I must say that day 1 of the wine blogger’s conference was interesting in three ways:
1. I finally got to meet the Windy City Wine Guy in person. His is one of my favorite blogs and this guy knows his wine. He has also been a guest host on some of our VINTUBA podcasts.
2. The conference was fraught with wi-fi connectivity issues that resulted in the agenda being re-arranged and made for a laborious and tedious live wine blogging event.
3. Applying the whole “speed dating” concept to wine tasting was an idea that did not work for me. If you are not familiar with how it works let me explain, basically each winery (22 participated) has 5 minutes per table to explain who they are, where they are, what makes them special, and explain their wine. You cannot compress this romance into 5 minutes! I found it to be way too3 fast, impersonal and totally counter to what wine is all about; taking it slow, enjoying, fostering relationships and savoring.
My two favorite wines of the Live Wine Blogging Event were:
1. 2007 MATTHIASSON Napa Valley White Wine. This wine is a blend of Sauvignon blanc, Ribolla gialla, Tocai Friulano and Semillon. This wine has a great acidity and fruit expression that include green apple, melon, peaches and a slight herbaciousness. Fruit and acid balance is the key here! There is some rich lees character that makes for a great mouthfeel. There is interplay in the wine between lightness and richness, and focus and complexity. The wine was barrel-fermented in 50% new barrels, and left on its lees, with occasional stirring, until bottling—never racked. Three of the ten barrels went through natural malolactic fermentation. After nine months of elevage, sur lees, the wine was filtered, to prevent further malolactic fermentation. LOVED this wine!!! $35
2. 2005 CORNERSTONE CELLARS Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain. This is an elegant Cabernet showing great complexity! Notes of dark chocolate, minerality, earth, spice, vanilla and cedar. Fruit notes of dark berries, cassis, and some compote. On the palate, the tannins are chewy and big but integrated, good acid structure is balanced by ripe but elegant fruit, all of which combine to make this a wine capable of aging (give this wine 5 yrs minimum to develop) not cheap at $100 but will kick a lot of other $100 Napa Cabs in the groin!
Cheers and good night!
ChrisO
Pingback: Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc Strikes Back! | 1 Wine Dude