Wine & GIRL SCOUT COOKIES?!

I know, crazy. Or is it genius? Let me tell you how I stumbled upon this wonderful pairing...

I was just finishing up my wine that I paired with a goat brie and baguette (casual Monday night eats) when I realized I still had some Samoas (AKA caramel deLites) in my cupboard. I had finished the cheese and was sipping on the last of this v affordable Italian wine I snagged at the local wine shop. I thought the wine was good but nothing to write about. The description said to pair with soft cheese which is why I was eating it with brie. It was pretty strong in alcohol flavor (probably not the best description lol) and had strong floral aromas. It was great with the cheese....BUT THEN I TRIED IT WITH THE SOMOAS AND MY LIFE CHANGED. I honestly think any floral (non oaky) red wine would pair so well with Samoas because of the chocolate and sweet coconut flavors. OMG.

Here's the info on this particular wine that just blossomed when paired with Samoas:

Name: L' Isola dei Profumi, il Rosso

Variety: Nero d'Avola (60%) and Perricone (40%)

Region: Sicily

Country: Italy

Vintage: 2014

Price: ~$7

Please comment below any of your favorite GS Cookie wine pairings! I would love to try them!

Cheers,

Natalie

Tasting - Doña Sol Sweet Red Blend

Name: Doña Sol Sweet Red Wine
Variety: Shiraz, Petite Syrah, & Symphony
Region: California
Country: USA
Year: N/A
Price: $6.95
Shop review: "Shiraz has a unique jammy fruit character that is well represented in the Sweet Red. Both on the nose and on the palate, jammy fruit, like strawberries, cherry pie and red licorice, entices the senses and pair well with cheeses and desserts."
My review: Wow! This wine was SWEET, just like the label says! When I first started drinking wines, this would have been my favorite. It tastes like juice. Now I tend to prefer dry reds. Regardless, this was a great sweet red. I got aromas of strawberries and dark fruits. It tasted like juice. Delicious!
Food pairing: I didn't pair this with any food either since it was just at the wine tasting. However, I would definitely want to try this with a classic cheesecake. I think it's a perfect dessert wine because it's sweet but not overly sweet like some ports. One of my best friends loves sweet red wine so I had her try this. She LOVED it and bought a bottle right then and there. 

I definitely recommend this wine for people who like sweet reds! Let me know in the comments below if you try it!

Cheers,
Natalie

Tasting - Avery Quinn Zinfandel

Name: Avery Quinn
Variety: Zinfandel
Region: Santa Rosa, California
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Price: $6.95
Shop review: "Lightly spicy aromas and rich, soothing fruit flavors make this an attractive, lovable and classically proportioned wine. Cherry and raspberry flavors rest on a lightly tannic but smooth texture, and linger on the finish."
My review: As I've mentioned before, I love Zinfandel. The jammy/cooked fruit flavors are usually consistent in Zinfandels. I also really liked the strong oak aromas that I got from this wine. It had a very smooth texture too.
Food pairing: Not with this wine. Comment below your favorite food to pair with a Zinfandel and I'll give it a try!!



Cheers,
Natalie

Tasting - Pieter Cruythoff Chenin Blanc

Name: Pieter Cruythoff
Variety: Chenin Blanc
Region: Swartland
Country: South Africa
Vintage: 2015
Price: Originally $9, on sale for $4.95
Shop review: "A wonderful nose of bananas, oranges and melons jumps from the glass of this 100% Chenin Blanc, which is finished with a screw cap. Another great value from South Africa, this wine is medium-bodied, fresh, lively, and a terrific dry white to drink over the next year."
My review: Yummy! This to me was fruitier than the Verdejo. In fact, I picked up hints of orange, pear, and apples. It was also a darker golden color than the Verdejo. Randle, who works at the wine shop, said that he has had a Chenin Blanc wine (not this brand) that has been in his cellar for over 20 years and it still tastes amazing. That's very rare for a white to last that long, which is what makes Chenin Blanc such a cool grape!
Food pairing: Not with this wine either, but again if you have paired food with a Chenin Blanc, I would love to hear about it!

Cheers,
Natalie

Tasting - El Cortijillo Verdejo

Name: El Cortijillo
Variety: Verdejo
Region: La Mancha
Country: Spain
Vintage: 2015
Price: $4.95 (AGAIN....FOR THE BOTTLE!!! This place has awesome values!)
Shop review: "Golden straw color. Bright, attractive, tropical aromas of creme brulee and fruit tart with a silky, bright, dry-yet-fruity light-to-medium body and a smooth, intriguing snappy lime and apple finish with crunchy, fruit tannins and light oak. A super smooth and pure white sipper."
My review: This wine to me was very acidic. It had aromas of lemon with a little creamy texture. It was very good but not my absolute favorite.
Food pairing: Not with this wine :( but maybe like a lemon chicken dish would pair well? If you've had this wine or even the Verdejo variety, I would love to hear what you paired it with. Comment below!!

Until next time, cheers!
Natalie

You're Volunteering at a WINE SHOP?!

Yes! My professor sent out an email saying that the local shop that we do tastings at every week needs volunteers to pour the wine during class tastings. I thought this would be a great way to get to know each wine a little better. This week was my first try at it. It was AWESOME.

I stood behind the tasting counter for two hours and poured tastings to students. It was hard to pour just the right amount - not too much, not too little. If you pour just the right amount, with the number of students that come through, the wine shop goes through about 60 bottles...and they do this all for FREE. One of the men who works at the shop, Randle, said that he prefers his customers to be educated wine drinkers and these free tastings help us to become just that. So of course, he appreciates when people purchase a bottle after the tastings. He has some of the best values I've seen. For example, the Tempranillo I tried this week...the best bang for your buck! I'll be going back each week to pour and I couldn't be more excited!

Looking forward to trying more wines today. Can't stop, won't stop. 

Cheers,
Natalie

Tasting - Finca del Castillo Tempranillo

Wine name: Finca Del Castillo

Variety: Tempranillo

Region: La Mancha

Country: Spain

Vintage: 2015

Price: $4.95 (YES, FOR THE BOTTLE!)

Shop review: "Vivid ruby. Spice-accented red and dark berry aromas show good clarity and a hint of fresh rose. Juicy and seamless on the palate, offering lively currant and bitter cherry flavors that become sweeter with air. Clings with good tenacity on the energetic finish, which repeats the floral note and shows no tannins."

My review: This wine was delicious! I first tried it at a wine tasting at the Vintage Cellar and loved it so much that I bought a bottle (how could I not for that value?!). I got aromas of spices and a light oak aroma. I also got hints of floral and dark berries. It was very smooth and a dry wine but not astringent. (FYI: Astringency is a tactile sensation that is the drying out of the mouth)

Food pairing: Since I bought a bottle of this, I actually had it with two meals. The first was a chicken fajita wrap. I chose this because the week before I tasted a Tempranillo and the lady said to pair it with chicken fajitas. She was correct. It was amazing. It brought out the spicey flavors in the wine. The next night I paired it with a steak with a mushroom/red wine sauce and pasta. It was just as delicious. Again, the spicey notes in the wine were accentuated. I will definitely be purchasing this wine again.

Going to another wine tasting today and will update you on FOUR MORE wines by tomorrow! So, stay tuned!

Cheers,

Natalie

I'm starting a WINE BLOG?!

That's right! This semester I'm enrolled in Geography of Wines with Professor Boyer, probably one of the most famous professors at Virginia Tech. One of our assignments is to keep a blog throughout the semester sharing all of my wine stories. First blog assignment: My personal experience with wine thus far in my life! Let's get to it.

In the spring of 2016, I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in Lugano, Switzerland. For those of you who don't know, that is in the southern part of Switzerland right by ITALY! You better believe I was wining and dining Italian food for a whole semester. That was the first time that I was having wine with meals on a regular basis (because of the whole 21 y.o. law thing here in the US). Before my semester abroad, I was more of a white wine kinda gal. A few weeks into being abroad, though, I only ordered red. The Italian and Spanish red wines were soo good and sooooo good when paired with the right food that it made me discover my newest obsession - red wine.

Wines I tasted with my parents on a Tuscany wine tour

A small little town on the wine tour in Tuscany...beautiful!

Last semester back in Blacksburg, I took Wines and Vines and fell in love with learning about EVERYTHING wine. I learned everything from the vines and rootstock to the wine regions throughout the US and the world. Every class I got to try 2-3 wines. By the end of the semester, I tasted over 40 wines (including still, sparkling, port, and sherry)!! Wines and Vines got me even more excited to take Geography of Wines this semester. In fact, it made me want to pursue a career in the wine industry....maybe combine my passions of wine and marketing?!

I am always open to trying new wines and usually like a wide variety (besides sherry - still working on acquiring that taste!). However, when people ask me what my favorite is, I usually say Zinfandel. The warmer climate grapes have a cooked fruit taste that makes it taste jammy...YUM!

This semester I hope to learn more about the different wine regions around the world as well as different grape varieties since there are SO many! If you're still reading, thank you and I hope you continue this journey with me. Here's to a wine-derful LAST semester.

Cheers,
Natalie

Let's get to tasting!