Waiting out Sandy....

After a particularly eventful day waiting for Sandy the Hurricane winner of 2012 that involved an early trip to work, hydroplaning and wrecking my car, and then a mandatory afternoon nap, it was finally time to unwind. To start the unwinding process, my wife and I decided we'd make one of our favorite appetizers, a big bowl of guacamole.

The question came up was what to pair with our delicious appetizer? I had recently taken a trip back home northern PA to harvest a doe for the freezer this year, and while up there I stopped by my favorite wine store to pick up some great Finger Lakes wine. For you regular twitter followers, search #FLXwine and you'll see all the popular spots to go in the finger lakes. Some of our particular favorites are Dr. Frank's, Goose Watch Winery, Shalestone Winery, and Atwater Estate. On our most recent trip to the Finger Lakes we noticed that like Virginia, local micro breweries are starting to pop up in large numbers give the more established wineries a run for their money.

After quickly running down the inventory, we were informed by our youngest kitty Gus that the winner was our  Red Newt Cellars 2010 Semi-Dry Riesling  Quickly, it went to the freezer to cool down, while I got into the process of mashing avocado's  toasting garlic, and slicing and dicing the ingredients for the delicious guacamole.

Red Newt Cellars is on the East Side of Seneca lake and has attached restaurant with a great view. They are known for making solid wines that rival any made in the finger lakes, and as you'll see below this one did not disappoint.

Before totally tearing up our appetizer, we took the time to enjoy our wine. Our thoughts included light floral notes, tropical fruits of lychee and mango were prevalent on the nose. The wine was a light to medium body with a great balance of fruit and acid. The predominant fruit was ripe Asian pear and a lasting lingering fruit that left the mouth with clean mineral effervescent feel that lasted long after the wine was no longer present on the pallet. It paired well with our afternoon snack, and was a delicious sipper to watch Sandy as she threw her best at us. If you are reading this, we won, Sandy lost, and we kept power...yeah.

A two night Merlot...

Ever have one of those nights when you finish of a bottle of wine and want just one more glass? Well the wife and I had one of those nights last night. We had enjoyed some white wines and just had a hankering for a red wine. Not wanting to open something super special, or something that required food, we headed to the cellar to find something the scratch our itch. After scouring a few choices we decided on a Merlot.

The Merlot in question was from '09 and came from a new join for us from a wine club situation 8 Chains North. We have been familiar with the wine maker Ben Renshaw long before he got to open his own tasting room through tasting as Fabbioli and Notaviva. However, it wasn't until more than year after he opened his tasting room, we decided to join his wine club. Our choice was largely influenced by some of his wine club only, limited selection wines that were going to be available, Malbec was the one that comes to mind.

So as we opened the bottle, we expected it to get better since we hadn't taken the time to decant it. Our  initial thoughts included a woody black berry nose with hints of smoke that didn't merry well together. The pallet presented a medium body, light and earthy. There were flavors of rich burnt wood smoke, light acid, and the feel of alcohol burn on the finish. No lingering finish. My wife comment how it paired well with her mint chocolate cheese cake, especially the mint!


The second day I was opening the bottle to wallow in my Fantasy Football lose. So many players did not play to their potential and left me need a drink to bury the pain. I reached for the bottle, pulled the vacuum stopper and poured. Although the nose didn't change that much, I was surprised more black raspberry on the pallet. the wine became what I would describe as lighter in body, and firmer more pronounced tannin's on the finish.

Enjoying a one time only wine....

After a rough day on the VAWine trail, there is nothing better than coming back enjoying a good dinner and some wine. Today's activities involved a tasting at two great wineries, Little Washington Winery and Ducard Vineyards, events that will be blogged about later. As a bonus Little Washington was hosting a wine and oyster event featuring Virginia oysters. A bonus hit for both me and my wife.

The raw oysters from Rappahannock River Oysters inspired us to have a seafood dinner, so after a quick stop at Wegman's , we raced home to make a scallop and pasta dish and finish the bottle of wine we had started at Ducard Vineyards.

While making dinner, our pre-dinner sipper was the continuation of 2nd Corps. It is a Viognier blended with a touch of Vidal Blanc. It was a fruit forward wine with good weight, but very little acid. It was slightly sweet which cut through an bitterness that is sometimes present in Virginia Viogniers.

To Compliment the delicious dinner seen the right, we decided to open a treat from us. A wine we had only got a chance to taste briefly while picking up our August Estate club shipment from Sunset Hill Vineyards. The wine of choice for tonight would be the 2011 Petite Manseng.

We were a little late getting it slightly chilled with our dinner, so I finished off the last of our pre-dinner sipper with the first few bites of dinner. However, when I finally got to the Petite Manseng I was pleasantly surprised. It displayed floral nose with hints of Asian pear, my wife got a good sniff of spice she described as coriander. The pallet showed a very light body with firm acid on the finish. It showed star fruit flavor with hints of rose petal. Overall it paired well with our dinner, but it is a food wine. It probably wouldn't fair well as a sipper by itself. However it was great pairing to end our day of wine touring. The worse part of this is that we won't get a chance to taste it again. This was released only to the estate club members as it had limited quantities, and won't likely be available for purchase by the time we head back.