with greenish reflections. Characteristic persistent fresh fruity aromas. Excellent as an aperitif and paired with fish, seafood or white meat.

Smells Like: apples, melons - honeydew, floral, and a hint of rubber.

Tastes Like: tart, not at all like the smell. there was no fruit flavor in this wine at all. there was a mind to long dry after taste, but the mid pallet seemed smooth. 

Tasting - Mionetto: Sparkling Moscoto

Name: Mionetto

Variety: Moscoto
Region: Veneto

Country: Italy

Year: no year found. but noted to drink no later than 3 months after purchase

Price: $10.99

Wine Makers Notes: This gentle-sparkling wine is fresh and crisp with a floral bouquet and fruit finish. The gentle efferves- cence of this distinctive white wine makes it a favorite at celebrations and social gatherings. Perfect for summer patio parties!

My First Impression: Super cool looking bottle. Kinda nervous to open a sparkling wine that has a pop top lid. Luckily we didn't spill any!!

Smells Like: Super fruity. This wine was very fruity and no smell of alcohol (it was only 7%, probably why I enjoyed it). There was a smell of crisp apples and some peach.

Tastes Like: fizzy, fruity, smooth, sweet, short aftertaste, sweet pear and melon. This wine had almost a nectar taste. There was also a distinct crisp sweet apple flavor. I loved the taste of the first moscoto I had and this one is even better, because i love the bubbles!!!

This is definitely my favorite wine that I have had since this class started. But I think I am biased because I love fizzy drinks!

Tasting - Toad Hollow: Unoaked Chardonnay

Name: Toad Hollow "Francine's Selection"

Variety: Unoaked Chardonnay

Region: Mendocino County, Healdsburg

Country: California, USA

Year: 2010

Price: $13.99

Toad Hollow's Review:

Tasting Notes: Fruity, crisp, clean, steely, peaches, grapefruit,citrus.

Vineyards: Mendocino County, Stainless Steel Fermented

Winemaking: Chardonnay, 100% Malolactic Fermentation

My First Impression: There is a toad on the front of this bottle, wearing a yellow vest, holding a wine glass and he has his pinky out... this better be good. (do you see an animal trend yet?)

Smells Like: melon, citrus-y, and maybe a little apple. The smell of this wine smelled a little bit like alcohol but once you get through that smell you can start to detect the melon and then the citrus stands out a lot. 

Tastes Like: Not very sweet at all. There is a little hint of pear, but its tart and citrus-y. There may be a hint of honey dew hiding under the citrus flavor. There is a medium length after taste that holds a lot of heat.

Tasting - Flying Fish: Merlot

Name: Flying Fish
Variety: Merlot
Region: 100% Columbia Valley
Country: Washington, USA
Year: 2009
Price: $11.99

Flying Fish's Review: 
   Pure expression of ripe red and black cherry
fruit, distinct chocolate and caramel notes with a
hint of pomegranate. A rich, balanced style with
a smooth tannic structure.
   This versatile wine can be paired with everything
from a cured meat and cheese picnic, to grilled
sausage or beef tenderloin. Pairs equally well
with roast pork or medium-spiced Asian dishes.

My First Impression: Never had a Merlot before and the smell from the bottle is pretty nice.

Smells like: vanilla, black cherries. After continuing to smell this wine for a while it has a sweet and spicy vibe. After letting this wine sit for a little while and open up there seems to be a very strong spice smell that is similar to liquorice.

Tastes Like: Definitely not as strong as the Woop Woop. The spices are bold and a little hot for my liking. This wine is blended well and rather smooth. There is a short mid-pallet and a pretty short after taste. The only lasting affect is the heat.

Tasting - Woop Woop: Shiraz

Name: Woop Woop
Variety: Shiraz
Regions: Wrattonbully, Langhorne,
Country: Australia
Year: 2010
Price: $13.99

Winemaker, Ben Riggs's Review: A full-bodied and flavoursome wine, deep-hued with richly scented aromatics and a long, soft and juicy palate. Of lush mouthfeel, bursting with blackberry, blueberry jam and liquorice, this wine guarantees a true Australian Shiraz experience for consumption over the next 5 years.

My First Impression: Thats a really pretty sunset/rise and I wanna be there. Not to mention the name just screams: FUN!

Smells like: blackberry, woody, and a hint of black cherry. This wine was hard for me to pick out some scents. I could smell the berry initially but it wasn't a very sweet berry. Then the woody smell came through. I wasn't sure if it was a woody smell or more of a dirt smell or a combination of the two.

Tastes like: WHOA! That was potent! My first taste was hot, tart and dry. It definitely made my face pucker. Once I got past the potent level of alcohol flavor, it was difficult to detect tastes. I let it sit for a little while and went back to it to try to get a flavor and I could taste some blackberry. I feel like this wine would taste better with some food.

Tasting - Petals: Gewurztraminer

Name: Petals
Variety: Gewurztraminer
Region:Pfalz
Country: Germany
Year: 2009
Price: $7.99

Petals Review:

Off-Dry, Citrus, Spice, Light-bodied

Pfalz, Germany- If you could put spring in a bottle, what would it taste like? Petals! The vibrant floral package reveals a wine bursting with flavors of citrus, litchi fruit and spice along with a hint of sweetness that captures the spirit of spring.

My First Impression: I didn't like the first Gewurztraminer I tried. This one also has a prettier label. Lets see how it goes. My fiances father brought it home so I have to try it.


Smells Like: flowers with some hint of pineapple. This was a very un-expecting scent from a Gewurztraminer (i will be great at spelling this variety by the end of the semester). This wine was not my all time favorite, but it wasn't awful.

Tastes Like: tart pears with a taste of pineapple. At first this wine was very bitter like fruit that is not yet ripe. I am guessing the taste that I didn't enjoy is the rose petal flavor. Once this wine opened up a little bit it was a little more enjoyable with the pears and pineapples coming through a little more.