Many of the liquor stores in the area offer free wine tastings. It is a great way to discover new wines, increase your knowledge of wines and sometimes be sociable. Friday I went to Vintage Spirits in Herkimer to enjoy one.
Vintage Spirits usually holds a tasting once a month. I’m on the e-mail list, so I had notification. Before I had a computer Bronson Hager would nicely call and let me know when one was coming up. This is how local businesses treat you right.
Bronson started me out with El Coto Rosado (Rose) Rioja 2010. Bronson is great at these wine tastings, because he can suggest the best tasting order, and he knows a lot about the grapes and the wine making process. I learned a lot of what little I know about wine making at Vintage Spirits tastings. The Rosado was the most delicate wine of the afternoon. It was very light, not too sweet, an excellent summer wine. I could picture myself sipping it as I sat on my deck some afternoon or evening.
Next I tried the William Fevre Chablis Champs Royaux 2009. It was barrel aged, Bronson told me, but not heavily oaked like some Chardonnays. I’ve found I don’t care for the heavily oaked Chardonnays (doesn’t that make me sound like a real oenophile to say that?). I liked that one a lot. I put a star by it, because the price tag was $19.99, so I didn’t intend to buy it right away. I confess I tend to buy the $7.99 Nathanson’s Creek or Avia (that probably wrecks my oenophile cred, doesn’t it?).
At this point, a few more people were there tasting, so we were all comparing notes about what we liked and when we drank it. I’m not one for food and wine pairings, since I often sip a glass before or after dinner, but one gentleman talked about what the various wines would go with. I recommended to latecomers the wines I had tasted and liked. I like to be sociable at every opportunity.
My other favorite of the day was the Tradition Merlot from Milbrandt Vineyards. I learned they are allowed to call it Merlot if there is a large enough percentage of Merlot grapes in it. This one had 78% Merlot, 16% Caberet Sauvignon (one of my favorites because it’s fun to say and fun to drink), 5% Malbec and 1% Barbera. I wrote “Yummy!” in the little book I bring to tastings. Then I added “very smooth, interesting finish” to be more oenophile-ish.
I tried a few more things, including an Arbor Mist Pinot Noir Pomegranate and a Heron Hill Vineyards Late Harvest Vidal Blanc, which I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be nuts about because I don’t care for sweet wines. But I have two sisters and a mother who do like sweet wines, and I may purchase one of these bottles the next time they are coming to my house.
When I was first deciding to start a blog, I considered doing a wine blog. I think there is room in the blogosphere for a wine blog that describes wines as “yummy.” Of course I would have to say more that “yummy,” and I think in this blog post I managed it. But I don’t think I could go wine tasting every day and keep my day job, so I will stick to the occasional wine post when it relates to the Mohawk Valley,
Vintage Spirits is located at 246 Mohawk St., Herkimer, 315-866-6800.
Mohawk Valley Girl 