The Young Sommelier [Thomas' Wine Blog]

This week, I went with Jessica, one of my fellow classmates, to Blu in Norman to do a full meal with paired wines.  Our first course was a wonderful mac and cheese paired with Stemmari's Nero D'Avola. The wine tasted and smelled very plummy, although the taste also had serious earthy, spicy, and smoky flavors that really put the fruit in the background. The wine sucked almost all of the flavor out of the mac, but in turn the fruitiness became much more pronounced. Next, we each ordered a different pizza to split and a wine to go with each. Jessica ordered The Med on a flatbread, which had an olive tapenade for the sauce, with goat cheese and pepperoncinis and a balsamic drizzle. We paired it with Jam Jar's Moscato. The moscato primarily tasted like peach and mango, although it had a very smooth cinnamon finish. When combined, the spice in the wine was cancelled out, bringing out the fruit and also enhancing the balsamic flavor of the pizza. Finally,...

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...