China Silk Marco Polo – from the wine virgin

This is probably the only wine I have tasted from China. China Silk Marco Polo is a cabernet/merlot/grenache blend. I tasted this without knowing the type of wine, but I could smell and taste a sweet, peppery flavor. From this I could pick out that it was a cabernet at least. The only difference between other cabs I noticed was that it kind of fell apart in the finishing and wasn’t as bold.

Overall it was a very light red wine that had low acidity. It wasn’t my favorite of the night, mainly because it was a little bland compared to some of the others. However, now I can say I have experienced a wine from China!

Gruet Chardonnay (New Mexico) – from the wine virgin

The Gruet Chardonnay was one of the best white wines I have ever had. It had quite a deeper honey smell than the previous wine. It had a bit of a musky smell to the honey scent, but still smelled very sweet. This wine is from New Mexico.

The taste was exquisite. It was incredibly smooth and creamy, much like I expected from a chardonnay. However, the explosion of flavors were so delicious that this wine stuck with me. It was green apple at first, then pineapple, and then a banana finish. I was told to look for these flavors and could identify them as the wine was tasted. It was definitely the best Chardonnay I have tasted and one of the better wines I have had overall. Absolutely my favorite from the evening! I plan to purchase this one in the future.

Carlevana Feteasca (Moldova) – from the wine virgin

The first wine of the evening was a very light and crisp white wine, Carlevana Feteasca. This particular wine was from Moldova and I do not think I have ever had a wine from the Feteasca grape. I really liked this white wine because it was heavy on the honey, and I really enjoy the whites that have this scent and/or flavor. There was also a bit of a citrus undertone that paired nicely with the sweetness of the honey.

This was a pretty smooth wine with just a hint of acidity. It was fun to pair this with the olive tapenade and the spicy orzo salad. The tapenade brought out the spiciness of the wine and the orzo salad brought out the sweetness of the honey. It was interesting to be able to get two subtleties

Wines of south america tasting – fri apr 2 @ 5:30

Come join us for an evening with some of the most exquisite new world wines. South America is home to some of the most interesting and distinctive wines. Some of the wines we’ll enjoy will have quite a kick, as most will be from the Chile and Argentina regions. South America is able to create exquisite new world wines with old world character – quite an intriguing combination. Advanced reservations are always suggested – $15 advance purchase through the website or $20 at the door on a space available basis. $9 for students. Please call 828-414-9111 (toll free at 866-713-9437 for our out of town guests)

wines from unexpected places – from the wine virgin

Last Friday’s event was all about tasting wines from places where you normally wouldn’t expect to have wine. We had wines from all over the world, and even a delicious and very ‘unexpected’ boxed wine. We had wines from regions of the world where I wasn’t even sure if grapes grew. What made the event even more fun was that it was a blind tasting, so we had the chance to guess where the wines were from before they were revealed.

Some of the wines were incredible and it’s a shame that they are considered to be so unexpected. Everyone should have the opportunity to try some of the wines we sampled. What was interesting was that while I normally prefer red wines, there was a white that stood out last night above all the rest. Some of the areas we had wines from were Moldova, New Mexico, and Lebanon. Check back tomorrow as I start discussing some of the wines were discovered!

Hakuryu Ume-shu sake – from the wine virgin

The last sake of the evening, Hakuryu Ume-shu,  was the sweetest. It was described to me beforehand as a “juice box,” and this description was pretty accurate. The smell was a little moldy, and while it didn’t smell sweet, it definitely tasted of plums.

It also looked a lot like apple juice. I don’t know if it was my mind playing tricks on me, but I could also taste a little apple in it as well as the plum. It was very sweet, and is considered a dessert sake. This was probably my second favorite of the night, with the sparkling Ozeki being my first.

The evening was really fun and intriguing. I was really excited about Sake night mainly because I have never had it before and had no idea what to expect. We had a great turnout and the sakes definitely seemed to spark some fun conversation. Next week I’ll be reviewing wines from strange places, which was the theme of our event this past friday!

Ozeki Nigori and Daku – from the wine virgin

The Ozeki Nigori sake was very much like the Dreamy Clouds in appearance.  However this one did not have the banana flavor at all. It was more creamy in taste and tasted more like milk. The look was even a bit more milky.

The taste almost resembled pure coconut milk with an acidic finish. It was sweet enough, but not too sweet thanks to the acidity. This is quite a difference from the very first sake we had.

The next sake of the night was called Daku. I’m combining this into this post because these two sakes tasted very similar to me. Again, it could be the fact that I had a cold. However, it had the same milky appearance and smelled and tasted of coconut milk. The only big difference was that the Daku was a lot more acidic in it’s finishing than the Nigori. Both were very interesting, but the last sake of the evening, a dessert sake, took quite a different turn from these milky sakes. Check back tomorrow to see what plum-flavored Sake finished the evening’s event.

Dreamy Clouds sake – from the wine virgin

The Dreamy Clouds sake didn’t have as much of a moldy smell, but smelled of a banana creamsicle.  The look of it was very different from the first two. The first two were clear and pink, both translucent. This one was extremely murky and sediment deposits were at the bottom – quite different from the wines of our previous events.

The taste was a little banana, but mixed with milk. It’s hard to compare or describe it based off other sakes because they are all so different. However, this one did have the strong, acidic finish that the previous one had. It’s interesting because these sakes aren’t as alcoholic as wine, but they definitely seem to taste the opposite.

mukune sake – from the wine virgin

After the first sake we had, I didn’t really know what to expect of the second, Mukune. Surprisinly this one was very similar to the sparkling Ozeki. The same moldy smell was evident and just as strong in my opinion. The taste was also like a pear and apple mixture. I didn’t really taste a berry flavor in this one although others at the table could taste it. This week I was a little sick so my taste and smell could have been off a little.

While the Mukune was similar to the Ozeki sparkling sake, I felt like the sparkling one was a lot more flavorful – which is usually not the case in wines. The Mukune was a bit creamier, but I felt like the finishing was a lot more acidic and burnt when I swallowed. The burning hid a lot of the flavor to me.

The first two sakes were really interesting to try, but as the evening went on they only got even more intriguing. Check back tomorrow to read about one that was described by one of the guests as a “banana sandwich,” and his description was pretty accurate.

Ozeki hana-awaka sparkling sake

While I am usually not a fan of sparkling wines, the Ozeki Sparkling Sake was probably my favorite sake of the evening. As I mentioned in the last blog posting, I have never tasted sake before. So when I held my first glass in my hand, I had no idea what to expect. 

Not surprisingly, it did not taste or smell like the masterful blends that I last blogged about. I was taken off guard a little at first by the smell – it smelled moldy. But I learned that the mold is a vital process in producing sake, and they definitely do not taste like they smell. 

The smell wasn’t all mold. It smelled a bit like a pear with a bit of raspberry. This was also the taste. Thankfully it wasn’t yeasty like many sparkling wines seem to be. The flavor was also a lot more pronounced than sparkling wines I have had in the past. It was definitely a more fruity sake and was light on the alcohol, and definitely my favorite of the night.