West St Wine Bar, Reno, NV

We’ve spent the last couple weeks in Reno, NV and have heard about a few different wine experiences nearby. We figured we’d start by creating an entry about our wine flight at West Street Wine Bar, http://www.weststreetwinebar.com.

I saw the reviews on Yelp, so we followed our walking directions from Google Maps and couldn’t believe how close it was to where we were staying. Despite the fact that we’d be attending a chocolate and wine pairing (check back next week for this entry) on Thursday, we made our way there on Wednesday. It’s been a pretty wine centered week!

When we arrived, we were the only people there but it made it easier to have a more personal experience. This started when the bartender/owner, Rick, created a custom French white wine flight for us. It was really hot so we didn’t want to go with one of the established red wine flights. One of the first things we noticed when looking at the bottles of wine, was “imported by Kermit Lynch”. How funny since we were recently there (http://mferraro73.tumblr.com/post/145360324444/best-of-the-best-of-berkeley-ca-our-next-stop) and are familiar with the huge following they have.

We began our tasting with a Chardonnay from Burgundy, Mâcon-Villages 2014. I noticed apple and honey aromas but Neil smelled citrus, lemon and cantaloupe. That’s a surprising difference! When I tasted the wine, it was tart with mouth-watering acid but then an oak finish. I identified apple and lemon flavors in the wine, and couldn’t believe how noticeable the apple was in the aroma and flavor. Neil enjoyed how the wine coated his mouth and was surprised that it was only slightly acidic. He found it to to have a little oak and be slightly sweet. We tasted this wine again after going through the whole flight and in the second time around I picked up butter aromas and Neil found a hint of apple and honey, at the very end.

Our second wine was a Sauvignon Blanc from Loire Valley, 2015 Unique by Delaille. Neil and I had pretty different experiences with this wine as well. I found rich melon aromas and Neil thought it had cassis aromas and was light. I did agree that the wine tasted light but it was also soft, flavorful, and tropical without being overly sweet. Neil thought the wine was buttery but also bland and somewhat tart. He knew that he didn’t like it and told me to have the rest. I remember liking the Loire wines that I’ve had in the past but should probably try some more since I’m not that familiar with the region.

We finished our tasting with a Vermintinu from Corsica, 2015 Patrimonio by Clos Alivu. This wine sparked quite a bit of discussion with Rick. He said it’s one of his favorite wines currently in the store so we shouldn’t miss out on trying it. I was a little concerned that it would be super tart like the Italian Vermintino that we tried before but Rick said this wine was the French version. Do you know where Corsica is? It’s an island between France and Italy, check out the map, https://www.google.com/maps/place/Corsica,+France/@42.1771659,4.5670057,6z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x12d72403b09b0971:0xa88522ec71a1cb8d!8m2!3d42.0396042!4d9.0128926 if you need a little help like I did.

Ok now onto the tasting notes for the 2015 Patrimonio by Clos Alivu. Neil noticed melon aromas in this wine as well as a bit of oak and acid. I was having a hard time pinpointing the aromas, at first I thought it was cat pee, but then not really, then maybe soft? What we decided was that this wine was both soft and acidic, Neil described it as having a pleasant mouth coating affect but then a spike of flavor. We’ve had other wines like this before and find them very interesting! He thought it was a pleasant wine to drink and told me he’d gladly finish this sample. We took another sip of this wine a little later just to see if it changed and I was very surprised when the flavor of nuts appeared. Maybe it was more of a toasted flavor? Neil noticed a slight butterscotch flavor too. It definitely kept us guessing.

These wines certainly kept us on our toes as far as what aromas and flavors we could identify, but that’s okay, we accept the challenge! We had a nice time tasting and chatting with Rick and would recommend others stop by if you are in Reno. It was definitely nice to have a little calm, quiet time in a place with so much going on. And if you like Ramen, check out the restaurant next door, Gaman Ramen, http://www.yelp.com/biz/gaman-ramen-reno-2. The veggie raman and kimchi were delicious!