By Tasting Team Member Green Dragon
The Traveling Vineyard is a home marketing concept focused on our favorite product – wine! The company, founded in 2001, uses “wine guides” to offer wine through home parties. Recently I attended a Traveling Vineyard party put on by good friend Jeanne English. She considers herself “Not a wine expert, merely a wine enthusiast.”
The evening I was attended was a “girl’s night out” theme. When you get approximately a dozen women together, you can be assured it will be a lively, entertaining evening. I was not disappointed! The women came from a range of wine experience and different palates and there was something for each of them.
The wines are sourced from different locations around the world, with an emphasis in California. They do offer wines from South Africa, New York State and Italy too.
The wines we tried included:
2013 Screaming Goat Gewürztraminer, from Alexander Valley, CA. Although I’m not a big fan of Gewurtz. because I don’t like the rose petal taste some Gewürztraminer has, this was voted the favorite of the group, proving that a wine should not be, as Jeanne stated “yucked, because your yuck can be someone else’s yum.”
2010 Zeffer Hills Chardonnay, Edna Valley, CA. I avoid Chardonnay that is too oaky, but I found this one to be very nice and, if fact bought a bottle. What convinced me was the flavor that not only included lemon and toast, but banana as well. We recently popped open the bottle to pair beautifully with salmon.
2011 Whiskers Red Blend, Lake County, CA. this is a blend of 46% Cabernet Sauvignon plus 39% Merlot and 15% Petite Sirah. This has some black pepper, cherry and black fruit notes. It was enjoyable with soft tannins. It was lighter bodied than expected.
2012 Small Hours Zinfandel, Lodi, CA. This Lodi Zin had flavors of cherry and spice, but missed the mark for me as it was weaker in body than I had hoped.
Fissata is a red dessert wine with a slight frizzante (like a sparkling wine), that comes from Hammondsport in the heart of New York’s Finger Lakes region. It is made from Baco Noir, Catawba and Concord grapes. This was the surprise of the night – in a good way!
Although I didn’t try it there, I ordered a bottle of Tanglewood Backyard Red. This is a winemaker’s blend of 29% Syrah, 17% Malbec, 14% Petite Sirah, 12% Mourvedre, 8% Zinfandel,5% Petit 5% Tempranillo,4% Grenache, 2% Pinot Noir. That’s a lot of different grapes! The bouquet is nice, the body is light and the taste offers some brambly fruit flavors.
This was a fun evening made better by some good wine, courtesy of “wine enthusiast” Jeanne. You can learn more about her business on her Facebook page, www.facebook.com/winewithjeanne .
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