Tasting - Early Mountain Rose

 Another Charlottesville wine...

I smoked a cigar about 3 hours before this tasting so my senses were definitely uncalibrated. (A Connecticut Kreme if that matters).

Wine: Early Mountain Rose

Location: Several growing blocks close to Charlottesville, VA

Year: 2021

Cost: $26.00

Color: pale pink/peach color, almost orange?

Smell: no alcohol odor, smelled kind of strawberryish and peachy

After tasting, could pick up more citrus scents

Taste: Citrus flavors - orange, tangerine? Don't know the last time I ate a tangerine. Strawberry and Raspberry detectable on a second sip.

General Notes: I liked the label! Cool textured topographical style. Rose probably isn't my thing, kinda too sweet. Maybe would be good with vegetables or something crisp/salty to break up that sweetness.

For the first time, I think my tasting actually matched the online flavor profile provided by the winemaker! Their website says "Strawberries, white peaches, and grapefruit..." which is pretty close to my citrus, peach, and strawberry notes. I don't know what this means for my post cigar palate.

Wine Folly has a lot of info about Rose (its listed general flavors are consistent with what we've already covered), but this is a blend, and rose seems to be pretty variable so not the most useful resource for this tasting.

I need to learn to take landscape photos of the wine, these portrait orientation flicks just don't format on this archaic dotcom era website

Tasting - Tilia Merlot 2021

Bought this bad boy to pair with a feijoada recipe I whipped up on Wednesday (2/15). Was busy entertaining guests then so I didn't get a full tasting, redid it on 2/17. For the uncultured, feijoada is a brazilian stew with black beans and several kinds of smoked/salted meat. 

Wine: Tilia Merlot 2021 | Wine.com

Location: Mendoza, Argentina

Year: 2021

Cost: ~$11.00 at Vintage Cellar

Color: So dark & red it is opaque in the glass

Legs: lots of em and flowing quick - low viscosity

Smell: spices? little to no "alcohol" smell. concord grapes (like Welch's), faintly on the top of my sinuses. Whiff of cigarette! Tobacco?

After tasting, could pick up bay leaf scent! Probably some other kind of spice too that I am not smart enough to identify.

Taste: Salty on the tip of the tongue, more of that tobacco character too. Tobacco flavor almost tastes like the inside of Hokie House or Champs in downtown Blacksburg (a mixture of cigarettes, spilled drinks, and BO, but not in a bad way...). I like that a lot. Second sip, picked up more tartness, very little fruit, mineraley. Not very tannic, but some in there. Third sip - continued tasting Welch's grape juice (not a lot, and not in a bad way).

General Notes: Probably important to note that I opened this wine and used about 1/3 of it on 2/15, and this tasting was done on 2/17, so there was ~45 hours of more oxygen contact than would be in a new unopened bottle.

I really really enjoyed this wine, and will probably buy it again. Fun to pick up that cigs-inside smell haha.

Wine Folly says this should taste like cherry, plum, chocolate, bay leaves, and vanilla. I could realistically see the cherry coming from that tartness I tasted, and definitely got the bay leaves. Didn't get the other flavors, but I'm gonna buy this again and see what's up with more tasting.

Tasting - A Taste of Two Rieslings (Hazy Mountain Winery)

"IT was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness..." (Charles Dickens)

Went to Charlottesville to connect with some old friends, and ended up with a reservation at Hazy Mountain Winery. Focus was on friends and catching up, but I took some notes on the wine I had so I figured I'd throw it up here for some credit and to keep my thoughts in one place.

No photos of the bottles, but here is one of the wines:

I had a 2018 Dry Riesling (left) and a 2019 Dry Riesling (right). Initially tasted them without any interference, but we had a charcuterie board so I started mixing stuff up partway through.

Location: Shenandoah Valley AVA

Year: 2018 / 2019

Cost: $32 / $34

Color: 2018 darker in color, much more golden character than the 2019, which was very clear and pale yellow.

Smell: I had a cold and couldn't really pick up many differences between the two from a purely swirl and snort method.

Taste: 2018 had less body, and was smooth. I would describe it as "tame", and would disagree with the website's listing of "exceptional texture and weight". 2018 was the sweeter wine (less alcohol content listed online as well). 2019 was my favorite of the two; definitely felt more acidic, had notes of green apple, and was dryer.

General Notes: If I had to buy one I would go for the 2019, I think it was more fun to drink and overall had more going on to unpack in your mouth. However, I wouldn't pay $34 for that, ever. Better stuff out there for half the price.

Wine Folly lists Riesling as having lime, apricot, beeswax, petrol, and jasmine tastes. I didn't pick up much of that, but in retrospect, I could realistically see petrol being a flavor that could have been in there.