After coming up with the idea for our “Savor the Flavor” entry in 2017, it’s become an annual tradition for WineAndCheeseFriday! Neil and I love to see the evolution of aromas and flavors over the life of a bottle of wine and this is our way to showcase them to all of you. Throughout the year, we actually earmarked a handful of wines that we thought would be perfect for this entry so without further ado, here you go.

Stemmari Nero d’Avola
2016
Sicily, Italy

Day 1

aromas: dry, earth, prune, kept getting hints of milk chocolate, spice and dark berries
flavors: tart, grape, spice, acid-juicy, earth, fruit forward, very dry, big flavor, delicious!
Great Sunday afternoon

Day 2

aromas: dark fruits, black magic marker, smoky, berry and cherry, aromas keep evolving

flavors: bold flavor, earth, raisin finish, dry, hints of dark chocolate

Day 3
flavors: darker fruit, raisin, cherry
Good flavor of vanilla come out when paired with hearty CR meal of beef, beans, and potatoes

We both really enjoyed this wine!

Montes Limited Selection Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmenere
2016
Valley of Colochagua, Chile

Day 1
aromas: earth, leather, red berry
flavors: spice, dark fruit- blueberry, red fruit finish
Seemed flabby, at first without much happening but then it opened up, and it was better.

Day 2
aromas: dark fruit, earth, anise
flavors: spice, dark fruit, then kind of mild, not too complex, lingering spice, maybe cherry cola, earthy finish for last sip.
Wish there was more to it, was looking forward to seeing what day 2 tasted like.

Day 3
flavors: leathery, musty, fruity, oaky
N That’s a totally different wine! It’s much better.

Day 4
aromas: spice, dark fruits, earth
flavors: mild taste, spicy finish, some prune, easy to drink
M Seems pretty consistent flavor throughout the 4 days.

Michele Alois Caulino Falanghina
2017
Campania, Italy

Day 1

N thought the wine worked well with the lentils. He added paprika to the meal and then found a smokiness in the wine.


Day 3
aromas: apple, tropical, banana
flavors: banana smoothie, maybe oak, feel it lifting off my tongue, light and airy


Day 5
nice and buttery wine, didn’t taste like banana at all to Neil

Day 7
aromas: fruity-pear
flavors: light, some butter, crispish

With dinner, still butter but maybe smoky too. Really notice the garlic from our meal when we take a sip of wine after dinner. Think it was past it’s “good” date, maybe too old now

Château de Guilhemanson
Saint-Émilion Grand Cru
2012
Bordeaux, France

Day 1
aromas: berry, licorice, earth
flavors: soft and light on tongue, berry, spice
Very dark red color, lots of residue on cork
grapey like a Merlot and full bodied from cab franc

Day 2
aromas: blackberry, tart cranberry, spice
flavors: dry, earth, juicy, spice
N definitely different tonight, he likes it


Day 3
aromas: sweeter berry, red licorice, smooth and dry
flavors: smooth and spicy, light earth, hot spicy-cinnamon, red pepper

Day 4
spice was gone, seemed a lot more mild to me, I liked it better with the spice
Black pepper flavor transferred from popcorn to wine

Joel Gott Grenache
2013
California

Day 1
aromas: raspberry, chocolate, smoke
flavors: full flavor, bacon, spice, dry finish


Day 3
aromas: blackberry
flavors: spice, thicker texture, fruit finish, prune, smoke/earth

Paired it with Taylor’s quinoa and bok choy meal


Day 4
aromas: chocolate, prune, smoke
flavors: thicker texture, dark fruits, reminds me of a dessert, spice, grapey, blueberry, fruity

Piquepoul Noir Rosé
Les Vignobles Foncalieu
Languedoc, France

Day 1
aromas: smells good!
flavors: wine cleanses palate, sweet berry, mineral, tart, crisp, soft, acid on tongue
N goes well with sweetness of pork

M nice and cold, think I’d prefer it on its own, not sure if it goes with mac n cheese

Day 2
aromas: berry
flavors: a bit more tart today, definitely crisp
Wine seems to soften after salad.

Day 5
aromas: berry, a little smoky too
flavors: tart again today but still pretty good, tart finish but not all tart
It’s a strawberry lemonade rose, I like those! I decided to have it without food to check it out.
I’d like to buy again.

This years Savor the Flavor was pretty interesting. The Falanghina and Guilhemanson both seemed like we waited a little too long to finish drinking and they weren’t as good at the end. The Montes provided different experiences for Neil and I. He thought that it needed those first couple days to develop into what he was looking for, while I felt the flavor didn’t change much over the few days. The Grenache sweetened as the bottle opened up but still wasn’t a sweet wine. Stemmari Nero d’Avola was probably the best overall wine that kept us coming back each day to see what was new about it then.

We tried the rosé with a bunch of different foods and each seemed to influence the wine flavors. It worked out well because I actually put that I’d like to buy it again! Come to think of it, I really liked the white Picpoul wines this year too. I guess that was my favorite grape of the year!

After seeing all these results, I think it’s safe to say that next year, we’ll have another Savor the Flavor entry for you to look forward too!

2017 Savor the Flavor
2018 Savor the Flavor