You may remember that many of our regulars couldn’t make it to our first spice tasting on July 19, and because we thought it so much fun, we decided to have it again on September 20. This time, I remembered to bring samples of nine actual spices that we could use to compare with the aromas and tastes of the wines. These were allspice, anise, black pepper, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, ginger and nutmeg. Again we tried a 2004 Fahn Gewurztraminer Appellation Alsace Controlee and a 2005 Hook & Ladder Gewurztraminer from the Russian River Valley in Sonoma County. With the help of our samplers we were able to pick up cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg in these two whites. Then we turned to red with a 2005 Domaine Barou Syrah from Cotes du Rhones and a shiraz from Australia. (My bad, I forgot to write down the particulars of that one.) And we certainly got the black pepper flavor that we expected. Interestingly, the syrah seemed fruitier than the shiraz even though we might have expected the opposite from the old world vs. new world styles. After dinner, we finished up with the floral scents of the 2004 Borgo Reale Moscato D’Asti for dessert (only 5.5% alcohol, a good indication of sweetness). I did also remember to bring photos of the winery in La Rioja, with a Frank Gehry designed hotel attached to it, that Jim and I visited in Spain. On that tour, as well as tours of two other wine museums, we learned a lot about what goes into quality wine, and we tried our best to share what we remembered from our travels.

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It was a hot and spicy time at our July 19 wine class! Too bad many of our regulars weren’t able to make it. We found notes of lychee and sweet cloves in a 2004 Fahn Gewurztraminer Appellation Alsace Controlee and allspice in a 2005 Hook & Ladder Gewurztraminer from the Russian River Valley in Sonoma County. True to form, the 2005 Domaine Barou Syrah from Cotes du Rhones hit us over the head with black pepper, while the 2004 Joseph River Estate Shiraz from Western Australia showed some black pepper as well as cumin and maybe some other sweet spices. And to add to the enjoyment, Chef Kyle prepared a host of spicy treats for dinner. By the time we lightened things up with the floral scents of the 2004 Borgo Reale Moscato D’Asti for dessert (only 5.5% alcohol, a good indication of sweet, sweet, sweet), I must say, we were having a little trouble pronouncing gewürztraminer! And since we didn’t have our full complement of tasters, we decided we would need to do this tasting again. This time, I really will plan to bring samples of spices to use for comparison.

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Yes, our May [June] 21 wine class was all about butter and grass. What the #!%% does that have to do with wine you ask? Well we actually tasted those flavors in the four wines we tried. We had a non-buttery 2005 Beaujolais Blanc, Appellation Beaujolais Controlee from France and buttery 2005 Reaction Chardonnay from the U.S. Well guess which one took the taste prize. Mmmm, butter!!! And I might note that the Reaction had a 14% alcohol content compared to 12% for the Beaujolais. Remember last month’s lesson? Then we had the grassy wines: a 2006 Bogle Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc from California and a 2005 Barons de Rothschild Bordeaux (also a sauvignon blanc), both of which demonstrated the taste we were looking for. Think fresh mown lawn, fresh herbs – audacious herbaceous. In the end, though, butter ruled. Well, duh!

It’s getting exciting now that we’re learning about these specific flavors. The next class, scheduled for July19, will focus on something near and dear to my heart – spice!! We’ll taste an American gewurtztraminer and an Alsation gewurtztraminer on the white side and an old world and new world syrah (aka shiraz Down Under) on the red side. We’ll make it especially fun by having a number of actual spices available to make comparisons. And then, if that’s not enough, we’ll take a look at floral tastes for dessert with some moscato d’asti. Oh, my beating heart! For this month’s class, our last until September, we’ll concentrate on the rest of Chapter 3 of Andrea Immer Robinson’s Great Wines Made Simple (pages 64 through 78). Don’t forget, we have a copy of the book on loan at the Club Bar if you don’t have a copy of your own. It’s informative and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

We’ll get started with the tasting at about 7:00 p.m. We all usually stay for dinner and have a little more wine, of course. And don’t forget, there will be the special dessert tasting afterwards.

It’s never too late to join the fun (and we do have fun, especially after tasting and retasting four wines!). Classes are $10 per person per class – a real bargain considering the amount of wine you may try.

Hope to see you on July 19!

Suzy Marquard

There’s a rule of thumb that more alcohol contributes to a fuller body. Well, as a living example of that maxim, I could have told you that without demonstrating it with a wine tasting, but then, what fun would that have been? At our class on May 17, we explored body types again with a 2006 Rauen Riesling Spatlese (German with 8% alcohol) and a Gentil “Hugel” Alsace Riesling (12.5% alcohol) for our two white selections and a 2003 Chateau Tour Puyblanquet Saint Emilion (a merlot-based Bordeaux with 12.5% alcohol) and a 2005 Robert Mondavi Private Selection Merlot (California with 13.5% alcohol) for our red selections. Wow, could we see and taste the difference in the two Rieslings! The German Riesling was much more delicate in smell and taste and lighter in color and weight. The Alsatian was darker and fuller, with stockier legs and a much bolder flavor. You could almost feel the higher alcohol content from the smell. In our blind tasting of the reds, we had difficulty trying to guess which was which because they were so much closer together in alcohol content.[*]

Our next class will take place on June 21 – late this month because June started on a Friday. So remember, it’s the Thursday after the book club meets, not the night before. In our samplings then, we’ll taste for butter and grassiness. Before you let that scare you, be sure to read at least up to page 63 in Chapter Three of the book, Great Wines Made Simple by Andrea Immer Robinson, concentrating on the tasting notes on pages 61 and 63. To learn about buttery characteristics, we’ll try a French white Burgundy and a chardonnay from the “New World”. For grassiness we’ll taste a French sauvignon blanc and a “New World” sauvignon blanc. Don’t forget, we have a copy of the book on loan at the Club Bar if you don’t have a copy of your own. It’s informative and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

We’ll get started with the tasting at about 7:00 p.m. We all usually stay for dinner and have a little more wine, of course.

It’s never too late to join the fun (and we do have fun, especially after tasting and retasting four wines!). Classes are $10 per person per class – a real bargain considering the amount of wine you may try.

Hope to see you on June 21!

Suzy Marquard

[*] By contrast, the other night I was served a pinot noir with filet mignon. Now pinot noir is generally thought to be the lightest bodied of the big four red grapes and therefore not likely to enhance, or be enhanced by, a big red meat. But this one had 13.9% alcohol content and was much closer to a cabernet sauvignon or even a syrah without the spice and held up wonderfully. What a little alcohol can do!

We had another good turnout at the fourth gathering in the monthly series of wine classes at the Club on Thursday, April 19. To start off, we discovered that, while the word oaky does not appear in spell-check, it definitely appears in smell-check and taste-check. We learned this by comparing a 2004 Les Caillottes Pouilly Fume from the Loire Valley (not oaky) with a 2004 Beringer Chardonnay from Napa. The Beringer definitely was kicked up a notch in taste and smell, being fruitier with a hint of vanilla. From there we entered the world of texture by comparing wines with less and more tannins. For this comparison we tried a 2005 Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir from Carneros (less tannin) and a 2004 J. Lohr Cabernet Sauvignon from Paso Robles. The pinot noir definitely felt silky on the tongue while the cabernet felt more like velvet and tended to make our tongues feel dryer. Nevertheless, the cabernet was the big hit of the evening.

At our May 17 class, we’ll do a reprieve of tasting for body, but this time we’ll taste two whites and two reds. For the whites we’ll pit a German Riesling against an Alsatian one, and for the reds we’ll see how a merlot-based Bordeaux stands up to a California merlot. To prepare for the next class, please be sure to read at least up to page 59 in Chapter Three of the book, Great Wines Made Simple by Andrea Immer Robinson, concentrating on the tasting notes on pages 54 and 55. Don’t forget, we have a copy on loan at the Club Bar if you don’t have a copy of your own. It’s informative and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

We’ll get started with the tasting at about 7:00 p.m. We all usually stay for dinner and have a little more wine, of course.

It’s never too late to join the fun (and we do have fun, especially after tasting and retasting four wines!). Classes are $10 per person per class – a real bargain considering the amount of wine you may try.

Hope to see you on May 17!

Suzy Marquard

We had a great turnout at the third gathering in the monthly series of wine classes at the Club on Thursday, March 15. Crisp and dry humor abounded as we learned about the difference between sweet and dry wines as well as crisp and not-so-crisp. To demonstrate these styles, we tried a 2005 Kendall-Jackson Riesling from Napa Valley (dry), a 2004 German late harvest Riesling called Twisted River (sweet, and the winner of the name contest so far), a 2005 Brancott Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand (crisp) and a 2003 Kunde Estate Sauvignon Blanc from Sonoma (less crisp). Once again, we could clearly taste the differences in styles.

At our April 19 class, we’ll taste for the major styles of oaky and tannic. So once again, we’ll taste four wines – a chardonnay from Burgundy (not oaky), a chardonnay from California or Australia (oaky), a pinot noir from California or Oregon (less tannic) and a California cabernet sauvignon (more tannic). As you know, the class follows the tasting course laid out in Andrea Immer Robinson’s revised and updated edition of Great Wines Made Simple. To prepare for the next class, please be sure to read or reread Chapter Two of the book, concentrating on the tasting notes on pages 46 and 47. We have a copy on loan at the Club Bar if you don’t have a copy of your own. It’s informative and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

We’ll get started with the tasting at about 7:00 p.m. We all usually stay for dinner and have a little more wine, of course.

It’s never too late to join the fun (and we do have fun, especially after tasting and retasting four wines!). Classes are $10 per person per class – a real bargain considering the amount of wine you may try.

Hope to see you on April 19!

Suzy Marquard

Yes, at the second gathering in the monthly series of wine classes at the Club on Thursday, February 22, we all were seeing red. Red wine, that is. And tasting it too. As you know, the class follows the tasting course laid out in Andrea Immer Robinson’s revised and updated edition of Great Wines Made Simple. At last Thursday’s class, we tasted four of the three red wines that make up what Andrea calls the Big Six. I say four of the three because Andrea considers merlots and cabernet sauvignons to be in the same category. We tasted a 2004 Clos du Bois Pinot Noir from Sonoma, a 2003 Wente Merlot from Monterey, California, a 2003 Wente Cabernet Sauvignon from the San Francisco Valley and a 2002 Jacob’s Creek Shiraz from Australia. These wines showed off perfectly the characteristics of light, medium and full bodied wines that we were learning about.

Over the next two months, we’ll begin tasting for each of the four major styles – dry, crisp, oaky and tannic. We’ll start in March with dry and crisp, tasting two reislings and two sauvignon blancs to illustrate these styles. Then in April, we’ll look at oaky and tannic wines. To prepare for next month’s class, please be sure to read Chapter Two of the book. We have a copy on loan at the Club Bar if you haven’t been able to pick up a copy.

We are returning to our third Thursday schedule, so that means we’ll be meeting next on Thursday, March 15. We’ll get started about 7:00 p.m.

It’s never too late to join the fun (and we do have fun, especially after tasting and retasting four wines!). What’s really great is that you can stay for dinner and try your hand at pairing wines from our list with choices from the Grill Menu. Classes are $10 per person per class – a real bargain considering the amount of wine you may try.

Hope to see you on March 15!

Suzy Marquard

Well, actually no people or glasses got smashed, but, as they say, a good time was had by all. We held the first in the monthly series of wine classes at the Club on Thursday, January 18. The class follows the tasting course laid out in Andrea Immer Robinson’s revised and updated edition of Great Wines Made Simple. At Thursday’s class, we reviewed how to taste wine and then proceeded to taste the three white wines that make up what Andrea calls the Big Six. We tasted a Columbia Crest Riesling from Washington State, a Brancott Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand and a Jacob’s Creek Chardonnay from Australia. What a fun way to experience the basic differences among these grapes!

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