Wine Tasting: 2014 Predator Old Vine Zinfandel

Tonight's wine was an interesting story.  I purchased this wine to "top up" my Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel wine that I'm making. (yes, I'm a home winemaker!)   Topping up is something you do to fill the wine container so their is minimal air in on the wine.  Oxygen turns wine to vinegar, I must minimize my wine's exposure.

2014 Predator Old Vine Zinfandel

Tasting Notes:
Medium bodied and crimson in color.   Very interesting cranberry, kiwi, and bubblegum on the nose.  Juicy pomegranate and black cherry with a dried fruit medley.  Bold, but not overly heavy, fruit forward with a long and nicely balanced finish.

Final Thoughts:  This wine was an eye opener.  I wasn't expecting too much, I just wanted to good enough to top up with.  Very flavorful, juicy, without being a heavy jammy wine, but still jammy like you expect from a great Zinfandel.  I like it!

Wine Tasting: 2014 Columbia Crest Horse Haven Hills Reserve Chenin Blanc

Tonight's wine is a wine I've been really excited to try and I'm happy to say it did not disappoint!

2014 Columbia Crest Horse Haven Hills Reserve Chenin Blanc

Tasting Notes:
Light straw in color with scents of pineapple and lemongrass.  Flavors of lemon, lime, pear and light apricot.  Light, lively, just beautiful.

Final Thoughts:
I'm a huge fan of Chenin Blanc and this is a good one.

Wine Tasting: 2014 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Limited Release Gold Red Blend

I ordered a dozen wines from the Columbia Crest Wine Club.  Tonight I am tasting the Grand Estates Limited Release Gold Red Blend.

Tasting Notes:
Medium+ body and dark garnet in color with medium legs.     Nice fragrances of blueberries and radishes.  Up front savory flavors of cranberry and red plum followed up by a late sour cherry.  A smooth, but not silky texture and a mellow acidic finish.

Final Thoughts:
Very good for $12US.  Much better than most $12 off the shelf American wines you find.

Wine Tasting: 2014 Columbia Crest Chardonnay Unoaked Reserve Estate

I'm really becoming a huge fan of Washington wines.  I received my wine club order from Columbia Crest not too long ago and one of the wines they sent was an unoaked reserve Chardonnay.   2014 Columbia Crest Chardonnay Unoaked Reserve Estate

Tasting Notes:
Light golden straw in color. Light and crisp scents of citrus and dried fruit. Voracious honeydew accented with lemon and slight hints of lime buried in the late balanced acidity. Medium bodied with smooth texture and very nice finish.

Final Thoughts:
While I generally lean towards oaked Chardonnay, I do not like them heavily oaked. This is a very good unoaked Chardonnay. One I'm very happy with.  Excellent wine!

Wine Tastings: 2014 McManis Family Vineyards Viognier

The other day I was looking for a white to have for pairing purposes.  While poking around the shop, I noticed a Viognier.  I've tasted very few Viognier as most of the time, I have tried wines that were blended with Viognier.

They were generally pretty good and had a distinct flavor to them.  This bottle was only $10US, but it seem to get somewhat decent reviews, so I picked it up.

Tasting Notes:
Light gold in color. Medium plus body with aromatics of wet gravel and light lemon lime scents. Creamy flavors of citrus and honeydew that comes off semi sweet initially and then tails into nice tangy finish.

Final Thoughts:
One of the better $10 wines I've purchased in some time.  QPR heaven.

Wine Tasting: 2014 Orbit Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley

I visited my local wine shop today and there was an distributor there offering tastings of their products.  I tried three of them and found one to be to my liking and picked up a bottle of it.  

You would think this wine is it, but it's not.  They were also tasting an Orbit wine, but it was the Cabernet Sauvignon.  The bottle I picked up was also a Cab, just not the Orbit which I did try, but was all that fond of.

While perusing the Pinot Noir section, I noticed they had an Orbit Pinot Noir.  Given the Cab didn't spark much interest, I don't actually know why I was drawn to it.   Well, tonight that is what we're tasting.  2014 Orbit Pinot Noir from California's Russian River Valley.

Tasting Notes:
A beautiful translucent ruby hue. Thin scents of pomegranate and volcanic rock. Buoyant fruit flavors of red cherry, backed with light plum and a red apple rind. Very fruit forward and quite lively.

Final Thoughts:
Better than expected from an $18US Pinot Noir and definitely a surprise from my Orbit Cab tasting initial thoughts.  Though I tend to really like many of the Pinot Noir's coming out of the Russian River Valley. (Miro being one of my favorites)

Wine Tasting: 2014 Decoy Sauvignon Blanc

With summer coming to a close.  It's time to get in all the nice summer wines.   Today I'm going with a 2014 Decoy Sauvignon Blanc.  My last Decoy wine was not pleasing. (2012 Decoy Zinfandel)

Tasting Notes:
Light gold in color. Aromas of citrus and wet wool. Flavors of honeydew with a savory lemony citrus backing. Bright and beautiful with a light smooth texture.

Final Thoughts:
I find this Decoy Sauvignon Blanc exceptional compared to the 2012 Decoy Zinfandel.  This is a Sauvignon Blanc that I would happily keep in stock for a standard pairing with cheeses and other finger food pairings.  It's a winner.

Wine Tasting: 2014 Vigne Regali (Banfi) Gavi Principessa Gavia

Sunday afternoon watching the Olympics deserves a nice cool and crisp Italian white.   So we are going with a 2014 Vigne Regali (Banfi) Gavi Principessa Gavia.

Tasting Notes:
Straw in color, with citrus with a light rubbery scents.  Bright flavors of green apple, lemon lime, and St. Augustine grass.  Decent finish with a late tartness and boasts a sharp acidity.

Final thoughts:
Very nice, though the tart finish is a bit more that I would like.  Overall it does not detract from my enjoyment of this wine on such a warm and humid day.

Wine Tasting: 2014 Crowdsource Cabernet Sauvignon

My shippment of 2014 Crowdsource Cabernet Sauvignon came in not long ago.  I recieved three bottles of it.  With three bottles, I figured it was worth opening one early and let the other two age.

Tasting Notes:
Dark ink in color, with scents of black cherry, plum, and licorice.  Powerful flavors of a tart plum, fig, potting soil, and tobacco.  Fully bodied though not as full as some and semi-smooth which I expect will improve with a little more time.

Final thoughts:
A quality wine with a very pronounced and juicy flavor profile.  It's definitely an interesting wine and of course it's a discussion wine with it's bold flavor and the fact that it's a history making wine being the first publicly crowdsourced wine!

Wine Tasting: 2014 Andrew Rich Pinot Noir

Tonight's wine is an oregonian wine from the Willamette Valley.  More specifically, 2014 Andrew Rich's Heart's Gate Pinot Noir.

Tasting Notes:
A nice ruby color.  Pomegranate and cherry on the nose.   Flavors of blueberry, red plum, dried fruit with a touch of vanilla.  A slight bit tart, medium bodied, with a late acidic pinch at the end that burns off with a little time to breath.

Final Thoughts:
A decent drinkable Pinot Noir.  Very little pizzazz and really nothing special.  Definitely a negative QPR. I would say it’s priced about $3-$6 above what it should be. ($22US)

Wine Tasting: 2014 Meiomi Pinot Noir

On the docket tonight is a wine that I've been meaning to try for some time, but there always seemed to be an excuse to open a different wine.

Meiomi Wines is a fairly well known brand.  I've tried one of their Chardonnays.  Tonight is their 2014 Pinor Noir and the grapes are sourced from three different locations within California. Monterrey County, Sonoma County, and Santa Brabara County.

Tasting Notes:

Scents of cranberry sauce and spices.  Fruit forward flavors with tangy strawberries, pomegranate, sour cherry following up with a smokey finish.  The wine is smooth and quite tasty.

Final Thoughts:

This is a tasty wine.  When I have company come over, especially company that doesn't visit often, I like to open a good wine.  This is a wine I would open with an infrequent visitor.

Wine Tasting: 2014 Selbach-Oster Riesling feinherb

Tonight's wine comes at the recommendation of a G+ wine friend of mine (+Margret P.) I haven't tried too many Rieslings, but the ones I've had. I've been quite impressed with.  Margret gave me a few recommendations, and this was one of them.

Tasting Notes:
Straw in color.  Aromas of citrus fruit, honeydew and rubber.  Flavors of Limon, light grapefruit, and pear.  A slightly highened acidity, though it works well with the vivid citrus structure.  It's smooth even with the acidiy and has a bit more body that I expected.

Final Thoughts:
Almost Sauvignon Blanc like, yet it still has the Riesling character.  Very interesting, and very good!

Wine Tasting: 2014 Intrinsic Cabernet Sauvignon

Tonight's wine is a very youthful wine.  I choose this wine from a friend of mine who loves Washington wines not to mention it has a fantastic wine label!

It's 2014 Intrinsic Cabernet Sauvignon from the Intrinsic Wine Company which is owned by Ste. Michelle and the winemaker is the head winemaker for Columbia Crest.  Juan Muñoz Oca.

Generally, I would drop a 2014 Cab/Sauv in the cellar and wait for it, but I wanted to try this one.  If it was good, I would pick up a couple of more bottles to age a bit.

Tasting Notes:
Dark purple and it’s youth can really be seen at the edges. Red fruit, mainly plum rind on the nose. Really minimal aromas at this point. On the palate, it’s very fruit forward and juicy, but comes off a bit thin. It has an edge to it like a young wine will and with some decanting would probably open up a bit more.

Final Thoughts:
I would say this wine is a buy and hold. It definitely has upside. Hopefully it being a bit thin doesn't hurt in the long run.  Though I think it will be fine.

Wine Tasting: 2014 Kukeri Pinot Noir

Back to one of my favorite California regions.  The Russian River Valley.  Today with a 2014 Kukeri Pinot Noir.

A limited production wine, only six barrels were produced. (144 cases)  It is 100% Pinot Noir and aged in 100% French oak barrels with 30% of them new oak.

Tasting Notes:
This Pinot Noir is violet in color and has aromas of black cherry with a centered floral and light citrus backing.  On the palate, impressions begin with an anemic floral overtones, but a delayed saturation of cherry and plum rind quickly increase much of the missing initial piquancy.  The texture is quite silky and smooth.  I would say slightly too much so as it's missing some needed acidity to deliver proper balance.

Final thoughts:  Good, but not great.  Though this vino is young and could definitely improve quite a bit with more time.

Tasting: 2014 White Oak Chardonnay, Russian River Valley

I didn't record detailed tasting notes for this wine when I drank it, but this had to be one of the most buttery Chardonnays I've had with almost no acidity.  Actually, it seemed almost all buttery and not much other flavors. (well, some honey also)  I can and do appreciate the buttery oak flavor of some Chardonnays.  This one just seemed rather weird.   That said, I did still enjoy it.

Tasting: 2014 Caymus Conundrum 25th Anniversary Release

I had several friends over last night so I didn't do a proper first tasting, just opened these bottles to share with my guests.

2014 Conundrum is a semi-sweet white blend with enough standout flavor to give it some distinction.  It was a decent table wine to share with friends.

It is a blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Muscat Canelli, and Viognier.