Wannabe Wino

And Bin Ends Wine is at it again! The next Bin Ends Wine live Twitter Tasting will be held on September 18th and, and as I mentioned on Wine Biz Radio, co-hosted by yours truly!

We will be featuring one of my favorite wineries, and one I write about frequently since their wines grace many of the shelves of my cellar, Michel Schlumberger!

If you missed out last time, you missed out on lots of fun and good wine, so head on over to Bin Ends and see the details on when the tasting pack will be available. Then, join us at 7pm EST to taste through what promises to be an excellent, featuring, as a teaser...at least the current Syrah and Chardonnay releases! Plus more to come as the list becomes finalized.

Last time we had over 20 people tasting live and sharing their thoughts, let's top it this time.

So, sign up for Twitter. Follow me, Bin Ends, and Michel Schlumbger, and get ready to taste!

I will share more details as they become available.

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Bin Ends Wine for the Twitter live tasting.

The fourth and final wine (we're going a little out of order here...) that I tasted during the Bin Ends Wine live Twitter tasting was the 2004 Hugel Riesling Jubilee. It had a real cork closure (dhonig, I'm sure this one was one of the real corks!), clocked in at 13.5% alcohol by volume, and runs about $49 from Bin Ends Wine. This was easily my favorite wine of the evening, though, I'd probably be more inclined to purchase the Gentil or Gewurztraminer given the price point.

My first note on this wine was: "Like nothing else I've ever smelled." And that's the truth. The wine had an aroma like no other wine. The nose showed peach, lime, flowers, fig, vinyl, green apple, caramel, a hint of petrol, and lemon. I would love to smell this wine in another 5-10 years. I imagine it will be nothing short of amazing. In the mouth I found lemon, peach, minerals, stone fruit, tropical notes, honey, green apple, banana, and lemon.

Overall, this wine was something amazing. I've never had another wine like it. I just finished the bottle 4 days after I opened it, and I did nothing but stick it in the fridge with the cork in it. It still showed really well. I'm impressed. The wine was tart, with some residual sugar, but not sweet or overpowering in any way. It had great acidity and a wonderful mineral finish. I'd recommend picking up some of this wine and socking it away for at least 5 years.

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample so I could participate in the live tasting from Bin Ends Wine.

As I mentioned last week, I participated in the Bin Ends Wine Live Twitter Tasting on Thursday. I will also be co-hosting the next round in September, more on that later. Additionally, I was on Wine Biz Radio talking about the experience this morning! Busy busy busy. With that said, I have detailed notes to share with you on the 4 wines we tasted live!

First up was the 2006 Hugel Gentil. It clocked in at 12% alcohol by volume, hailed from Alsace, had a real cork closure, and will run you about $10-$12. I asked the winemaker live on twitter what the blend for this wine was and he told me "It's roughly 20% Gewurz[traminer], 20% Riesling, 20% P[inot] G[ris] and the balance Sylvaner & Pinot Blanc."

The first thing I noted about this wine was the dark straw color. Next I moved on to the nose. The twitter tasting happened in split second timing, so I was typing notes as fast I could smell, and had to go back after the tasting was over to make sure I had covered everything! On the nose I found lemon, stone, spice, honeysuckle, flowers, lime, and orange blossom. I thought the nose was very nice and fairly complex for the price point. In the mouth I found apple, peach, lime, more flowers, nectarines, lemon, and more peach (apparently I really thought the peach was strong).

Overall, the wine was really dry, very refreshing, had a full mouthfeel, and was generally extremely well done for the price. I served it with our cheese course and it was great match. This is one I would definitely re-buy!

Matt and I were kindly invited to a tasting of Petite Sirah this Friday hosted by Loweeel of The PSychos' Path, a blog focused entirely on Petite Sirah. Loweeel was hosting some out of towners for this event before the local Woot meet-up this Saturday. We were thrilled to be able to attend and contribute some of our favorite PS, one of my favorite grapes. Without further ado, the wines from the great line-up:

1998 Stag's Leap Petite Sirah: Classic PS nose. Licorice, smoke, vanilla, blueberry, milk chocolate dark fruit.

1990 Sean Thackery PS: Stinky nose to start, unpleasant manure odors that blew off fairly quickly. Pepper, eucalyptus, mint, didn't give up any fruit on the nose. Clove, little fruit in the mouth. Several hours later this had opened beautifully, showing more eucalyptus, pepper, and red fruit.

2003 Sean Thackery Sirius PS: Blueberry, vanilla cream, little heat, thinner in the mouth than I expected, tannic, blueberry, eucalyptus, slight red fruit. Definitely too young.

2005 Sean Thackery Sirius PS: Vick's Vapo Rub, dirty, slight slight blueberry on nose. Blueberry, tannic, again slight red fruit. Bigger fruit than the 2003, seemed more ready to drink, though still young.

1998 Turley PS: Blueberry cream pie, anise, walnuts, smooth, well integrated, roses, black cherries, baking spice. My favorite so far, very good wine.

2001 Foppiano Reserve PS: Matt and I brought this. Little funk that blew off quickly. Black cherry, blueberry, little pepper, cassis, chocolate, spice, tannins, fairly well integrated, but still very young.

2004 Camellia Cellars PS: We also brought this. Cigarette smoke, blueberry, cream, tannic, short finish, cassis, a bit hot, licorice, fresh caramel.

2005 Chase PS: Baking spice, heat, pepper, white pepper, lots and lots of tannins, some fruit I couldn't distinguish, not ready to drink yet.

2005 St. Helena Winery Violation PS: Vanilla, oak toast, cassis, blackberry, blueberry undertones, black cherry, chocolate, carmalized top of the creme brulee, a bit sharp.

All in all, a great line up, one I was happy to be able to participate in. Also, Loweeel made the BEST lamb we've ever had. Thanks for the invite Loweeel!

Our fearless leader Lenn of Lenndevours has posted the round-up for WBW #48 Back to Your Roots. You can see the participant list here. Looks like just about 40 participants after Lenn adds the folk who have commented! I have to click through a few more posts, but I've read most of them! It's highly entertaining to see where everyone began their journey with wine, and it appears I wasn't the only one sucking down blue bottles of Schmitt Sohne Riesling!

Thanks for hosting Lenn, and as always, stay tuned, I'll let you know when the theme for next month is up!

Rise and shine and a Rose and an omelet for breakfast. Perhaps a Rose and a turkey club for lunch, followed by Rose on the porch, ending with my bbq ribs and a Rose for dinner. Really, this Rose was so good that I would honestly want to drink it all day long.

The wine was the 2007 Nelson Family Vineyards Zinfandel Rose. It came in a club shipment, cost me $12.80 with a club discount, had a real cork closure, and clocked in at 13.8% alcohol by volume. I'm not sure if the condensation in the picture is because I chilled it too much or we're cheap and keep our house a touch warm...probably a combo of both, but it tasted perfect, especially that day as the weather hit the high 90s with oppressive humidity! Ah, the joys of living in a (former) swamp.

On the nose I found watermelon, cream, berries, spice, and flowers. It smelled delicious and I wanted to jump in an take a swim in my glass. In the mouth, dry fruit dominated, lots of berries, but especially raspberries, cherries, and a hint of the watermelon from the nose. The wine really had just an absolutely beautiful structure and flavor and the color was fabulous. The tart fruit, combined with the dry acidity in the mouth make the wine a perfect sipper for before dinner, after dinner, with dinner, any old time. At this price, well worth it.

The wine for the evening was a 2006 Freie Weingartner Wachau Gruner Veltliner. My dad picked this up for me from Branford Wine and Spirits in CT, but I gather it sells for around $12, it clocked in at 12.5% alcohol by volume, and had a screw cap closure. We drank this on its own after dinner, and it was perfect that way.

On the nose I found almonds, peanuts, lime, white pepper, green beans, nutmeg, and crayon. Yes, you are reading that right, an aroma as if you were sniffing a box of a Crayola! In the mouth I got white pepper, exotic spices, grapefruit, lemon, and limes. Overall, I'd describe this wine as smelling like my garden. I often brush up against my tomato plants as I'm picking, pruning, or watering, and touching the actual plant has a very distinct aroma. That, mingled with the fragrant basil in my garden, was what this wine reminded me of.

A tasty little bottle of wine for the price, good structure and acidity, some of the typical varietal characteristics...not much more I could ask for in a $12 bottle of wine. Definitely one I'd snag again for a hot summer's day.

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as sample.

Let's talk about something really cool and revolutionary from a long established Sonoma Winery. A first, that I am aware of, in the wine industry, in what I can only hope will become an industry standard. Rodney Strong is a well-recognized and well respected wine brand, and they are breaking ground in many ways with their new wine project.

Rodney Strong chose to do something with their new allocated brand, Rockaway, that no other winery I know of has done: they released it in a concentrated effort to wine bloggers before it was released to main stream media, in a pr campaign that culminates in the release of the first vintage on September 1. I am happy and honored to join the company of Jeff from Good Grape, Dr. Debs from Good Wine Under $20, Tim of WineCast, Kori of WinePeeps, Renee from Feed Me/Drink Me, and Joe from 1 Wine Dude, in being among the first to announce this wine to you. I highly suggest you visit all of the above mentioned sites for further reviews of Rockaway, all from the unique perspectives of these great bloggers.



Tasting the Rockaway initial release, a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, presented an opportunity I could not pass up. Being part of a release of a brand new wine brand, before it even hits the standard wine publications is part of a breakthrough effort.

A little about Rockaway. Rockaway is a "winery within a winery" project for Rodney Strong, currently under the leadership of owner Tom Klein. Over the last 10 years, Rodney Strong has undergone a program of replanting or purchasing high quality vineyards in the Alexander Valley. The result is Rockaway, and its soon to be followers from the 2006 and 2007 vintages, Brother's Ridge and Alexander's Crown. To craft these wines, grapes from only the best (meaning most tasty) vines/rows of the vineyard are selected and sorted in the vineyard before being delivered directly to the tanks where they will undergo fermentation. In a final feat of expressing the best of the land, the wine is made completely of free-run juice, meaning that it is crushed without the use of a press, and thus containing only the grape juice, without interference from the pressing of skins and seeds, which can add bitter flavors and more tannins to the wine.

Now the wine. 2005 Rockaway Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Malbec, and 4% Petite Verdot. It has a real cork closure and clocks in at 15.4% alcohol by volume. Rockaway is a single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from the Alexander Valley. The wine is expected to cost about $75 and will be released only through an allocation program. An allocation program means that you sign up for the winery's list and are then entitled to purchase a certain number of bottles. It will be the only way to get your hands on a bottle of Rockaway.

On the nose I found vanilla and another slightly sweet aroma that I can't place. The vanilla on the nose blew off fairly quickly, revealing raspberries, blueberries, spice, earth, leather, mint, a hint of eucalyptus, blackberry, black currant, and cedar. The fruit smelled quite ripe and the aroma was wonderful. I had to yell at Matt to not drink it too quickly as I really wanted to enjoy this wine after getting a whiff of the nose! In the mouth I found black currant, earth, forest, spice, cloves, wood, cedar, blackberries, strawberry, and the slightest hint of cocoa. The fruit was dark and prominent.

I served the wine with petite fillet mignon which may have been the best match of Cabernet Sauvignon and steak I have ever had. As soon as I new I was getting this wine, I started planning my steak dinner to go with it. The wine had excellent structure and great balance, even with the higher alcohol content. The tannins were also there, making it the perfect match with the juicy meaty and slightly fatty steak. A definite must of a pairing for this absolutely delicious wine. I would be most interested to see how this wine tastes in 5-10 as I think it will be able to age with the best of them and will only get better with time.

If this sounds up your alley, be sure to head over to the Rockaway Vineyard site and add your name to the allocation list so you'll be able to get your hands on some!

On a morning much like today in 2006, slightly hazy and overcast, with the sun trying to burn through, and at about this same time, I was headed up to pick up my bridal party to get our hair done for my wedding. The day turned out gorgeous, and everything was as I could have hoped for.

Two years ago today Matt and I were married. We must be very lucky because it's been a lovely two years filled with fun, big milestones, great friends, and wonderful family. Not to mention, lots of great wine. Tonight we will be celebrating our 2nd Anniversary at Dino in DC, a restaurant we have not tried before, but are much looking forward to.

The last two years have quite literally flown by, and I can't wait to see what next year brings. Happy Anniversary Matt!

But first an announcement. I quietly passed by 600 posts. Today marks post number 602 here at Wannabe Wino. Wow, I've been quite the busy wino for the last less than 2 years. Now onto your regularly scheduled programming :)

I, along with several other wine bloggers, among them, Tim of WineCast, Andrew of Spittoon, Sharon of Bloviatrix, Richard of A Passionate Foodie, Ryan and Gabriella of Catavino, Dale of Drinks Are On Me, and Joe of 1 Wine Dude, will be participating in a live Twitter Tasting hosted by Bin Ends Wine.

Bin Ends Wine is a retail shop in the Braintree, Ma and has recently opened up into online sales. The concept is that they offer fine wines at steep discounts, and if you are lucky enough to live in the greater Boston area, the shipping is free.

The participating Bloggers, joined by Etienne Hugel, will be tasting through 5 of Hugel's current offerings. Hugel will be right there with us, providing information and his thoughts about the wines. The tasting is on August 21, and you can read all the details here. Hugel is a high end producer of wonderful wines from Alsace, so we'll be tasting Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Gewurztraminer....yum!

The best part is, Bin Ends Wine is selling 2 bottles each of 3 of the wines for only $85, which is a steal. So you can join in on the fun! Just buy the wines, and follow me on Twitter and follow Bin Ends Wine, and join us next Thursday for our live thoughts on what promise so be some fantastic wines from Alsace.

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear WBW, happy birthday to you! Today marks the 48th WBW, and thus the 4th birthday of the monthly wine blogging event created by Lenn of Lenndevours. Fittingly, Lenn is hosting this 48th edition of his brainchild and has chosen the theme "Back to your roots." By this, he meant to go back to when you first started drinking wine and pick up one of your first bottles again to re-taste now.

I thought about it, but I didn't want to. Like many others, my journey with alcohol in general started with the bottom of the barrel (no pun intended). I drank free beer (Natty Ice and Milwaukee's Best anyone), wine in a box (Dr. Franz, as we affectionately called it, was a good friend), and vodka out of a $7 handle (mmm, Granite State and Zhenka). I have no desire to go back to any of that, it was foul when I drank it then. So I thought a little longer, and contemplated going back to the first bottle of wine that made me turn away from whatever came in a big format bottle or a cheap box. And that was a bottle of 1999 Schmitt Sohne Riesling. It cost about $5-$6 a bottle at the time, and one of my very dear friends showed up with a case of it one day.

I'd never had a Riesling. I didn't know what Riesling was. But I knew I loved it. And from that day on, I bought wine for the sake of trying new things. I stocked my college mini fridge with random bottles that I picked up at the state-controlled liquor store and went for flights of wine with my friends at the one restaurant with a decent wine selection in town. I stayed mostly in the white wine arena for a while, like many new wine lovers, as it seemed an easier transition and red wine scared me a bit. Now, I also didn't want to go back and drink the Schmitt Sohne again. I've had it fairly recently. Maybe it's me or maybe it's the wine, but it's not what I remember.

Instead, I decided to to search my local stores for a bargain Riesling and go back to the grape and country that started my affair with wine. In that vein, I managed to located a bottle of Lucashof 2007 Pfalz Riesling from Germany. I picked it up at Grape and Bean, a new, to me, wine shop in Old Town Alexandria for $14.50, it clocked in at 11% alcohol by volume, and had a real cork closure.

Surprisingly, I don't drink much Riesling anymore. It could be because I get most of my wine from California and not many CA producers grow Riesling, or it could be because I drink a lot more red wine now than I used to, or it could just be that the stores I frequent don't carry a lot of Riesling (very true, my first shop didn't have a single bottle and the 2nd stop had 3.) But I really should, because each time I open a bottle of Riesling, I'm reminded of why I began to love wine.

The Lucashof showed honey, stone, apricots, lemon, and a beautiful flowery citrus on the nose. I could, as is the case with several wines I've consumed recently, almost smell the acidity, the structure that was going to be in the glass. In the mouth, more honey, peach, lemon, citrus, honey suckle, very dry fruit. It was delightfully light, and almost sprightly in the mouth. It brought back memories of the intrigue I found in my first glass of Riesling, a promise of how good wine could be.

Though of course, part of the experience in drinking my first Riesling was the company in which I drank it. I remember all those days fondly with my best friends from college, lazy days with no responsibility and the only pressing question of the day being what we would do that night. And really, that's what wine and Riesling are to me, a great memory, evoked with every glass. For this WBW, it didn't matter what Riesling I chose, or whether or not it was excellent, good, or just passable, it was the act of pulling out a bottle of Riesling and drinking it with good company, these days, my wonderful husband.

Many thanks to Lenn for the excellent theme, and for keeping WBW going all these years. I look forward to many more years of participating and I am excited to read what others chose for their wine.

The wine for the evening was the 2007 Michel Schlumberger Pinot Blanc. The bottle came in a club shipment, but it retails for about $21. The wine had a real cork closure and clocked in at 12.8% alcohol by volume. Pizza and white wine probably represent one of my least elegant wine and food pairings, however, I wanted homemade pizza and I REALLY wanted to drink this wine, so there you go. I first became acquainted with Michel Schlumberger after reading about the winery on Fork and Bottle before our 2007 trip to CA. We stopped by to visit and immediately joined the club as we were so impressed with the quality of the wines. Since then, we have visited again, and I chose this wine as part of my Summer Sippers pack for Domaine547.

I easily recommended the 2007 vintage of this wine based on past experiences with it, but here is my review of the vintage included in my Domaine547 Blogger Pack. On the nose I found pear, lime, green apple, pineapple, and honeysuckle. The wine smelled crisp and I could almost taste the acidity before I even got it in my mouth. With the heat we've been having I was salivating over the wine before I even took the first sip. And I was not to be disappointed. My first note for the taste of this wine was "woah tart!" In the mouth I found pear, lemon, lime, tart apple, a vein of minerality, and honey. The wine was cool, refreshing, and perfect for the weather. This is an easy one for me to recommend, though I'd suggest not pairing it with pizza :)

The wine for the evening was the 2004 Zina Hyde Cunningham Petite Sirah. It hails from Lake County, clocks in at 14.9% alcohol by volume, and cost us $24 at the winery last March. I have another bottle of this wine hanging out in the cellar and it is going to be tough to now pop the cork on it soon, it's such a tasty wine!

I first noted the color on the wine, a deep dark inky purple, classic Petite Sirah. The nose smelled of blackfruit, gobs of blueberry, blackberry, spice, baking spice, chocolate, and anise. Roll it altogether and you'd have a pretty darn tasty pie. In the mouth, the tannins dominated. This needed air, so I quickly pulled out our decanter to give this one some help. After some time in the decanter, the flavor showed all blueberries, all the way. I even wrote down blueberries three times in my notes, and underlined it, and put exclamation points next to it. I think I wanted to remember that this one was full of blueberries. Behind the blueberries I found undertones of red berries, spice, clove, anise, chocolate, vanilla, and chocolate covered cherries.

The wine smoothed beautifully fairly quickly, however, my first tasting note for this one was "Hello tannins." So you are definitely going to want to give this one some time to air or try to save it for a few a years...I'll try, I promise. As we were drinking it, I kept thinking back to the blind tasting of Petite Sirah I hosted when it was my turn to host Wine Blogging Wednesday. This wine would have placed extremely well in the tasting in my opinion. Overall, a delicious, tannic, beast of a Petite Sirah, perfect for those who love this wild grape.

I must confess, whenever I hear the name of this winery, I get a song stuck in my head from when I was a little kid. It came from a cartoon called "Lambert, the sheepish lion." Cute cartoon, and a random memory!

We stopped at Lambert Bridge on our last day in Sonoma. Their website doesn't have much information that I can find about production size, specialties, etc. The tasting room was rustic looking from the outside, but gorgeous on the inside. A huge tasting bar filled the center of a long, skinny room, and behind the tasting area was a giant barrel room. Our tasting host was very friendly, and we picked out his Boston accent right away!

The wines:

2006 Sauvignon Blanc: $22. Grapefruit, smooth, citrus.

2006 Viognier: $30. Pear, honeysuckles, spice, very pear. We bought one bottle.

2005 Chardonnay: $32. Caramel, pear, oak, round, full body.

2005 Winery Ranch Zinfandel: $30. Very fruity, berries, cherries, spice, anise. One came home with us.

2005 Maple Vineyards Zinfandel: $40. Cherry, spice, tannic, chocolate, currants blueberries.

2004 Merlot: $40. Has some Petite Verdot, Cab Franc, and Malbec blended in. Raspberry, dark fruit, oak, vanilla, licorice, herbs, blueberries. We took home one.

2004 Crane Creek Cuvee: $85. Plums, black cherries, chocolate, big fruit, oak.

2004 Cabernet Sauvignon: $90. Vanilla, blackberries, spices, currants.

Overall, while I really liked the tasting room and thought the wines were tasty, the prices on some of them were really steep.

*Disclaimer: I received this bottle as a sample from Israeli Wine Direct.

A trend has formed here at Wannabe Wino. In the last 20+ days I've only reviewed one bottle of red wine. But the weather has changed slightly and it's not so sweltering, so in the last week, we've actually had 3 big red wines, a Malbec and two red blends. So fear not dear readers, I have not abandoned red wines!

However, the wine for the night was a white, a 2007 Pelter Sauvignon Blanc. The wine came from Israeli Wine Direct, a fairly new company whose mission is to import boutique wines from Israel and introduce them to US consumers. It had a real cork closure, clocked in at 13.1% alcohol by volume, and can be purchased from Israeli Wine Direct for $23.99. The winery is located in the Golan Heights, is family owned and operated, and produces about 30,000 cases of wine a year.

On the nose I found wet stone, grass, lemon grass, lemon custard, lemon drops, herbs, green apple, and peach. I realize that it sounds strange to pick out all those different lemon flavors, but I promise, they were there, and each was distinct. And my lemon drops, I mean those little yellow hard candies that used to come in tins....does anyone make those anymore? In the mouth I got flavors of lemon, green apple, peach, and pineapple. The green apple was particularly strong. I also noticed minerality running through the wine, perhaps connected to the wet stone I found on the nose.

Overall, this wine had nice acidity and good structure. It's a completely different kind of Sauvignon Blanc than the ones I drink from New Zealand. If I had to compare it, it tastes like some of the excellent Sauvignon Blanc coming out of CA. I served the wine with fresh snow crab legs, drawn butter, and fresh lemon. A perfect match! I love Sauvignon Blanc with sea food, and this bottle had the acidity to cut through the butter and the citrus that pairs so nicely with sweet crab. I'd never had a bottle of wine from Israel before, so I was very excited to get to try this!

The wine for the evening contained a grape I've not had before, nor had I ever heard of it. But then, that's not surprising given the enormous variety of grapes on the market. I picked the wine to drink that night mainly for the fact that it came in a 500mL bottle and Matt had gone out to dinner with some friends, so I wanted a bottle I could drink on my own in case he didn't want a glass when he got home!

The wine was a 2005 Vare Ribolla Gialla. I purchased this bottle from WineQ for $24.99 (free shipping because I spent over $35!), it had a real cork closure, and clocked in at 14.5% alcohol by volume. I gather that Ribolla Gialla grape is grown mostly in Friuli, Italy, and Slovenia and Vare Vineyards is the only US winery producing a Ribolla Gialla wine! Vare Vineyards is a small (less than 500 cases!) production family owned operation in Napa.

On the nose I got spice, lemon, lime, and a touch of oak. The wine smelled like it had great acidity. In the mouth I found sharp citrus at the front of the palate, which translated to lots of lime and lemon. Spice was prevalent throughout the wine, with a creamy mouthfeel in the mid and back palate as it warmed a bit. Overall, the wine was dry, smooth, and delicious. I was happy to add a new grape to my line up, and much look forward to the Bianco I have from Vare waiting for me in the cellar.

I drank this on its own, but I think it would be great with my parmasean encrusted tilapia, or with some of the fresh crab we've been feasting on this summer!

And flows, and flows....what better to drink in the dog days of August when you live in a (former) swamp? So we've been drinking a ton of Rose. I have at least one more to write about that we've consumed in the last week!

This Rose was a 2007 Toulouse Pinot Noir Rose. We picked this up at the winery for $22 minus some kind of discount, it had a real cork closure, and clocked in at 14.5% alcohol by volume. I'm not sure you can see since my massive dinner is blocking it, but the rose is the prettiest salmon color! We visited Toulouse on our last trip to CA this past March.

On the nose I found strawberry, cherry, raspberry, watermelon, and rose water. In the mouth I got strawberries, raspberries, spice, cherry, earth, and watermelon. The wine was tart, dry, and refreshing, with a crisp, clean finish.

I actually had a method to my madness of choosing this Rose to eat with the dinner pictured about. We had turkey burgers stuffed with brie and green apples, topped with arugula, on grilled ciabatta bread. At Thanksgiving, both Pinot Noir and Rose are popular choices to pair with turkey, so I thought, why not a Rose of Pinot Noir? It worked really well with the burgers, though I'm sad to report that I couldn't actually take a full bite of this creation, the sandwich was too big. And next time, I'd spice up the ground turkey a bit, it was bland.