What does the month of July mean:
In
the Roman calender it was actually the fifth month known as Quintilis
which means fifth. Julius Ceasar gave the month 31 and the name of the
month was changed in honor of his name.
July 30, 2009
We discovered Terra Valentine probably about 5 years ago on a trip to napa. It was recommended by the inn keeper at the bed and breakfast we were staying at. After visiting the winery, and completing the tour we were already fascinate by the fact that the average age of everyone there (not sure what it is now) was about 30! After the tasting the wines we were even more impressed by the young talented wine maker.
Terra Valentine makes excellent wines in general. The other night we opened one of their Marriages. It is classified as a Red Wine. The scent was earthy with a hint of fruit. The taste brought on cherries and very smooth finish. I could never rate Terra Valentine anything less then a 10 out 5 because I don't think I have yet to have a bad bottle of wine from them.
July 27, 2009
So we were shipped a bottle of 1989 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet and decided that since the cork appeared to be leaking we just had to open it. Ok, and yes it had a little to do with the fact that it is a 1989.... private reserve ....cabernet from Beringer, come on it has to be good right? I mean private reserve right? Beringer is a large winery but their reserve wines got us hooked into their wine club and to many of their dinners, including a few harvest dinners and Valentines day ones. They do a great wine and a great event.
Ok so the wine, how was it? It was awesome! I was nervous because the cork was wet and fell apart as we opened it. Luckily the smell of the wine was a good sign as it smelled very oaky but not of a wine cellar. I am thinking the odds of the wine being corked is nill. And yes I have to admit I am excited about that. We have had very few old wines and many of the ones we have had we have not cared for. However this one reminded me of some great early 90's wines from Mondavi Reserve, YUM!
Ok back to wine....the smell was oaky. The taste was light with a hint of raspberries and plum. Very smooth finish. This is the type of wine that made you wish you had another bottle to keep on drinking. This would be a 7 out of 5. (nope not a typo!)
Great job Beringer!
July 23, 2009
2008 Mosby Pinot Grigio
I
had to go with another Mosby wine. This one is a Pinot Grigio. It is
great on these hot days. The color is very golden. The smell is a
hint of herb and dried fruit. On the taste I get some apricot and
melon. It is very yummy served salad and chicken. It is interesting
because I didnt look at my tasting notes for this wine until now and I
had picked out apricot when I first tasted it at the winery as well as
tonight. Cheers! 4 out of 5 and you can't beat the price!
By the way they had an italian artist design all their wine labels.
July 18, 2009
Mosby Vineyards
When we headed up to Santa Ynez we went to a winery called Mosby Vineyards. This is a great winery that produces Italian style wines. The first one on their tasting was the La Donna. This is a beautiful fruity white wine. At $14 it is an awesome summery everyday drinking wine. It pairs nicely Salad and Chicken. I would rate it a 4 out of 5.
July 14, 2009
2007 Greg Norman Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County
California Estates
I have never had a Greg Norman wine and I was very excited when I opened this bottled. It had a very light hint of spice smell. The taste was amazing! It is perfect for the summertime with some light fruit and a bit of oak on the finish. The color was light as well. This is not a huge spicy Pinot but if you are looking for something lighter that doesn't give up taste, this is it. This is a 5 out of 5 wine and I will be buying it again. Try now for only $14.29
July 10, 2009
My
husband and I took a trip to Solvang on Monday and I have to say we had
some great wine at some great wineries. I have tons to write about and
will gradually get some reviews going. In the meantime these were two
wines we bought and opened last night with family. These wines are
from the first winery we went to that day, Lincourt Vineyards.
This wine was very toasty on smell and taste with a creamy finish. There is some citrus on the taste and flowers on the nose. This is an excellent wine for the summertime. Right now the winery had a deal of $99 for a case - so yes we bought a case!
2006 Syrah from Lincourt Winery
At the winery they tasted this wine as non-aerated first for a taste then put it through the Vinturi. Non-Aerated the wine carried alot of pepper and fruit and produced a big flavor. With the Vinturi the flavors were there but much more mellow classic.
July 5, 2009
'03 Reserve Jarvis vs. '04 Reserve Chateau St. Jean
Or you could say Napa vs. Sonoma
| '03 Jarvis | '04 Chateau St. Jean | |
| Color | Very Amber Gold | Gold crisp color, as Amber Color |
| Smell | Fruity and Buttery | Earthy and Carmel |
| Taste | Butterscotch and Dried Fruit | Citrus and Oak |
What did people think? 3 out of 4 enjoyed the smell of Chateau St. Jean better but the taste of the Jarvis. 1 person overall was a Jarvis fan, and at $68 a bottle it is not cheap!
We paired the dinner with cheese and crackers to begin and then went on to enjoy a grilled seabass with olive oil, salt and pepper. We had an angel hair pasta with the cream sauce and tossed salad of mixed greens, cucumbers and tomotoes with a balsamic vinegarette, as well as a scallop sauteed in butter, a little sugar, salt and pepper and wrapped in bacon. What was interesting was there was something in the fish that made the Chateau St. Jean change its flavor, we could not identify but it just did not work. The other thing that was interesting though was the Chateau St. Jean got better with the salad - we are guessing maybe it was the garlic in the dressing.
We then moved on to a Cabernet to go with our chocolate fondue with dark chocolate, strawberries, apples and angel food cake. Can we say yummy! The Cabernet we opened was a 2004 Ilsley Vineyard. This is a winery that currently does a small amount of their production of wines. They started out in 1954 growing grapes and selling them. Their grapes have gone on to make fabulous wines that has won many awards and the family decided to start making their own wines. We are glad they did! The wine smelled of pepper and a hint of tobacco. The taste was of pepper, cinnamon and blackberry. It paired nicely with the fondue.
No evening would be complete without a port. We actually had a port taste off as well - Meyer Family port (that had been opened for a few years!) vs. Fess Parker Santa Barabra Traditional port style port. The meyer was a brown amber almost transculent in color. The Fess Parker was deep ruby. The Meyer port tasted more like an aged Brandy while the Fess Parker had more of the smell and taste of what you might think of a Port - both not too sweet which rates high in my book. There were excellent and finished off the night and fondue extremely well.
COMMENTS
July 4 2009
Happy 4th of July!!! Wow, this is flying by. I will update the site soon with the chardonnay pairing
July 01, 2009
Oh my goodness I can't believe it is already July. I am excited that the month starts off with a bang and a holiday! And I am taking a few extra days off for my husbands birthday so I am looking forward to the time to relax.
Another
great thing to start off the month is a Chardonnay tasting party. We
have invited another couple over for Thursday night the 2nd to open
some Chardonnays and pair them with some great food. I am still in
search of what we are going to make. Any
suggestions would be apprecited. You can email me at
info@cawineblog.com. I will let you know if I try any out and how they
were.
As for the wine I am not sure what we are going to open we have two choices. Our friends however have a 2004 Bennett Lane Chardonnay and we are REALLY hoping they bring it. I will keep you posted on what we opened, what we paired them with, and how it all tasted.