Wine Club 24: Aires Andinos Chardonnay, Santa Helena Pinot Noir

Date: September 27th, 2012
Host: Christine
Served: smoked gouda & pine nut crescents, Beemster cheese and crackers, Buffalo chicken salad, key lime pie
Bonus bottle: Nachtgold Eiswein

Aires Andinos Chardonnay 2011 (Mendoza, Argentina) 13% alcohol, $7

Christine says (14.5): Pale straw with cool slate edges. Warm fruit aroma, like pears. Perfumed scent. Tart up front. Tannic, oaky taste, especially in the finish. Felt very slightly frizzante. I liked it.

Andrea says (16.5): A light golden color. The smell was musty, with tart green apple, cherry, pear and a little bit like feet. The taste was sweet at first, then tart and oaky. A good everyday wine, especially for the price.

Kim says (16): Well, these wines were scored using one of our previous rating systems, meaning it was a bit more technical and allowed less points in the subjective categories so take this for what you will! Nonetheless, I felt this Chardonnay suffered in aroma and bouquet (big surprise!) because it made me think of... well, musty cucumbers. Even the after taste was a bit sour (maybe the tartness that Andrea mentioned). But Christine's cheesy crescent rolls and buffalo chicken salad made it all okay... I had to ask her for the recipe for both. Yum!


Santa Helena Gran Reserva Pinot Noir 2009 (Central Valley, Chile) 14.5% alcohol, $10

Christine says (11): Blood color/claret; thin and clear. Smelled like strawberry jam, earthy rot, mold?, and green herbs like tarragon and mint. Alcohol taste, burning tires, weeds, wintergreen.

Andrea says (14.5): The color was blood red, but light and clear. My first smell all I could come up with was alcohol. After swirling I could smell a lot more: cranberry, jam, strawberry, mint, licorice, mold and earth. It tasted of jam and rhubarb. Tart and smokey, but the alcohol flavor was a bit overwhelming. 

Kim says (10): I'd like to say I tried to give this wine the benefit of the doubt because in the past, all three of us have been able to forgive the smell of cat pee, sweat, barnyard funk and feet. But when you come across a wine that brings to mind pungent black fuzzy mold, it's a bit of a challenge. Appearance? Thin and watery, and tasted a bit like lemon juice.

Nachtgold Eiswein NV (Rheinhessen, Germany) 10.5% alcohol, $19/500mL

Christine says (17.5): Very dark honey, almost amber, color. Smelled like honey, pears, herbs, grass and strawberry shortcake. Tasted very much like honey, as well as vanilla and apricots. Short-to-medium finish.

Andrea says (17): Dark amber-orange color. The first smell I wrote down was strawberry, which seems surprising for an Eiswein. But I also smelled honey, cake and vanilla. The strongest flavor was the honey, it tasted just how it smelled, vanilla, strawberry, and cake. A delicious dessert wine. Great with the key lime pie. 

Kim says (16): Beautiful and understated elegance... warm, amber, sparkled (but not frizzante), tasted of honey and apricots. For a person that doesn't care for ice wine, I very much enjoyed this!

Wine Club 31 (say goodbye to 2012): Mission Point Pinot Noir, Araldica Albera Barbera d'Asti

Date: December 31st, 2012
Host: Kim
Served: veggies, dips, cheese and crackers, sloppy joes
Bonus bottles: a French sparkler (thanks, Christine!) and tequila margaritas

Mission Point Pinot Noir 2011 (CA, USA), 13.8% alcohol, $9ish? at Trader Joe's

Kim says (12): Well, my notes say that I thought this wine was "thin in color." I think I probably meant that it was fairly translucent, which I usually don't comment on unless it's extreme (very translucent like the Domaine de la Terrière Beaujolais, as pictured here; or so dark that it seems to suck in the light around it, like the Terre des Chardons Marginal, mentioned here). Also noteworthy was the distinct aroma of pepper, mint and blackberries which is so interesting that I would like to try this wine again. 

Andrea says (15.5): A nice ruby color with pale edges. Smelled like raspberry, blackberry, cranberry, strawberry, plus black pepper and brown sugar. Tasted nice with good body. Jammy with grass and mint flavors. I would drink it again. 

Christine says (14): Looked thin; pale ruby. Jammy, raspberry, blueberry, brown sugar, and slightly peppery vanilla. Tasted like jam, and then minty in the mid-palate and finish. I got it for free at my company holiday party. So the price was right, but the wine was just barely OK.

Araldica Albera Barbera d'Asti 2009 (Italy), 14.5% alcohol, $14 at Whole Foods

Kim says (14): Athough I apparently thought this wine smelled like asphalt & honey and tasted like dead leaves, I found it to be appealing and overall felt it was good. It seemed to suffer in the categories of bouquet and color but was well-balanced and had a nice finish.

Andrea says (15.5): Pretty raspberry, fushia color. Smelled a little bit like rubber, but then blackberry, mint, jam and vanilla. Tasted smokey with a tart jammy taste. Good body and tannins. I liked it a lot.

Christine says (13): Dark, intense purple. Smelled like tires, burning rubber, some mint, vanilla, very slight honey. Full-bodied taste, with tobacco, mint and jam flavors. Not a complex taste. Earth and alcohol finish.

   

Christine says: Kim made an awesome spread filled with the party foods I absolutely love! Lots of good munching here.

Happy New Year! Cheers to 2013!

Wine Club 43: Hahn GSM 2011 & Caesar Salad Toast

Date: April 26th, 2013
Host: Kim
Served: Shredded Caesar Salad on Toasts, Hungarian Goulash

Domaine Robert Chevillon 2008 (Bourgogne Passetoutgrain, France), Pinot Noir + Gamay + other grapes, 12.5% alcohol, $13 on sale at Waterford

Kim says (14): Festive color and fairly translucent. Smelled like grape juice... mmm! But swirl at your own risk! I don't mind the "wet leaves in autumn" rot but swirling this wine brought out horrible decay and death rot smells. Very thin body and very high acid but overall impression of fruit. Appeal? I liked it.

Andrea says (13.5): Brick red in color, transparent edges but opaque in the center. My first smells I could pick up raspberry, jam, brown sugar, it smelled rich and smooth and I didn't smell alcohol. After giving the glass a good swirl I could smell the earthy stink that Kim was talking about. To me it smelled like bad breath, gingivitis. Definitely better before I swirled it...  The taste was tart and fruity like cranberry and pomegranate with kind of a minty, or chemical note? I thought it was thin in body and high in tannins. It went ok with the goulash, clashed with the salad.
 
Christine says (13): Reddish, somewhat murky appearance (thick-looking, like the Marginal we recently had, but not as thick. The Marginal looked like blood). It smelled rich, with red fruit, vanilla, peppercorns and earthy, slightly sweet beets. It was surprisingly tart! Thin body. Bracing for a Burgundy. Andrea picked up on pomegranate, and I agreed. Going back after tasting the other wine and enjoying some dinner, I also picked up on green pepper. Note: I didn't realize until later that Passetoutgrains is actually a blend of Pinot Noir, Gamay and other grapes...so of course it wasn't the elegant, graceful Burgundy I was expecting!


Hahn Winery GSM 2011 (Central Coast, CA, USA) 59% Grenache + 37% Syrah + 4% Mouvèdre, 14.5% alcohol, $10 at Discount Liquor

Kim says (15): Even more festive color, deeper and less translucent. Smelled like strawberry flavoring... strawberry Runts? Nice silky body and tannins were pleasantly strong. This went amazingly well with the shredded Caesar salad and Andrea's right... this seems like a very versatile wine. So while it may have suffered a bit in the technical categories, it shined in the subjective categories. I would definitely buy and serve this Hahn again!

Andrea says (18): Another Hahn wine I really liked, mark it as a win! A berry, fushia color, dark and opaque. I had the crazy glass this night that always make the wine smell different than it does in any other glass. Before swirling I really smelled licorice, somehow both red and black licorice, and some berry smell. After swirling it smelled a little like chemicals and plastic, smokey, but still kind of fruity. Tasted very smokey and earthy, sweet and strawberry. Well balanced, good body, nice tannins. Really good with the salad! I preferred this one with the goulash too.

Christine says (16): Intense deep berry magenta color. Smelled like Windex and crayons! After swirling, I could also smell "strawberries" ... as in strawberry roll-ups or strawberry flavoring. The wine was pretty tannic, but the tannins were nice. Good body. Smoky taste. Would be versatile with a lot of foods. Incredible amount of sediment (see the photo, left). Sugary sediment that dissolves between the fingers. Is it due to the wine's high sugar content? Because even though it's super-high in alcohol, the wine was still very fruity. Definitely a buy-again at $10. It was amazing with the garlicky Caesar salad appetizers. I think this was my favorite pairing so far!

I thoroughly enjoyed the Shredded Caesar Salad on Toasts although I might go a little light on the lemon juice next time... a definite keeper! On the other hand, the recipe for the goulash was promptly tossed in the recycle bin. If I wanted to serve an anti-climactic beef stew tonight, that's what I would have made.