Wine on Wednesday

Before we get ready to go on another trip, we wanted to quickly report on a wine event that we attended this Wednesday. Our local wine bar hosted the founder of Juno Wines (South Africa) and its American distributor, and they presented four of their wines: a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Shiraz blend, Shiraz, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Both the founder and the distributor went around to each table to introduce themselves and talk more about their wines.

Some things we learned: South Africa has been making wine for over 350 years, and Napoleon and Marie Antoinette are said to have enjoyed South African wines. The Juno brand is only 2.5 years old, and so they are working hard to get the brand sold in the States - those attending Wednesday's tasting were one of the first groups in the U.S. to try these wines!

We tasted all four wines, plus two of their higher-end boutique wines (sold under a different label). The Sauvignon Blanc was delicious...light, citrusy, and refreshing. It reminded us of a Marlborough, which is saying a lot, as New Zealand SB has always been our favorite. The Chardonnay was pleasant, as was the Cab blend. We both loved the Shiraz; the distributor pointed out that it was made differently from Australian Shiraz, which tends to be very bold and spicy. Juno uses French oak to mature this wine, and the result is underlying creamy toffee and caramel notes. It was something we had never tasted before in a Shiraz, but it was excellent! Kath noted that she could picture having a glass of this on its own, whereas a strong Australian Shiraz really needs to be paired with a steak or burger.

At around $10, Juno's wines are a true value. Keep an eye out for them as they expand their U.S. market!

Saturday Skippin'

Alas, we are forgoing this Saturday's wine tasting, as we did too much sippin' on Friday, and tomorrow we are celebrating Father's Day with some beer drinking friends. Currently our plan is to attend a winemaker's tasting this Wednesday, and perhaps we'll do a quick write-up of that later this week. If not, we'll see you all sometime in July, towards the end of the month. We're busy with vacation, classes, and family, but we will continue to expand our wine horizons and hopefully have some new finds to write about later.

Happy Father's Day!

A Fine New Hampshire Find

Continuing with last week's theme of trying local wines...

Today, we dug out a bottle that we purchased last year when in New Hampshire for a couple weeks:

Flag Hill Winery 2002 Marechal Foch, Lee, New Hampshire. It has a lovely color, best described as a deep red with honey notes. It has an earthy aroma that reminded us of fresh-picked grapes. It is a pleasant red table wine: medium bodied and more of the fresh, earthy grape, especially mid-palate. Low tannins.

Like Seyval Blanc, the Marechal Foch varietal is common on the East Coast. For more information on this grape, please click here.

Again, we enjoyed sampling a wine not widely available, and we liked this relaxed red. Next weekend, we're thinking to try one of our California wines that has been sitting in our cellar for a few months now. Kath is also fervently hoping for the return of warm, sunny weather so she can have her first gin & tonic of the summer.

Happy drinking!

Home and Away

Following a lovely week in Mallorca, Spain, we are back in Ohio and are now enjoying brilliant blue skies and delightful temperatures. Taking advantage of the nice weather, we set out earlier today to check out the Ohio WineFest, and we spent a couple of hours sampling locally produced wines, in addition to picking up fresh bread, maple syrup, and Amish cheese. Like most wines from the Northeast, Ohio wines are generally sweet and fruity, normally not to our liking. However, we did try a nice Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir from St. Joseph Vineyard, located near Lake Erie, and we also enjoyed a Vin de Rouge from Henke Wine near Cincinnati.

This afternoon, we opened one of our Mallorcan wines (D.O. Binissalem): Macia Batle blanc de blancs 2005 (7.90 Euro, around $10-11). This white wine is a blend of Chardonnay and Prensal/Moll, a local grape. Spanish wines are becoming well-known in the States, and it's very easy to find wines from Rioja, Rueda, Rias Baixas and Penedes. However, Mallorcan wines are seldom exported, and while they don't have the same excellent reputation as Rioja does, the region is known for producing decent table wines at reasonable prices. Hence, we stocked up while on vacation.

And what did we think? Striking color - warm gold without a greenish tone. No discernible aroma. It is semi-dry with low acidity. No one particular flavor popped out when we tried it. Kath thought she tasted the tiniest hint of melon, but Daryl noticed nothing. It is pleasant and simple. A nice, clean table wine - perfect for summer!

A quick note: This Saturday, we elected to write about wines with limited availability. Ohio wines are usually only found within the Buckeye State; it is our understanding that, at present, Mallorcan wines are solely available on the island. By focusing on this category of wines, we hope to encourage our readers to find and support small, local wine producers, whether they are next door or halfway around the world. We have enjoyed finding and trying different wines from Ohio, Spain, Canada, New Hampshire, etc. True, these wines might not necessarily be the most sophisticated or spectacular, but we always look for them because they remind us of where we have been. Wine can be a special memento from home or a unique souvenir.