Field trip! A local wine tasting....and one last Zin!

This past Saturday, I hauled the boyfriend over to a branch of the local chain of beer/wine/liquor stores to try out some wines from Bordeaux. Besides trying The Furst... back in September, I haven't had anything else from France. I know next to nothing about this region and am planning on devoting a month or so to it sometime in the future. One of the few things I do know: the reds here will be very different than those found in California. (Shocking! I know!)

Upon arriving at the store, we found out they had other wines besides the Bordeaux, so we got to try a whole bunch. There was also tequila, I believe whiskey and some malt beverages to taste. If you tried everything, you would be having a pretty great day! Actually, one little old lady did really enjoy herself so much they had to ask her to leave - we encountered her in the parking lot, swearing up a storm. 

I didn't really focus on what flavors I was getting from the tastings, but more on if I liked or disliked the wine. I took pictures of the labels for future reference - so I didn't have to write down or try to remember everything. 

Table 1:

2013 J. Hofstatter Pinot Grigio: This is from the same region (Alto Adige) as our Tiefenbrunner from last month. I liked it! 

2010 Bodegas Luzon Jumilla Altos de Luzon: This is the first Spanish wine I've had. It was a mix of Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo (new grape!). I liked this so much, I bought a bottle.

 
2013 Tuck Beckstoffer Cabernet Sauvignon Est 75: From Napa, was just okay.

2012 Buglioni Valpolicella Classico Il Valpolicella: From Italy, did not like this one.

2013 Ponzi Vineyards Tavola Pinot Noir: From Oregon. I liked this, but I feel like I still don't get the appeal of Pinot Noir. 

Table 2 (the Bordeaux wines):

2012 Chateau les Cruzelles

2012 Chateau La Point: This was the favorite of the day. The gal who poured for us said that was the overall consensus of everyone else too.

2012 Les Chenes de Macquin

2012 Chateau Beau-Sejour Becot 

2012 Chateau Haut-Bergey: This one also stood out. For the first time, I tasted mineral in a red wine!  
2012 Chateau Malartic-Lagraviere 

The first four are blends of merlot and the last two are blends of cabernet sauvignon. French wines are rarely single varietal like New World ones. Some people end up liking one style over the other. I definitely ended up liking the French reds over the California reds in this tasting.

Table 3:

2012 Layer Cake Sea of Stones: Bottled in Cali, grapes from Argentina. This was a very interesting tasting red blend. I bought a bottle to explore further.

2013 Layer Cake Malbec: Again, bottled in Cali, grapes from Argentina. Just okay

2013 Mountain Door Cabernet Sauvignon: From Cali. Liked better than the Cab from Table 1.

2013 Layer Cake Cabernet Sauvignon: From Cali. Did not like

2013 Educated Guess Cabernet Sauvignon: From Napa. This one was interesting in that it had what seems to be two finishes. However, I did not feel like it was worth the price.


Things I learned from my tasting day:

1 - Take advantage of free tastings!! Follow your local wine store on social media, subscribe to their email list, or check out their website and add the tasting dates to your calendar.

2 - Taking pictures of the labels and price tags (I cropped those!) helps to organize your thoughts later on. I use a website called Cellar Tracker to help me with wine stuff and they have a private notes feature that I used to log in my thoughts about these for future reference.

3 - Not every tasting has to be super in-depth, you don't have to feel like you need to identify all the tasting notes. I just quickly went with "I like this" or "I don't like this". The two wines I really enjoyed, I bought to taste further.

4 - Bring a bottle of water with you! And don't eat mints right before you start. I sort of ruined the taste of the Pinot Grigio because I had a mint after our lunch right before we got to the store. 

Finally, tonight, we end with the last of our Zinfandels for October: Beringer White Zin!

I sort of approached this wine as a joke. It was cheap, my mom loved it when I was growing up, and it was super popular in the 70s, 80s and part of the 90s. However, after researching Zinfandel this month, I have a new appreciation for white Zinfandel.

Remember our discussion on old vine Zin? The vines they use to produce those wines are close to a hundred years old. They have survived two eras where they could have easily been destroyed: prohibition and the 70s. In the 70s, wines like Merlot and Chardonnay were increasing in popularity, while red Zinfandel was decreasing. This meant the Zinfandel vines were in danger of being ripped out to make room for more popular grapes. However, white Zin burst onto the scene and became super popular! Its a sweet wine with a nice finish, making it very easy to drink. Because of this, the vines were saved and we still have those old vines that produce really great Zinny-Zins! (Even though I couldn't tell the difference!)

The white Zin was awful and I did struggle to finish the bottle, but I can now appreciate what the white Zin demand did to save the old vines. I might not drink it again, but I won't make fun of it anymore!