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 at lunch?

I love having a glass of wine at lunch.  I have touched on this topic before, but today with a new angle; politeness.  Just this morning I caught part of a discussion about politeness in our current society.  Are we more or less polite than we used to be was the basic question. The consensus seemed to be that we are less polite, mainly to due to the electronic device that is now semi-permanently attached at the end of our arms. Well, I have a solution; Wine!Go to any of our local wine tastings and you are going to find people talking, to each other! And they are enjoying themselves! A cell phone comes out every now and then, but a wine glass has temporarily surmounted its place. It is such a novel and amazing concept, talking to one another, that I want to foster it.Most wine tastings are in the evening, causing many to be stuck in this modern, non-polite world for hours on end. Therefore an intervention is needed, right in the middle of the day. The solution:Lunch!Many, due to occupation, are not allowed to consume alcohol while on the clock. I feel you, I spent 12 years in that kind of hell, and I’m sorry. For everyone else who can [have Wine] at lunch then this is for you. There are only two rules to Lunch Wine.First rule: Don’t let someone in your lunch group order a beer. If you are allowed to drink during your work day then don’t have a beer. This is one of the few times when the perceived “sophistication” of wine is to your benefit. Having a beer in the middle of the day gives the impression of laziness and poor decision making. Wine does not come with that baggage. Don’t believe me. Try your own experiment and ask the folks around your work place how they feel if they hear a co-worker had a beer at lunch. Then ask the same if they had a single glass of wine.Second rule: Do not have more than one glass. The stigma that surrounds alcohol at lunch roots itself in the possibility of you getting drunk or at the minimum not performing upon your return to the office. One glass of wine will not make you “sloppy.” If it does then don’t drink. By all means have a coffee and don’t mess it up for the rest of us.Having a glass of wine at lunch does many good things. It will help keep you off of your phone, thus you will be more social and attentive to your lunch guests, a very polite gesture indeed. Also people drinking wine look better than those not, and it has been proven that red wine aides in digestion. Therefore the result of you having wine at lunch is that you will physically feel better and come off as more positive and more polite.My favorite place to have a glass of wine at lunch in Pensacola is Carmen’s Lunch Bar & Tapas. The last time that I was there I was fortunate enough to try a wine that was soon to be but not yet on the menu; Cabriola by Borsao 2019 Spanish red blend. It paired perfectly with my lunch choice, and my lunch guest, who had the same wine, was impressed with my recommendation. We spoke about the business at hand and I only interrupted the occasion once with my cell phone to take the picture for this post. So, if you can, do us all a favor and have a glass of wine at lunch.  You just might make the world a better, slightly more polite, place.

“What is the best Wine Shop…?”

“What is the best Wine Shop around here?” I suppose that was a fair question at the end of a 30+ person private wine event that I had the privilege of getting to co-host, some of attendees being new to our area. I took a moment to answer with: “There are a couple,” then expanded on my answer.

It would be too easy to say that the best shop is “X”. Often to correctly answer a question you must ask a question, so after giving my initial answer I asked: “How do you like to buy wine?” After getting his response I then gave him a brief run down of where I thought he would get the best bottle with the best experience. The last part of that sentence is the key! But before diving in and answering what makes a good wine shop we must define what a wine shop is.

That is actually harder than it sounds. One possible definition is a shop whose merchandise is comprised of 51% or more of wine. Yet that can take several locations out of consideration that could deserve a look. For me, a better way to define a wine shop is based on expertise and experience. Some of the best places can have a small, but unique, wine selection with great knowledge on that selection. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love a big selection, but no one knows everything about every wine. I love being surprised by a recommended wine that turned out to be fantastic, a wine that I would have otherwise not picked on my own. That level of knowledge and expertise often leads to a great experience, both in buying and consuming. Finding a store with huge selection of wine that also has a staff (or just a single staffer) with a vast level of knowledge is very, very rare.

A great example of being suprised by a wine that was a recommendation, one that I would not have bought on my own was Cantine Coppi Core Rosato Negroamaro from Salento, in Puglia Italy that was at Aragon Wine Market. Aragon is small but has a very good selection and a very knowledgeable staff, making my list for one of our area's best wine shops. The Negroamaro was a Rose but very unique with a complexity of flavor and feel that you don't get out of almost every other Rosé, making it a Wine of Note!

So I go back to my question of “How do you like to buy wine?” Do you enjoy going into a big box store and finding your own treasure bottle or do you like a more intimate venue with a staff that can point out something great?  We are blessed to have several good wine shops locally, but we also have a few that I would NOT recommend.  Sorry, I am not going to go over them here.  Ask me at the next wine event if you are curious on my opinion. 

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!”

Aragon’s 5 Oct 23 Wine Tasting

It’s refreshing how I can still be surprised by a wine at one of our local tastings, and funny how stories evolve. Just the prior evening to this tasting I had a decently long conversation with two young, enthusiastic, aspiring wine connoisseurs about how difficult it is to find a good Bordeaux that is less than $50. Good, I mean very good, Bordeaux wines are expensive, often very expensive.Most cheaper Bordeaux’s, even in the $30-$40 range, have some sort of off flavor. It can range from tart-acid to basement gym sock. I’m not kidding. I blame Bordeaux for ruining many new wine drinkers, because of the perceived price and possible taste.First reason; new wine drinkers have all heard of Bordeaux and think it’s a wine to “splurge” on. So they look at the price and “splurge” on a $45 Bordeaux from Graves. They go to some event, or have friends over and really talk up this Bordeaux. The bottle gets opened, and poured, too hot, and tasted. Now comes the second reason, the taste. Our new wine tasters encountered a palate of old basement gym sock with hints of red currant (which they have never heard of), oak and wet leaves. Other than the gym socks the rest of that description is right off a bottle of Bordeaux!!!The result of that experience, at best, is not liking ANY French wine. At worst, back to beer! Because of the “Bordeaux Effect” I often dissuade new drinkers from Bordeaux unless they want to really splurge. So it was with great surprise to taste a Bordeaux, from the outskirts of Saint-Emillion, that was very good, and one that costs less than the mythical $20! And everyone liked it! 2018 Chateau de Pitray, from the Cotes de Castillon sun-region of Bourdeaux was approachable with aromas of cranberry and raspberry, and a taste black plum, licorice, and blueberries, finishing with dry spice cake. And no gym sock!The key to this wine were the grapes, and while that seems so obvious, it is the lack of a grape. No Cabernet Sauvignon! Instead, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Merlot. Yes, Malbec, one of the original, and legal Bordeaux varietals.Even after having had Chateau de Pitray’s 2018 I talked a fellow wine drinker a few days later off of going to the store to get a Bordeaux. “Go for a mid-Rhône” was my suggestion, after discussing her taste preference. This Wine of Note, while such a refreshing surprise, was too much of a rare encounter to change my future recommendations, being that it is very possible to never see another like it again.

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

Two Fun Birthdays with Wine

“Where did you find this?” “How did you know they would go well together?” “Where can I buy this?!?”

Those were the three questions I got repeatedly at a big birthday Wine and Food event I put together Saturday night for 40 people.

“Perfect.” “Is there more?”

Those were the top two phrases that were said last night at birthday Wine Dinner #2 that I was privileged enough to be part of. The birthday girl for this dinner is one of the most highly respected wine enthusiasts in our region, so like any die hard wine lover she had firm guidance of what wine she wanted.

The twist for both birthday parties was that they were both surprises.

The first party involved a lot more people than the second and many of them were just beginning their wine journey. Three or four only drank beer. It’s okay, I [over] planned for that. If anyone wants some cold beer please let me know, I will give it away! Anyway, so my wine choices for the first party had to run the gamut of wine, beginners to the experienced wine connoisseur and pair with all of the food. Sadly I was so busy I didn’t get any pictures of the ten different wines I had chosen.  They were all empty and in the recycling by the time I got back to them! It was a GOOD time!

Party 2 gave me a unique opportunity to “surprise” my dear friend, who had no idea I was involved. She had given wine directions to her husband, who is a wine connoisseur in his own right, to pick two or three bottles for just the two of them.  But we had 14 more people coming, so we needed several more bottles than just two or three she had requested!  Yet her direction gave us a blueprint. We included the three bottles that she had requested, as part of the ruse, and then got to work picking the rest needed for the birthday dinner.  

Simplicity is key most times. This was no exception.  We needed two “big” wines, a white and a red. Our white wine pick was Fulldraw 2020 by Drift from Paso Robles; 80% Clairette Blanche, and 20% Grenache Blanc. The easiest way to explain this wine was that it could do, and did do, just about everything you want out of a white wine! Wow! The red pick was Shafer’s 2010 Relentless from Napa; 96% Syrah, 4% Petite Sirah. Drinking this red was the equivalent to calling in an air strike using a MOAB. The MOAB (GBU-43/B for my military folks) is the Massive Ordnance Air Blast, the biggest non-nuclear weapon in the US Arsenal. Simply put, it [the wine] could not miss! It was “Perfect” with everything that came from the kitchen!

I have to thank my amazing friends for helping me with these events! Catering for party 1 was done by Kingfisher Restaurant with amazing desert fruit bowls from Bear Fruit Essentials, and everyone LOVED all of it! Party 2 was held at Union Public House in their new restaurant. The staff was excellent and the food fantastic!

If you are interested in doing a fun wine event please reach out to us and GulfCoastWine will be happy to give you a wine experience that you will not forget!

The Weekly Wrap Up

The folks who know me mostly know what my actual “day” job is. I make it a point not to talk about it here because it has nothing to do with wine and it tends to become the topic of a conversation when it is brought up, even when I rather talk about wine. But the summer heat has finally ignited the earth’s engine and things have gotten busy.

So, a single recap of our wine tastings last week. The quick summary: I went to five tastings. They were all fun and each had some good wine!

Yet two wines really stood out last week and achieved the Wine of Note status, a white and a red. One from So Gourmet’s every-other-Wednesday Sunsets on Main tasting, and the other from the Bottle Shop on Baylen, which was featured as the mystery wine.

The first was an Italian White Wine from Puglia. Edda Bianco Salento 2021 is made with 60% Chardonnay, 20% Fiano, and 20% White Muscatel. Do not let the White Muscatel fool you, this is NOT a sweet wine and not any typical Chardonnay! It starts by filling the nose with yellow flowers and then filling the palate with savory stone fruit, good acid and a nice mineral finish. A great white to have for just about any occasion where you want a white wine!

The next was Col Solare's 2013 Red Blend from Columbia Valley Washington. Sourced entirely from Col Solare’s estate on Red Mountain, it is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 4% Merlot, and 2% Syrah. It is damm good! A mix of red plum, black cherry, tobacco and earth, strong tannins and a nice finish. Even though it wasn’t part of the “official” tasting line up Friday night, you can buy it at the Bottle Shop, and I would, and did!

Two Wines of Note in one week! A solid performance from our local tastings. Yet this should not surprise anyone. The most amazing part; the people at the tastings are as fun as the wine! Bring a friend who might be apprehensive about coming out and let them join the party! Everyone stay safe this week!

Blind tasting Zinfandel

What do you think of when you hear “Zinfandel?” Sweet fruit bomb or lush complexity, Zinfandel can run the gambit of the favor spectrum.I had invited one of my best friends and his wife to the monthly tasting of our local chapter of the American Wine Society featuring a presentation on Zinfandel and Primativo. My friends are severe Rioja drinkers, rarely straying from the Spanish wine staple. They almost didn’t come, convinced that there was no possible way that there could be a Zinfandel worth drinking.Fast forward an hour and a half and their opinion had turned 180 degrees! “I had no idea Zinfandel could taste like this!” I wasn’t surprised at all. People can have very strong opinions about wines, and Zinfandel might be at the top of that list. They have one or two examples of certain variety and deem “That’s it, all XXX wines taste like this!”  Don’t fall into that trap, stay curious!We tasted six different Zinfandel’s and one Primativo during the presentation, going over terroir, style, and taste profile, all BLIND! It was a great time with some great food, and is still the best way to Up your Wine Game.

Beyond the Grape’s Recent Finds tasting

Yet another week with multiple similar reactions. When people find out how many GOOD wine tastings we have locally I get the same reaction, over and over; “Oh my gosh, I had no idea!”Most of the local wine events are, or near, downtown. One notable exception is Beyond the Grape (BTG), located in Cordova Mall. I don’t count the wine events held at the big box stores. While the big box stores have some good events, supporting our local businesses is a big part of GCW.Not only did BTG, with Terrior Wines, put on a great tasting with good wines, but the charcuterie board, put together by Olive to Nosh, was AMAZING!Picking affordable wines that have the potential to please a wide variety of people is VERY hard! A tried and true way to take your wine tasting up to the next level is a good charcuterie board. But make no mistake, it will not cover up a selection of bad wine.So cudos to BTG, Terrior, and Olive to Nosh for putting together a great wine tasting in the Cordova area! Yet another reason why we get so many reactions-of-amazement when people find out how amazing our local wine scene is!

Aragon’s August “Cru” Tasting

What makes a good “summer” wine? That question comes up a lot during our long summers. We have discussed and defined these “summer” wines, aka “porch pounders,” in previous posts. Served chilled, with hints of tropical and stone fruit, lively acid, leaving your tongue refreshed with a great feel are the basis of a good summer wine.We encountered such a wine this past week at Aragon’s August Cru tasting. Mille Rêves 2020 Vouvray Chenin Blanc had all of those qualities; a great bouquet of white flowers on the nose, a palate that started with nectarine and finished with green apple cider. All of the tasters agreed that this was a great “summer wine.”While the wine was good, the best part was catching up with an old friend, one who shares the same passion of wine that I do with a lifetime of experience behind it. It is a common occurrence at wine tastings; meeting people just as interesting and complex as the wine you are tasting. To me, sharing a profound wine with equally profound people is the perfect pairing!

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.