my weapon is a wine key

I'm sorry I haven't written all week. I just decided to lay it low for a little while and disconnect from the world after all the events from Saturday. By the way, last Saturday was fun, except for a few key things. My phone decided to up and crash on me right after I posted that last post. Like, completely die. It had full battery, full bars, full everything and still it decided to completely die. Which meant all the pictures I had taken before were lost, and I couldn't take any more for the rest of the day. So I'm sorry, no pics from the wine tasting.
Afterwards, since I didn't have my phone, I couldn't call my boyfriend to pick me up. I called him a few times on my manager's phone, but he didn't answer. Deciding I couldn't wait, I decided to walk home. 12 blocks. I realize I probably should've waited, but it was one of those impatient "hell with the world" kind of things. Then I went to the Apple store, got my phone fixed and here we are. Not to mention the 7-page paper I had to write in 2 days. I wasn't really up for wine writing after all of that.
But alas, here we are. Luckily I have all my notes from the wine tasting in a cute little black book that I got for free from this company called Andy Boy that sells vinaigrettes and such. So I'm gonna go ahead and detail some of the wines I tasted (by the way, SWAG is awesome, I got so much free stuff, including 3 new wine glasses!). Here we go!

~ The first one was a 2008 Bernardus Sauvignon Blanc. The color was light and had more of a yellow tint to it. The nose had strong characteristics of banana, along with lime/lemon rind and heavy mineral notes. The mouth was sharp and acidic, with heavy minerals, bitter herbs and lime. The banana wasn't so much in the mouth as it was in the nose, which was surprising. Overall, I thought it was okay. Not Bernardus's strongest, but still drinkable.

~ I also tried a 2007 Mission Trail Sauvignon Blanc (I was kind of in a white wine fix that day, though I did try a few reds for variety). This wine smelled and tasted like cat pee with a little bit of pineapple. Yes, I know that's a distinguishing characteristic, but nothing else? Just cat pee? No thanks. I gave this one a Meh.

~ The next one was probably one of my favorite whites of the day. It was a 2008 Loredone Pinot Grigio. It was blended with 2% Muscato, and you could really tell if you were really looking for it. Though characterized as a dry P.G., I thought it had some sweet notes that were actually quite enjoyable. The nose had hints of mineral and limestone, and the mouth was drier with a hint of pear. Overall, I thought this wine was fun and easy to dry. Definite :).

~ The next white was a 2008 Marin's Vineyard Viogner. It had a sweet floral nose and had flavors of hyacinth and some light herbal notes ... but the finish was rather bitter. Kind of ruined the experience of the wine for me. I thought it was okay, but it would've been a lot better without the bitter finish.

~ The next one was fun. It was a non-vintage McIntyre 'L'homme qui ris' Sparkling Wine from Santa Lucia Highlands. In case you don't know, 'l'homme qui ris' means' The man who laughs' (which would've explained the clown on the label). This was a blend of 60% Pinot Noir grapes and 40% Chardonnay grapes, and it was a really fun sparkling to drink. It started off tart and finished with a little custard. I thought it was great and gave it a :) on my review.

~ The first red I tried was a 2007 J. Lohr Pinot Noir. I think this was the only :( I gave that day, because this wine was way too berry heavy. It had a warm smoky nose, but the flavor was way too strong of berries and, like, nothing else. Did not enjoy this wine, I'm sorry to say.

~ Next I tried the 2007 Otter Cove Syrah - this was a pre-release, and won't be out for a couple of months. The owner, Richard Oh, is an acquaintance and facebook-friend of mine as we often see each other at these shindigs (usually if I'm there, he's there, as he's a very motivated guy). The nose had hints of white pepper and cinnamon. You could smell the alcohol on the nose, which was a little alarming. The mouth had flavors of berry, chocolate and a little white pepper as well. Luckily when you tasted it the alcohol wasn't as noticeable. Overall, I thought this wine was all right. I much prefer his Oh Pinot Noir.

~ Next, out of pure curiosity, I tired the 2006 Chateau Julien Black Nova, a blend of 60% Zinfandel and 40% Syrah. It clocked in at a whopping 15.9% alcohol, yikes! The nose had hints of sweet peppers and black fruit, and the mouth was dry, with bell peppers and a floral/acidic finish. You could really taste the alcohol on this wine, which kind of ruined it for me. Sad to say, because the wine did had some interesting flavors to it. It was okay.

~ The next red was the 2004 Bernardus Marinus. I loved the 2002 (bought a couple before they sold out a few months ago) and wanted to see how the 2004 measured up. Not so much. The nose had strong notes of currant and coffee, with some blackberry and spice. The mouth tasted strongly of black pepper and blackberry with a tannic finish. It tasted rather young, which was surprising, since it was a 2004. It was okay.

~ Next I tried two reds from Pierre Ranch. The first was a 2006 Tempranillo, which had flavors of sharp red cherries. He had just opened the bottle and it was pretty obvious, as the nose had hints of barnyard (what?). He told me it needed to open a bit and I totally agreed. Next I tried the 2005 Vinho Doce Port. Let me just put it this way: TOO MUCH BLACK LICORICE! Oh my gosh this was way too strong of black licorice. If that's your thing, more power to you, but I can't stand black licorice. Gave this a :(.

~ Having to get the taste of that Port out of my mouth, I finished the day with a 2007 Scheid Grenache, which was a blend of 90% Grenache and 10% Syrah. The nose had hints of cream and caramel, with noticeable alcohol as well as black cherry and vanilla. The mouth tasted strongly of black berry, vanilla and had a sweet/acidic finish. This wine was all right, but was a little too fruity and sweet.

So ... TA DA! Those were the wines I tasted. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did (well, some of them anyway). Much like with anywhere else in the wine producing world, you're gonna find only a few pieces of gold in the river. Everything else is just gonna be a bunch of rocks. Not that rocks are bad ... they're just not gold :). Hope you're having a fantastic day.