Attendees: Sela Missirian, Rich Richardson, Emily Pensy, Sai Reddy, Hargathers, Daniele and Eric Flickinger, Kyle and Juliette Korver

Wine Selection and Notes:

1. Spanish cava: Biutiful

100% garnacha (Grenache), 11.5% alcohol

This tastes bone dry to me, strawberry and toasty.

Why does bubbly pair well with salty fat like french fries, fried chicken or Lays chips? The crispness and acidity. Try it!

I prefer Cava to Prosecco, it tastes drier usually to me, and possibly finer bubbles?

In general, bubbly is due to a 2^nd fermentation. :Additional yeast and sugar is added to the base wine in the bottle. As the yeast eats the sugar, it releases carbon dioxide. Since the extra carbon dioxide has nowhere to go, it pressurizes the container and carbonates the wine. Voila.

2. White Burgundy 

Chardonnay, 13% alcohol

This is a great reference wine, meaning a typical white burgundy. From the Macon which is the southernmost region in Burgundy France (famous for Pouilly-Fuissé)

I felt it was a crisp, nice citrus, with apple and lemon, but there is a slight underlying creaminess to it as well.

3. Fattoria poggio alloro – agro turismo in San Gimignano, Tuscany

Blend of Sangiovese and Colorino grapes, 13% alcohol

Fermented in stainless steel. Aged in oak barrels for 12 months, maturation in the bottle for 3 months.

I tasted raspberry and cherry jam, spiced with licorice, cinnamon and tobacco.  I had the best Pasta Bolognese in my life when I tasted this in Italy.

Typically, a Sangiovese grape varietal is fruity, tannic, blueberry, plum, some spice

4. Turley Old Vine Zin $52

100% Zinfandel. Yum. Big and bold. 15.5% alcohol

Helen (with her brother larry) turley was really the first female wine maker to kick it big. In the late 90′s there was a young guy who had just arrived from sumpter, South Carolina and worked for turley as one of his first jobs in Napa.

Typically, Zinfandel is black berry with pepper and spice.

• Winemaker’s Notes

The 2010 Old Vines shows classic Zinfandel spice with dark fruit flavors. Every year we take old, dry farmed vineyards from across Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles, Amador County, Lodi, and Mendocino to make the Old Vines. This wine is the Juvenile’s much older, wiser, slightly brooding brother. Darker, more dense, and a rich complexity that can only come from old vine Zinfandel that’s been shown the signature Turley love.

Vinous / Antonio Galloni - ”Another fabulous value, the 2010 Zinfandel Old Vines is endowed with serious richness and depth throughout. Blackberry jam, black cherries, menthol, cloves, tar and licorice all come to life in this distinctly dark, brooding wine. Constantly changing in the glass, the Old Vines has a certain elusive mysteriousness to it that is sure to delight. Once again, Turley has produced a wine that punches well above its weight big time.
Range: 92+ Points ”

International Wine Cellar - ”Bright, deep ruby. Classic zin aromas of blackberry, crushed black pepper and licorice. Creamy-sweet and fat, but with a sweet-tart character contributing to the wine’s superb cut and purity of fruit. Complicated by an element of wild herbs. Finishes with suave tannins, solid structure and excellent length. A very successful fusion of zinfandel’s many aspects, and a terrific value.”

A caricature from Oct. 2013, looks just like me, right?!

Welcome to my test post. This is where i try out stuff.