The Young Sommelier [Thomas' Wine Blog]

All right boys, we're back at it again. This week I bring you one mediocre California Sauvignon Blanc from Leese-Fitch, and probably my favorite wine that I've had so far, the 'Zinzilla' California Zinfandel. We'll get the more underwhelming one out of the way first. Leese-Fitch's 2017 Sauvignon Blanc was by no means bad, especially for its price range around $10. Their winery describes it as "...thoroughly refreshing, with aromas of guava, papaya and pear. These enticing characteristics are followed by vibrant citrus notes of grapefruit and lime on the palate, which enhance the wine’s juicy body and highlight its crisp, balanced acidity," and I find that fairly accurate. It's nose had a much stronger vegetal smell than the description implies, and I couldn't quite place it; somewhere between cut grass and a tangy herb. Its taste however, was in fact distinctly citrusy, with heavy acidity. It wasn't necessarily off balance, but something ...

This week I decided to go for something a bit more traditional than last week's tasting and had a go at one of Roscato's Rosso Dolce Sweet Red from Lombardy, Italy as well as a Belcreme de Lys Chardonnay from California. The Roscato Rosso Dolce is a non-vintage blended wine, and was a departure from my typical experience with red wines. It was both the first sweet and sparkling red that I've had, and I was very impressed. Coming in at around $10 a bottle, its quality was quite surprising. The winemaker describes it as "Brilliant ruby red in the glass with intense aromas of blackberries and ripe wild berries. This wine is fresh, lively and frizzante with a soft lingering finish," and honestly thats fairly accurate to my experience. I placed its fruity taste more along the lines of cherry than berries, but thats not too far off, as well as noting that it had a distinct 'balsamic' quality to it that I found very pleasing. Its body was silky and smooth, wi...

As I discussed in an earlier post this week, some friends and I had a little wine tasting party, where we paired a few wines with cheeses, but we also had a couple of unpaired wines. Two of the more zany members of the party ended up picking out a couple of wines because of their... aesthetic appeal? I will henceforth refer to them as Blue Wine and Fish Wine. Labeled Blú Perfer, the Blue Wine is a 2016 Spanish Chardonnay and is self-described as "Fruity, fresh, soft, tasty, with its own personality," although I hesitate to vouch for any of those claims. We were able to get this bottle for around $12 and – while that isn't particularly expensive – I imagine most of that price comes exclusively from the unique experience of being able to drink "Blue Wine." That and maybe the sturdiness of the packaging. After breaking our corkscrew trying to get it out, we ended up resorting to a pair of pliers to actually uncork it. And while that may not be ideal for custome...

A group of friends and I decided to get together and have a big tasting party this week. We all went out to the Cellar in Norman and grabbed a bottle of wine each, as well as some cheese to pair with the most conventional wines. We ended up with three conventions wine and cheese pairings as well as two – lets call them 'experimental' – wines to try out, which I'll cover in my next Wine Tasting Post. To begin the evenings festivities, we started with a 2013 Chianti Riserva paired with a sharp asiago. This is  the pairing that I picked out, but I have to say that it was probably the most disappointing of the lot. I am not typically a fan of dry reds, which is partially why I wanted to give one a try, but my expectations were fairly accurate. It had a distinctly tannic red wine smell that was very slightly warm and fruity, to the point of almost not being there. The taste itself was also about as typical of a dry red as you could get. It had all of those same subtle notes...

Howdy y'all. My name is Thomas Young and I am relatively new to the more complex aspects of wine. I drink it on occasion, so I can tell you the basic differences between a red and a white, but beyond that I'm clueless. The biggest turn off for me in the wines I've had have been being too dry or too sweet. I can appreciate a dry wine and how it may compliment other tastes, but after that first sip, it just becomes a struggle to keep drinking. It's similar for really sweet wines: I really enjoy the first few sips, but once the sweetness gets to me its tough to finish it off. Something nice and mellow with subtler flavors is my general go to. Honestly, I just hope to learn as much as I can in this class. I like anthropology and history, so I'm excited to learn about wine's history, but I also just plain like eating, so getting a better understanding of what goes into the flavors of a wine and how they relate to food is a big plus as well.