Blind Pinot Noir Tasting; Setting The Record Straight!

Who has the best Pinot Noir in the under $20 category? Drumroll……….California! Yes, I had to arrange this blind tasting. Two Oregon Pinot Noir’s, two California and one French facing off in a totally blind tasting. Four non professional tasters (thou I think we were very professional last night), got together munching on foods that supposedly pairs well with Pinot Noir. Gluten free chips and veggies with hummus, stuffed mushrooms, and mushroom risotto, all gluten and dairy free. And I believe the food turned out to be perfect because all the wines improved when tasted with the food, except maybe the dessert, wich was “key lime energy bites”, the lime crashed with the acidity in the wines.

I asked everyone to taste all the wines without food first, and then again with the food. And we all wrote down anything that came to our minds, and we rated the wines with a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest.

The winner with a total of 13.5 points was the 2010 Forest Glen from California. We all agreed it had a nice color and a bright and fruity aroma. On the palate we got cherry, with a nice long finish with a hint of vanilla. Three of us guessed that this was the French wine, and we were so wrong, wich is what makes a blind tasting so much fun lol.

In a close second with 13 points we had a tie between the other California wine and the French wine. The California wine, a 2011 Robert Mondavi, had a good color in the glass, and a sweet cherry aroma. We got flavors of cherry with medium acidity and a little dry medium short finish.

The French wine was a 2011 Couvent Des Jacobin. The color in the glass was a little lighter, but still good. Some of us picked up earthiness in both the aroma and the flavor. A bit high acidity and flat. Some said bland.

On the bottom of the barrel, Oregon…..not very surprising to us, but considering the reputation of Oregon Pinot Noir, they should be on the top. In fourth place with 9.5 points the 2011 Rainstorm. Medium light color in the glass. I got a light cherry aroma, while some got a musty smell. On the palate this wine also left us with bland, flat feeling.

Last one was the 2011 Primarius with only 7 points. Very light color in the glass. The nice cherry aroma was probably the best part of this wine, because it was so light that it felt like it was watered down. Flavors of cherry and red currant was so vague that one taster said she felt cheated.

Conclusion; California rocks the under $20 category of Pinot Noir, with France in a close second. It is hard to find Oregon wines in this category here on the east coast. Who knows what the outcome would be if we did this on the west coast, or even in Oregon. I’m sure the selection would be a lot better there. Or we could imagine a whole different scenario, lets just say my wine-budgett increased to around $50 per bottle, and then do this test all over again……

The conclusion could also be as simple as, my friends and I just don’t like Oregon Pinot Noir…

Anyway, this was a lot of fun, and we are looking forward to more challenges like this. I’m already coming up with ideas for future blind tastings, how about “wines of Italy” or “Cabernet, guess the price of this bottle”. I’ll think of something good while finishing the 4 half full bottles of Pinot Noir that’s sitting on my counter. Cheers!

Mom And Dad, Part 2; Chablis vs Chardonnay, Same Grape, Different Wine!

When I had my parents visiting, I really got to try some new and exciting wines. My Dad has always been a fan of Chablis, a wine that is totally unknown to me, and of course with the extended budget, we were able to widen my horizon a little.

The Chablis, a 2008 Vincent Damp, has only been getting low ratings, and didn’t impress me, but I still got the idea of what a Chablis is like. A light and fresh wine, with lots of citrus flavor. And I can imagine that a wine like this would be excellent with the shrimp we eat back home in Norway. They cook the shrimp right on the boat, in sea-water, they get an amazing flavor that way. Then we pair the shrimp with French loaf, majo and lemon juice. It is to die for…

I’m trying to educate myself as much as I can, and had to read up on Chablis. Finding out that it is Chardonnay grapes…who knew? A Chardonnay is a completely different type wine. This shows you how much influence the wine region, soil and the wine making process has on the wine. But it is not that simple, if it is a French Chablis, then you have 100% Chardonnay grapes grown in the Chablis region of France. (Chablis is the northernmost wine district of the Burgundy region in France.) A bottle of Chardonnay from USA must have at least 80% Chardonnay grapes grown from anywhere. If the bottle is Chablis and is from USA, all bets are off. It could have nearly anything inside. Many US bottlers in the 1970’s started using the term “Chablis” to mean “white wine”.

Another favorite of my Dad’s is Cancerre. We tried a 2011 Laurent Gerard Reserve Villes Vignes La Foret Des Dames Cancerre. A very pleasant wine, the same type I would say as the Chablis, very light and crisp with citrus flavors, but this wine was smoother and overall a better wine. Cancerre is an appellation located in the eastern end of the Loire Valley. Made from the Sauvignon Blanc grape, but red and rose Cancerre made from Pinot Noir, is increasingly popular.

A bucket of shrimp (Norwegian style) wouldn’t be bad right now. I should try to make it some time. Get some fresh shrimp with head’n all, cook it in salty water for a couple of minutes, add some majo and lemon juice….I definitly have to try that. Cheers!

There’s An App For That!

I believe I got my first cell phone around 1997, and the only thing I could do with it was make and receive phone calls. The next one was a little smaller in size, but had some games, and it was the start of the “texting era”. The phone I have now, is probably twice the size of that phone, but I wont even try to list all the things it can do. It is officially the “smart-phone era”. It seems to be a downloadable app for everything you could think of. My latest download was a wine app. It is the coolest thing….I scan (take a picture) a wine label, and the app gives me all kinds of info on that wine; price, grapes, winery, where I can by it, and tasting notes. It has become my new favorite toy. I can also put in my own tasting notes, and rank the wines, wich is very helpful when I’m going to write about the wine later.

It has been a very good wine week that started with a 2011 Bogle Pinot Noir that was enjoyed with bbq ribs. I paid around $10 for this bottle, and it was a big hit. Very nice and smooth, with cherries on the palate and an earthy finish. I gave this wine a 3.5.

The very next day we uncorked a bottle of 2012 Paul Durdilly Beaujolais, from Burgundy France. It is not often that I’m able to find a Burgundy for around $10, so I was excited to try this one. What a find! Very fruity with lots of cherries, absolutely delicious, and earned 4 stars from me.

Yesterday I opened a bottle of 2010 Fetzer Crimson Red Blend, from Dennis Martin. I really enjoyed this wine, it’s a bit sweet, with a lot of spice and plum. A great sipping wine that I ranked 3.5.

What a great week, and it’s only Thursday…I’m really looking forward to a wine tasting on Sunday, it should finish off the week perfectly. Life is great, Cheers!

Sparkling Wine Don’t Age Well!

Monday was my friend’s  “Welcome Spring” party, we had been waiting for the weather to warm up so we could be outside, but it was still a little cool, so we ended up staying inside. With at least 6 different wines to try, I was looking forward to the tasting and pairing with all the great foods she had made.

The food consisted of mainly appetizers and finger foods. And pretty much all the dishes were new recipes that she had found. Don’t know if I remember all the dishes, but I’ll give it my best. Gorgonzola stuffed figs, stuffed mushrooms, crab dip, crab cakes, little pastries stuffed with peach and gorgonzola cheese, tuna salad, and there was a ton of different cheeses and fruits. I think the stuffed mushrooms and the crab cakes were the two favorites, but I thought that the gorgonzola bites were an interesting surprise.

As for the wines, we started out sipping a recent favorite, Robert Mondavi’s Coastal Crush Red. Another guest brought a bottle of 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon from Chateau Ste Michelle, Canoe Ridge Estate, wich was excellent. The Sangria ( made with a lot of fruit ) was quite popular. This was the only red wines at the party. I had picked up a couple of white wines that I thought would pair well with the theme of light foods. The problem was that there was not enough wine drinkers at the party to be able to taste all of them. So we had a bottle of Barefoot Chardonnay, wich is a very nice, easy to drink wine, and a bottle of Macon-Villages Chardonnay from Lois Jadot. I have been wanting to try this wine ever since I had their Burgundy, but the Chardonnay is priced a little over my budget. Then on my recent visit to Wegmans, they had it on sale for $10.99. It was not a heavy Chardonnay, nice and crisp, and just like the Burgundy, the Chardonnay went very well with the food. The biggest wow moment was pairing the Lois Jadot Chardonnay with the gorgonzola stuffed figs; a match made in heaven.

I was in charge of desert. And to keep the theme going, I tried a new recipe also. Cheese cake stuffed strawberries, paired with Asti Barbero Italian sparkling wine. The stuffed strawberries was very easy to make, even after three glasses of wine, they came out decent. The bubbles on the other hand….not so good. I had this bottle left behind by my roommate, and I was waiting for a occation that called for bubbles, to open it. Well, it took a while. I don’t even know how long she had the bottle, and now, afterwords, I’m embarrassed that I brought this bottle to the party. Kind of thought there was trouble when it turned out to a wrestling match trying to open the bottle. Usually you would have a little help from the bubbles when opening a bottle of sparkling wine. This one didn’t have any bubbles…….and it was disgustingly brown. Yak!

Lesson learned; Don’t age your bubbles! Any occasion, is a good occasion to go sparkling.

A great party with great people, and great food. Hoping to have many more evenings like this. Cheers! (except for the part with the bubbles gone bad)

Officially a Wino!

It’s a fact; I’m officially a wino. The other day I went to see a new massage therapist (my old therapist moved back to Australia), and I drove to a town that I never go to. It’s just one of those things, I never go that direction for anything. And on my way home, I made a wrong turn, and there it was….. a Wine Store! One that I had never been to, and it was one that had a pretty good wine selection. Usually, the liquor Stores around here, have a better assortment of beers than wines, but this one was a Wine Store! So, here I was like a kid in a candy store, trying to find something within the budget, that would be both good and fun. And I didn’t get disappointed. Ended up with a couple of Frenchies again. I just can’t help it, French wines has made an impression on me.

Uncorked the first one tonight; a 2010 Josephine Dubois Pinot Noir, and it made a quite decent Sunday, Excellent! I Love French Wine! A light easy to drink Pinot, with raspberry, and a hint of chocolate. Paired well with grilled chicken in a garlic, mushroom, wine sauce. But as usual French wines pair sooo well with food.

Ok, the name “Dubois”, made me wonder a little. Since I was a little girl, the name Dubois is associated with one of the biggest horse racing families in the World. You see, my day-job is working with harness horses, and it has been a passion of mine my whole life. Seeing the name Dubois made me automatically wonder if they are some how related. Maybe a big powerful family like that, would be just as successful in the wine industry, as they are in the horse racing industry. So of course I googled it. But with no results, if anyone reading this knows something, please let me know, it would really be fun to know more about this, if there is a connection.

I’m just gonna keep sipping this delicious juice, Cheers!

Wine Tasting at Crossing Vineyards!

For once I didn’t have to work on a Friday night, so I put my heels on, and went to a “singles wine tasting”! Almost every Friday they have this event at Crossing Vineyards in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania. It’s about a 45 minute drive from my house, but I had been wanting to check it out for a while now, but I usually have to work Friday nights.

They charge you $10, and you get 6 tastings, and their bartender is very good. He kept everybody engaged talking about the wines, and telling jokes. It wasn’t a big crowd, only about 12 people, but still a nice experience. I got to meet some new people, and that is always fun.

As to the wines, it was good and bad. I guess I expected that. Chardonnay was dry, but quite good. Riesling, very sweet. Merlot I liked, it was dry, but nice. Merlot/Cabernet was my favorite for a while, until I got to try the Pinot Noir. Totally surprised me, Pennsylvania grown Pinot Noir! They don’t grow those grapes at the vineyard, but get them from somewhere in Pennsylvania. A great wine that was close to a French Burgundy in taste. My last tasting was the Cabernet Sauvignon, and it was, as the bartender warned me, too young. Not very pleasant.

I would definitely recommend the Pinot Noir, delicious. I didn’t meet the man of my dreams on Friday, but maybe next time! Cheers!

Burgundy Still My Favorite!

I have been kind of excited about learning about wines from Bordeaux lately. Tonight I was having chicken for dinner, and decided to try a French Pinot Noir (my old favorite).  I don’t know if there is a rule about calling a French Pinot Noir “Pinot Noir” or “Burgundy”, but I learned that “Pinot Noir” is the same as “Burgundy” in France. Anyway, my wine choise of the evening was a 2010 FAT bastard Pinot Noir. And again…. this is still my favorite region. A little fuller bodied than the previous Burgundy’s that I’ve tried, cherries, round and paired very well with my chicken dinner.

Reading the label, it sais that the two friends ( one British and one French ) created FAT bastard almost by accident. I must say an experiment that turned out very well. Looking forward to try more FAT bastard wines. Also the first French wine with a screw cork!

Tonight’s dinner – grilled chicken ( on the George Forman of course, love that grill, it’s the only way I can cook chicken without making it dry ) with a Dijon mustard sauce, and quinoa. Tried a different recipe for the sauce, warm this time, and it came out awesome. Who knew I could cook?

Think I’m gonna treat myself to another glass of this delicious juice while awaiting a new episode of my favorite show ( Criminal Minds ). Cheers!

French Wines Are Serious Business!

Went label shopping in one of the local liquor stores today, and had a hard time finding something that looked interesting. This was not one of the best stores around, but still I thought I would be able to find a cool label. I was some how drawn towards the Italian and French section again, and since I had a couple of Italian wines recently, I figured I’d go French tonight. But to find a fun label on a French wine, is easier said than done. I really havent seen one yet. Ok, there is not that many French wines in the stores that I go to, but still…. so here it is, the only French label that was… at least a little different….

I guess they don’t like to joke about their wines over there. Ended up with a 2010 Barton & Guestier Bistro Pinot Noir. As the label shows, in France the local bistro is where folks go to relax, drink wine and dine in a friendly setting. And this wine did not make me any less of a fan of French wine. Love it! A nice light Pinot that would pair well with a lot of different foods.

Ok, back to the uptight French, is there any fun labels out there? If anyone finds one, please send a photo. I would love to see it. You can find me at http://www.facebook.com/Finewineglassesandmorecom. For now, I’m just going to keep sipping this delicious French juice. Cheers!

We Put Some Wine Glasses to the Test, and WOW!

Ever since I started my webstore Fine Wine Glasses And More, I have been wanting to do a taste test with different wine glasses. And I have heard about how much the glass can enhance a wine. Finally last night we had a chance to do this. Using our favorite Cupcake Red Velvet, we were testing some new Cachet Tulip 19 oz glasses (You can see the glasses by using this link http://www.finewineglassesandmore.com/catalog/item/8603146/9493913.htm) And comparing with a smaller thicker glass, probably around 6-8 oz and not very wide.

All four of us did the test, and I absolutely could not belive it. What a difference…. if I didn’t know it was the same wine in both glasses, I would have thought someone was trying to trick me. The Cachet Tulip glass made the wine much rounder and smoother tasting. Awesome!

These glasses are also very elegant looking, with the long stem and thin glass. You can check out these glasses, and many more at www.finewineglassesandmore.com

After this eye opening experience, I will definitely be doing more testing. Would be fun to see how a glass would affect a Cabernet or a Pinot. I know that they suggest a wider glass for Pinot Noir and Bordeaux. So stay tuned for more fun tastings. Cheers!

Holiday Wine Tastings!

Got to try several new wines this holiday, some better than others, but overall pretty awesome. The other day I met a friend of mine, that just moved back to the area, for our favorite pizza. It’s this great Italian restaurant that makes a brick oven pizza that is absolutely awesome. They also serve fresh bread that you dip in olive oil mixed with spices, and it is very good. And for dessert….tiramisu of course. All this deliciousness was paired with nothing other than an Italian wine, 2011 Cavit Pinot Noir, a very nice, easy to drink, wine that went very well with our meal.

Next was my dinner party where I served a wine that I have been waiting to try, a 2012 Beaujolais Nouveau, as a welcome drink, and to go with appetizers. This wine is the first pressing of this years grapes (the second pressing of the same grapes is Beaujolais-Village Burgundy that I really liked) and it is a very light and fruity red wine.

With dinner wich was a fish casserole, I picked a white wine, 2010 Yellow Tail Chardonnay. This wine was very sweet, and didn’t go to well with the meal, but quite good by itself.

And of course there was Champagne at midnight New Years Eve. Alway great with some bubbles.

Happy New Year to all my followers! Lets make 2013 a great one! Cheers!