WITS Virtual Wine Tasting 2014

WITS Virtual Wine Tasting 2014

WITS WinesI’ve explained the concept of virtual wine tasting in other posts and I enjoy participating in a few of them each year. Last night was the Wine Industry Technology Symposium (WITS) and a virtual tasting hosted by my friends at WineTwits of six California wines.

For those of you who are new to virtual wine tastings, this is what it entails:

  • Get a bottle of the wine varietal or brand being featured in the virtual tasting.
  • Invite fellow wine enthusiasts to join you to share the tasting, or simply snuggle solo in your pajamas in front of the computer.
  • Swirl, sniff, sip then share your wine thoughts with other global tasters using the designated hashtag on Twitter and Facebook!

The virtual tasting was well-attended and the wineries whose wines we sampled were very active with the virtual tasters. Cheers to Kendall-Jackson, Jamieson Ranch Vineyard, Franciscan Estate, Wente VineyardsGarnet Vineyards and Renwood Winery for interacting with us to the extent they did. I’ll follow up and connect with dozens of new wine friends today as a result of last night’s tasting.

Here are my tasting notes from the featured wines:

2012 Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay

For those of us who enjoy moderately-oaky Chardonnay, this is a nice option. 50% of this wine was barrel-fermented in French oak and the other 50% was fermented in stainless steel tanks creating a wine that’s not overly oaky/buttery and has some fruit freshness to it.

Aromas of Asian apple and lychee jump out of the glass. In the mouth, the 2012 Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay is medium-bodied with Meyer lemon and tropical fruit flavors. Finish lingers with some oaky notes and a nice level of acidity.

Pairings: Roast chicken, salmon, pasta in light creamy sauce

Style: White Wine

Grape Type(s): Chardonnay

Region: Livermore Valley, CA, USA

Price: $13

2012 Garnet Vineyards Monterey County Pinot Noir

Garnet pinot noirs have garnered rave reviews over the years and the 2012 Monterey County Pinot’s no exception. The wine is a tad more transparent in the glass than I would have suspected, it doesn’t lack in aroma and flavor. On the nose, the strawberry aroma is more prominent that the expected cherry. In the mouth, it’s silky and there’s lovely cherry flavor with notes of vanilla and oak.

Pairings: Roasted duck, chicken or turkey, mushroom dishes

Style: Red Wine

Grape Type(s): Pinot Noir

Region: Monterey County, CA, USA

Price: $14.99

2011 Renwood Winery Premier Old Vine Zinfandel

This is a big, beautiful baby. I really enjoy this style of Zin. It’s a big mouthful of dark, ripe berries with mocha and a bit of pumpkin spices on the finish.

Pairings: Barbecue ribs, grilled beef or lamb

Style: Red Wine

Grape Type(s): Zinfandel

Region: Amador County, CA, USA

Price: $19.99

2011 Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Leggy in the glass with ripe berry aromas with a bit of oak and pepper. Rich and bold with mocha and dark chocolate layers. Light tannins, elegant, long finish.

Pairings: Grilled meats

Style: Red Wine

Grape Type(s): 94.8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4.4% Petit Verdot, 0.5% Merlot, 0.2% Cabernet Franc

Region: Sonoma County, CA, USA

Price: $28

2011 Jamieson Ranch “Double Lariat” Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Gorgeous deep-red in the glass, this wine offers red berry aromas with complex licorice, spice and leather notes. Cherry and dark berry flavors abound with light-jammy fig and mocha notes – touch of oak on the long, velvety finish.

Pairings: Grilled beef, cheese plate

Style: Red Wine

Grape Type(s): Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: Napa Valley, CA, USA

Price: $55

2011 Franciscan Estate Magnificat Napa Valley

Inky in the glass with fabulous dark berry and stone fruit aromas. The dark berry continues on the palate with ripe cherry mixed in – rich, elegant with a long, round finish from the Merlot.

Pairings: Barbecue ribs, grilled beef or lamb

Style: Red Wine

Grape Type(s): 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot, and 3% Malbec

Region: Napa Valley, CA, USA

Price: $50

For those of you on Twitter, search for #WITS2014 and see all the fun conversations folks had during the virtual tasting. You’ll likely find interesting wine fans to connect with.

Cheers,

Veronique

Taste Challenge – Twitter Wine Tasting

I’ve attended a few wine tastings hosted by the friendly folks at WineTwits and I’m excited to see and hear that they are putting together some tasting events available to the public.

The events, named Taste Challenges, compare wines of the same varietals or made in a similar way, against one another in blind tastings. The purpose of this type of event is to allow wine fans to taste the wines, share their thoughts on them via Twitter, see what other tasters have to say and pick their favorites. The Taste Challenge series begins with a tasting of two Italian DOC Pinot Grigio wines on 3/24 at 8:00 PM EST.

WineTwits is promoting a neat giveaway associated with the event – a chance to win a trip for two to Venice, Italy (see details at www.WineTwits.com).

Folks interested in participating in the upcoming Taste Challenge can take advantage of free shipping on all orders of the Taste Challenge Tasting Kits ($30 per kit). The kit includes the two wines being tasted, which have a retail value of $40.

To register for the event, and for details on the Venice trip giveaway, visit www.WineTwits.com.

The fine print: I’m not affiliated with WineTwits nor am I benefitting financially from these events. Online / Twitter wine tasting is fun and WineTwits is king of the space.

 

Spit & Twit – Who Wouldn’t Buy Into That Concept?

Spit & Twit NYCI attended Wine Twits’ Spit & Twit event last week at City Winery in New York City.  The launch event for this concept was very well-attended and featured over 100 wines from around the world.  Steve and his team from Wine Twits really did a great job putting this event together.  The concept is simple: 1) Taste a wine 2) Spit (or not) 3) Twitter about the findings.  Large TV screens throughout the room display live feeds of the tweets as patrons send them.  Neat, no?

I enjoyed some pretty great wines and met fabulous folks in the wine trade, and found the space at City Winery to be ideal for this type of event.  Each winery, or wine distributor, featured his/her product at tables set up throughout the place and patrons made their way around the room savoring wines from around the globe.  A sponsor of the event, Riedel, provided each guest with a fine piece of stemware upon arriving, and this made the tasting all the more enjoyable.

Some of the wines I particularly enjoyed were:

2008 Alder Springs Roussanne Westerly Vineyard

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon To Kalon Vineyards

2004 D’Arenberg The Dead Arm Shiraz

2007 Ravines Wine Cellars –Cabernet Franc

2007 Ravines Wine Cellars – Pinot Noir

2007 Benziger Signaterra Pinot Noir, Bella Luna Vineyards

I’m looking forward to seeing where Wine Twits will host its next event.  Count me in on the concept of tasting then tweeting my findings.  

Cult Vines at Spit & Twit – Crème de la Crème Wines

I attended Wine Twits’ Spit & Twit event last week at City Winery in New York City.  The launch event for this concept was very well-attended and featured over 100 wines from around the world.

While I enjoyed some pretty great wines and met fabulous folks in the wine trade, I especially enjoyed the two wines served by Cult Vines, whose motto is “is to provide the finest wine to discreet connoisseurs and collectors”.

2008 Alder Springs Roussanne Westerly Vineyard

2008 Cult Vines Roussanne

2008 Cult Vines Roussanne

This golden honey colored Roussanne has a beautiful nose, huge mouthfeel, bright apple flavor.  This wine is well-balanced but with higher alcohol content and would be outstanding with food.  Could use some cellaring.  Chardonnay drinkers, move over to this wine.

 

Price:  Around $49

 

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon To Kalon Vineyards

 

2007 Cult Vines Cabernet Sauvignon

2007 Cult Vines Cabernet Sauvignon

It was difficult to pull myself away from the lush fruit aroma in order to actually sip this wine, but I certainly wasn’t disappointed when I did.  This Cabernet offers the darkest, opaque purple hue that’s easy to simply stare at for a while.  This wine is full of ripe fruit, especially blackberry, and young, not at all unpleasant, tannins.  Craved a rare porterhouse after the first sip.

 

Price:  Around $125