Wine Class Tastings

To help further my wine knowledge I enrolled in a local class for professionals in the wine trade. We meet weekly for about three hours refining our tasting skills as well as overall wine knowledge. This week we tasted the following wine to get into practice of paying attention to the wine:

Red Diamond Zinfandel, NV: A cheap Zinfandel that isn't a bad value (hey, what do you expect for something that typically runs less than $7 a bottle?). Somewhat lighter in color than I expected, the color bleeds out to the meniscus to a very, very faint rosewookd. Slightly dull garnet in color. The nose is clean, light/medium fruit and spice (sweet spices, touch of clove perhaps). The wine is dry with medium acidity and tannins, flavors of sour cherry, red currant and touch of peppery cedar providing a medium finish. Didn't knock me out but a good wine for the price.

Martin Fierro Malbec "San Juan", 2007: An Argentinian Malbec. Clear, medium intensity purple with a larger core and very clear meniscus (indicative of a younger wine). The nose is clean, a pretty blend of floral and cherry with just a touch of chocolate. The palate comes off dry with medium acidity and tannins but runs a little hot (alcohol) with an interesting undercurrent of burnt caramel. Somewhat short finish.

BV Georges de Latour Private Reserve 2004: A lovely Cabernet Sauvignon with a fantastic heritage. This is THE classic, original "Reserve" California wine. The appearance is clear, deep, opaque, strong color all the way out to the meniscus. On the nose a lovely complex layering of cassis, licorice, cedar, smoke, chocolate and just at touch of green pepper. The full-bodied wine has a great balance of acid, tannin, black fruits, spice, mocha that all comes together to give a medium-long finish. Lovely.

Argiolas Costera 2007: Interesting, a wine from Sardinia made from 100% Cannonau grown. The appearance is slightly dull with a deep, deep color at the core. The nose is clean with a medium intensity of black cherries, pepper, and a hint of clove, quite nice. The palate is dry, pretty good balance of acid and tannins with nice ripe fruit and spice. I would definitely see this as a good pairing with grilled steak or even a nice tomato and sausage pasta.

Number of wines reviewed in 2010: 54