A large birthday gathering yesterday, coupled with heat, humidity, and access to a pool made a great stage to try out three white wines from three disparate locales--Italy, Oregon, and Portugal. Listed in order of worst to first, using our standard 1-5 scale, the results are below:
1. 2005 Spago d'Oro Pinot Grigio Veneto (Italy)--this pale yellow, light-bodied wine had the textbook aromatics going on for a Pinot Grigio (flowers, fruit, etc.). It was very acidic and low in sweetness, and had a moderate length. It wasn't bad, but had no pizazz at all. I have one more of these bottles at home, but may unload it at the next party. Cost: $8.99 Score: 2.5
2. 2006 Anne Amie Cuvee Amrita (Oregon, 35% muller-thurgau, 33% pinot gris, 13% riesling, 10% chardonnay, 6% viognier and 3% melon)--the nose was initially very stingy, but after a swirling of this medium bodied blend, the aroma of fruit salad came forth, as well as apple juice. There was also a scent of wet grass (slightly). The taste was identical to me of a watermellon jolly rancher, less some of the sweetness. The acidity was well balanced with the fruity, almost candylike flavors. It had great length overall. This was pretty tasty, and unlike other whites I've tried previously. Not bad at all! Cost: $15.99 Score: 3.5
3. Casal Garcia Vinho Verde White (Portugal, White Blend)--this was very fruity and sweet smelling. Upon drinking it reminded me of a slightly alcoholic berry flavored Powerade. There was very slight effervescence, and with so little alcohol in this wine (10.5%), it went down very easily. There was very little complexity to this light bodied treat, and honestly, at $4.99, it didn't need it-- Score: 4.0
Until next time!
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5 comments:
Good account JP. I must say that most interesting to me is the wine from Oregon. Are you saying that 3%of that blend from from actual melon and not grapes? Very interesting. Also, I've never heard of a couple of those grape varieties. I always enjoy learning about new grapes. As always, thanks for sharing.
JP..
The oregon was very interesting and will look to pick up a bottle to try for myself.
The casal garcia is a favorite of mine. Great taste for a phenomenal price. Great summer wine.
I polished off a bottle of the Graf Reisling ( Spatslese ) on Saturday. One of my favorites. JP, you would probably prefer the Spatslese or Auslese versions becuase they have a bit more residual sugars. Anthony, although not a big fan of reisings overall would prefer the kabinett version.
Anthony, I'm not sure if the 3% melon truly meant a 3% replacement of grape with melon--I pretty much copied and pasted the percentages from a list I found on it. I'll agree that some of those varietals were foreign to me as well.
Dawson, I thought of you in that write up about the Casal Garcia, in that I was positive if you hadn't tried it yet, you would have certainly enjoyed it. Thanks also for the recommendations on Reislings.
So you're both aware, I picked up the Oregon wine at Stu Leonards, but sure it can found easily elsewhere.
Hello - thanks for trying our Cuvee A Amrita. The actual grape variety is Melon de Bourgogne which we purchased from the Deux Vert Vineyard in Yamhill-Carlton AVA.
Cheers!
Kim McLeod
Anne Amie Vineyards
Hi Kim! Thank you so much for the information regarding that grape variety (the 'Melon de Bourgogne' you mentioned in your comment). I hope I did some justice in identifying the flavors and the aromas--
Thanks again for visiting!
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