Tasting #23 (02/10/12) ~ Pizza Man Tribute

Hosted by: Jason & Andrea (Greenfield)

Attended by (14): Jason, Andrea, Mike, Jen, Debby, Dan, Tad, Tiffany, Kris, Sarah, Andy, Kim, Doug, Lori.

Not Attending (7): Rich, Jon, Abbey, Mark, Cindy, Steve, Barb

Tastes:

1) Side Garden Salad (Debby) & 2009 Estancia Pinot Grigio (Jason & Andrea)

2) Thai Pizza (Kris & Sarah) & white wine (Tiffany)

3) French Onion Soup & Stone's Throw Rosso (Jason & Andrea)

4) Tomato, Basil & Cheese Garlic Bread (Kim & Andy) & 2007 Tandem Peloton (Dan & Tad)

5) Stuffed Shells (Mike & Jen) & Concannon Select Vineyard Pinot Noir (Doug & Lori)

6) Cannoli (Dan & Tad)

Tasting #22 (01/13/12) ~ Go To Favorites

Hosted by: Mike & Jen

Attended by (15): Mike, Jen, Jason, Andrea, Debby, Dan, Tad, Mark, Tiffany, Kris, Sarah, Doug, Lori, Steve, Barb

Theme: Thought up by Mike & Jen. "Bring your favorite go-to wine. Doesn’t matter the price, brand, varietal, etc. Since we do have a larger group for this tasting, please bring 2 bottles of your wine so everyone can get a 1.5 oz taste. If you like, bring info on it and maybe a couple of words why this is your go-to...no problem if you don’t. If you want to bring an app to pair with your wine, that is fine too."

Number of wines tasted: 8

WINE #
* Brought by: Debby
* Winery: Markus Molitor (Zeltinger Himmelreich plot)
* Grape: Spatlese (late harvest, fully ripe grapes) Reisling
* Region: Germany, Mosel Region (3rd largest by production, leading by Int'l prestige)
* Vintage: 2007
* Alcohol %: 7.5%
* Price: $10 to $16
* Purchased: Discount Liquor (51st & Oklahoma)
* Paired: Jambalya
* Description: Offers bold scents of wet stone, pineapple & melon, turning honeyed & tropical on the palate. It's sweet & lush, perfect for near-term consumption with mildly spicy Asian cuisine.

WINE #
* Brought by: Mike & Jen
* Winery: Kim Crawford
* Grape: Sauvignon Blanc
* Region: New Zealand, South Island
* Vintage: 2011
* Alcohol %: 13.5%
* Price: $15
* Purchased: Sendik's, New Berlin
* Paired: Chicken & mushroom risotto
* Description: Pale green color, finish is fresh & zesty, hints of pineapple & stonefruit & herbs, will develop over time

WINE #
* Brought by: Jason & Andrea
* Winery: Michel Picard
* Grape: Grenache (75%), Syrah (25%)
* Region: France, Cotes du Rhone region
* Vintage: ?
* Alcohol %: 13.0%
* Price: $10
* Purchased: Thief Wine (also available at Sendik's)
* Paired: not paired intentionally, but combines well with meats in sauce or grilled lamb chops served at room temperature.
* Description: From website - "... is cherry red in color & has a nose of matured red & black fruits (blackcurrent, morello cherry) and soft spices. The grapes are harvested mechanically & matured in stainless steel tanks." From Andrea - "This is a great, accessible wine to drink on its own, or with a meal. It's a light & earthy wine, but also warm fruit notes. And, the bottle has a screw top, so it's great to enjoy on the road."

WINE #
* Brought by: Mark
* Winery: Las Rocas (Bodegas San Alejandro, BSA)
* Grape: Grenacha (100%), known as Grenache in US & France
* Region: Spain (55 miles north of Madrid in the province of Zaragoza. The Calatayud DO includes 14,000 acres of vineyard in 46 small towns. Most of the vines rest at altitues of 2,500 to 3,500 feet above sea level, on diverse soils ranging from chalk to limestone, to clay & marl.)
* Vintage: 2008
* Alcohol %: 14.5%
* Price: $10
* Purchased: Thief & Ray's
* Paired: Guac & Torilla chips, but probably best with something from the Tex-Mex or perhaps something tomato-based like chili
* Description: Fruity nose, black cherry, earthy, spice-pepper, oaked less than a year

WINE #
* Brought by: Doug & Lori
* Winery:
* Grape: Merlot
* Region:
* Vintage:
* Alcohol %:
* Price:
* Purchased:
* Paired:
* Description:

WINE #
* Brought by: Tiffany
* Winery:
* Grape:
* Region:
* Vintage:
* Alcohol %:
* Price:
* Purchased:
* Paired:
* Description:

WINE #
* Brought by: Dan & Tad
* Winery:
* Grape:
* Region:
* Vintage:
* Alcohol %:
* Price:
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* Description:

WINE #
* Brought by: Steve & Barb
* Winery:
* Grape:
* Region:
* Vintage:
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* Description:

Tasting #21 (12/18/11) - Thief Wine

Hosted by: Jason & Andrea
Location: Thief Wine, Milwaukee Public Market
Theme: Wines that are appropriate for the end of the year
Attended by: Jason, Andrea, Mike, Jen, Rich, Debby, Kim, Andy, Tiffany, Mark, Cindy, Lisa, Jason B, Barb, Doug

Tasting list to be updated soon...

FUTURE TASTINGS

Wine Tastings will be the 2nd Friday of the month in most cases. Current exceptions are SEP'12 & OCT'12...

2012

> May - Fri 05/11/12 - Rich/Debby (West Allis)

> Jun - Fri 06/08/12 - Mark/Cindy (Tosa)

> Jul - Fri 07/13/12 - Dan/Tad (TBD)

> Aug - Fri 08/17/12 - Tiffany? (need to discuss)

> Sep - Sat 09/15/12 - Kris/Sarah (So. Milw)

> Oct - Sat 10/13/12 - Rich/Debby (West Allis)

> Nov - Fri 11/09/12 -

> Dec - Fri 12/14/12 -

Quick Recap of first 20 tastings

01 - WED - 07/01/09 - Jay/Andrea - 1st - Favorites (in)
02 - WED - 08/05/09 - Jay/Andrea - 2nd - Italian (in)
03 - WED - 09/02/09 - Rich/Debby - 1st - Grill pairings (out)
04 - WED - 10/07/09 - Mark/Cindy - 1st - Fall Beers (in)
05 - WED - 11/04/09 - Mike/Jen - 1st - old v. new world (in)
06 - WED - 12/02/09 - Jay/Andrea - 3rd - blind tasting (in)
X - JAN'10
07 - WED - 02/03/10 - Rich/Debby - 2nd - mardi gras (in)
08 - WED - 03/03/10 - Mike/Jen - 2nd - Asian pairings (in)
09 - WED - 04/14/10 - Jason - Vino 100 Tasting (road)
10 - WED - 05/12/10 - Mark/Cindy - 2nd - Spanish (in)
11 - WED - 06/02/10 - Mike/Jen - 3rd - picnic/twist-off (in)
12 - WED - 07/07/10 - Dan/Tad - 1st - champagne (in)
13 - WED - 08/04/10 - Tom/Jan - 1st - grilled kabobs (OUT)
X - SEP'10
X - SAT - 10/02/10 - Rich/Debby - Chili Dump
X - NOV'10
X - DEC'10
X - JAN'11
X - FEB'11
14 - FRI - 03/04/11 - Rich/Debby - 3rd - March Madness (in)
15 - FRI - 04/01/11 - Jay/Andrea - 4th - April Fools (in)
16 - FRI - 05/06/11 - Kris/Sarah - 1st - Blind Aerator (in)
17 - FRI - 06/03/11 - Mark/Cindy - 3rd - Patio Pounders (out)
18 - SAT- 07/09/11 - Dan/Tad - Cedar Creek (road)
19 - FRI - 08/05/11 - Tom/Jan - 2nd - Tuscan (out)
20 - FRI - 09/02/11 - Mike/Jen - 4th - Blends (out)
X - SAT - 10/15/11 - Rich/Debby - Chili Dump
X - NOV'11

Tasting #17 (06/03/11) ~ Patio Pounders

Hosted by: Mark & Cindy
Hosting #3 (others were Tasting #4 in Oct'09 [fall beers] and Tasting #10 in May'10 [Spanish blind tasting])

Attended by (11): Mark, Cindy, Jason, Andrea, Mike, Jen, Dan, Tad, Andy, Kim, Tiffany

Tastings (6):

* VINHO VERDE ALBARINO/WHITE BLEND
Region: Northern Portugal
Brought by: Mike & Jen
Purchase info:
Paired with:

* STONE'S THROW FIELD BLEND WHITE
[light bodied, smooth, easy drinking, perfect for warm nights]
Region: California (grown) / Wisconsin (made)
Brought by: Jason & Andrea
Purchase info:
Paired with: chicken salad puffs

* RED BLEND
[light/med body but with flavors of a deeper red]
Brought by: Dan & Tad
Purchase info:
Paired with:

* SHIRAZ
Brought by: Mark & Cindy
Purchase info:
Paired with: beef & veggie kabobs

* TBD
Brought by: Kim & Andy
Purchase info:
Paired with:

* TBD
Brought by: Tiffany
Purchase info:
Paired with:

Tasting #16 (05/06/11) ~ Spring is in the AER-rator

HOSTED by: Kris & Sarah

ATTENDED by (8 to 13): Kris, Sarah, Jason, Andrea, Rich, Debby, Dan, Tad... Tiffany? up to 4 others?

WINES/FOODS:

* Washington Gewurztraminer (2008 Columbia-Crest Two Vines, 11.5%) - paired with smoked salmon, muenster cheese & crackers (Rich/Debby)

* Pinot Noir - paired with crab rangoons (Kris/Sarah)

* French Bordeaux - (Dan/Tad)

* California Zinfandel (7 Deadly Zins, Michael David Winery, 15.0%) - paired with cocktail BBQ meatballs (Jason/Andrea)

MORE about the tasting (by Sarah): "It’ll be a bit of a blind tasting in that we will be trying each wine aerated and non-aerated to see if our taste buds can tell the difference. It’s kind of a myth-busting installment of Wine Club! For this tasting, we would prefer to have the majority of wines be red as aerating is primarily used on red wine. A few whites would be okay too, just to try and see if it does indeed make any difference, or to simply have after the tasting. Just a favorite of yours or something you’ve been wanting to try!"