When we arrived in San Carlos, CA, for Labor Day weekend, there was no question in anyone’s mind that we’d be enjoying lots of wine and cheese in the days to come. Our friend Kristy, a new mom, had been counting the days until we arrived since her wine drinking had been on hiatus during her "mommy to be" days. She planned a grand wine and cheese feast to start out the festivities with 4 cheeses and a bottle of rosé. Maria and Neil were ready! Such a delicious evening!
We came up with the idea for the Savor the Flavor entry at the end of 2017, https://wineandcheesefriday.com/savor-the-flavor/, to showcase some noteworthy wines from the year. We’ve decided to continue the tradition for 2018. One of the ways we were able to really Savor the Flavor this year was by using our Vacu Vin. Have you ever tried these? They are wine vacuums/pumps that suck the air out of the bottle in order to preserve them longer. We were able to keep one of the bottles for two weeks! Can’t say I was ever able to do that in the past.
Did you ever purchase a wine, only to find out it tastes or smells much different than it’s label states. Or think, this is cheap and it can’t be good. Or maybe you think Cabernet Sauvignon is always dry and it’s not really for you? These wines were all Sensory Surprises for us. It was pretty funny too, how almost all the senses were affected. We hope you enjoy reading through these wines that we tasted throughout the year.
It’s been over a year since we visited any Sonoma vineyards so we took a trip out when Benno and Nora were here. We had a chance to visit a few places that day but today’s entry will be about Wilson Winery. (http://wilsonwinery.com) We heard about Wilson Winery from the lady at the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce and saw that they had food available too so we planned to have lunch there that day. This was our first time visiting the Dry Creek Valley region of Sonoma so we were excited to taste another area’s terroir!
We played Zinzig about a year ago (http://mferraro73.tumblr.com/post/90778737878/zinzig-and-gjetost-neil-and-i-were-invited-to ) and couldn’t wait to have a rematch! The funny thing is that we really didn’t remember how to play. After another look at the rules, we were off. This time for an added challenge we all chose to bring a Zinfandel wine.
We purchased this Lodi Zinfandel during the BevMo 5cent sale. (http://www.bevmo.com) I have heard that Lodi is the Zin capital of CA so I had to check it out! According to the Lodi website, http://www.lodiwine.com/vineyards/old-vine-zinfandel, the wines are known for their “intense red and black fruit flavors of cherries, raspberries, and blackberries.” The BevMo description of this wine recommends pairing a strong cheese so I figured the Gruyere would fit the bill. We’ve used this cheese once before at the very beginning of WineAndCheeseFriday and I remember it being a little too intense for me. (http://mferraro73.tumblr.com/post/46997403195/pinot-noir-and-gruyere-sunday-march-24-things) Let’s see if my palate has changed?