GRAND TASTING RECOMMENDATIONS

Today is the Grand Tasting at my favorite wine shop.  I have to pace myself, though, because I'll be shitfaced if I try all the wines at the eight tables and the hard liquor at the extra table.  I decide to go with prosecco first (my personal favorites), then whites, and maybe have my arm twisted to try a couple of reds.

This strategy lasts about thirty seconds. I do manage to avoid sipping all of the wines, but I end up mixing my color palette. 

I start with a lovely pinot gris from Oregon, followed by a sharp chardonnay-like sauvignon blanc from California.  After this I fall immediately for a Spanish garnacha and an Argentinian malbec.  And this is just at my first table.

I don't go in order, of course.  I start at Table 3 because it's not crowded and my buddy is manning the table.  Wandering into the big tent in the back, I see the Italian Wine Guy (that's what we call him).  His palate is a lot like mine, so I head over and discover he is serving some prosecco.   This makes me love him even more than I already do.  He is serving an Italian Valfonda prosecco that he describes as "the house prosecco," and it's very nice, but I pucker a little at the peach Bellini prosecco -- it needs cheese; too sweet.  My glass gets mysteriously filled with a Californian pinot noir after that, but I walk away without sampling everything.

This is when trouble starts.  The enigmatic wine guy, B, is manning a nearby table.  I should know better than to go over there.  He is an expert flirt, a knowledgeable and prolific wine storyteller, and pours faster than one can breathe.  Before I know it, I'm sampling all seven of his wines.  I start with a Pieropan Soave Classico, an Italian white, followed by Poggio Al Tesoro Vermentino, which is an Italian white that I find to be a little too sharp for my liking. 

I start going out of order, following B with whatever he is pouring for others: the Colombini Brunello (excellent but out of my price range at $40 a bottle), followed by the equally pricey Californian Ramey cab sauv.  I might as well try the Argentinian malbec while I'm here, though a Mendozan malbec cannot even come close to a Patagonian malbec, no matter how hard it tries and regardless of who's pouring it. 

I'm about to walk away from the table when one of wine tasting pals, Maria, convinces me to try the California Kunde Estate Zinfandel.  Now, sometimes I have the mindset of "if I've tried one red, I've tried them all," so I don't expect much, but this zin is surprisingly drinkable and priced well at $16.  I still have food to eat and tables to explore, so I try to walk away, but B is having none of it.  I've tried everything except the Domaine Travers Rasteau "La Mondona" from France.

As I said, sometimes (too often) one red is pretty much the same as the next.  Except this one.  It's a grenache blend, which shouldn't surprise me because I am partial to grenache, and it's easy on the senses.  Its aroma is unobtrusive - the smell doesn't manipulate the senses.  It's smooth and easy to drink yet flavorful, fruity but not fruitful, and sips well from the glass without necessity of food that so many reds crave. 

I go on to taste about twenty more wines. dumping more than I'm sipping, but none worth writing a blog about.  But, for the sake of desperate wine drinkers out there, I'll post a small list (in no particular order) of some of the hits recommended by me and by my wine-sipping pals:

1.  Domain Travers Rasteau "La Mondona" (red) at $18
2.  Valfonda Prosecco at $10
3.  Cooper Hill Pinot Gris at $10
4.  Feudi di San Gregorio Greco di Tufo (white) at $13
5.  Pennywise Petit Sirah at $10
6.  Reata Pinot Noir at $16
7.  Alias Merlot at $10
8.  Atteca Grenacha at $13
9.  Kunde Estate Zinfandel at $16
10.  The Wanted Zin Primitivo at $13

Sip on, my friends, and thank you to my favorite wine shop, Wine Connextion, for another wonderful Grand Tasting.