Bubble Party

So many people like bubbles, and not just the ones you blew out of a wand covered with soapy water in your backyard. The bubbles in this case are the ones that are held captive by a corked bottle, waiting to be unleashed by a POP, destined to float across your tongue like a thousand miniature rubber ducks having a dance party in your mouth instead of on the dash of your friends Jeep. The experience brings even the non-wine drinker back again and again.Wine is so special because it has both taste (flavors) and feel. Sparkling wine (the likes of Cava, Prosecco, and Champagne) take the feel part to a whole other level. It gives everyone a mouth full of feel which is why SO many non-wine drinkers like it. Yet, once you start diving a little deeper and begin to ask: “Could you taste anything underneath all of those bubbles?”, that you begin to sort through the morass of, what I call, “backyard bubbles.”“Backyard bubbles” (BBs from here on) are sparkling wines with no taste, no flavor, there just to fill one’s palate with CO2 fluff. BBs can be very cheap or decidedly not so, and the only good use of BBs are as a mixer, like a Mimosa. So how do you avoid buying or drinking BBs? Simple. Don’t buy a Sparkling Wine that you haven’t tried.Well that might not be that simple!  If you don’t have a chance to try it, then as a minimum talk to someone who can actually guide you to a sparkling wine that has some complexity of flavor and isn’t just all bubbles. Here are a few pointers on what to ask that will help prevent you from going home with BBs:  can you tell me about the bubbles (Are the bubbles large and fill the mouth or are they more subtle and elegant)? How is the finish (does it have one)? What could I expect to taste?If the person who is helping you has a hard time answering your questions beware.  Also beware if the answer to your questions are all in prices. Example: “This one is great for that at $45.”  My current favorite sparkling wine can be had for around $40, has an excellent mouth feel with a lot of elegant bubbles, and has a great compliment of complex flavors.Multiple wine shops around town this past week did sparkling wine tastings. Most were BBs, and if that is all you are after, then rock on.  Out of all of them one stood out as being able to do something more. Tapiz Sparkling Rosé made from Malbec out of Mendoza had a good combination of bubbles and deep flavor. It was also the Crowd Favorite.  If you recognize this sparkling wine it is because it was featured as the Crowd Favorite at an Aragon Tasting this past March, showing that is can still hold its own.So the next time you dump a bubble bath in your mouth try to see if you can actually taste anything while that party is going on across your tongue.  If not then have a glass of something else.

Thanksgiving Wine.

“Is this a good wine for Thanksgiving?”  There is A LOT to think about before you answer that question!  What if that was your friend asking you!?  How would you begin to formulate your answer?  Pairing wine to food is a Profession.  The Thanksgiving meal is a big occasion for a lot of people.  It is not just a nice dinner during an evening about town.  It usually involves a larger amount of people than your usual meal.  Some of those people may have traveled.  There are expectations!Even if your Thanksgiving is a quiet affair, reflective and solemn, a well paired wine can really enhance the experience.  So how would you go about answering that question?  Like most things in life a question usually leads to more questions.  Which would you ask first:  what food will they be having, or what wine do they typically like to drink?  How you think about wine will determine how you approach your recommendation.  When I go out to a nice restaurant with a nice wine list I always ask for wine recommendations when the drinks are ordered, before looking at the dinner menu.  Whether or not that person has been trained in wine matters some, yet what matters more is their approach to wine, which will directly affect my wine experience.The easy question is to ask about food first.  Food to wine pairings are easier to grasp and remember, and there is very little opinion involved.  Asking what type of wine I enjoy first is a much more advanced technique.  What if I enjoy a wine not on the wine list, or a wine that typically does not pair with a certain dish.  Only a true oenophile could navigate that course, balancing what type of wine I like first with potential food pairing second.  So when I ask for a wine recommendation the questions I am then asked tell me everything I need to know about what my experience is going to be.A lot to think about indeed!  There are several “recommended” wines for Thanksgiving.  The Crowd Favorite this week from V Paul’s Vino Magnifico was a very dry Prosecco.  Not a bad wine to have as a starter.  The Crowd Favorite at Aragon’s monthly Cru tasting was a split between a Merlot heavy right bank Bordeaux and a Merlot from Washington State.  Both could accompany a Thanksgiving feast.  Several of our local restaurants were touting a Beaujolais Nouveau on Instagram as THE wine to have at Thanksgiving.  Because Beaujolais Nouveau has a tartness it “pairs” well with several things on a typical thanksgiving table.  If you followed the Instagram fad you will have wine that tastes like tart cranberry, in a good way.  If you wanted that, then perfect!  If not, then you have ended up with a bad wine!  Did those restaurants on instagram ask you if you wanted your wine to taste like a semi-tart cranberry, or did they just tell you what you should have?A good wine to have at Thanksgiving is one, or two, that you have enjoyed.  If you are brave enough to experiment during a big meal then try something nouveau!  If not, grab something that you have liked in the past and you might just find it will probably pair just fine with everything else on the table.  If it doesn’t, then you will know that you can just drink it, and enjoy.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Wine Too Hot or Too Cold?

Several of my wine friends recently returned from trips to Italy. Most were on separate trips and all of them sounded like they had a great time. One was recounting their journey through Tuscany and brought up the temperature of some red wine that they were served…and how cold it was. “Is that normal?”

No.  9.9 times out of 10 I get that question posed in the opposite way: “How cold should [that] wine be?”

“Red wines should be room temperature, right?”

I have preached the Sermon of Wine Temperature from my swirling pulpit for quite a while; Almost all red wines should served between 65-68 degrees Fahrenheit (18-20 Celsius). That “Room temperature” is the temperature of a bottle coming out of a wine cellar. Most wine cellars are around 60 degrees. The bottle is brought out and opened, allowing for some aeration as the temperature raises to around 65 degrees or so. Then the wine is poured into a glass that is close to the temperature of the room you are actually in, probably around 75 degrees, or even higher if you have been holding that glass for a while. Hopefully you see where this is going.

We, especially along the Gulf Coast, have a chronic problem of serving red while too hot!  When red wine is poured into your glass then the glass should feel cool to the touch, not cold, with NO condensation. If the outside of your glass starts to condense with water, then your wine is too cold! White wine SHOULD cause your glass to form condensation, assuming you are in a similar climate to that on the Gulf Coast.

It is okay to put your bottle of red wine in the fridge.  Assuming your bottle of red is around 75 degrees you can put it in for a short time, 30 or so minutes, opened, and it will be ready to drink almost immediately upon exit. Or, if you leave the bottle of red in for longer, with your whites, then it will just take longer outside of the fridge to be ready.  Wine is served wrong either because of ignorance, laziness, or a combination of both.  Don’t let that describe you.

I had the chance to go to two of our local wine events this past week: a tasting at Beyond the Grape that was supporting the Pensacola Opera, and the monthly tasting of our local chapter of the American Wine Society. Beyond the Grape featured a fun full tour of Italy with some fantastic charcuterie boards and the AWS chapter taught a class on Spain, followed by an awesome Paella! The Crowd Favorite at Beyond the Grape was a fascinating Cabernet Franc from Umbria (Paolo e Noemia d’Amico Atlante), and there was a Wine of Note at the AWS tasting, Pazo La Moreira Albariño.

Other than the white wines, ALL of the red wines, at both events, were served too hot!  There are very few rules in Wine…but; Rule #1, don’t serve hot wine!  Temperature matters.  Wine served at the wrong temperature makes it taste worse no matter how good that wine was supposed to be, and life is too short to waste it on bad wine.

Do you buy wine based on it’s Points?

It has been a while since we visited the topic of “Scored Wine,” or in other words, wine that has been given a point value by someone. In a previous article I conveyed a caution: Don’t just blindly grab a bottle just because it has the closest number to 100 on it!  There are a lot of organizations that “Score” wine, some with very good reputations, others not so.Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, James Suckling, etc. Is there a difference?  Yes!  Do you even recognize the organization that score it?  Not only do you need vet the organization that printed that “92” on the bottle but you need to see if their grading system matches your tastes.  Does that “92 points by James Suckling” equate to that level of experience on YOUR palate?If you have been buying a lot of wine, for a while, scored by James Suckling and liked what you have been getting then great, stick with it!  Every organization that scores wine has its own criteria.  Some publish what that criteria is, others keep it behind smoke and mirrors, so you will have to experiment with the different scoring organizations.Tonight’s Crowd Favorite was Escudo Rojo 2020 Chilean Reserve Chardonnay.  Chardonnay tends to make drinkers very opinionated. It is either too oaky, or too watery, or from California, or not from California. Something about Chardonnay brings out the inner wine critic in a lot of us.  Well, Escudo Rojo quelled the critics and seemed to please the masses.If you do a search for the tasting notes you will find this right off of the distributor’s website: “…voluptuous tropical fruit and yellow peach aromas, followed on airing by notes of gingerbread and toasted brioche. The palate is pleasantly full, the attack reveals the aromatic intensity of tropical fruit such as pineapple and passion fruit…a range of tropical fruit flavors together with notes of toasted almond and mild spices such as cumin and cinnamon, building to an attractively long finish on elegant touches of toasted hazelnut, mild spice and pineapple.”  That’s a lot of words, really too many, and I even left out some of the verbal non-sense.  It sounds like they were trying too hard and I doubt that anyone felt the “attack.”  I sure didn’t!  Even so it was a pleasant Chardonnay at a great price, during a beautiful evening upstairs at So Gourmet (above and part of Bodacious).  If you didn’t like it take note of why.  Also take note of what the Score was and who scored it, adding yet another tool to your wine choosing kit.  Doing so will only make you a better wine buyer, and when you can effectively and efficiently buy a wine you will like everyone wins.  Cheers to that!

October’s Vino Magnifico 2023

My schedule can be very erratic at times, causing me to be on the road, away from wine tastings. This past week I was fortunate enough to make V Paul’s once-a-month Vino Magnifico wine tasting. Vino Magnifico is different from the rest of our regularly scheduled tastings. For those who haven’t been V Paul’s requires a reservation. You arrive and sit down, either with friends or other adventurous wine tasters. Then wine is brought to you while you get brief description of what you are having. Basically the opposite of the other tastings.  There are pros and cons to the different wine tasting styles, which is a later topic.As every wine event I attend becomes a de-facto social experiment, Vino Magnifico is a fruitful affair! I often get to speak to wine tasters who don’t attend any of the other tastings, giving both sides a chance to share perspectives. I really enjoy watching others try new wine and then watching, and sometimes hearing their reaction. I then like to ask them why they liked, or didn’t like, a certain wine and I am always fascinated by their answers.Those answers are often all over the place as certain people like to try and sound more sophisticated than they really are instead of just being genuine and honest. The current result of my on going social wine tasting experiment is that you can 100% tell, on one hand, who is being genuine, and on the other, who wants to cover their insecurities with sophisticated nonsense.Well, at least everyone could agree on what was tonight’s Crowd Favorite: Villa Antinori Toscana Bianco 2021. This is a classic Porch Pounder, as certain people call it. It was refreshing with just the right amount of acid blended with citrus fruit notes and some back ground minerality. I was asked if it was too late in the season to buy this kind of wine since summer seems to finally be over. My response: “There is no season where you cannot buy any wine that you enjoy!”

East Hill Bottle shop 4 Oct 23

Well, it’s finally Fall! Our first beautiful sunny day that comes with a high in the mid-70s is worth its own holiday! How should a wine lover celebrate such an occasion? With a glass of “big, bold” red wine of course. Oh, you don’t have any because you have been drinking whites and light reds all summer. Well here’s a quick and easy cure.But before we discuss that solution a quick disclaimer: GulfCoastWine does not get endorsed or receive anything from the wine venues and/or wines review or recommend. We haven’t addressed that in quite a while, so for all of our newer readers and as a reminder to our original followers; everything here is unbiased, and written without the use of AI. Seriously, we still research and write things, unlike some of the other local publications!So, back to the cure. This week’s Crowd Favorite at East Hill was Elberle’s 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon from Paso Robles California. Paso Robles (Passing Oaks translated from Spanish) is not as overlooked as it used to be but still often plays the third seat to its cousins to the north, Sonoma and Napa. A benefit of this is Napa quality wine and a lower price, and this is a great example!This wine welcomes the nose with an aroma of fruit curing in the western dry air and hints of violet. Then the palate is greeted with the “big and bold” deep and dark jamey plum, black cherry, circling cassis, medium tannins, juicy acidity, finishing with a little chocolate and cedar. It’s the red wine experience that you have been waiting for, since you have been depriving yourself of “big and bold” reds during our hot summer months like a monk fasting for a higher calling! Well, at least that’s what I have been told it feels like. I drink these type of red wines all year.A California red that is as good as any mainstream Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa at an affordable price. Hard to beat! So for all of you coming out of your hot season red wine hiatus, welcome back. And for the rest of us; enjoy our Wine America!

Inadvertent Wine Snob

Can drinking more wine turn you into a Wine Snob? It can, if you are not careful. One of the best attributes of our local wine tastings is the delightful absence of the typical Wine Snob (WS). We at GCW have defined the typical WS before. Typical WSs are not welcoming, often critical of others’ comments, and TELL YOU what you should be drinking.Yet there is natural phenomenon that can occur as a wine drinker progresses from beginner, to novice, to, hopefully, a true wine enthusiast. That phenomenon is a maturing/discerning palate. It is just like growing up. Most kids will not eat a dill pickle, yet most adults will. As we drink more wine, and different wines from across the periodic wine table, our palate can develop and it CAN change. A wine that used to be one of your favorites earlier on can become un-drinkable later in your wine journey, and that is OKAY!What is not okay is turning your nose, or glass, up against those wines, and especially to those who still enjoy them! Your wine journey is unique, and you should take pride in developing a discerning palate. Just because someone still likes that Merlot (I still love a good Merlot) doesn’t mean you are any more of a wine lover than they are.The same is true from the other view point, from the beginner’s view. Just because someone takes a sip of a wine and dumps it out, or passes it up, does not automatically make them a WS. It is the attitude. If that person dumps it out saying; “Well this is just an $18 bottle of wine,” then they might be a WS. Yet if that same person dumping the wine instead says “This just isn’t for me,” then respect that, even if their reason internally is the fact that the wine is $18 a bottle. (Just kidding, don’t mis-judge a bottle because it was only $18!)As you progress into your wine journey and find yourself becoming very discerning, increasingly liking more unique and often more expensive wine, invite others in and share your experience in a positive way. Not in a way that says “Oh look what I’m drinking.” Don’t begrudge other wine lovers for loving other things. And NEVER tell someone what they should, or shouldn’t, like!I just did make it back home this week in time to catch parts of Friday’s wine tastings; Seville’s and the mystery wines at Bottle Shop on Baylen. One of the best methods that I use to make sure that I keep myself from inadvertently straying into the tendencies of a WS is going to as many wine tastings as possible. This keeps me “wine grounded.” Two easy drinking reds were the Crowd Favorites at Seville; Klinker Brick’s Old Vine Zinfandel from Lodi California and Hedges CMS blend (71% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Syrah) from Washington. The mystery wines at the Bottle Shop were unique and very good! So go out to the tastings, share in your experience, taste everything, and stay grounded to being a true wine enthusiast. Cheers to that!

East Hill Bottle Shop 20 Sept 2023

The last day of official Summer. You wouldn’t really know it if you weren’t paying attention to the calendar with our days still touching 90F. But there are little glimpses of change if you know where to look. For many wine drinkers the start of Autumn and cooler temperatures mean it’s time to start drinking “big” red wines again.I understand the concept: mainly drink white wines or lighter bodied reds during the hot months, claiming “big” reds aren’t refreshing. Yet understanding the concept and agreeing with it are two different things. I grew up drinking very “big” reds while having lunch during the peak of the hot Portuguese and French summers. For more conventional wine drinkers I just stated two unfathomable actions! Drinking full bodied reds, at lunch, in the heat!! Woah!First of all, more people should have a glass of wine at lunch! Many “professionals” see this as a total faux pas. I am not saying get drunk, or even having a second glass, but one glass of wine at lunch, served at the CORRECT temperature, that compliments the food is a wonderful experience. I argue that, for some, it should be mandatory! I guarantee that you know at least one person who fits that bill.Well this week’s Crowd Favorite at the East Hill Bottle Shop is a perfect example of a good “big” red wine to either restart your autumnal enjoyment or pair with that forbidden lunch. Saint Cosme Côtes du Rhône, a 100% Syrah from southern France, was bold with a nose of violets, greeting the palate with blackberries, black plum, a dash of baking spice, some juniper, and finishing with relatively smooth earthy tones. And it was inexpensive.As we finally crawl out of Summer I find it refreshing that more of my fellow wine drinkers are thinking about their first sips of those “big” reds in months. I liken it to a bear just out of its dean, sniffing the air, trying to determine which direction its first meal will be found. It's palpitations audible to those near by. And maybe, just maybe, try a single glass of wine with lunch. It is as enjoyable as it sounds!

V Paul’s September Vino Magnifico

I have gone to several wine tastings in the Pensacola area but I had never gone to the one tasting that everyone has recommended to me: V Paul's second Tuesday tasting. With my usual reviews I tend to go into the wine itself some more but this is my complete reaction to my first V Paul's tasting. I went into this tasting with some idea of what it would be like. I understood that this was a sit down tasting and the same crowd tends to meet every month. I began the tasting by walking into the restaurant and was greeted warmly by the host. I noticed that this was a more mature crowd than what I was used to seeing at other tastings. Everyone was stylishly dressed and many had perched at the bar for a drink. I decided to follow the lead of many of the patrons and order myself an Aperol Spritz on this hot day.I had attended this tasting alone, which admittedly made me feel slightly nervous. It is much easier to attend events when you can experience it with a familiar person. I must have been the only person at the tasting who was not meeting someone or attended the tasting by themselves. I decided anyway to embrace the new environment and new crowd of people. I ran into someone I had met at a local tasting who had invited me to the V Paul's tasting. I made no promises since the month prior I had failed to secure my reservation. It was this month of September that I was lucky enough to secure a reservation for myself through V Paul's website. It was so delightful meeting up with this person who then subsequently introduced me to Paul himself. He is the ultimate host, kind and inviting, and found me a seat among many reserved tables. I had joined a table of several ladies who make this their monthly meeting. Immediately I was embraced as a newcomer and welcomed into the mix as we began tasting the wine. I could not have gotten luckier to have been sitting among such kind and fun women!I typically do not attend many sit-down tastings but this was unique. With complementary pesto pasta served along with the wine to order right off the menu during the tasting. I ordered the bruschetta to accompany the wine, which included the following:Charles de fere Rose, Chateau Ste Michelle Riesling, Whole Cluster Pinot Noir, Catina Valle Tritana Montepluciano d'Abruzzo, and the Oberon Merlot.These were a selection of industry standards along with a couple au courant standouts. Typically I do not favor pinot noirs even though I can tolerate them, but the Whole Cluster Pinot Noir was my favorite of the tasting. It had deep cherry and slight oaky taste that is usually more subdued in some pinot noirs I have tried in the past. It was perfectly medium-bodied and I thought that it was pleasant. It was a wine that I would revisit again. The other wines did not seem as remarkable although the other patrons did seem to enjoy them. Compared to other wine tastings, these wines offered were not entirely as unique or standout.Overall, the atmosphere was very inviting. The host, Paul, was very welcoming and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves to the fullest. I would say that I enjoyed the company during the tasting proportionally more than the wine itself and would recommend this experience for wine novices and experts alike. I especially enjoyed the educational component of the tasting when each wine was explained. For $15 I would say that this tasting was a good value. You not only get a sample of the restaurant's food, but the sample sizes of each wine was approximately the size of a standard serving of wine. This is the tasting for you if you enjoy the social aspect of wine and wine tastings! I will definitely be returning for another enjoyable experience at V Paul's.-Anna

Value of Wine Tasting

Why should you bother going out to wine tastings, especially during the week? There are so many valid reasons to not go. They almost all occur right after work, when most people need to get home to the family, make dinner, let the dog out, go work out, etc. Or you might just be “peopled out” and could not imagine talking to, or interacting with, anyone else.

These reasons and more may prevent the occasional wine drinker to the avid wine enthusiast from going out to a wine tasting, and at no point should you feel bad about it!

But if you in the market for some wine let me give a few reasons to consider the value getting out to a wine tasting every now and then, perhaps one or two reasons that you haven’t considered.

"It's just so easy to grab a bottle of wine while I am already at the grocery store." That is the single biggest comment that I hear.  It is also the best way to get BAD wine!

The first value to consider is the ability to buy a wine that you got to taste! If you are buying a wine at a tasting, after tasting it, that probably means that you liked it. You can then rest assured of the value on the dollar amount that you spent for that wine, I.e. you didn’t just waste money, and most importantly, you didn’t waste your time on a wine that you won’t like once you get home. Why buy a wine that you might be anxious about, concerned whether or not it will be good? The answer is don't!

Second is the Dollar amount.  In addition to you getting to taste the wine before you buy it, all of the paid wine tastings offer discounts on that wine, anywhere from 10% up to $5 off a bottle. The free tastings all offer a loyalty discount, such as Aragon’s “buy eight bottles and get $20 off the ninth.” Therefore the actual dollar value of the wine is better than, let’s say, the grocery store. That may surprise you!

So if you are going to buy wine then going to wine tasting, even for just a short amount of time, will yield you with a better and cheaper wine than you may have otherwise obtained. Oh, and you have, overall, saved some time. I call that a 3win; a win win win!

Two of this week’s Crowd Favorites; Izadi Rioja Reserva 2018 and Mettler Albariño 2021, saved me time, money, and any anxiety. So even if your weekly schedule is often against you getting out to the local wine tastings, maybe considering the actual valve of buying wine at a tasting.  Perhaps that will persuade you to reconsider.

Anna recaps Aragon’s 7 September Tasting

As the summer is coming to an end, we are getting to the point where we are closing down the season with a wonderful transition of wines that suit both the hot summer days and the more chilly days of autumn. Living in Florida, however, is the exception to the rule and one can enjoy the more "summery" wines for much longer. Today we were served an excellent lineup of vino by Kevin (WSET3) with Terroir Selections at the Thursday Aragon Wine Market tasting. His knowledge in the wine he poured was excellent and all-encompassing. The line-up this week included the following:2022 Tenuta le Calcinaie Vernacchia di San Gimignano, 2018 Mt. Beautiful Riesling from New Zealand, 2019 Constantia Uitsig Semillion, 2022 Yves Cuilleron "Les Vignes d'a Cote" Syrah, 2020 Powell & Son "Riverside: G.S.M., and 2019 Chateau de Pitray Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux.All were tasty and perfect for the end of summer and budget friendly, ranging from $19-$24. The Crowd Favorite was a tie between the 2022 Tenuta le Calcinaie Vernacchia di San Gimignano and the 2022 Yves Cuilleron "Les Vignes d'a Cote" Syrah.The Vernacchia appealed to me the most due to the very refreshing crispness of the green apple I tasted. It was perfectly tart and fruity and did not leave to much guessing as to what fruit you were tasting. The Yves Cuilleron Syrah also appealed to me and was nice and medium-bodied with a well-balanced oaky taste with hints of red fruit. I could easily see why either of these two wines were competing for #1 spot!One part of the tasting I enjoyed most was encouraging someone to try a wine they would not have typically chosen for themselves. This person ended up liking the Vernacchia after I had recommended that they try it. I always recommend trying everything once! The worst case scenario is that it does not appeal to you and you can dump out of excess wine in your glass, and the best case scenario is that you found your new favorite wine!I cannot discuss this tasting at Aragon without talking about the other huge hit- the sourdough bread! I cannot sing its praises enough, the baker at Local Thyme Bakery does an excellent job every time their bread is available for sampling at Aragon's tastings. They had baked goods available at the tasting and they almost ran out of their supply at the end! Please visit their Instagram page @ltbpensacola to view when their weekly baked good drops are available.Overall, the wine tasting was super and our hosts at Aragon Wine Market were fabulous as always to provide a relaxing and fun atmosphere to taste wines with Kevin from Terroir Selections providing a superb selection for the crowd.Happy tasting!-Anna

How to take a chance on a Bottle of Wine

Getting back into my schedule after returning from my trip has proven to be more difficult than I expected. Several missed tastings has been the main casualty, along with my health.

Now that I was finally feeling better I was able to finish my week on a pretty good note while visiting some friends this weekend. An elaborate dinner was planned, so of course I brought a bottle of wine. I have tasted most of the wines that I have in my archives, but a few I took a chance on. The bottle that I brought to share this evening was one of my “Take a Chance on Me” wines. I will probably hum that Abba song for the next bottle!

Due to forces outside of our control, the elaborate dinner turned into a simple cookout. So, after some needed time in the cool healing waters of The Cold Hole of the Magnolia Springs River and a 1/2 mile swim it was time to open the wine I brought.

Is it truly fair to call my bottle, which I hadn’t tasted, a “Take a Chance” wine? It was from a great location, known for growing exceptional grapes of this particular variety, made by a good winemaker. Not expensive but not cheap. I felt pretty confident.

Showing up to a gathering/party/dinner, etc., with a bottle of wine is always a test, especially when everyone knows you as “The Wine Expert” (which I don’t like to be called). I had the wine at the correct temperature (66 F for this hot day) and gave it about 30 minutes of air. My friends’ wives tasted it with me. The first response from one of them was a joyous cuss word, ending with some surprise. I just laughed!

I actually rather enjoy the “pressure” of bring a wine to social gatherings. Nailing it is pretty common for me. Not always, and not to sound arrogant, but when you go to a lot of tastings, begin to pay attention to what you are drinking; the flavors, the feel, and then geek out a little on some wine knowledge, then being confident on a wine that you haven’t tasted should not be a alien concept.

The pictures on this post are the Crowd Favorites from both Aragon on Thursday and The Bottle Shop on Baylen Friday (1 from Aragon, 2 from Bottle Shop). What was my “Take a Chance on Me” wine? Ask me at the next tasting. See you then.

Aragon’s August 3rd Tasting

Another hot summer day, and another Thursday. Naturally one of the things we had to do was check out the Thursday wine tasting at the Aragon Wine Market. This was my third tasting at Aragon and already I am starting to recognize the usual crowd that makes this their meeting spot on Thursdays. There is a good mix of young professionals and more seasoned wine enthusiasts. It also happened to be Charlotte’s birthday tasting, with Pepper pouring some stellar wines today. Each bottle ranged between $17 and $22. The wines included the following:

La Tordera "Serrai" Prosecco D.O.C.G., 2020 Matteo Braidot Friuli Pinot Grigio, 2022 Marisco "The Ned" N.Z. Sauvignon Blanc, 2017 Twenty Rows Sonoma Pinot Noir, 2017 D'arenberg "The Stump Jump" Red Blend, and 2020 Hedges "C.M.S." Cabernet Sauvignon.

This selection was widely popular among the different people Alex and I interacted with. Alex and I had joined the 5pm-7pm tasting at different times. Alex was there early for the first half of the tasting while I got to meet others through the second half of the tasting. One thing that was noticed was that the La Tordera "Serrai '' Prosecco D.O.C.G was just subtly the crowd favorite. Alex and I both agreed that it was a lovely prosecco that felt not too light and not too heavy on the tongue. The bubbles covered the tongue just right and this dry prosecco had acid that was balanced nicely to make this a very bright.

The most contentious wine of the evening was 2022 Marisco "The Ned" N.Z. Sauvignon Blanc. The wine, named after the peak in New Zealand called "The Ned," split the tasters. Half got a lot of citrus and a crisp after taste while the other half did not. Everyone agreed that the acidity was well balanced and the citrus taste, big or not, was not bitter. It had a medium weight on the tongue. Overall, I enjoyed this wine even if it does not stand out to me. I noticed among the crowd at the tasting that you either loved it or disliked it.

My favorite of the night was the 2017 Twenty Rows Sonoma Pinot Noir. Before this wine passed my lips I noticed the dark, brownish, red of the wine. It leaned more acidic but was very smooth and not strong in the tannin-like taste that usually leans more towards bitter. I enjoyed the oaky taste and the red stone fruit taste like cherry mingling together. I thought that out of all the wines tonight it was the most well-balanced out of the six.

I also cannot go without mentioning that along with the sampling of wine was the sampling of the most delicious sourdough bread from Local Thyme Bakery. Be sure to follow them on Instagram ( @ltbpensacola) to order from them! I was found frequently walking over to the table with the sourdough because I could not get enough!

Be sure to check out @aragonwinemarket and @gulfcoastwine for future tastings!

Cheers to the new month as we share wine with friends and strangers alike!

-Anna

Aragon’s 13 July Tasting

"The atmosphere at the event was lively at this week's tasting at the Aragon Wine Market. The crowd appeared a little younger than the previous week. There were several young professionals all enjoying themselves and the wine. It warms me to see so many young people enjoying the local wine scene and mingling with the more seasoned wine enthusiast of the community. There is so much we can learn from each other in these types of social events.Darian Morris presented us with some delicious wine this evening. The following were the featured wines: 2021 St. Christopher Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling, Cafe de Paris Blanc de Blancs Brut NV, Tapiz Malbec Rosé Extra Brut NV, 2019 Forte Do Cego Vinho Lisboa Tinto, 2020 Belasco de Baquedano Llama Old Vine Malbec, and the 2020 Kate Arnold Single Vineyard Cabernet Franc.My favorite of the bunch was the riesling which is no surprise to those that know me intimately. It tasted nostalgic to me as it is something I would have tasted often when home in the Pfalz. This wine was sweet but had that distinct riesling grape taste that balances subtle and bold simultaneously. This wine was especially refreshing with notes of crisp apple and peach that harmonized together well. I also want to give an honorable mention to the 2020 Belasco de Baquedano Llama Old Wine Malbec. It was medium-bodied and the acidity was well balanced and had a touch of oak at the end that I enjoyed.I cannot discuss this event without talking about the wonderfully baked bread that was served alongside the wines. The bread was provided by Local Thyme Bakery (@ltbpensacola on Instagram) and they featured their House Sourdough which had a perfectly crisp outer layer and the most moist and soft inside. The taste was similar to what I grew up on in Germany, the German staple "Bauernbrot." I will be sure to make orders for bread and other treats soon! To order from them, simply direct message them on Instagram to order during their weekly drops of baked goods.Good wine and good bread, plus wonderful company- what more could you want?"Anna

Summer Wines, Part 2.

What qualities make a wine more enjoyable during the heat of summer? Perhaps quality Number 1 is “Refreshing.” Perhaps also “Crisp.” It would probably have a flavor profile consisting of strawberry, or hints of citrus, or maybe the essence of nectarine. The taste would take you to a comfortable chair on the porch, enjoying the breeze.

Well what wines do that?!?

The first step is to just focus on Rose and White wines, for now.  Reds are much more tricky so we are going to leave those out.

Next we must look at the wines’ sugar/alcohol content and acid. Wines that tend to be more refreshing and crisp are low in sugar (are not sweet), have relatively low alcohol by volume (13% or less), and have higher acid.

Then we want a wine that tastes like summer.  What tastes like summer?  Summer fruits; strawberry, the stone fruits, green apple, and some hints of citrus. 

Our first example is Figuiere “Mediterranean” 2021 Rose from the South of France. It’s description contains the remark “bright acidity and a moderate level of alcohol.” The tasters of this Crowd Favorite at Aragon this week got hints of strawberry with no sugar. Bullseye!  Tasters declared it a perfectly refreshing Porch Wine as we contrasted it to a Sonoma Coast big, but young, red blend.

Our next example, from this week’s tasting at the EastHill Bottle shop, is Fontaleoni Vernaccia di San Gimignano 2022, from Tuscany. This Crowd Favorite runner-up came in with flavor essences of stone fruit (peach & nectarine) and crisp green apple. Light on the tongue with “lively” acid. Winner!

So let’s review. Rose and whites that are low in sugar. Check. Relatively low in alcohol. The Rose, 13%; the White, 12.5. Check. Flavor profiles that contain summer fruits. Check. Two great porch and pool pounders. Just remember; serve chilled! Cheers!

Up-ing your wine game, Part 3

I really like being able to open the door or remove an obstacle from someone’s wine journey. The door is the realization of how fun and enjoyable wine can be, and an obstacle can be anything; like being able to describe what you actually like.Your wine journey can appear overwhelming at the start. Thousands of wines from thousands of grapes and combinations. As a wine guide I enjoy giving fellow tasters a few simple and easy tools that enhance the enjoyment of each glass. Once you realize how fun the journey is going to be it will no longer feel overwhelming.Here is a quick recap of some of those simple tools.In the first part of Up-ing your wine game I said how important it is to go to wine tastings, especially the unique ones, like the monthly tasting held by the Emerald Coast Chapter of the American Wine Society. Going to tastings like these show you how to taste wine. Even just going to your favorite local Wine Shop tasting will help you begin to find what you like.Yet, are you still getting frustrated because you cannot describe what you like? In Part 2 of Up-ing your wine game I gave a few easy words to use. Most important - Think about what you actually taste!So, taste wine, describe wine. The next step is to ASK QUESTIONS. Do not be afraid to ask! Why did that wine taste like that? Why was it dry? Why did I taste grapefruit? Asking questions will allow you to start putting it all together. It will also show you who can you trust to ask your wine questions to, someone who can and will enhance your wine journey.Tonight’s Crowd Favorite at EastHill, Altocedro La Consulta Select Red Blend 2019 from the Uco Valley, near Mendoza Argentina, is a good example. It was bold, had a satisfying level of complex fruit; black plum, blackberry, followed by some coco with medium tannins; all from using six different grape varieties. Could you describe that if you tasted it. If so fantastic. If not don’t be afraid to ask! Just like any puzzle, the help of a second set of eyes finding that one piece can really get you over the hump, and back to enjoying your journey.

East Hill Bottle Shop 31 May Tasting

Even though Summer hasn’t “officially” begun it’s summer here on the Gulf Coast. Yet we are barely into our Summer and I have already heard, twice, the phrase: “I can’t drink red wine during the Summer!”Really?What a bold wine statement! I still have yet to get an actual logical answer when I ask why. The answers usually revolve around “not refreshing enough” or “it makes me hot.”I am the biggest advocate for drink what you like, but to artificially cut red wine out of your repertoire seems holistically silly! There isn’t much that I can do if you say that red wine makes you hot. Either come prepared for what the Brits call a “Randy Evening,” or take a cold shower before leaving the house!  I mean really!I take it as a challenge to refute the “not refreshing enough” reason. 97% of red wine, especially down here on the Gulf Coast, is served too hot. Red wine should make your glass feel cool to the touch. If it doesn’t then it’s too hot. Just doing that will probably make 9 out of 10 red wines “refreshing.”Tonight’s Crowd Favorite, Atteca Old Vine Garnacha 2019 from the Calatayud region of Spain, was served at the right temperature and sold down to the last bottle. The region of Calatayud is very dry, the grapes get a lot of ripening sun. That along with the age of the vines gives the wine its full complement of complex flavors; black plum with red cherry, deep earth yet with soft tannins. To me a great bold summer red wine.So if you are one who doesn’t drink red wine during the summer do me a favor; try some reds at the correct temperature and see if your opinion changes.

East Hill Bottle Shop 10 May

“We’re sold out.” That was the response I got when I went to get a picture for this post of Klinker Brick Vineyards’ Old Vine Zinfandel from 2019.

The human nature of stereotyping is very strong. So when people hear Zinfandel from Lodi they often think of a wine akin to a jar of jam. Those Zinfandels do exist, but so do Lodi Zins that are balanced, deep, and smooth.

It is too easy to say; “All of those wines from xxx taste like xxxx.” Don’t lump wines together, even when one winery is across from the other. The wines can be, and often are, very different.

I had the great opportunity to visit Klinker Brick Vineyards back in February. Check out that post here… Amazing folks, and the only reason that I didn’t buy their Old Vine Zin while I was there was because I could find it here, back home.

So it was no surprise that they sold out! The wine is just plain good, a great drinking wine, and an even better wine to take to a party! It goes great with the random variety of foods that seem to collect at the neighbors’ weekend party.

And never forget the two most important rules in Wine: Never serve hot wine and always bring a wine that you like! Can’t go wrong with this one.

East Hill Bottle Shop tasting & BBQ

It should be no surprise to most of you; but we go to a wine tasting for the people as much as, sometimes more than, the actual wine. Good wine is always a motivator, so is the yet-to-be-met fellow taster.

This week I had both motivations; going for the wine on Wednesday, then going for the people on Saturday.

Wednesday’s tasting ended up with a Crowd Favorite that surprised most of the tasters with how smooth and easy it was. La Crema Pinot Noir 2019 from the Monterey area of California seemed to hit most tasters just right: light red fruit, no rough tannins, not overly acidic, a great buy for an easy light bodied red wine.

Several friends ended up not being able to join me for the rescheduled Wine & BBQ event as planned. The food was great, yet a chance meeting with an elder retired Marine really made it an experience for me. How often do we have the chance to meet so many amazing and diverse people? Well, wine tastings have proven to increase those chances!

Please do me a favor and pick the wine with the ugliest label.

Me: “How did you pick that wine?”

My friend: “I like the look of the label.”

I'm not sure if there is an actual study or any numbers out there that can tell us the percentage of wine sold based on how “pretty” the label looks, but my guess is a “pretty” high percentage. Drum roll please.

Corniness aside, there are sooooo many people that go in and buy wine solely based on the look of the label. The question is: If you choose a bottle of wine based on the way the label looks, will that get you a bottle of wine that you like more often than not?

From both experience and observation, I say NO.

My estimate is that 33.3% of the time, you will get a wine that you like by choosing solely on the look of the label. If you were blindfolded outside of a good wine shop and led to a random shelf to pick a random bottle, there is also a 33.3% chance that you would pick one that you liked.

There are amazing wines with beautiful labels out there. Tonight’s crowd favorite, by a very slim majority, was Broadbent’s Vinho Verde, which is an outlier; good, cheap, with an attractive label. Yet, more often than not, money spent on making the wine, not the label, will lead to a better product.

So, if you go to a place where they sell wine and there is no one there who can guide you to a wine that you like, leave! Go to a good wine shop curated by qualified, CERTIFIED, wine people and ask them for help picking out a wine. If you don’t have access to a good local wine shop, go in and pick the prettiest and the ugliest (or plainest) looking bottle that you can find. Do a taste test and see what result you get. Sometimes you might find that beauty is only skin, or label, deep.