Sunday, February 19, 2012

While I have tasted wine before, I have never been to an actual wine tasting prior to taking Geography of Wine. Needless to say, I was very excited to begin my journey into the world of wine at the Vintage Cellar tasting after class. At the tasting, we tried 5 different kinds of wine:

Royal Chenin Blanc 2009, South Africa: My first reaction to this wine was that it was not very sweet. Before taking Boyer's wine class, the only wines I had ever tried and liked were extremely sweet ones. However, I was very pleased and felt as though my
taste buds were maturing when I tried the Chenin Blanc and liked it. I definitely was able to smell the apples and pears within the wine, however, they see
med to escape my taste buds.

Coldstream Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2009, Spain: This one was definitely my favorite of the bunch and I could definitely taste the sweetness of the grapefruit in the Sauvignon Blanc. I was so excited about this bottle I even bought it. Smelling it, I was kind of disappointed because it smelled very similar to the previous one. Hopefully my nose for wine matures throughout the class! Yet, I could taste the difference and was glad that the grapefruit came through very strongly on my taste buds. I could also taste the zesty lemon acidity within the wine.

Marques de Moral Crianza Tempranillo 2007, Spain: So shamefully and unfortunately, I admit I have yet to find a red wine that I enjoy. I do not like the fact they are supposed to be warm when you drink them, and I also just want them to taste like grape juice, and they do not. However, going into the night, I was excited to try some reds and I am determined throughout this class to find one that I enjoy. However, this is not the one. It smelled off to me kind of like yogurt and the taste hit my tongue and left a very chalky feel to it. I could not smell or taste the redcurrant or cherries and I did not feel like it was a very smooth wine. Yet, I was very excited for my search to continue with the next wine we tried!


Le Lapin Multiplicity, Paso Robles, California: I felt as though this wine was a lot smoother than the first and I enjoyed it a lot more than the first red we tried at the tasting. I still could not taste the flavors listed on the descriptive sheet, yet, I am still very determined to find a red wine that I lov
e and enjoy and I was very pleased that I liked this one more than the first one I tried.

Oprea Prima Moscato, Spain: Of all the wine in the world, Mascato is the one I have the most experience with. Being a girl, I love the sweetness of the dessert wine and I think it is my favorite wine I have discovered so far, and this one did not let me down. It was pink and sparkly, and I did like it a lot. I smelled tons of fruit and could taste them too. I love how it has hardly any burn and just lots of sweetness to its flavor. While I did not buy a bottle of this at the tasting, I can definitely see myself buying a bottle of this in the future!