☆ Tasting - Noble Vines - Cabernet

 This week I did something different and for my birthday week decided to taste a glass of Cabernet from a restaurant with my friends for my tasting blog! Usually I go shopping by myself and seek out a good bottle but this time I asked our waitress for her best recommendation at the new Victoria's location on Main Street!

My friends and I all tried the Noble Vines Cabernet with our different meals and that was my favorite thing about this wine. We all ordered various different meals but each person loved the wine paired with their meal. I had a Fehttuchini Alfredo with chicken and broccoli, one of my friends had the same, one had lasagna and one had a meat pizza. I thought this wine was great because it was so diverse with pairing  choices and I thought it had a great full body as well.

For the first time I really smelled and tasted the smokey tones this wine had. Up until now I felt that most of the reds I had tasted were so full bodied with dark fruits that I was missing any oaky or smokey notes because they were more subdued. I loved this wine because it felt different than other Cabernets I have tasted!
☆ Fast Facts
Name: Noble Vines
Variety: Cabernet
Region: Lodi
Country: United States
Year: 2016
Price: $8 glass
Winery review: This concentrated and full-bodied wine blends smoky, earthy tones with black fig on the nose and palate. It has a lush, broad, mouthcoating texture and moderate tannins for structure. - Jim Gordon

☆ Tasting - Monkey Bay - Sauvignon Blanc

Thanks to my friends sweet grandma, we had a selection of bottles to choose from this week for our wine tasting! As you can tell by the very empty bottle of Monkey Bay - Sauvignon Blanc, we absolutely loved the bottle we chose Friday night! I love this wine class because while drinking wine and catching up on our lives, I could tell my friend all about the different aspects of wine and wine making which I have learned about so far. I have always loved wine because I think it is such a great social drink and I love cracking a bottle with friends to hear all about their day or whatever else is going on in their lives at that time!

This wine was very crisp and felt fresh while drinking it! I drank this wine by itself while watching the movie for class this week! I got some lime notes and felt like it was a very smooth body. I also thought this wine had some minty characteristics and really liked the aftertaste it left.

☆ Fast Facts

Name: Monkey Bay

Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Region: Marlborough
Country: New Zealand
Year: 2017
Price: $10
Winery review: Overflowing with ripe, sweet flavors of grapefruit and lemon, the palate is infused with delicate herbal characters, This zesty white's finish is crisp and refreshing. Pairing well with most lighter fare, it is easy to see why this critter is so popular.-Total Wine

☆ Tasting - Chianti Classico - Dal 1716

 So far I feel like I've tried so many wines that I thought I would look for the most unfamiliar variety I could find! I chose this Chianti Classico as I have never tried one before to my knowledge, and was excited to do something completely different! I tried this wine on its own as well as with dinner at a separate time! I cooked dinner for my brother and I and thought the wine went really well with the meat as well as the red sauce on the whole grain pasta.

I got some cherry and other red fruits notes such as plum and apple. I though there was a tomato after taste to this wine even when tasting it without dinner! I really liked that this wine wasn't super overpowering so it paired very well with my food even with the sauces and different flavors. For a red, it felt lighter and felt less tannic in structure.
☆ Fast Facts
Name:Denominazione Di Origine
Variety: Chianti Classico
Region: Imported by San Leonardo, CA
Country: Italy
Year: 2016
Price: $13

☆ Tasting - Fracias - Cabernet Franc

On my continued journey to step outside the box and try wines that I have heard about in lecture, I picked up this Cabernet Franc while grocery shopping this week!

After a mild re-corking crisis, luckily after I had already had one untainted glass, I decided that I really liked the taste of the Cabernet Franc. After doing some more research on this wine once I got home and had tasted it, I learned that it was a Walmart wine. I am now very interested to try a possibly "higher scale" Cabernet Franc and compare it to this one.

I thought the plum notes were very strong and I have found that I am leaning towards darker fruits when I am tasting all these different wines. I had this wine without food and really did find it very enjoyable, I thought it was very smooth and a great bang for my buck at Walmart! This wine is a great medium body and I think it could go well with any savory meal.




☆ Fast Facts
Name: Walmart Fracias
Variety:  Cabernet Franc
Country: France
Year: 2017
Price: $10
Review: This wine has a bright red color and offers an expressive, fruity and spicy nose. Elegant tannins bringing a softness to the structure with dominant notes of red pepper on the finish.

☆ Tasting - Soaring Thunderbird - Chardonnay

This week I went to a Gala for the Women's Resource Center in Norman! At each tabled they provided us with wine as well as having a wine raffle station at which you paid $20 and got to randomly select a wine bottle hidden in a paper bag, with price points varying from $20-$100!

The wine I selected was from Native Spirits Winery in Oklahoma! I thought this was really fun and unique because this is the first Oklahoma fine I have tasted, and the fact that it was from Norman was really cool.

This white wine had much less of a full body than the Butter Chardonnay that I previously tasted. I had this wine with some green beans, mashed potatoes, and grilled ham, and thought that it went well with the meal but I do not think this is something I would go out and purchase again. It had nice light notes of fruit but honestly lacked flavor and was almost too weak bodied of a wine to be enjoyable. Maybe with different food pairings this could be better but I was overall underwhelmed with the taste.

☆ Fast Facts
Name: Soaring Thunderbird
Variety: Chardonnay
Region:Norman, Oklahoma
Country: USA
Year: 2017
Price: $18


I could not find a specific wine review for this wine but I did find one over the winery as a whole ! After reading this pleasant review I may go take a visit and try some of their other wines!

We love this winery so much. The owners are so friendly everyone we've been there. It's a joy every time. The wines are delicious, too. Our favorite is Fancy Dancer. Friday night concerts here a super intimate and fun. Native Spirits definitely needs to be a must on any winery tour in the area. - Trip Advisor

☆Tasting - Petite Petit - Michael David

This week I tried to step out of my comfort zone a bit and try some of the less "mainstream" varieties of wine and try and grab some bottles of varieties I had heard about in lectures!

My first pick for the week, I was really drawn in by the label and marketing, and then realized it was a variety I had never tried before! This Petite Petit by Michael David  really caught my eyes as typically wine labels are quite toned down and simple, this one was the complete opposite! I thought the design and branding was so cool and





unique so after reading the label I decided to give it a shot.
I am so glad I tried this wine as it has been one of my favorite this semester!

Once I got home, I did some more research about Michael David Winery, as I was intrigued by the bottles I saw at the store. Their website was amazingly constructed and I thought something unique which I hadn't seen before was that the acidity, pH, specific bottling date, and the alcohol content were all spelled out for you on the website. Truly before this class, those numbers and dates would have meant nothing to me but now I actually understand their significance which is really cool!

For the first time this semester as well, I actually felt like I was getting a hang of my tastings and tasted a vanilla sort of note as well as the darker fruit. I personally found this wine to have a strong body, but with some sweet notes and aftertastes. The mouth feel of this wine was quite bold but I did not find it to be overwhelming and I would definitely recommend this wine to friends and purchase it again!

☆ Fast Facts

Name: Petite Petit

Variety: 85 % Petite Sirah 15% Petit Verdot
Region: Graton, California
Country: USA
Year: 2017
Price: $18
Winery review: "This admittedly huge wine offers tamed tannins, with a generous dose of spicy oak and a hint of sweetness that seem to absorb some of the astringency. It comes off as very concentrated and flavorful, showing an almost velvety texture." - Wine Enthusiast