Wine Weekend

To both celebrate and (pretend to) ignore the sappy greeting card sentiments of Valentine's Day, Julien and I spent last weekend wine tasting. I know it sounds like the quintissenial Valentine's Day soiree for a young couple in love, but for us it was as much an educational excursion as it was a romantic one.
It was my first time really going tasting after being hired as the Wine Club Coordinator for Heller Estate. I've gone to a couple tasting events before, but that was partially for work so it wasn't quite the same. It certainly helps (both my wallet and my ego) when I can use my Heller business card to not only get free tastings anywhere I go, but also to get 20-30% off all wine purchases. It was splendid - like being part of an exclusive club.
We went to a few Carmel Valley tasting rooms on Saturday and to Soif Wine Bar and Restaurant in Santa Cruz on Monday. Sunday I was sick in bed so we didn't get to make it a three-day affair, unfortunately.
My favorite part about the experience were the great conversations Julien and I had about the wines we were trying. He and I have both greatly improved our palettes since first meeting each other, and we're both really noticing it, especially together. It was the most fun I'd had in awhile. It was also nice to be on a certain wavelength with the winemakers and TR hosts that we encountered. I felt respected in a really positive way. Here's a list of our favorites wines, the ones we took home with us:

1. 2005 Talbott Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay - Both Jules and I really enjoyed this wine because it had all the positive qualities of the 2006 Sleepy Hollow, slight tropical notes of pineapple and melon, a hint of lemon curd, slight oak and a warm buttery cream, but without the excess acidity that the 2006 seemed the have. The 2005 was more fluid and subtle, and the finish was clean without dropping out too quickly.




2. 2006 Parsonage Syrah - Parsonnage has two distinct wine categories in their collection. The first would be their everyday wines, with grapes that are taken from different vineyards and mixed together. The second is their private reserve, which only boasts two grapes that they grow themselves: syrah and cabernet. In all honesty, I did not like their cabernet at all. It had elements of vegetable and vinegar, without any distinct fruit sweetness or earth. On the other hand, their Syrah was deep and rich. It had excellent dark berries, coffee and a great amount of natural terroir (i.e. earth, sun and breeze) in its flavors.


3. 2002 Bernardus Marinus - Jules and I first tried the 2003 Marinus (a meritage-style blend), which is included in the general tasting. Afterwards, we saw that the 2002 was priced exactly the same. We asked if we could try it and the TR hosts opened a bottle for us. While the 2003 was great in all respects, the 2002 had something special to it. The one year made so much difference between the two vintages. It also helped that the 2002 had less emphasis on the cabernet grape, which allowed for more interaction between the different varietals. We immediately decided to take that one home with us. As we were leaving, Jules overheard the two TR hosts gossiping about us, about how we knew our stuff.


Anyway, those wines are now sitting in our small but quaint collection, just waiting to be drank. I look forward to trying them all again. As soon as I go out for another tasting or try a new bottle I will definitely keep you informed.