The Young Sommelier [Thomas' Wine Blog]

Last week I was fortunate enough to take a trip out to California and got to tour some of the wine country in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. While I was there, I also got to tour the Hendry vineyards just outside of the city of Napa. The grounds themselves were lovely, but unfortunately we just barely missed getting a chance to see their harvests. They had finished harvesting the last of their Cabs just 10 days before we got there. That would have been a real treat. The Hendry property was actually fairly unique in topography and growing conditions. They had several blocks at the lowest point of their little valley which frequently had cool air pooled in it, which makes a substantial difference on the quality of their Pinot Noir that they grow there. In the picture on the right, the ridge in the distance is actually one of their Zinf blocks, while everything lower than that are their Pinots. You can also see their second crop grapes still left on the vines. While we were walking thro...

Alright, time for a short and sweet review. This week I'm reviewing the 2016 Shaly Loam Gewürztraminer from Fetzer and Apothic Crush. The Shaly Loam Gewürztraminer is described as having "aromas of Key lime pie, orange blossom and lemon-lime soda" as well as "honeysuckle and orange blossom flavors." I would definitely say it had more lime features in its smell and taste than any of the other traits they described, but also had a nice peachy-apricot flavor that balanced out the acidity nicely. At $10, its definitely a solid bottle. The Apothic Crush "combines red fruit flavors with notes of caramel and chocolate," and that is more apt of a description than I can really give. This is the first wine that I have actually had that smelled and tasted like caramel. That combined with the chocolate and cherry flavors made this a very enjoyable $8 bottle. Wines reviewed: Fetzer Gewürz: https://www.winemag.com/buying-guide/fetzer-2016-shaly-loam-gewu...

As a continuation from last week, I'm going to review a couple of piss cheap white Zinfandels. I ended up at the liquor store with a couple of friends looking for something to drink for the night and we came up with the idea of getting a couple wines of the same varietal at different price levels and comparing them. For the absolutely dirt cheap one we picked out an Arbor Mist Strawberry White Zin and for a slightly more upscale but still conservative one we picked up Sutter Home's White Zin. We'll start with Arbor Mist because theres not much to say about it. The artificial strawberry flavor overpowered just about everything else. It basically just tasted like a strawberry apple juice. The only Zin trait that was really able to power through was a slight peppery aftertaste, but it was just barely there. To be fair though, the bottle was less than $5, so what else could you expect. If you like strawberry apple juice, I'd say this is a steal for you. As for the S...

Howdy Y'all once again. Sorry about the gap in posts recently, you know how life can be, but don't worry because now have I got something for you. The past two weeks I spent some time experimenting with wines on the cheaper end of the spectrum, just to see what they have to offer, and I think I made some good finds. This week I'll be covering Fünf's Riesling and Ruffino's sparkling Rose. I suppose I'll actually start with the Ruffino just to get it out of the way. This was probably the only disappointing wine that I had of the lot, despite being the most expensive. At close to $10 a bottle, it promised "red berries and white fruits" and "notes of strawberry and slight hints of rose petals," and I suppose it delivered on those promises, but only technically. I got all of those things, but only the slightest hints of each, like it was the Le Croix of wines. Ultimately, I don't suppose I hated it, but I definitely won't be buying thi...

Sorry to have missed y'all last week; things got a little hectic for me, but don't worry. I'm back and rearin' to review some wine! This week I'll be reviewing Twisted's cost effective Zinfandel as well as the slightly pricier Pinot Noir from Andrew Rich. Twisted's 2016 Old Vine Zinfandel is "medium-bodied with aromas of black cherry, red currant, blackberry bramble and a hint of spice." I was able to pick it up for only around $5 and I can't say I was disappointed. While a little simpler than certain other Zinf's I've tried, this wine was still very satisfying. The blackberry and currant were prominent and clear and the spice was pleasantly warm in the mouth. The one weakness of this wine is probably in it's spice flavors, which came through exclusively as pepper, as opposed to a more balanced blend of flavors. However, for $5 a bottle that is a reasonable price to pay as this gives you the essential Zinfandel experience. ...

This week, some friends decided to throw a little dinner party, so I volunteered to pick out some wines to try and pair with the meal. This was my first chance getting to really try my hand at pairing, so I was excited to give it a go. We ended up eating lemon pepper chicken with mashed potatoes and vegetables, so I decided to try it with a Sauvignon Blanc. However, I also had to be fairly careful in picking out wines, because the group of people I was dining with are notoriously averse to dry wines and red wines in general. Due to this, I just decided to go with a Gewürztraminer on its own for a safe sweet dessert wine. So for the Sauvignon Blanc, I chose a 2015 vintage from Carving Board in California. I found it on sale at one of our local wine stores for $12 instead of $14, which made me a little wary. But, the flavor profile for it that I initially found noted its strong lemon component and floral notes, which I felt was a nice balance between appropriateness for the dish and th...