In-Home Wine Tasting Fun!

Over this past year we three winos have enjoyed sharing our growing knowledge of wine at various social and charity events.  Wanting to spread our wings to small groups we also donated silent auction baskets with gift certificates including In-Home Wine Tasting parties for 8 people. This past Saturday we hosted our inaugural In-Home Wine Tasting at the home of a Silent Auction Bid winner!

Mary and Lewis were the awesome winners and we had a blast with them and their six guests!

The package included three wines and expertly paired gourmet cheeses including a little wine education and a whole lot of fun!  We even included set up of glasses, plates and cleanup just so the hosts could enjoy the evening just as much as their friends.

Not knowing them or their tastes, I spoke with the hosts ahead of time to get an idea of the wines they currently enjoyed.  They had lived in various countries so they were familiar with Italian and Spanish wines.  From that information I suggested a Blind Wine Tasting and we would stay with three dry reds.  At this point we 3 winos did our "homework" and chose three different wines and taste tested the cheeses so we would have a great evening.  Let the game begin!

We set up three glasses at each place setting of white appetizer plates on top of black chalkboard paper.  Our wine bottles were covered in the chalkboard paper and labeled A, B, and C.

With scoresheets for taking notes, we walked everyone through the steps we use in our own "classes". First, we took a look at the color of all three wines and let everyone come up with their own description.  Then we had them bury their noses deep into the glass to enjoy the nose or smell of each wine.  And finally.... TASTE the wine!....all the while sharing what everyone was tasting and taking notes.  Using a Wine Varietal sheet of a choice of SIX wines we had everyone vote on the three wines to see who got all or any of their choices correct.  Being the teacher that Beth is, we had them pass their papers to the right and they each "graded" them as we unveiled the wines. Our winner had two out of the three correct!  And is now the proud owner of a "Fish" winestopper!!

So I know you are dying to know what the wines were.....

Wine A-  Charles Krug 2010 Merlot ($19.99 at Randall's)

Wine B-  Beronia Rioja Reserva ($18.99 at Plaza Liquor)

Wine C-  Las Acequias 2010 Malbec ($14.99 at The Wine Merchant)

Once we revealed the wines, everyone enjoyed trying each of the following cheeses with each of the wines:

Flory's Truckle Aged Cheddar ( Missouri cheese from The Wine Merchant)

Cave Aged Gruyere Raw Cow Cheese (The Wine Merchant)

Manchego Cheese (Dierburg's)

Prairie Breeze Cheddar (Dierburg's)

What a fun time it was watching everyone trying new tastes!  Of course we had to add a little something extra - Bissinger's Dark Chocolate Covered Wine Grapes (from Fezziwig's).  Yum!

Well what a fun night we had presenting our first official In-Home Wine Tasting!  We want to thank Mary and Lewis for winning the Silent Auction Basket and hope they enjoyed the evening as much as we enjoyed "educating" them and their friends.

Cheers!

Lisa

Rioja, a Spanish Gem

Spain…..everyone in our family seems to be traveling to Spain! My niece and her new husband honeymooned there last month. Now I find out my in-laws will be traveling to Spain later this year. With all this talk about Spain in our family my mind drifted to some of the wonderful wines I have had from Spain, with wine from the Rioja region as my favorite.

Rioja is located in the northern interior of Spain. Vineyards can be found running along either side of the Ebro River for 120 kilometers. The Sierra Cantabrian Mountains border this region to the north, blocking the harsh northern winds, and the Sierra de Demanda form the southern border. The first big boom in Spanish wines began in the 1860’s when the French came to the region in search of wine at a time when phylloxera was devastating the vineyards in France. Some of the French even decided to stay and start their own bodegas (wineries). They began producing wines in the Bordeaux style, aging in small oak barrels. By 1901 phylloxera had made its way to Spain and destroyed 70 percent of the vineyards. The French went home and tended their own vineyards by grafting native European vines onto American rootstock which was immune to the phylloxera louse. The Spanish soon followed this practice, but the wine industry suffered through two world wars, and the Spanish Civil war. At one point there was so much hunger in Spain that the government ordered vineyards to be torn out in order to grow wheat to feed the country. Finally, by the 1960’s financial stability began to return and bodegas, with the help of some outside investment, began to make a comeback. Today, Spain is the third largest producer of wines behind Italy and France.

Tempranillo is the main grape in wines of Rioja. They are usually blended with garancha (Grenache) and Mazuelo (Carignane), as well as other native grapes. Rioja wines have a three tier classification system: Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva. A Crianza is a young, easy drinking wine with vibrant flavors. It is required to be aged two years with at least one year in an oak barrel. This is generally a good, but not exceptional wine. Reserva is made with superior grapes, from superior sights. It is required to have three years of aging before release with a minimum of 1 year in oak barrels. And last but not least, the Gran Reserva. As the name sounds, this is a rare, elegant and silky wine. Both the Reserva and Gran Reserva are only produced in exceptional years.

One of my all-time favorite Rioja wines is the Reserva from Bodega Beronia. It has a beautiful garnet appearance with complex fruit on the nose. The mouth is smooth and silky with just the right amount of spiciness in my opinion. You can’t beat it for the price either at around $20 a bottle. This wine would work great with a pizza, but think game, grilled meats, and yum, some Spanish cheese like Manchego.

A great Crianza to try, that is readily available, is from Marqués de Cáceres. You should be able to find this gem for around $15 a bottle. If you get a chance, grab a friend and a bottle of a Crianza and Reserva. Taste the two next to each other and see if you can detect a difference. Take notes; see if one is more powerful than the other. You should be able to see what a difference the extra aging had on the wine. And if nothing else, have some fun while enjoying a great wine.

So to my in-laws, I’ll be a bit jealous when they are in Spain, enjoying the food, wine, and all the country has to offer, but they deserve it! I will look forward to hearing all about their adventure.

One last note~ Happy Birthday to fellow wino Mary Jo. Lisa and I welcome her to the fabulous forties!

Cheers,

Beth