Pretty much everything. Not a single dud in the bunch. Bringing back close to 3 cases (split between 2 couples).
Thoughts on California wine
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Pretty much everything. Not a single dud in the bunch. Bringing back close to 3 cases (split between 2 couples).
balatonwine
The Verecund Vigneron
I swear I keep trying this at home but most of the time it results in me drooling wine down my shirt or spitting it all over the room! I’ll just drink it than you
Understand. It may be a skill. That one can acquire. Or not.
For example, I can not roll my tongue. Or whistle with my fingers. No matter how I try to do either.
balatonwine
The Verecund Vigneron
Looking at that I can only think of Spock's chess set from the original "Star Trek" series....
I'm happy I was drinking water when I read that.Looking at that I can only think of Spock's chess set from the original "Star Trek" series....
I've been thinking about winery tastings, and over half of the time I know more about their wine than the tasting room staff, and I've never had the wine before. All too often the staff are trained to pour wine and parrot a description, but don't know anything. Being handed a tree of glasses doesn't detract from the tasting.
But a few stand out as different from that:
Linville Falls Winery, NC -- the tour was conducted by the junior winemaker (granddaughter of the owner/ winemaker), and she certainly knew what she was talking about, both the vineyard and the wines!
Poplar Ridge Winery, Finger Lakes, NY -- the owner, daughter of the founder, knew every detail about her wines. She's not the winemaker as her father was, but she knows her winery.
McGregor Winery, Finger Lakes, NY -- I've never had a tasting at the winery where the staff didn't know the wines.
West Wind Farm Winery, VA -- My son & I stopped in on our way home from @VinesnBines's vineyard in the early spring. The woman behind the bar was well trained. What stood out is the winemaker was having her help with some basic winemaking duties -- she had no experience in winemaking and was so excited to have actually helped out! Her face lit up while she spoke of it.
Many of us have been making wine long enough that a lot of the magic has evaporated. Seeing someone so excited about learning winemaking brings back those feelings.
In the last few months, I’ve been to tastings in Leesburg and Charlotte, VA, and the Willamette Valley (Dundee hills) in Oregon. The pricing in Oregon was substantially higher, and reservations were strongly encouraged. In VA, they made more of an effort to get food on the table.
But, other than that, they were set up pretty much the same - $$ for a flight of 3 or 4 wine short pours, and sales by the glass or bottle. Offers to join their wine clubs… No spit buckets.
But, other than that, they were set up pretty much the same - $$ for a flight of 3 or 4 wine short pours, and sales by the glass or bottle. Offers to join their wine clubs… No spit buckets.
We are club members at quite a few wineries in the region since we have family close by. Our standout new winery to visit this time around was Torrin. I posted about it yesterday here:
https://www.winemakingtalk.com/threads/what-r-you-doing-today.4784/post-878590
https://torrinwines.com/
It's not that I have anything against California wines it's just I'm afraid I have cellar palate for Virginia wines.
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