Wine Club III Whew. Another wine club came and went. This month's wine was Pinot Gris/Grigio and we had wines from France, Italy, Oregon (is that a country?), California, and New York.
The Italian ones are kind of bland. Watery. Light. Not much going on.
The French ones were from the Alsace region and had a lot more 'stuff' going on. They are as light, but much more complex with the addition of a cool floral thing happening.
Our American ones were fun. The California entry was super sweet, whereas the ones from Oregon were sweet, but with a nice amount of acidity to balance it out. They also were very fruity - lots of apples and apricot flavors happening. Real big, those Oregon ones.
We had about 10-12 people (it's a bit of a blur right this second) which yielded 8 bottles. Joanna and Evan hosted, and Joanna made lots of kick-ass snacks. Their cat sat on my jacket.
Here are our top 3 wines - with handy comments!
1. Cooper Mountain 2002 (Oregon) "Very sweet and then it disappears, kind of like this girl I used to know, except she went better with cheese" "No complaints" "Very sweet and floral" "Like a slap in the face when you're asking for it, this wine kisses you afterwards and then slaps you again"
2. Trimbach Reserve 2001 (France) "Elegant and reserved like an Upper East Side matron. Older and mature, she likes apricots and knows which fork to use" "Complicated, floral, elegant. Audrey Hepburn" "They are all starting to taste alike" "This combination of sweet and bitter is spot on" "Tastes like church" "Great body, nice strong acidity" "Best yet! Good balance. Nice fruit - vive la France"
3. McManis 2003 Pinot Grigio (California) "This wine thinks it's cooler than it is. It wishes it were older and wiser" "Apples and pears - kid's stuff" "Good balance of fruit and floral/perfume" "Sure... good..." "Needed a second chance - subtle fruit with acidic back" "Yum!"
