The Vine Diary: Wine Club 47: Goodbye, Old Apartment

Date: June 12th, 2013
Host: Andrea
Served: eggrolls, crab rangoon, orange chicken, cupcakes
Bonus bottle (from the host's personal inventory): 2008 Erbalucede di Caluso

Domaine de la Janasse Viognier 2010 (Principauté d'Orange, France) 14% alcohol, $15 at Waterford

Andrea says (17.5): Temperature really made a difference with this wine. At first we drank it very chilled. I could smell green apple and minerals. I could hardly place any flavors at that temperature but it was definitely smooth, tart, good body and nice tannins. After the wine warmed up to room temperature I could smell honey, pear, and slate. Went well with the orange chicken and egg rolls.

Christine says (15.5): Light pale lemon color. Subtle smell of minerals, slight honey and slight oak. Surprisingly full-bodied. Tasted minerals, toast and oddly enough, peanut butter. Longer finsh that tasted like popcorn. I think it would be good w/ peanut butter/Thai foods. And I liked it with the chocolate peanut butter cupcake.

Kim says (15): Alright... I am going to list off what I smelled and it probably sounds bad but it wasn't! I did not dislike the aroma of this wine that smelled of wet slate, sweet (but not floral or fruity sweet), undertone of B.O. funk and very faint blue-green bread mold. Maybe like Christine and Andrea, I just needed to give this wine a chance to warm up and relax a bit. But the predominant aroma was wet slate and I thought it would have gone extremely well with Andrea's orange chicken. It ended up being a fair match but not great.

Tisdale Cabernet Sauvignon NV (CA, USA) 12% alcohol, $4 at Otto's

Andrea says (14): Surprisingly clear for a Cab. Sauv. but a nice ruby color. The smell was fruity, smokey, alcohol, and bacon? The taste was very berry! Strawberry and jam flavors. Really didn't have any characteristics of a Cabernet Sauvignon, but I liked it. I enjoyed this one with the cupcakes.

Christine says (8.5): Pale raspberry color, almost translucent. Black and red fruit, and violets in the nose. Smelled and tasted soft and fruity. Thin body. Streak of acid. It was just okay, not like a Cabernet Sauvignon. Though I preferred it with the yummy, slightly sweet orange chicken.

Kim says (15): I know, I know... pairing a big bad cab with chicken? Gasp! Oh, the horror! But seriously, nothing on the wine store shelves was calling to me until this one caught my eye. We'd had a Tisdale before and I thought I remembered liking it (although after 122 bottles of wine to date, they do blur a little bit... hence, this diary) and I figured sweet, salty, acidic oranges might just be able to hold their own with a cab... chicken or not! Well, this one hails from California (and I think CA does the big, bold, sassy reds particularly well) but was quite a shocker. Didn't look like a cab (fairly thin and translucent), didn't smell like a cab (vinegar and canned cranberries), didn't taste like a cab (very fruit forward) but I think the sharp departure made it unique- more drinkable, versatile. Plus... a big win with the chicken!