I have a new way of attending wine tastings on a Friday. I work out at Curves with my friends Phyllis and Kelly, then we go to the wine tasting in our sweaty workout clothes. Friday we went to one at Vintage Spirits in Herkimer, NY.
Bronson was already pouring the wines when we got there. This time he was assisted by a lovely young woman with long blonde hair. I later found out this was Alyssa, a representative of Empire Merchants North, one of the distributors Vintage Spirits deals with.
When I pulled out my little zebra striped book to take notes in, somebody said, “Ooh, she’s a professional.” I kind of tarnished that reputation when I pronounced the first wine “yummy,” and I completely obliterated it when I described another as “New Yorky.” As they say, I gotta be me.
The first yummy wine was The Skinny Vine Mini Moscato. Alyssa told us it was only 95 calories a glass. It was semi-sweet. I thought it would be a good middle-of-the-road wine for a gathering.
The New Yorky wine was Red Tail Ridge Chardonnay, from a Seneca Lake winery. Bronson described it as “lightly oaked,” kind of midway between a California chardonnay (aged in oak) and a French chardonnay (aged in stainless). I sometimes get a little oenophile-ish over chardonnays. It’s not my favorite wine, but I seem to know more about it. I taste a lot of differences between the different aging processes, so it is more interesting to me to taste than, say a pinot noir or cabernet sauvignon that I’m pretty sure I’m going to like.
Phyllis pronounced the Milbrandt Vineyards Riesling, from Washington State, refreshing. We all liked the Mumm Napa Brut Prestige.
Two pinot noirs were offered, Red Tail Ridge and Chateau St. Jean. Both were very good; the Chateau St. Jean was more smooth. That was my favorite wine of the day.
I also liked the Four Vines Petite Syrah, but decided to purchase the Chateau St. Jean. That was one of the ones distributed by Alyssa’s company. I asked her if I could mention her in my blog post. She said I could if I had nice things to say.
“In real life, I can say cutting things about some people,” I said. “But in my blog, I like to keep it positive.” I hastened to add that there was nothing negative to say about her or her company anyways. She was very friendly and helpful, even pouring samples of wines that her company did not distribute.
Another lady at the wine tasting (another regular, like me) vouched for my blog being positive.
“You read my blog?” I was quite delighted.
The wine tasting was a great deal of fun. Phyllis, Kelly and I may go on more wine tasting adventures. Stay tuned.
Vintage Spirits is located at 246 Mohawk St., Herkimer, NY. Phone number 315-866-6800.
Mohawk Valley Girl 