Tasting- Gabbiano Chianti Classico

Name: Gabbiano Chianti Classico

Variety: Red Wine (Sangiovese grapes) 

Country: Italy

Region: Chanti Classico Region

Vintage Year: 2007

Price: $22.95

Wine Review: Created from the property's oldest Chianti Classico vineyards, the castle's Riserva is a wine that maintains all the most typical organoleptic characteristics of Chianti Classico, emphasized by a balanced aging in wood.

Wine Folly: Chianti wine is as essential to Italian cuisine as extra virgin olive oil. There are few pleasures as distinct as a tart, spicy, herbaceous Chianti wine next to a plate of sliced prosciutto or pasta al pomodoro. Chianti wine is a red blend from Tuscany, Italy, made primarily with Sangiovese grapes. Common tasting notes include red fruits, dried herbs, balsamic vinegar, smoke, and game. On the high end, wines offer notes of preserved sour cherries, dried oregano, balsamic reduction, dry salami, espresso, and sweet tobacco. Besides Sangiovese, Chianti wines may contain wine grapes like Canaiolo, Colorino, Cabernet Sauvignon, and even Merlot.  

My Review: I am still not head over heels for reds, but I actually did enjoy this bottle quite a lot. I couldn't pick up individual notes really, but it was definitely full bodied and almost smokey. I can definitely see how it would be great with spaghetti, so I will definitely have to give that a try. 

Tasting- Kirkland Prosecco Rose

Name: Kirkland Prosecco Rose

Variety: Red Wine (Glera grape) 

Country: Italy

Region: Northern Italy (Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions)

Vintage Year: 2021

Price: $6.99

Wine Review: Costco’s signature prosecco checks all the boxes: low price and low enough in alcohol that you won’t get sloshed easily. It’s a pleasant sparkling that even a novice wine drinker would enjoy because it’s so fruity and goes down easy. Shoppers spend too much money on sparkling wines to make mimosas. This prosecco mixes great with orange juice for only $6.99. Verdict: Highly recommended.

 

Wine Folly: Technically, Prosecco is a sparkling wine that originates from the Valdobbiadene region in Veneto, Italy. The wine is made with Prosecco grapes and made into wine via the Charmat sparkling method, which gives wines approximately 3 atmospheres of pressure. Most Prosecco wines are produced in a dry, brut style. However, due to the grapes’ fruity flavors of green apple, honeydew melon, pear, and honeysuckle, it usually seems sweeter than it is. Even though brut is the most popular sweetness level of Prosecco sold in the market today, you can find styles that are sweeter if you seek them out.

My Review: My roommate and I got to pop this bottle of wine in celebration of her acceptance of law school, and it was a great bottle to celebrate with! It is surprisingly good in spite of its price tag. It was quite dry, which I liked, but it was also equally refreshing somehow. I could definitely pick out the apples, but I didn't get to taste the almond. 

Winery/Brewery Visit

     My roommate works at a brewery called Rising Silo, so when we saw that we could visit a brewery for a grade, we got very excited. We were able to tour the facility outside of business hours, and we got a beer flight to taste. We tasted four beers: Apple 'Atcha, Udder Chaos Milkshake IPA, That Bucking Tractor DIPA, and Thunder Snow Stout. 

       We were able to tour the back of the brewery, where we were shown the kegs, fermentation vessels, and boil kettles among others. After our tour, we ordered a flight and tried those beers. Apple 'Atcha tasted somewhat watery to me, but it was very light and crisp, and I was really able to pick up on the apple notes. Out of all of the beers, this one was my favorite. The Udder Chaos Milkshake IPA was thicker, almost creamy, with slight hints of vanilla and orange. I am not very keen to ordering IPAs, so this one was not my favorite, but it also wasn't the worst. The third beer, That Bucking Tractor IPA, tasted bitter, hoppy, and smooth with a very strong hop aftertaste. This was my least favorite beer of all four. The final beer was the Thunder Snow Stout, which surprisingly not my least favorite. It heavily tasted like coffee, was very smooth, and gave off a chocolate aftertaste. 

    Visiting the brewery was a great experience, and seeing all of the equipment in the back was enlightening and entertaining. 

       

Wine and Cheese Pairing

 

    My roommate and I tried three bottles of wine and three different cheeses. We used extra sharp cheddar cheese, smoked Gouda, and cranberry stilton cheese. 

   

 

    For the Gouda cheese, we paired it with Winking Owl Chardonnay. The two paired really well together, despite the fact that I am not much for Chardonnay. The smoked Gouda was very creamy and had some flavors of nut, which coincided beautifully with the buttery Chardonnay. The Chardonnay definitely had strong fruity notes (I got apple, but no pear like the bottle suggests), and is quite oaky. I liked the two together, and the acidity of the wine was perfect for cutting through the creamy, smoked Gouda. 

    We paired the cranberry Stilton cheese with LandsHut Riesling. I tasted fruit in the wine, but I couldn't pick out specific ones. The wine was light and refreshing, and was very crisp. The cheese was a little salty and not overly sweet, since we assumed the wine would be quite sweet, but it was surprisingly only semi-sweet. The two worked very well together, and the aftertastes of both melded very well, as the cheese was thick and the wine felt very light to me. 

    The final cheese was extra sharp Cheddar, which we paired with Peaks and Tides Cabernet Sauvignon. We knew that the wine would be tannin-heavy, so we chose a more powerful and savory cheese. The wine had notes of vanilla and berry, which contrasted well with the sharp, almost salty cheese. My roommate picked up caramel in the nose of the wine, but truthfully I didn't get that. The cheese was very creamy, which also juxtaposed wonderfully with the dry, and full bodied wine. 

Wine Dinner Blog

 My friend and I went to Outback Steakhouse, where I work, to complete the wine and dinner assignment. We began the night with 3 cheese steak dip and paired it with The Federalist Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon. The dip had a little bit of spice to it, which I thought contrasted very nicely with the smooth, oaky taste of the wine. The wine was refreshing, while also helping to cut through the heaviness of the appetizer. I also thought that the wine made the chips somehow seem even saltier than they are normally. 

   

Next, we shared a BBQ chicken sandwich with bacon and paired it with a Francis Coppola Diamond Collection Cabernet Sauvignon. The sandwich was saucy and bold, which paired very nicely with the Coppola, as it is also a big and bold wine. The wine was dry, which helped to emphasize the spice and sauces in the sandwich. 

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Finally, we ordered ice cream with chocolate sauce for dessert, which we paired with Jacob's Creek Moscato. We were informed that this Moscato goes well with dessert, and we were not disappointed. The wine didn't seem to change the flavors of the food, but the Moscato was a wonderful way to wash down the ice cream. Jacob's Creek Moscato tasted light and refreshing, and I picked out some fruity flavors, which complimented the vanilla ice cream beautifully. 

                                             

Tasting Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut

                                             

    Name: Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut

    Variety: Cava, Brut

    Region: Cava 

    Country: Spain 

    Year: 2015

    Price: $9.97

Winery Review: Cordon Negro Brut is crisp, clean and well balanced. The dosage is very dry, but the acidity is lower than most champagnes for a softer, smoother flavor. It is medium-bodied with apple, pear and bright citrus flavors and a moderately long and crisp, clean finish.

Wine Folly: Macabeo: (aka Viura, Macabeu) A white grape. Ripe, exotic citrus and stone fruit aromas, exotic and waxy floral notes (bergamot, chamomile) – adds elegance, and is the base of most blends

Parellada: A white grape. Yellow pomaceous and citrus fruits, yellow flowers, fresh nutty notes – adds mid-palate texture and body to blends.

Xarel-lo: (aka Xarello) A white grape. Lean, underripe, demure citrus and apple fruit aromas, principally contributes tart acid and freshness to blends

My review: I am a huge fan of dry, sparkling wines, so I loved this wine! The taste was certainly dry, but I picked up on a lot of lighter fruity flavors. I thought that I picked up some green apple, which now makes sense since the flavor profile is intended to have an apple taste. It was very smooth and seemed nicely balanced. We did not try with food, but I would definitely try again.

Intro Blog Post

     I grew up in an environment in which wine was celebrated. Every summer, both sides of my family get together for a family vacation. Every night another couple makes dinner and also hosts "wine tasting." When I was very young, I was only allowed to smell the wines, and soon I graduated to being able to stick the tip of my finger in it and taste it that way.  Now that I can participate in wine tastings on family vacations, I have really enjoyed learning about all of the varieties of wine, and I am excited to use this course to show up my family. 

       My mom and grandma are very fond of oakey, buttery chardonnays, namely Kendall Jackson Chardonnay. My grandpa is a fan of Malbec, and my grandparents and aunt are big fans of Riesling. Because everyone in my family has very different tastes, I have been exposed to a lot of different kinds. My personal favorites are Prosecco and Dr. Loosen Riesling. I like lighter and refreshing wines who aren't son drying and bitter in my mouth. 

    I tend to avoid Red wines, as I feel like I need a water with it in order to avoid a dry mouth. I like sweeter wines, but not sickly sweet. Watermelon and strawberry wines are too sweet for me, but a Riesling or Prosecco is perfect for me. The downside, though, to sweet wines is the headache. Really, I'm open to trying all kinds of wine and learning about them.