I love to do wine tastings. I love wine, and I've sampled lots. I have favorites.
Thursday I attended the SIP g.housen wine/beer tasting at Higher Ground. Seriously good time. And not just because there was virtually unlimited wine to sample. I went with a couple of my fellow Thirsty Girls and we sampled away. $25 ticket got us in and included sampling and music, giveaways, etc. I made a few new wine friends that night.
We were handed our Riedel glasses for sampling and let loose in a maze of nearly 150 wines and beers.
Our first stop was the Francis Ford Coppola table. I've had a few Coppola wines and enjoyed them, but one of my favorites wasn't being sampled. So I tried some others. The Rosso was very sip-able and easy-drinking red blend. Smooth, not acidic. Hints of cherry. Also at the Coppola table was the Sofia Blanc de Blancs. Delicious, sweet, effervescent! And pink cellophane packaging! Who doesn't love pink packaging? Hints of citrus and pineapple. Yummy. I'll likely buy both of these.
Next stop…Vintage Point table. We sampled the Luna Vineyards Lunatic White, not yet available in our area, but we were told soon. This was my second favorite wine of the night. Light and sip-able, I could have had several glasses. I noticed hints of pear in bot flavor and aroma. The price point is about $12 a bottle and I will definitely be stocking up for summer sipping as soon as it's available.
Another sweet surprise of the evening was the Boisset Family Estate‘s Jean Louis Brut Blanc. Sparking, light, refreshing, and fruity. Looking forward to sharing some bottles with friends. Also from Boisset Family Estate's was the DeLoach Marin County Pinot Noir. I generally prefer French Pinot Noirs, but this was quite good.
Fresh Tracks Farm was the winner of the evening for me. (Bonus: they're local! ) My favorite of the night was the Fresh Tracks Farm Frontenac Gris. This Vermont wine was crisp, sweet, and fruity. At $14/bottle, I can't wait to try this at my next wine and cheese gathering. My third fave of the evening was also a Fresh Tracks Farm wine…the Pink Piggy. I'm not generally a rosé lover, but this was a darker rosé and very sweet with cherry notes.
I'm not an oak girl, unless it's French. In general, the American Oak just doesn't please me. But when I find an unoaked Chardonnay, I get excited. Handcraft Chardonnay was a fruity, delish unoaked wine that I really enjoyed.
There's always one wine whose marketing stands out. Gnarly Head was definitely the one that won in my book. Their “Gnarly Notes” tasting notes and notebook is nothing short of brilliant. What a fun, memorable, and useful way to hand out tasting notes and give the samplers a place for notes all in one package.
There was one I actually had to dump out because I couldn't stand it. I won't tell you which one that was unless you email me and ask. Since wine preference is subjective, I won't taint you unless you request it.
I sampled many more than this, but here are a few others from the night that I enjoyed, in no particular order.
- Layer Cake Shiraz
- Layer Cake Chardonnay
- Luna Vineyards Pinot Grigio
- Hob Nob Shiraz
- Hob Nob Pinot Noir
- Zonin Prosecco
- Castello D'Alboa Pinot Grigio (bonus: runs about $9)
- Montcalm Rosé
- Handcraft Petite Sirah
- Kung Fu Girl Riesling (crisp, tart)
- Gnarly Head Pinot Grigio
- Noble Vines 667 Pinot Noir (which also happens to be a Thirsty Girl Sponsor! what a pleasant coincidence)
Thanks to g.housen and Higher Ground for putting on this event. I am very much looking forward to attending the next one!
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That was an awesome time! Thanks for the review!