The Spring semester got off to a great start when Toad Hollow Winery agreed to host the first SSU WineSense Club tasting. A total of 46 millennials showed up that evening to learn more about the wines from this Sonoma County winery located in Healdsburg (http://www.toadhollow.com/).
The students tasted and toasted to six Toad Hollow wines along with scrumptious food pairings. The wines included: 2010 Chardonnay – Mendocino County, 2011 Rose of Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, 2009 Pinot Noir – Russian River Valley, 2006 Pinot Noir Reserve – Russian River Valley, 2007 Merlot – Russian River Valley, and NV Risque Sparkling Wine from France.
The Favorites
Two favorites of the evening were the 2010 Toad Hollow Unoaked Chardonnay ($13) from Mendocino County with clean, fresh flavors of ripe 
apple and lemon and their new Risque Sparkling Wine from France ($16). This is a non-vintage wine made from the Mauzac grape with a low alcohol of only 6%. It is also semi-sweet with crisp and fruity flavors.
Food Pairings
To begin, the cooking team prepared Herb Cheese Spread on Crackers to pair with the chardonnay and rose. Next was Sausage Kale Soup w/corn bread which married beautifully with the two pinot noirs and merlot. The semi-sweet sparkling wine was matched with Bourbon Cinnamon Bread Pudding – but this also tasted fine with the reds. All in all, it was a great way to start a new semester.