Exploring the Wine Glass October 14, 2015

Fàilte! Welcome to the next installment of Exploring the Wine Glass. Mike and I are big proponents of you should drink what you like and you are the only one who can taste like you. We advocate the fact that everyone experiences the wine differently, so in these posts we do not discuss our tasting notes.  Instead we include basic information about each of the wineries, and/or a bit about what was happening in our lives while we were enjoying them. With that said, if you are interested in reading our tasting notes and our ratings head on over to Delectable and check us out.  We tell it as we taste it over there.  Click here to see the chart we use to describe the color or if you want to see the wines themselves as they are poured, visit our YouTube Channel and watch for yourself. As always, since as oenophiles we love to celebrate #WineWednesday, our week runs from one Wednesday to the next. 

Week 1

This post is full of firsts for Dracaena Wines! First off, this Wine Wednesday, Mike and I experienced our first virtual tasting and we truly enjoyed the experience. The tasting was arranged by Christina of justthebottle.com (also on twitter). Christina is the creator of #Winechat. The chat is a great opportunity for novice to experienced wine lovers to join in a discussion.  Participants include winemakers, importers, bloggers, retailers and more.  It takes place every other Wednesday from 9:00pm to 10:00pm (ET).

This week’s chat focused on The Finger Lakes and their Rieslings. We received three wines, one each from Lakewood Vineyards, Thirsty Owl Wine Company, and Fulkerson Winery.  Since the wines varied in their sweetness, we opted to order Chinese food to pair along with it.  We ordered cold sesame noodle, pork fried rice and sesame chicken.  I will be writing an entire post dedicated to the Finger Lakes wine in the future so please keep an eye out for that post. I do believe that this is an area that deserves more exposure and respect. 

Happy Saturday! Mike and I are celebrating #MerlotMe month and opened a sample bottle of Duckhorn Vineyards 2012 Merlot. [Thank you Duckhorn for sending them to me.] I really have an issue with the hatred that Merlot seems to get.  I ranted about it in my You Know You Want to #MerlotMe post and praised its glories in #MerlotMe and #WinePW- A Perfect Pair[ing]. I really don’t understand why there is such a strong dislike for this wine.  I mean, there are so many varietals out there that individuals don’t like, heck believe it or not there are some varietals Mike and I don’t like. But we don’t feel obligated to shout it from the rooftops that we don’t like it and  we never look down upon someone who does like it.  That is just crazy! Honestly, though, I can’t imagine anyone having negative comments about this wine.  Yes, it was that good and it paired perfectly with our meal.  We [Mike] prepared Stuffed Chicken Breast with Sundried Tomato Butter Sauce with some roasted rosemary potatoes on the side. If you are interested in the recipe or learning more about the Duckhorn story, check out the #WinePW post.

Week 2

Today is a special Wine Wednesday for Mike and me.  Twenty years ago I woke up and walked down the aisle to say “I do” to my Honey.  It is hard to believe that we have been married for that long and together even longer. I guess time flies when you are having fun! In these 20 years, we have lived in four different towns, one of those towns being in Tennessee. [we don’t discuss that time of our lives] I non affectionately call that town “Hell Town” and repeatedly try to block those 13 months from my memory.  Nothing against Tennessee in general, just where we lived they were still fighting the civil war and I was a Northerner.  One woman who actually broke the battle line and befriended asked me if I knew the difference between a Yankee and a Damn Yankee. When I answered no, she replied, ” A Damn Yankee stays.” 

Mike sent beautiful flowers to work and arranged for us to take a mini vacation to the Poconos to go hiking with Vegas. Although we may be turning in that vacation to head back out to Paso to finish harvest. Either way It is going to be a great weekend. After work we walked to our favorite restaurant and had an anniversary dinner.  I ordered Rigatoni in Vodka Sauce with extra fresh peas, as I always do and Mike ordered his Rigatoni Bolognese, as usual.  I guess we are creatures of habit.  When it came to choosing a wine, we chose a Cabernet Franc from Brecon Estate. We love this Paso winery. The wine is stellar and  are fantastic. Plus they have two very fun dogs Louie and Roy. If you are in the Paso area, you are going to want to make sure you stop in, just be prepared to throw a tennis ball for Roy. Their tasting room is beautiful and you won’t be sorry. Be sure to ask for their “42.”  You can read my interview with Damian and Amanda of Brecon Estate here. 

It’s finally the weekend.  It was a miserable day today. Every time I took my class outside, it started to rain.  No rain at start of period, than rain in the middle = lots of high school girls screaming about their hair getting wet! One yelled at me “Do you realize it took me 3 hours to do my hair?” Really, 3 hours, why?! After school, I did my strength and conditioning gig then worked the football game at school. After that, I came home and we had company over.  So it was a very busy day.  It started off miserable, but ended on a great note.  The evening flew by with great wine conversation.  We started the evening off with cheese paired with a Bianchi Chardonnay then moved onto a Trione Primitivo with crescent roll pizzas and sausage cheese balls.  That’s what I call a good night!  

We are huge fans of Trione Winery and apparently so are a lot of other people claiming many accolades. But one in particular is not for the wine, but for the family themselves.  The family was honored for their lifetime contribution to Sonoma Co.’s Wine Industry.  Although Bianchi has been in the wine industry since 1974, their Paso Robles story begins in 2000, when they purchased 40 acres on the East side and built an amazing wine tasting center. The word beautiful does not do it justice. The views out the west side of the winery include ancient oaks and of course spectacular vineyards. There is a waterfall fed lake that gently laps the stone terraces and if you want, you can partake in a secret of the area and sail motorized sailboats on their lake. But remember, shhhh it’s a secret. 

 

It’s Saturday and it’s another first for Dracaena Wines. We spent the evening at the

Turtle Back Zoo, right here in West Orange, NJ. They had a fundraiser for the zoo called Wine in the Wild. The Turtle Back Zoo opened their doors in June of 1963 with 140 animals and 40 species.  The name came from a rock formation located just outside the zoo entrance. The Lenni-Lenape Native American tribe called the rock “Turtle Back Rock” since the pattern of rocks looks like the back of a monster size tortoise. In a short ten years, the animal collection grew to 850 animals and 275 species and the Zoological Society was established. In 2005, the zoo completed a new 1.8 million dollar Animal Hospital to serve the animal residents and provide a quarantine facility for the growing collection and built an educational facility. In 2006 they acquired accreditation by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. This distinct honor places Turtle Back Zoo among the elite zoos and aquaria of the United States and means that the zoo adheres to the highest standards for zoos in the country.

This was the first event that Dracaena Wines was pouring their wine and we loved every minute of it. From 5pm – 6pm the VIPs enjoyed our wine and the doors opened at 6pm for the general ticket holders.  It was so fun to be on the other side of the table. To see their faces as they tasted our wine for the first time and to hear their comments. The best part, in terms of pride, was when people kept returning for more pours.  We were on a first name basis with several of the participants by the end of the evening.  It was a fantastic evening for a phenomenal cause.  We look forward to pouring again at their next event. If you are interested in donating to this wonderful zoo, you can make a donation here. 

Hope you have had some great wines and times these past two weeks. Remember, always Pursue Your Passion. 

~Sláinte