A little while ago I hosted wine club and chose “bring your favorite bottle of wine” to be the theme. Wine club meets each month and with each month we choose a region of the world to try wine from. I thought I would mix it up a bit and let everyone try people’s favorites. It was a fun experiment and as always it was fun to taste new wine. But let’s face it…I can be pretty happy with almost any wine!

Wine Club Favorites

Let me start by saying that everyone admitted to bringing their favorite wine that they had on hand. This wasn’t the assignment, but what can you do?

Here are the contenders!

• Wolffer Estate- Brut Blanc de Blanc 2007
• La Florinda- Torrontes 2010
• Martha Clara- Rose’
• Cupcake Vinyard- Pino Noir
• Bogle Vineyard- Petite Sirah
• Bertani Due Uve-Syrah Merlot

Some runners up from those that could not attend.

• Vineyard 48 Riesling (2007)
• La Crema Vineyard- Pinot Noir

I have to vouch for Vineyard 48 myself….Not cheap, but oh so yummy!!!

After tasting them all we crowned the winner… MY PICK Cupcake Vinyard Pino Noir! ($10.99) I recently have been obsessed with this brand. They even have one called Red Velvet…just the name sounds so smooth and tasty!

I love wine club, I love meeting and chatting with the girls each month. It takes two of my favorite things and puts them together…talking and wine. Who could ask for more!?

What’s your favorite wine?? I am always looking to add to the “must try” list!

My girlfriends and I started a wine club a little while back. It fell apart for a while, but the good news is that we started it back up! And this time we have taken it to another level. This time our group has expanded, and this time we took our group beyond the comforts of our homes. This month our wine club hit the vineyards, and had a girls day filled with limos, food, and a lot of wine! It was time for us to take a Long Island Wine Tour.

I feel as women we never really take time for ourselves. At least the women I know. We talk and talk about doing fun things but never do, but not this time. This time I decided that we actually would do what we said we would! Yay! So I set off on the mission to put a wonderful day together. I knew priority one was to get us a limo. Drinking and driving is a no no…so I hit the google machine and found Long Island Wine Tours.  We got 11 women all to agree to a day. It’s a miracle!

The package I was sold wasn’t exactly what came to be. The customer service wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, and the behind the scenes stuff was less than to be desired. Being in sales myself I know how important good customer service is, and I have to say I wasn’t impressed. I was impressed with our limo driver though. If behind the scenes stunk….he made up for it big time. He was personable and accommodated every one of our needs. Even ones we didn’t even know we had! Luckily the vineyards weren’t crowded that day, but we did get treated like VIP’s.

We went to three vineyards… Duck Walk, Pugliese Vineyards, and Vineyard 48. I have frequented many of the vineyards over the years (I had to as a proud wino!), and if you ask me which is one of my favorites I’d have to say Pugliese. I always have the best experience there, but this time it was my least favorite! Duck Walk was the best tasting experience. The server explained each wine and even gave us extra tastings (hmmm maybe the extra tastings were a bribe? lol). We took our time and enjoyed each wine and each other. After the tasting we had lunch. This is one area where I was disappointed. I was told one thing that set this company apart from the limo companies was the food, but a 6 foot hero and a small serving of macaroni salad wasn’t very impressive (although it was yummy). Pugliese was next. Normally this is my favorite, but I didn’t feel that they paid much attention to us. Finally we were on to Vineyard 48. Although I think they had the best wines, I felt that the servers were the worst. I have felt this way before. They are rather snooty, and their wines are the most expensive.

The day was great and it was so nice to go out and about with my girls. After every “girl time” event I always say…boy…we should do that more often, and this time was no different. The behind the scenes glitches aside, I highly recommend doing a wine tour. Everything is taken care of, no one has to drive, and the day is basically care free. Expensive? Yes…Worth the money? Not sure…but what I am sure of is that I’m glad we did it.

When I was pregnant for that short time I had to cut out all alcohol. It’s just what you do in the name of your unborn child. I am by no means an alcoholic, and I certainly don’t NEED to drink, but I gotta tell you that what I missed the most was sitting down in the evening with a nice glass of red wine to just unwind. And I say this like I actually refrained from the wine for 9 months…I only went 4 weeks!

A while back I did a post about one of my favorite nights of the week during the prime TV scene. I call it Martooni Thursday. On Thursdays my husband plays poker with his friends, and I get in my most comfortable pajama’s to watch my favorite shows and relax with a nice glass of red wine. I light a candle for myself and relax. It’s funny because my parents friends like the idea of Martooni Thursday so much they stole it and made it Martooni Tuesday! They have a group of friends over and serve Martini’s. I love to inspire others!

I admit it. I am a self proclaimed wino and I am not ashamed to admit it! Winos let’s unite…raise our evening glasses of the vino and toast to ourselves!

For those of you who enjoy getting some wine suggestions from wine club I am going to include the notes that “P” took at wine club. She’s just so good at keeping notes, and I am thankful to have them. The theme for this month is Germany. We all went searching for our standard red and white bottles but it seems that Germany only produces Riesling! (well at least at the wine stores we went to!) Remember these are rated on a scale from 1-5.

Name: Schmitt Sohne
Vineyard: Rheinhessen
Region:Qualitatswein
Vintage: 2007
Price: $10.95
Comments: medium body, airy & light, good to eat with pork, ham, fish, and poultry
Rating: 3.5

Name: Sun Garden
Region: Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
Vintage: 2007
Price: $12.99
Comments: full body, fruity, serve chilled
Rating: 4

Name: Schmitt Sohne
Vineyard:Piesporter Michelsberg
Region: Qualitatswein
Vintage: 2007
Price: $8.99
Comments: mellow, less pungent than other wines, crisp finish, hints of peach and green apples
Rating: 4

Name: Polka Dot
Vineyard: Pfalz
Vintage: 2006
Price: $6.99
Comments: Medium body, semi-sweet, floral aromas with ripe fruit flavor (peach, pear, nectarine, and apricot)
Rating: 4+

Name: Weber
Region: Deutscher Tafelwein Rhein
Vintage: 2007
Price: $9.99
Comments: Robust taste
Rating: 5

I gotta tell you I was very impressed with the wines that we tried. I normally don’t focus on what area the wine is from when I buy it. I’m more of a “what’s the cheapest brand” type of girl, but since we’ve set a limit on the wines these can’t be too expensive. Therefore, I highly recommend you giving some of them a try. Especially if you like very light wines, which I do. They aren’t very full bodied, but they are perfect for the summer months!

I want to thank my friend “P” for keeping track of what we all thought of the wines. It is very helpful. As a matter of fact I went to the wine store the other day and wanted to buy one of the wines we tried, but couldn’t for the life of me remember the name. Now, since she writes this stuff down it will all be in a journal!

The wines were rated on a scale from 1-5.

Red:

Name: Bellum Vineyard: Providencia
Region: South East Spain
Vintage: 2005
Price: $16.99
Comments: full body, citrus and floral taste, oak finish
Rating: 4

Name: Hoya de Cadenas (This one tasted very much like a pino noir)
Vineyard: Reserva Tempranillo
Region: Valencia
Vintage: 2004
Price: $14.99
Comments: tastes like pinor nior, clean, has deep intensity, soft body, grape variety
Rating: 3.5

White
Name:Castelo de Papa (this white was my FAVORITE! Very light and crisp! I highly recommend it for sitting out on these summer nights..or anytime!)
Vineyard: Godello
Region: Valdeorras/ NW Region
Vintage: 2007
Price: $15.99
Comments: hints of green apples and grapefruit, tropical aroma, pale yellow appearance, citrus taste
Rating: 4+

Name: Gazela Vineyard: Vinho Verde
Region: Portugal
Vintage: 2008
Price: $8.99
Comments: served best with seafood and fish, must be kept upright, it’s an after dinner drink, sparkling, very light appearance
Rating: 3.5

Name: Herederos del Marques de Riscal
Vineyard: Vinos Blancos del Castillo
Region: D.O. Rueda
Vintage: 2005
Price: $10.00
Comments: looks and tastes like Chardonnay
Rating: 3

Rose:
Name: Condesa de Leganza
Vineyard: Tempranillo
Region: La Mancha
Vintage: 2007
Price: $10.00
Comments: bright/vibreant aroma, taste of ripe cherries and crushed raspberries, crips & pleasant

Let me know if you give any of these a try! I’d love for others to enjoy the same wines that we try at our wine club!

Wine Club at My House

Wine club was scheduled to be held at another person’s house, but at the last minute she found out that a softball game was scheduled for that day (she’s the coach). So after much back and forth we decided that I would just host this one because everyone had already scheduled to go out that night. My friend did some research and decided that we would be trying wines from Chile. We all thought it would be a fun way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, and since our stores don’t sell wines from Mexico (are there Mexican wines?) we’d just improvise a little. So Chile it was!

The Evening’s Festivities

We had eight women show up for this month’s gathering. It was a perfect number because that is the exact amount that could sit around my kitchen table. It was such a great mixed group. I love it when you can make new friendships by meeting with other women this way. I had some college friends, some neighborhood friends, and some who are just friends….and it was wonderful. We always start out very dignified. The person who brought the wine would read the bottle and explain the type of wine it was…then we’d have a little taste. This was great for a little while but soon everyone is carrying on and drinking which ever wine was their favorite! Wine club is a great gossip fest!

I figured I would share our tasting! It turns out that there seems to be one main brand of wine from Chile that is sold in the local liquor stores, because we had 3 bottles (all different kinds) from the same winery!

Our Wines

1. Anakena Souvignon Blanc: 2008 Vendimia Chile: Crisp Gooseberries and wild blossom. This one was a favorite. it was light and crisp and very fruity. Also, very refreshing.
2. Anakena Ona: 35% Viognier, 35% Riesling, 30% Chardonnay. This one was tasty also. It was less sweet than the first one but still crisp.
3. Frontera: Conchay y Toro: Chardonnay. This one was very dry.
4. Big Tatto Red: 50%Cabernet 50%Syrah: 2006 Colchagua Valley: This one had an interesting story. There is a breast cancer ribbon that hangs from the bottle. The story is that this vineyard was started by two brothers whose mom died of breast cancer. Therefore, 50 Cents of each bottle sold is donated to charity. It wasn’t the best tasting (although I don’t discriminate), but it’s still a good cause!
5.  Anakena Cabernet: Chile: Full bodied bursting with fruit. Blackberry, vanilla. This one was a hit! You could really taste the flavor of this wine.

The winner of the white category was the Anakena Souvignon Blanc, and the winner of the red category was the Anakena Cabernet. Overall the winner was the Souvignon Blanc! It is definitely worth the buy and would be perfect for sipping on the porch on a nice summer evening.

It was a little tough to get started this morning after the previous night’s festivities. I must make a mental note for next month: Drink Less Wine at Wine Club!

So here is a little fun challenge…run out to your liquor store, buy any of the wines mentioned and give me your take on it! All were tasty so you won’t be disappointed!

Starting a Wine Club

We decided that one person would be the hostess and provide little munchies for us, and would choose an area of the world that we would feature each month. This month our hostess chose Italy (because that’s where she’ll be going on her honeymoon). For our group we chose to have 5 bottles of wine. We did 3 white and 2 red in which people volunteered to buy. We left it up to the individual which wine to buy.

I must say the night was a success! We had quality girl time and wine…what more could we ask for!? After each tasting we discussed what we liked about the wine, and after trying all the whites, then all the reds we chose a favorite of each. For the whites the favorite was one that was not labeled as any particular type of wine (i.e. pinogrigio, chardonnay). The group decided it tasted like a sauvignon blanc (yes our palettes are very refined). The red favorite was a funny story. One of the ladies had her husband pick up the bottle and did not inform him of our price range. He bought a rather expensive bottle, and as it turns out it unanimously was victorious! I normally would be the first to say price doesn’t matter when it comes to wines, but this one was very rich and tasty! In the future we are going to keep a wine journal and I can share the names of the winning bottles. This time, we just winged it!

In the future I hope we can bring the idea of wine club* even further. I figure some months we can meet at a restaurant/bar and try wines there, or in summer since we live near Long Island wine country we can take a bit of a field trip out there to go tasting. I really think that this idea will work…at least I hope so!

So what do you do with your girlfriends? What excuses do you use to gossip? Isn’t that what girl friends are for?