Volcanic Wines - March 19th, 2015 - hosted by Ms. Karin & Mr. Joshua

Volcanic Wines - Thursday March 19th, 2015 - hosted by Ms. Karin & Mr. Joshua

Theme:  Volcanic Wines - We will do our usual blind tasting method.

Bring:  TWITs should bring a bottle of volcanic wine.  It can be a white or a red wine, but within the specified price range (Up to $20/bottle for Singles, between $20 - $40/bottle for Couples)

More information on Volcanic Wines.
"Volcanic soils are rich in calcium, iron and magnesium, as well as other elements, which can contribute to a wine’s minerality. These soils also allow water to be delivered to the roots of vines very slowly, which can be a lifesaver during a dry growing season when vines must rely on groundwater to survive. Oh, and they look cool, too: black never goes out of style."

Why did Josh & Karin pick "Volcanic Wines" as the theme?
Josh explained that they had first tried a volcanic wine in Portland, Williamette Valley, and they were told "you either love it, or you hate it", and they decided they loved it.  Karin said it was also a nice geography lesson, learning about the different volcanic areas in the world.  Some volcanic areas include: New Zealand, Chile, Italy, Portland Oregon, Calistoga/Napa area, etc.

Tasting Notes:
Welcome Wine:  2013 Azienda Agricola Inama Vin Soave Classico, Verona Italy ~ $20 @ Sherlocks
100% Gargenega, 12% alcohol
white wine, light, sweetish, off-dry, grassy, rain, acidity, tart, 3 day old campfire, ash,

1) 2010 Assemblage Barken Reichan Galilee - $29 @ Costco
67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 13% Shiraz 13.5% alcohol
red wine, smoky head, tar, subtle smoke, bbq, not quite opaque, spice, white pepper, Val guesses California fine wine, fruit forward, gorgeous wood, citrus, tangerine, cherry, subtle charcoal nose, carmelly, charred barrel, berry cherry, spice like a pinot but not, you can almost taste the burnt ash in the back of your throat, high clarity, could be a pinot, why not? cloves, doesn't linger, like a good cigar at the end, a very sexy clove cigarette, black fruit, chocolate, nougat, promises even more pleasure with age.

2) 2011 Vestini Campagnano Kajanero Terre del Volturno IGT, Campania Italy - $15.99 @ Brookhaven Wines
Blend of Casavecchia, Pallagrello Nero, 13.5% alcohol
crunk on the nose, tar, LODI, resurfaced road, asphalt, tar bubble, burning oil, cheese, so intense, not subtle at all, Whew! powerful! Holy I-285, sulphur, mackerel, shell fish, inside of volcano or oil-well, sea air, full bodied, dark chocolate, blackberry, palate has fruit, then a dip of olive/brine, then spice, needs food, rustic meats, licorice, anise, molasses

3) 2009 Aglianico Mastroberardino Campania Italy - $20 @ Broohaven Wines
100% Aglianico, 13% alcohol
gumballs, dark deep brown/brick color, funky, compost, meringue, smoky cocktail, Matt says Tuscan Sangiovese, flowers in manure, foxglove, burnt twig, gardenia, perfumey, the palate doesn't hold up to the aromas, palate is not that intense, great foreplay but terribly quick finish, quaffable, lighter, "the young inexperienced pool boy"

4) 2012 Mastroberardino Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio Rosso DOC - $17-18 @ Brookhaven Wines, 100% Piedirosso, 12.5% alchol
subtle smoke & chocolate, milky way, soft, silky, smoky vanilla, overly burnt bbq, but in a good way, caramel, burnt tires, briny, pickles, smooth with spice, pepper, pickles and pepper, salt, a lot of minerals, honey, 1 dimensional, hyacinth, oysters, fleshy, coppery, would not order a 2nd glass, ashy aftertaste, not a good kisser, honey vanilla caramel,

5) 2012 I Vigneri, Etna Rosso, Sicily, Italy - $45 @ Le Caveau Fine Wines
Blend of Nerello Cappuccio, Nerello Mascalese, 14% alcohol
tar, stinky, leather, humidor, stallion, manly, burly wine, alpha male, animal sweat in a good way, Burgundy-esque, flowers & manure, grass, healthy countryside, green grass, brushy dried green, earthy, wildflowers, sweet banana, hot nose, pepper, this wine treats a woman right, rustic, balanced, lingers, huge body, "I would take this wine home with me"
*** THIS WINE WON THE VOTE for BEST WINE OF THE NIGHT ***

6) 2011 J Bookwalter Sub-Plot #27 Columbia Washington - $20 at Brookhaven Wines
41% Syrah, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Malbec, 8% Cabernet Franc, 6% Merlot, 14.2% alcohol
asphalt, skunk-o-rama, good weed (you know what we mean), fresh rubber, latex, grapefruit peel, bitter pith, oily garage, honeybees & flowers in the garage, chewing burnt rubber, chocolatey, apple cider palate, could be Hobbit Wine (aka New Zealand), dry, rubbermaid dishwashing gloves, ashy

7) 2013 Frank Cornelissen MunJebel no. 10 Rosso - $39.99 @ Le Caveau Fine Wines
100% Nerello Mascalese, 15% alcohol
apricots, baby food, peaches, astringent, rubbing alcohol, citrus, lemongrass, dishwashing soap, grassy, mineral, sulphur, sodium, chocolate apricot, peach leaves, fresh cut grass, sweet rosy, liver, iron-y, black pudding, effervescent, fluffy, like sucking on a nail as you do, special k breakfast with added iron, crazy palate, aroma of grandma's bonnet, orangey, odd, so crazy, complex, magma, liquid hot earth, tricky, the Loki wine

Special notes: This is a RARE wine, hard to get.  There were only 24 cases made, and only 10 cases imported into the United States.  Le Caveau received 1 case. ONE!  and we got 1 bottle to share with our beloved TWITs.  Some trivia, about the label, Frank has a penchant for Japanese women, but he lives in Sicily so it was hard to get one to stay.  Eventually he did find one, and married her.  :)

8) 2008 Tenuta del Portale Aglianico del Vulture Reserva $20 @ Total Wine
100% Aglianico 13% alcohol
dust, sugar dust, caramel chocolate, sea dust, poorly kept old people, thyme, mature manure, crumbly manure, licorice, anise, dry, tart, dusty, ashy, woody, acetone, pine, effervescent on tongue, fresh vampire, canned tomato, its solid, not very interesting, this is #1, pretty darn good, tobacco, smelly socks on the floor for like a week, rubber hose, new flip flops

9) 2012 Fuedo Principi di Butera, Sicily, $20 @ Brookhaven Wines
100% Nero d'Avola 14% alcohol
a lot of tires, seductive, ink out of a calligraphy pen, toasted honey, caramel, sweet, skunk on edge softens and melts into caramel, smoky caramel, we smell past the skunk, seaspray on smoky soil, tire store, salted caramel, inky

Winter White Wines - Thursday January 29th, 2015 - hosted byMs.Abbie &Mr. Matt

Winter White Wines - Thursday January 29th, 2015 - hosted by Ms.Abbie & Mr. Matt

Theme:  Winter White Wines & Rabbie Burns Supper
We will do our usual blind tasting method, but after unveiling, we want to hear the story behind the wine you brought to the tasting.

Bring:  TWITs should bring a bottle of white wine:

• it should be a white wine which you like to drink in the winter
• come prepared to tell us why it's a winter white wine
• within the specified price range (Up to $20/bottle for Singles, between $20 - $40/bottle for Couples)

Tasting Notes:
Welcome Wine:  1996 Michel Schlumberger Chardonnay - was a gift from a friend, estimate price around $45/bottle from the winery. 100% Chardonnay,

1) 2013 L'Acino Chora Bianco, IGP, Calabria - $18.99 @ Le Caveau Fine Wines
12.5 % Alcohol
TWITs Tasting Notes:  effervescent, perfumey, pear and grapefruit on the palate, sweeter, viscous, a nice wine, latex, a little petrol, sulfur on the nose, soft tart not harsh tart,

Le Caveau Notes: "Mostly Mantonico a little Guarnaccia Bianca, Pecorello & Greco grown organically.
This white displays layered notes of dried apricots and tropical fruits with undertones of toasted almonds, bulgar wheat, and honey. This white is rich, flavorful, and mouth-filling with vibrant acidity, incredible depth, and a long finish.
About the Wine & Winemaker:  Founded in 2006 by Antonello Canonico, Dino Briglio and Emilio Di Ciann (all natives of the mountain town of San Marco Argentano), L'Acino is a communal effort to showcase the oft-forgotten terroir of Calabria. When the project began, the three friends were working full-time in unrelated fields: Antonello was a film director, Dino a historian and Emilio a lawyer. Though they had no prior viticultural or winemaking experience, their love of wine was enough to start the estate, and the trio's taste for "natural" wine meant focusing their attention on organic viticulture and minimal intervention winemaking.

As far as the grapes planted, the vineyard features the indigenous grapes Mantonico (white) and Magliocco (red), as well as a small percentage of other indigenous varieties.The vines here are young, planted by the L'Acino team 7 years ago from cuttings of older vines (sélection massage) on their own rootstock. The vineyard is being plowed every year following harvest and legumes, grains and other plants have been planted between the rows of vines to promote mineral richness and depth to the soils.

Never heard of Mantonico and Magliocco?...neither had we! Mantonico was once thought to be a color mutation of the common Calabrian red grape, Gaglioppo. Magliocco Canino is found in many of the oldest vineyards in the region, but was supplanted by the more productive Gaglioppo. The wines are fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel vats and aged on the lees. They are bottled unfiltered and lightly sulfured and released in the Spring following harvest. "


2) 2011 Vielles Vignes Pouilly-Fume, Loire - $22 @ Sherlocks Wine Merchant
13% alcohol
crisp, green notes, herbacious, wasn't impressed with the nose, perm solution, grassy-gassy, nose is what we don't like about white wine, astringent, cleaning solution, shy volatiles, acidic, bitter, guessing sauvignon blanc, chalkiness

3)  2013 Peter Jakob Kuhn Trocken Riesling - $18 @ Le Caveau Fine Wines
12% alcohol
white florals, geyser water, petrol, passion fruit palate, papaya or guava, lily-of-the-valley sprayed with gasoline, pinot grigio? sweet, jolly ranchers, a touch of acidity, ripe fruit, sweet-tart, pectin, granny smith, "granny smith's knickers", sour pears, a firm pair (ha ha), magnolias, long and thin, a late honeysuckle

4) 2010 Scholium Project Midan Al-Tahrir, California - $24 @ Le Caveau
15.71% alcohol, blend of Chardonnay Gewürztraminer Sauvignon Blanc Verdelho
cough medicine, cherry, jasmine, saturated sweetness, honey, golden yellow color, natural wine - unfiltered, sweet/bitter, menthol - throat hit, short-chained volatiles, too acidic, would go well with an almond brown butter cake.

5) 2007 Trimbach Reserve Pinot Gris, Alsace - $38 @ Hintons Savvy Cellar
13.5% alcohol
chicken tenders, honey, toffee, butterscotch, olives, mushrooms, golden yummy, mint, herbal, fungi, funky cheese, guessing a Grecian white (slaps you in the face),

6) 2011 Domaine de la Tournelle, Jura, Terre de Gryphees - $34 @ Le Caveau
13% alcohol, 100% Chardonnay
all spice, OMG Goldschlager, red hots, candy cinnamon, tart, capsaicin, "gravel or something in my mouth", marine fossils, salty sea breeze

7)   2011 Red Mare Chardonnay, Dutton Ranch, Russian River Valley - $40 @ Total Wine
13.5% alcohol
doo doo locked in a cupboard, awful, dog poo on your shoe, straight up turd, oak bomb, California Cheek-Twitcher, newly poured asphalt, steaming turd, nasty, skanky weed, cannabis, smells like an old friend, guessing Lodi, CA?

8) 2011 Gobelsberger Riesling, Kamptal, Terry Theise Estate Collection - $18 from a friend
12.5% alcohol
petrol, gasoline, asphalt, hot highway, tickling my tongue, this is a NICE Riesling, expensive tasting, honey on the end, light, drinkable, quaffable,

9) 2013 Tenuta Sant Antonio Scaia, IGT - $10 @ Whole World Beverage
12.5% alcohol, Garganega 60%, Chardonnay, 40%
glass cork, licorice, grapefruit, cat piss, dirty dishrag, pear, unexpected gorgeous acidity, hydrangeas first bloom, stupidly good! FAVE WINE OF THE NIGHT!

10)1982 Chateau Suduiraut Sauternes, 1er Cru Classe mute 1855 - $130 @ Sherlocks Wine Merchant
13.5% alcohol
thick nose of sherry, nose of SueEllen (someone's ex), pear, honey, caramel, rich, sweet, warm apricots, sharp honey, vanilla, pineapple, warm Christmas, minerality, Bordeaux, sweetness, fungus, YUM!

Special thank you to Lauren for sharing this rare treat with us!

Cranachan - Scottish Dessert made of Whipped Cream, Honey, Whisky, with Toasted Oats and Raspberries

Vegetarian Haggis, Neeps & Tatties

May 14th, 2013 - Italian wines - hosted by Ms. Deb & Mr. Jaffett

May 14th, 2013 - Italian wines - hosted by Ms. Deb & Mr. Jaffett at Sherlocks Wine Merchant 

Theme:  Italian Wines, these wines were selected by Tyler himself, TWITs attendees just need to bring $20/person, and ensure they are RSVP'd so we can be certain to have enough wine for everyone. Also, this event starts at 6:30pm ET, not our usual 7pm, so please keep that in mind.

TWITs Tasting Notes:
Welcome Wine:  NV Borgo del Col Alto - Prosecco - $10.99
11% alcohol
light, nutty, beautifully viscous, almonds, clear/pale straw color

1) 2010 Mormoraia Vernaccia (San Gimagnano) - $12.99
12.5% alcohol - 100% Vernaccia
Mormoraia started making wine in the 1970s.  Stretches out over 90 hectares of land, 30 of which are cultivated as vineyards in the heart of Tuscany in San Gimagnano (San Jimmy-NA-no) in stainless steel.  Straw yellow in color, this vino offers intense fresh fruity aromas, with hints of hawthorn and apples.  On the palate it remains harmonious, balanced, and persistent with a pleasantly sour finish.

2) 2011 Pra Soave (Veneto) - $14.99
13% alcohol - 100% Garganega (Gar-ga-NAY-ga)
Pra has been making (biodynamic) wines since the early 1980s.  Sitting on white soils deriving from chalky rock, ancient clay, ,and marine sand.  La Morandina is located on rubble and schist that envelops the fine from the trunks to the roots as they burrow down in their search for water.  Water preserves the plant and gives it the essential minerals needed for making wines with elegance and complexity in their aromas.  100% Garganega, the wine is fermented and matured in stainless steel vats.  Aromas of hawthorn and jasmine are particularly prominent, as are exotic yellow and white fruits, such as peach and apricots.  On the palate, the wine is medium bodied and flavorsome, full of fruit, with clear mineral notes.

3) 2009 Barberani Orvieto (Umbria) - $13.99
13% alcohol - Varietals:  Trebbiano Procanico, Grechetto, Verdello, Malvasia, Drupeggio
The Barberani family started making wine in 1961.  This is the area of production of the wine also named Orvieto, one of the oldest and most prestigious wines, also called "Classic".  There are 100 hectares, 55 of which are made of vineyards.  the soil combination: volcanic, sedimentary, and limestone-argilaceous soils.  Produced by an accurate quality selection in our vineyards, it expresses all the potential of an area extremely suitable for grape production.  GRAPES:  Trebbiano Procanico, Grechetto, Verdello, Malvasia, Drupeggio brilliant.  Straw-yellow color, fruity, with an intense and complex bouquet mineral and persistent.  It has natural drinkability and structure.

4) 2008 Mormoraia Chianti (Tuscany, San Gimagnan) - $12.99
13.5% alcohol - 100% Sangiovese
Mormoria intense ruby color.  Aromas of ripe fruit, spices, plum, and tobacco.  Ample Sangiovese flavors with soft tannins and a persistent and satisfying finish.  Best with grilled meat, meat stews, soup, cold cuts, and aged cheeses.

5) 1998 Sant'Elena Ros di Rol (Fruili) - $21.99
13% alcohol - 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Merlot
Sant'Elena was founded in the late 19th century.  Dominic Nocerino purchased the estate in the 1980s.  The Sant'Elena estate has a surface of approximately 40 hectares in a single plot.  Our wines are made with tremendous care and a dedication to quality that starts in the vineyards with the cultivation and maintenance of the grapes.  Sant'Elena is situated at the intersection of the cold continental air flows from the east and the Sirocco (Mediterranean) winds from the south.  This climatic alteration proves positive in terms of thermal variation, while the Giulie Alps mountain range protects the vineyards from the icy winds of the north.  50% Cabernet Sauvignon 50% Merlot, done in French oak for 18 months.

6) 2003 Fattoria Paradiso Barbarossa (Emilia-Romagna) - $29.99
14% alcohol - 100% Barbarossa
The estate dates back to the 15th century.  The current family purchased the estate in the 1990s and changed the name.  There's a total of 80 hectares. all of which are vines.  The wine is 100% Barbarossa, only to be founded on the Fattoria Paradiso Estates.  Its aged 3 years in Slavonian oak, 6 months in barrique, 12 months in the bottle.  Intense and persistent, reminiscent of wilted rose and sweet violet.  Dry, frank, and generous, firm structure in a soft, velvet texture, full of character on the palatte. Discovered in 1955, the ancient vineyard had been out of production for 150 years.  The name honors the red-bearded German Emperor Frederick.