Tasting Favorites

(By guest author, Matt Lapides) The last wine club of the 2008-2009 school year celebrated by tasting a flight of reserve wine from Chateau St. Jean and enjoying the dynamic of a food and wine pairing hosted by the wonderful Tammy K. Wight.  Tammy opened the meeting with a taste of the 2005 Sonoma County Reserve Chardonnay.  It took four different private vineyards of chardonnay grapes from the best parts of Sonoma County to create the multi layered complexity of this glass.  It had a finish that tasted like crème brulee.  The 2005 Sonoma County Reserve Malbec was next. This [...]

The 40 Millennial students in WineBiz Class 305W at SSU were asked to analyze wine clubs in the Napa/Sonoma area and to select their top three favorites.  Criteria were based on best practices in wine clubs and included the following:   1)     Number of different club levels - at least 2 choices is preferable 2)     Price ranges for each level – a variety of ranges is preferable from low to high 3)     Shipping frequency – every 2 to 3 months is better, because lowers cost or discounted shipping 4)     Club level by varietal preference e,g. red wine, white, sparkling, etc. [...]

(By Guest Author: Matt Lapides, SSU Wine Club President) This week the SSU Wine Club was hosted by JAQK Cellars. JAQK is a brand new wine line launched last October and they are hoping to open a tasting room and lounge within the next five years.  They spell it J-A-Q-K because it stands for Jack, Ace, Queen, and King.  Their bottles were not only pieces of art, but they looked like they came out of a deck of cards.  The meeting was co-hosted by Joel Templin, the founder/owner, and Craig MacLean their master winemaker. Everyone had the opportunity to ask [...]

Lastnight we had a blind tasting of 6 red wines. The purpose was to try to identify the four classic red grapes -- pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, syrah, and merlot – by appearance, nose and palate. We also threw in two other favorites – a zinfandel and malbec – to make it more fun and challenging. Altogether 37 Millennials participated in the tasting, and we voted on our favorite at the end before revealing the label and price. The star of the evening was a cabernet sauvignon from a brand new winery in Napa! Read on for more details and [...]

The 40 Millennials in Bus 305W tasted through 6 white wines recently in a blind tasting format.  The purpose was to attempt to identify the classic varietals by color, nose, and palate structure.  A classic varietal is defined as one which must “have manifested QUALITY over a long period of time, AND have done so in more than one place in the world.”  Therefore according to experts such as Jancis Robinson and Karen McNeil, there are 5 classic white grapes:  chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, riesling, chenin blanc, and semillon.  We also added a sixth grape which is quite popular with Millennials [...]

It’s that time of the year when friends and family gather for holiday events and good cheer.  This is often accompanied by wonderful dessert wines ranging from sweet white rieslings, gewurtraminers, and viogniers in late-harvest, sparkling, and ice-wine formats as well as velvety red ports, black muscats, and late harvest zinfandels.  All of these sweet and semi-sweet dessert wines pair well with different types of cheeses, chocolate, cakes, pies, and other delectable dishes such as crème brulee, cheesecake and flan. This week’s blind tasting included 6 different dessert wines from California – including 4 whites (late harvest riesling, gewurtraminer, viognier, [...]

California has claimed zinfandel as one of its signature grapes.  This is because there is no other place else in the world that can produce such big, spicy and jammy wines from this unique grape varietal (originally from Croatia).  One of the most famous appellations for zinfandel is the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma County which has hot dry summers and warm autumns to ripen the heavy purple fruit from this vine.  Driving through Dry Creek Valley in the autumn is one of the most beautiful sites in California, because the valley floor and hillsides are filled with a tapestry [...]

California pinot noir is a “hot commodity” amongst the Millennial generation with its silky red fruit flavors and soft tannins.  It is an easy drinking red wine for new wine drinkers, but is often difficult to find at price points below $20.  Therefore, the purpose of this tasting was to evaluate value priced pinots and try to find some favorites.  Our five Millennial wine judges succeeded in this endeavor and have three great pinot noirs to recommend.  ***** (93, GOLD) Bogle Russian River Pinot Noir 2006 - $13 Silky texture, spices, fresh berries and cloves. A hint of minerals. Soft and [...]