Del Dotto 2008 Cabernet Side-by-Side Tasting

As some of you may know, I have been quite partial to California Wines – however, I am especially partial to the Del Dotto family and their wines…also out of California. Why?? The only way I can answer that is with 2 words…Silk. Juice.

The Del Dotto tasting rooms, located in Napa Valley and also has a location in St. Helena  have proven with no doubt, that they know what they know how to make good wine.  There wine is not distributed, so you won’t find it on a shelf at QFC, Safeway or even at Wine World – BUT! If you’d like to find truth in my words – go to the tasting rooms yourself, do some barrel tasting and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.

We did a side-by-side tasting the other night of two, 2008 100% Cabernet’s.  They were both grown in the St. Helena  Appellations of the Napa Valley, one grown on the western side of the St. Helena Appellations and the other grown in south side of the St. Helena  Appellations.  The difference??  You wouldn’t think it’d be much, but – Wow!  Very distinctive in their own flavors.

The blue label, from the south side in Appellation 887, had much bigger flavors and was quite bold. There were deep flavors of plum and subtle blueberry on the front of the palate, but finished with somewhat of a smoky wood and tannins that settles so very nicely. To me, this was a simpler wine with amazing flavor, and was very good with a nice Filet Mignon - perfect balance.

The gold label, from the west side of the Appellation, was also a big wine but had several flavors going on and settled as a light wine.  The flavors I got from this wine were cherries, BIG vanilla and oak on the front of the palate.  Through-out the taste, the vanilla and cherries softened just perfectly with a little spice on the back of the palate with a long finish.  I tried this wine with some halibut cheeks from the grill and yes, again - perfect balance.

One of the things that I find really interesting about Del Dotto wine-making, is how each barrel is chosen and toasted. Most of their wines are stored in their barrels only once and toasted to perfection – it makes their wines so different from many that I have tried,  and out of all the ones I’ve tried, I haven’t come across one I haven’t liked.

If you get to Napa, I would strongly suggest visiting their tasting rooms…and bring a driver. J 

Cheers!

Milcampos Tempranillo - 2009

Tonight I decided to finish up some work while having a glass of wine at The Winbe Cellar, in Fayatteville, AR.  My good friend, Aleks (who I've said great things about in a previous post) suggested I try the Milcampos Tempranillo...and WOW! I am so thankful for Aleks.

I'm a true believer in a wine will taste as good as you want it to, depending on the mood you're in. I had somewhat of a long work day and just wanted a nice, soft glass of wine that I didn't have to think about or wonder what flavors does it remind me of...I just wanted to drink it and think "That's delicious".
Mission accomplished.

The Milcampos (without thinking about it) has flavors of soft grapes and black cherries. The rim variation was little to be seen and the aroma had very light spice but nothing overwhelming. 
This wine is perfect for a day like I had today, and/or an evening of simple suttleness. I dont know much about the vineyard, the region and/or the wine maker - not a real big review on this one, I know, but it would take away from the goal that I was trying to acheive - no thinking, I just wanted to share this good wine with y'all.  Give it a try.


Thanks Aleks! 

Cheers Everyone!

Kelli’s (no longer just girls) Wine Tasting Party – May 10th, 2012 In The Red Wine Bar and Café

About a year and a half ago, I started hosting personal wine parties with some of my girlfriends at my house so that we could all get together, drink some wine, nibble on some snacks and have some girl talk.  I had only invited some of my close girlfriends and would ask that each person brought a bottle of wine (white or red, it didn’t matter) and a small dish that paired well with the wine they brought. We would taste each wine, but it would usually end up more of a glass than a tasting and then some girls would taste just a few and then stick to what they liked, without tasting the others.  The event was pretty  much un-organized and mostly an excuse to drink wine and have my girlfriends over(not that there's anything wrong with that).  It was fun, don’t get me wrong…but it wasn’t what I was really trying to achieve.

So…I held off on throwing another one for quite a few months, as I wanted to put together one that was both fun and an actual wine tasting.  I finally put together an event that I think went really well and was a great time. J

I invited several people, men and women and asked that everyone tell their friends.  We had about 6 people show up that were friends of a friend, so we had some new faces,faces I haven’t seen in awhile, and of course, the usual crowd - a total of 16 people.

I held it the event at In The Red Wine Bar and Café in Seattle, WA and I ordered the food from there so nobody had to bring a dish.  I asked that everyone (or couple) bring a bottle of wine in a brown bag so that no one knew what it was.  As they arrived, I took their wine and put it in a common brown bag, wrote down the varietal and who brought the wine (this was private, only for me to see) and then we began tasting each wine…1 through 15…yep that’s right – 15!

Each person was asked 3 things:

1)      What varietal were you drinking…1 -15?

2)      What wine do you think retails over $40? (this was one that I had brought, so I knew there was one over $40)

3)      Which wine is the one you brought?

We had some good “wine-o’s” that knew their stuff pretty well, I was impressed. Some prizes were given and like I said before…it was just a lot of fun.  I may change it a little for the next one (which will be much sooner, but over-all I liked the format and I’m pretty sure my guests did too. 

So keep your eye out for my next one and if you weren’t able to make to this last one, you gotta try harder on the next. J

Thanks everyone who made it so much fun and looking forward to seeing you next time – Cheers!

The Wine Cellar Wine Bar - Fayetteville, AR

Yes…I know, I’ve written about another Wine Bar in Fayetteville that I really liked – but as it turns out…there’s 2!! In Fayetteville.  There may be more, but my attention seems to lie within this friendly little neighborhood by the college and where there is a lot of character in this friendly little town.

The Wine Cellar is much different than Bordino’s, but equally good, if not a little better (Hope I didn’t just shoot myself in the foot – don’t want to bite the hand that feeds ya! Haha).

The Wine Cellar is a quaint brick building inside and out, which gives the feel of Tuscany….no, I’ve never been but it’s how I imagine it would be.  In the early evening, its quiet and you can sit outside on the patio or inside – there’s some great music being played by Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Al Green and other greats on the music system.   The Wine Cellar has something a little different than I’ve seen at most Wine Bars worth going to – they have a wine tap system…that holds 24 wines (16 reds and 8 whites) tapped on a wine preservation system, so the wine stays fresh for a long period of time.  You can purchase a pre-paid card so that you can try as many wines as you like without having to wait for the bartender or server.  Just go get it yourself whenever you want! It’s awesome – it's almost like being at home.  There are also wines by the glass and bottle for purchase, as well as a full bar and not to mention great food! Later in the night, it gets a little more active, as most places do.

The staff at The Wine Cellar, though is truly what makes it a place to go back again and again – Evan the GM, always remembers everyone’s name and is warm and welcoming.  Mia the bartender/server is a little more quiet but just as warm and welcoming -  and Aleks the Wine Manager, who is also a Level 3 Sommelier – which does not make him pretentious or snooty as some can be, but he en joys sharing his knowledge and giving suggestions that some of us wine drinkers may not consider – but most important, he has a great sense of humor and isjust real nice to talk to.

  My 1^st time at The Wine Cellar, I came in just for, well….wine. But it happened to be on the same night that they were holding a wine class (they have one every 6 weeks) – my 1^st thought was “Is it my Birthday?!”  The class was held by Aleks (obviously), it cost $25 for 5 red tastings BUT! This was a blind tasting with somewhat of a competition. We had to:

1)      Figure out which wine would sell at less than $10 retail (4 were over $20, 1 under $10)

2)    Figure out which wine was from France 

3)      What did all 5 have in common

There were prizes given for each, if answered correctly…let’s just say that I didn’t get a prize (doh!) but I don’t think there’s any wrong or right answer in wine tasting – we all have different palates! I know…whatever makes me sleep at night.

So, if you’re ever in Fayetteville, you got to give this place a try. It’s one of my home’s away from home away from home.

Cheers!

http://www.fayettevillewinecellar.com/