Reflections on a Glass of Wine

At the end of the day, especially after an extremely trying and busy day, I am amazed a how a glass of wine can cause the weight of the day to melt away.

Sipping and appreciating a glass of wine is an art form  and settles the mind. Reviewing the clarity, the color, the "nose," the flavors and the finish cause the mind to refocus on the glass and not the troubles of the day.

Unlike other beverages, which I often drink very quickly and am left wondering what it was I just consumed, good wine causes me to pause and appreciate something other than the troubles of the day.

Last evening, after working for another few hours on the flooring project, the wine of choice was Educated Guess Cabernet Sauvignon. An easy drinking and enjoyable wine which helps the troubles of the day melt away as I consider the  characteristics of the complex liquid in my glass. It was, of course, made better by the way the Orioles were beating the unnamed team from the north on the field at Camden Yards.

I highly recommend a glass to end the day.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Blending a Winning Wine

One of the events that Chris and I look forward to participating in every year is the Consensus Blending sponsored by Keswick Vineyards in Virginia. This past weekend marked the fourth time that we have made the trek to the vineyard to participate.

Keswick Barrel Room
Ready for Consensus Blending

The task is to create the best tasting wine from the young wines that the winemaker provides as raw material. The event was held over three weekends this year allowing for about 360 members of the wine club to participate. Divided into teams of six people each, which allows for about ten teams on each day of the weekend, the teams come up with their best wine and enter it into the judging to become the Consensus Wine which will be produced, bottled, and sold by the winery.

Chris, Sue, George, Peggy, and Mark
The Team 

We went to the winery with a complete team, ready for the blending. Chris and I, and Mark and Peggy are veterans, while George and Sue were the rookies. But, we have gone in previous years on our own and just joined a table when we arrived. It is a pretty laid back start to the day.

This year, Stephen, the winemaker at Keswick, provided two different cabernet sauvignons, a norton, and a syrah as the raw material for blending. Seated in the always too cold barrel room and after a few opening remarks, the blending begins. Stephen says that we are doing in two hours wine blending that takes him six months.

But it is not just blindly blending wine. Or drinking wine for that matter. Each of the prospective wines in the blend must be evaluated for their strengths and weaknesses. Then the team decides upon a strategy to put the wines together to create a complete blends that had a nice aroma, good color, and a full flavor in the mouth. The hazards are many. Out table, for instance, appreciated wine that is dryer, while the most salable wines in America are fruitier and not as dry. The winners will create a wine that others will like and buy not necessarily one that we will like or buy.

Through seven different blends of the wines, we collectively decided upon the blend that we thought was the best of the wines provided. It, coincidently, was the third blend we created, but we had been unable to improve it through subsequent iterations.

Once all of the tables blend and submit their entrants, there is a break for lunch after which the judging begins. Each wine is judged by every table. A couple of ringers are added for control purposes and although there were only 8 tables on Sunday, we judged eleven wines--three of them were the same. It provided insight into how tough it really is to judge wine.

Did we win the day? No. We were a very close third--only four one hundredths of a point out of second place. The wine that won the day then entered the next stage of the competition against the other five day winning wines to become the 2012 Keswick Consensus Blend based upon average score.

In the end the real winner was everyone who participated. The wine craft learning and insight that I get every year is more that worth the trip. But more than that, it is just fun to be in the barrel room with the winemaker talking wine and blending and getting insight into how award winning wines are produced.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

So Many Vineyards

Awesome Saturday in Charlottesville. What more needs to be written?

The plan was to visit four or maybe five vineyards for a mid-winter respite.

We actually visited six and passed a seventh without stopping.

The day was beautiful and warmer--still not above freezing for most of the day, but warmer without the biting wind.

The vineyards?

King Family - I highly recommend a visit
White Hall - I highly recommend
Stinson - Limited selection but a nice in between stop
Veritas - Great tasting room, but I didn't really think the wines were drinking that well
Flying Fox - Nice stop--especially for reds. This was a a first time visit for me.
Trump - This was my first visit. The sparkling wines are good, the non-sparkling wines are average at best.

Today we are off to Keswick for the Consensus Blending to see if we can create a winning wine.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Sparkling Wines for the Season: Bin 201

Yesterday was one of those Saturdays which are common during the holiday season characterized by the the word--busy. There was the obligatory shopping for holiday gifts with its associated too-ing and fro-ing. But there was a nice timeout during the middle of the afternoon to sample and enjoy sparkling wines from around the world.

Bin 201 Sparkling Wine Selection

What a great respite from the insanity. We attended a tasting and class on Sparkling Wines sponsored by Bin 201 in Annapolis Town Center.

The course was called Binology 103: Sparkling Wines, and featured wines from France, Italy, Spain, and Oregon. Oregon? Yup. They make sparkling wines, too. There is also a good sparkling wine maker in New Mexico that I enjoy but whose offerings were not included in the course. The course reviewed the history of modern sparkling wines,  how they developed, the main ways that they are created, and highlighted the more important regions where they are produced.

Here is probably the most important thing I relearned: Champagne is a region (in France) not a type of wine. Champagne is also a process for making, in my opinion, the best sparkling wine. Hence the confusion. Many great sparkling wines are made using the champagne method.  Important safety tip--not all French sparkling wines are Champagne!

The drinking, sampling, is always the best part of the courses. These wines all drank very well with generally very fine bubbles and refined flavors. The differences were subtle--even between the rose and the whites. But the finest of the wines were very good--and I confess a couple of bottles made their way home in expectation of Christmas and New Years Eve celebrations.

I heartily recommend the courses at Bin 201 as a way to increase wine knowledge and develop a deeper appreciation for wine. More importantly, I am looking forward to enjoying these wines in just a few short weeks.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

On the NY Wine Trail - September 2012

What a great afternoon--checking out a couple of the wineries on the
Cayuga Wine Trail.

We visited Americana, Sheldrake Point, Thirsty Owl, and Goose Watch.
A whirlwind afternoon in Central NY with a lot of other wine lovers. There were a lot of other people out enjoying an idyllic afternoon doing the same thing.

All of these wineries have stunning views of the lake and provide nice interpretation of white wine, which are really the best varietals grown in the region. The Rieslings were generally great. Every attempt at a red wine resulted in a thin interpretation which left me wanting something more.

Americana has a large selection of wines which they do generally well. We continue to buy many of their whites to enjoy with our friends. I enjoy their tasting room and the ambiance of the winery done in a barn. Their new selection of Rieslings are especially good and come in a variety for every palette from dry, to semi-dry, to semi-sweet. They all had a vibrant character which made them very enjoyable.

Sheldrake Point does dry wines and has a really enjoyable white blend called Luckystone White. We make a special trip to the winery for this wine. And it was on a great sale, too. Sheldrake Point was designated as the NY Winery of the Year, so the place, located right on the shore of Cayuga Lake is really worth the visit and the dry wines re especially good.

Thirsty Owl, another winery with a great view, is dabbling in the reds in addition to the whites and provided a nice red wine using the Chancellor grape. But, their white wines are why people visit the winery.

The final stop of the day was Goose Watch, another winery with another great view and a nicely done tasting room. They provided some very nice whites, but I felt their offerings this year were not as desirable as some of the other wineries we visited. They are good wines--don't get me wrong, but just a bit above average. Nice drinking but not spectacular.

All in all it was a great afternoon. My parents were real troopers to dare to head out onto the wine trail with us--and it was nice to ave them along for the afternoon drive along the west shore of Cayuga Lake.

-- Bob Doan, writing from Ithaca, NY

Tasting Tuscany Wines--Bin 201

Yesterday, I sojourned to Annapolis to a wine store named Bin 201 for a tasting of wines selected from Italy and more specifically, Tuscany and some of the nearby regions.

I enjoy attending these tastings because they are more than just tasting wine--they are about understanding the grapes and conditions in the region.

Bin 201 Being Prepared for Tasting

Although Tuscany was the principle region for yesterday's tasting, I was also treated to a sampling of wines from Umbria, Marche, and Abruzzo.  But the wines of the day truly were from Tuscany: Chianti, Chianti Classico, Super Tuscan.

I admit, one of the wines did not have a pleasant nose--it smelled like a cat box, but most of them were very nice and enjoyed. The tasting was complete with a plate of cheese, salami, prosciutto, and of course some palate cleansing bread.

The Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello de Montalcino 2000 Tuscany was clearly the wine of the day. But it was $87.99 and I just don't buy wine that expensive because I never want to drink it--so the enjoyment is never fully realized because it just stays on the wine rack.

The best buy was Ornellia "Le Volte" 2009, Bolgheri, Tuscany for $29.99. This was a Super Tuscan, being a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. It gets a solid average 88 rating on Cellar Tracker and I think it will be awesome with pasta.

I love expanding my wine knowledge and my tastes, and yesterday was no exception as I also tastes a few whites--but nothing spectacular.

While the Bin 201 tastings are not free, they are not expensive--less than tastings for more in Napa. And, we tasted 10 wines coupled with history and a small intimate group of 14 people. It makes for a nice Saturday afternoon activity. I highly recommend these events.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Prince Michel Vineyard - Review

Wine on the Vine at Prince Michel

Although not actually placed on one of the Monticello Wine Trails, Prince Michel Vineyard and Winery sits at the northern gateway to the region right astride Route 29, the main north-south road into Charlottesville. I always find that as I am traveling into the wine region that this winery is definitely worth a stop--if not just to get into the mood for the day's activities.

The winery is well marked--I believe the first sign is about 8 miles form the entrance, but it comes up very quickly. Don't panic though if you miss the first driveway, there is a second on just past the building and at the bottom of a small road.

As always, check the website for current hours, but one advantage for this winery is that it opens at 10 am on Saturdays and Sundays, making it one of the early openers in the area. This means that driving from the Baltimore area, I am usually driving by the winery right as it opens.

The self guided tour of the wine making process is well planned and allows a nice behind the scenes view of the process. The wine tasting area is large and also contains a large assortment of wine related items which can be purchased.

The wines are good. I found the whites to be the best. Especially noteworthy was the 2009 Chardonnay, which I thought was an especially good value.

Enjoy Prince Michel. Stop and get a day of wine tasting started.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD