Thoughts from the tasting

Thursday marked my first actual wine tasting through my job. We had four different wineries/businesses come through and present and taste us on different wines. We had 1) Yellow Tail, 2)King Estates, 3)Willamette Valley Vineyard and 4) Pernod Ricard (french champagne and Mumm's). Here are my picks from each group.

1) Yellow Tail
- You have to give Yellow Tail credit, these people run a tight ship. They've expanded their business throughly in the last 6 years. Most importantly, they've brought in scores of people to the wine drinking world. Inexpensive, easy to drink and colorful labels all adds up to a hit. While not a huge fan of all of their offerings (I just think you can do better for a few bucks more) the one that stood out to me was their Shiraz-Grenache. Just a little more going for it then the other offerings. Perhaps not as sweet as the other ones too. It was fine on its own, but I even used it to make calimochas, (I think that's what they're called) a Spanish drink of fruity/sweet wine with coca-cola. No complaints there.

2) King Estate
- A solid offering for their new Pinot Gris. Great for a nice hot day, probably retails around $13.

3) Willamette VV
- My new riesling pick is the 2006 WVV. I'm slowly getting more into rieslings and this one is just fine. Sweet, but enough acid to not make it that cough syrup sweet. The thing that really did it for me though was the bit of tartness on the end, like that apple that gives you a bit of the sweet and tart. It was the perfect palate closer to the sweetness of the wine.

4) French Champagne Guys
- We did get tasted on Fleur Perrier Jouet champage, which comes in a sweet bottle and retails somewhere around $105, but it wasn't my personal favorite. I lean towards the more berry focused sparklers, not the yeasty/biscuity ones. A solid choice would be Mumm's M, which has a blue label.

Cheers!

Sauv Blanc and Salmon

On tonight's menu:
-brown rice and salmon steaks, with mexican tartar sauce
- mixed greens salad with ginger-mustard dressing, gorgonzola crumbles and toasted hazelnuts
- garlic bread

All tied together with Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc, from New Zealand. A very nice, light, crisp sauv blanc, it went perfect with the salmon. I had been waiting to try this wine out with salmon after having it recommended to me by another wine steward. It works perfect. Light and acidic enough to cut through the creaminess of the salmon. With a white wine like chardonnay you would easily risk overworking the creaminess of the fish with the creaminess of the wine. Here, the wine acts like a palate cleanser and makes each bite of salmon just as yummy and interesting as the first. Nice citrus notes on the nose, too (grapefruit and lime, for me). Plus, it's a great buy for under $10 at your local Safeway. A delicious meal, made even more delicious by the right wine. That's what I love about pairing food and wine. You find the right combo and it just makes it that much better. And, as you can see with the price point, it doesn't have to cost you a fortune.

Cheers!

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Wine

This blog will be a mix of reviews of wine, thoughts on the wine industry and anything else that pops into my head about wine. So who am I? I'm That Wine Guy, a new Wine Steward in the grocery business. Basically, I'm a wine sales specialist. I'm there in your friendly local grocery store to help find you a wine. Anything from a special occasion wine to just an inexpensive, decent bottle of red to drink with dinner. So check this place out for musings about wine, what the good deals are at the moment and my own wine experiences. Cheers!