Jackson Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2005

Date: Mon, Apr 7, 2008 Wine Tasting

"Very typical" summed up our response to this Jackson Estate 2005 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc: grapefruit on the nose and grapefruit on the palate, with some grassiness and lime. It's a solid Sauvignon Blanc, but nothing special: well worth drinking, but not a "Wow!"

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Jackson Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2005

Date: Mon, Apr 7, 2008 Wine Tasting

"Very typical" summed up our response to this Jackson Estate 2005 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc: grapefruit on the nose and grapefruit on the palate, with some grassiness and lime. It's a solid Sauvignon Blanc, but nothing special: well worth drinking, but not a "Wow!"

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Jackson Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2005

Date: Mon, Apr 7, 2008 Wine Tasting

"Very typical" summed up our response to this Jackson Estate 2005 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc: grapefruit on the nose and grapefruit on the palate, with some grassiness and lime. It's a solid Sauvignon Blanc, but nothing special: well worth drinking, but not a "Wow!"

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Jackson Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2005

Date: Mon, Apr 7, 2008 Wine Tasting

"Very typical" summed up our response to this Jackson Estate 2005 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc: grapefruit on the nose and grapefruit on the palate, with some grassiness and lime. It's a solid Sauvignon Blanc, but nothing special: well worth drinking, but not a "Wow!"

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Henry of Pelham Pinot Noir 2006

Date: Sun, Apr 6, 2008 Wine Tasting

This Henry of Pelham 2006 Pinot Noir was quite pale, almost a dark salmon in colour--closer to cranberry cocktail than anything else. It had a nice berry/cherry nose, quite light, and also tasted of cherry and raspberry.

It went very well with fresh basil.

We wouldn't call it a classic Pinot Noir, but we enjoyed it: it's pleasant, not profound.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

German Wine Society at the Seven Oaks

Date: Wed, Mar 19, 2008 Wine Tasting

• A little sweeter than we expected;
• Very nice;
• Would be good with Asian food, we suspect.

• A very typical Muller-Thurgau;
• Seemed extremely robust and flavorful after the light reception Riesling;
• Nice acidity;
• Well matched with the chicken appetizer (which our six-year-old daughter loved; we liked it, too!).

• Extra honeyness;
• Lots of lychee flavour;
• Very, very nice.

Entrée: Bison tenderloin with sun-dried tomato sauce, potato au gratin and seasonal vegetables
2003 Black Tower Pinot Noir/Dornfelder - Pfalz
2002 Selbach Riesling Spätlese - MSR

We may not have liked the soup, but we loved this fabulous entrée: tender, delicious, wonderful. Also very, very large.

As for the wine, first, the red:

• Light bouquet;
• Dark red in colour;
• Fruity;
• Good tannin;
• Went very well with the bison.

• Also very nice;
• Went better with the sun-dried tomato glaze and vegetables than the bison.

The dessert was absolutely delicious; way too big after the giant appetizer and huge entree, but somehow we managed to choke it down.

As for the wine:

• Ed loved it;
• Margaret Anne said "I've had better";
• Burnt orange and honey flavours;
• As usual, we preferred the wine by itself rather as a match for the dessert.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Laughing Kangaroo Shiraz 2002

Date: Tue, Mar 4, 2008 Wine Tasting

This 2002 Laughing Kangaroo Shiraz was a very, very dark purplish red, almost black, with a red berries and a little pepper on the nose. I thought I detected some of the clove that would be varietally appropriate, but Margaret Anne didn't get it.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Les Fondettes Sancerre 2006

Date: Thu, Feb 28, 2008 Wine Tasting

We really enjoyed this 2006 Les Fondettes Sancerre. We found melon, apricot and floral notes on the nose, and the flavour reflected that. Lots of tart green apple as well and citrus, but more lemon than grapefruit. On the lingering finish, a bit of grassiness comes through. Recommended!

(My apology for the dreadful label photograph! Darn cellphone camera...)

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Peter Lehmann Barossa Riesling 2005

Date: Wed, Feb 27, 2008 Wine Tasting

This Peter Lehmann Barossa Riesling 2005 and appropriately petroleum (Rieslingy) nose. It was tart, dry and citrusy, with a lingering grapefruite aftertaste. It was an excellent accompaniment to Cambodian Chicken and Rice with Shrimp. We'd buy it again.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Cairnbrae Old River Marlborough Riesling 2004

Date: Tue, Feb 26, 2008 Wine Tasting

This 2004 Cairnbrae Old River Marlborough Riesling had lots of petroleum on the nose (in other words, it was very varietal). As it warmed, it opened up with a touch of grapefruit, and maybe even honey. Tart, dry, pleasant.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Vineland Estates Pinot Noir Reserve 2004

Date: Tue, Feb 26, 2008 Wine Tasting

This Pinot Noir Reserve from Vineland Estates was garnet in colour, with lots of cherry and other red fruit on the nose. Even though it certainly looked mature, the tannins could still have softened a bit with additional aging. It went very well with light, curryish beef and beans baked in molasses and rum. We'd buy it again.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

The Willetts on Wine - 2008-02-26

Date: Tue, Feb 26, 2008 Wine Tasting

We're back!

Martinshof Heroldrebe Rose Trocken 2002

• Lovely pale coppery colour;
• Very dry;
• Diesel on the nose most prominent feature;
• After that, just sort of a generic wine;
• We didn't like it much.

(Heroldrebe, a varietal we hadn't run across before, is a cross between Portugieser and Blaufrankisch, and one of the parents of Dornfelder, with which we're quite familiar.)

Martinshof Riesling Trocken 2000

• Sparkling (which surprised us);
• Diesel nose (which didn't);
• A touch of sugar;
• A touch of fruit;
• Very refreshing.

Matched very successfully with Emmenthal Swiss, made from raw cow's milk, this one aged a minimum of twelve years; nutty, mild, only produced in the Emman valley in Switzerland

Martinshof Muller-Thurgau Halb-Trocken 2003

• Rather bland;
• No nose;
• Well-balanced but not a lot of fruit;
• Very generic.

Kindermanns Pinot Grigio 2003

• Wine is fairly dark;
• Not much nose;
• Still fairly bland;
• Not what we're looking for in a Pinot Grigio.

Served with Santa Lucia Pepato, creamy sheep's milk cheese with whole peppercorns in it--and once again, we thought the Riesling was the better match, cementing what we already knew: Riesling is, without a doubt, one of the most food-friendly of all wines.

Martinshof Kerner 2003 Spatlese

• Nice nose, quite floral;
• Nice balance;
• Sweeter, honeyish.

It was served with Applewood Smoked White Cheddar, and this was the best wine/cheese match of the evening--but just the same, the Riesling still worked well with it, the sparkle in it helping to cut through the cheese's creaminess and honey/smokey flavours (very much like bacon and maple syrup).

Martinshof Scheurebe 2003

• A bit more floral nose;
• Nice balance, tilted perhaps a bit more to acidity than some wines of the evening.

Served with Guinness White Cheddar, and it matched it well enough. The Kerner was also a nice match.

Martinshof Weisserburgunder Auslese 2001

• Nicely balanced;
• Nice touch of sugar;
• Lovely bouquet, a mixture of floral and honey (heavier on the honey).

It was matched with, and went well with, Onion Cheddar.

As always with the German Wine Society, it was a most pleasant evening.

And as for the photo up there...hey, if life hands you a fuzzy cellphone picture, make Impressionistic art!

Read Full Wine Blog Post

This could almost tempt us to make our own wine...

Date: Sat, Jul 21, 2007 Wine Tasting

It's always been our philosophy that we'd rather let wineries make our wine for us than making it ourselves. But the WinePod almost tempts us. It's an:

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Apologies for light blogging...

Date: Fri, Jul 20, 2007 Wine Tasting

It's been busy. But Willetts on Wine is still active, never fear! More, and more regular, posts on the way.

Read Full Wine Blog Post