Tasting - "Weinkeller Erbach Flonheimer Adelberg Sylvaner 2010"

• Name: Weinkeller Erbach Flonheimer Adelberg Sylvaner 2010

• Variety: Silvaner

• Region: Rheinhessen

• Country: Germany

• Year: 2010

• Price: $18.00, Sale: $4.95

• Vintage Cellar Review:   “The fruity, mouthwatering wine has a nice acidity-sugar balance and comes from the so called 'Rheinhessen-Switzerland', the heartland of Rheinhessen. It has a floral bouquet and is full of lemon zest, hint of passion fruit, and smells like yellow fruit, lemon-grass and green tea, all wrapped around a pleasant creaminess and a semi-dry profile. The finish is zippy and refreshing. Perfect for party on the deck as it comes in a liter bottle!”

• My Review: This sparkling wine had a floral and citrus-y scent to it. Of the white wines that I sampled this week, I found this one to stand out. The taste was fruity with little acidity, making for a delicious combination. I felt that the carbonation really boosted my enjoyment of this tasty German wine. I would not mind drinking a glass of this wine following a meal, as it seems like it would top off a delicious meal nicely.

Tasting - "Montebuena Rioja 2010"

• Name: Montebuena Rioja 2010

• Variety: Tempranillo

• Region: Labastida

• Country: Spain

• Year: 2010

• Price: $8.95

• Vintage Cellar Review:   "(100% Tempranillo, raised entirely in American oak): Vivid ruby. Ripe cherry and blackcurrant on the nose and in the mouth. Pliant and seamless in texture, with good heft and back-end energy. Finishes smooth and sweet, with fine-grained tannins providing shape and grip. Still on the young side but this wine drinks very well with an hour or so of decanting; it's an excellent value for Rioja."- Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (September 2012), 90 pts

• My Review: This wine smelled of berries, with a hint of pepper. The taste of this Rioja was not very sweet with a spicy aftertaste. While I wouldn't rate my enjoyment of this wine as highly as the Delaroche from this tasting, I found this to be a fairly solid wine all in all. The only aspect in which I'm able to nitpick this wine for is that I disliked the spice of this wine, which while not overwhelming, I did not enjoy.

Tasting - "Delaroche Cotes Du Rhone 2011"

• Name: Delaroche Cotes Du Rhone

• Variety: 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache, 10% Mourverde

• Region: Cotes Du Rhone

• Country: France

• Year: 2011

• Price: $8.95

• Vintage Cellar Review:  "This semi-opaque ruby, custom cuvée of 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache and 10% Mourvedre is made specifically for Fran Kysela. It exhibits very fresh, ripe dark red fruit with very good palate weight and depth and ends with rich fruit notes. Made from organically grown grapes. Incredible value!" - I-WineReview (December 2013), 90 pts

• My Review: I gathered more of a floral scent from this wine than I did a fruity scent. This wine was my favorite of this tasting, due in part to my bias towards red wines. This Anne Delaroche was not very sweet or acidic, but had a pleasing fruity aftertaste. This is definitely a wine that I would like to revisit.

Tasting - "Maipe Torrontes 2013"

• Name: Maipe Torrontes 2013

• Variety: Torrontes

• Region: Mendoza

• Country: Argentina

• Year: 2013

• Price: $7.95

• Vintage Cellar Review:  Spring-like nose of fresh white peaches, pears, green apple, green melon and hints of jasmine and rose petals. On the palate, it has a beautiful structure and acidity along with fruit flavors and plenty of body.  Well balanced, this wine displays a pleasant freshness with citrus notes and a long finish. Best enjoyed in its youth either by itself, or as a wonderful partner with smoked meats, mild to medium-strong cheeses, seafood and a great partner for spicy food as well.

• My Review: This wine evoked a very pleasing fruity smell. This wine provided a very sweet taste, leading me to believe that this wine would be very well suited for consumption with dessert. Acidic and rough could also be used to describe this wine, which was not aided very well by the citrusy aftertaste that I was left with. Overall, this was my least favorite wine of this tasting. 

Tasting - "Cortenova Pinot Grigio 2012"

• Name: Cortenova Pinot Grigio 2012

• Variety: Pinot Grigio

• Region: Venezie

• Country: Italy

• Year: 2012

• Price: $7.95

• Vintage Cellar Review:  Brilliant straw color with emerald reflections.
  Fresh and floral bouquet with a hint of pears, apricots and bananas. Fresh and inviting with bright fruit and an easy drinking style with a pleasing hint of almonds in the finish. Pairs well with seafood dishes, risottos with scampi,spaghetti with clams, sole in white wine.

• My Review: This wine had a very clear appearance, with just a hint of yellow hue to it. I was able to detect a floral and slightly fruity scent, though I could not distinguish what fruit the scent reminded me of. The wine tasted moderately sweet with very little detectable acidity. This was not my favorite out of this tasting, but I had no major complaints.

Introduction

I will admit right out of the gate that I do not have a huge amount of experience with wine. When I was younger, I would see my parents drinking wine almost every night with dinner, and after being offered some and hating it, I wondered why they even bothered. Since starting at Virginia Tech, I have had far more exposure to beer and liquor than wine, but after recently having a few glasses of wine while visiting family, I have found myself craving wine more, and beer and liquor to a lesser degree.

Within the past several months, I have purchased a grand total of two bottles of wine, a bottle of California-grown pinot noir, and a bottle of Coppola Rosso & Bianco, which despite being fairly cheap, I have enjoyed quite a bit. I tend to drink with friends or family, but have also on occasion had a glass of wine with my dinner after a long day of studying.

Throughout the duration of this course, I hope to pick up a much more thorough understanding of the different grapes used to make wine, be able to distinguish what wines that I like from those that I'm not too fond of, and my ultimate goal is to come away from this course with enough enthusiasm for wine to incorporate it into my life.

My one apprehension for this course is that I have an extremely weak sense of smell (think not being able to distinguish a fart or foul B.O. from any other smell), and I fear that that will pose some challenges to my potential for appreciating all that wine has to offer. Hopefully though, that can be worked around!