Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Wine Tasting ~ Gewurztraminer

So finally a wine tasting post! I have a few kinda mostly written... I should try to get them cleared out!

But this is November's Wine for the BakeSpace Wine Tasting Club.

I got to pick the November Wine and hoped that Gewurztraminer would be a wine that I actually liked. I'd heard that it was very similar to a Riesling and to date, that had been the only kind I actually liked.

Yay!! I chose well!!

I didn't really have a party for this wine tasting... just a last minute idea for a few friends to come over.

I planned to serve Spicy Curried Potato Pockets, Tandoori Chicken and Sweet Coconut Curry Rice. No one could make it for dinner... but I still had the Spicy Curried Potato Pockets to go with the wine. Jon and I did try the first wine with the Tandoori...


First up is the wine that I picked up.

Name: Fetzer

Region: Valley Oaks, California

Price: $7.99 (on sale)

Year: 2008

PHOTO of bottle:
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Short intro from the wine maker about the wine:
"It’s often called gavurtz because it’s hard to say, and even harder to spell. This wine, though, is a secret weapon, great for taming spicy foods or sipping on its own. Enjoy the honeyed apricot and peach flavors in the glass, and breathe deeply to capture the aromas of rose petals and honeysuckle. Lots of people love this wine, even if they’ll never spell it. Just ask for gavurtz. We’ll know what you mean."

Review:
very clear yellow color
the cork smelled spicy... smells like wine...

Me ~ sweet, no squinchy face... not too sweet... Tandoori Chicken made the wine spicer... and it was sweeter after Sweet Coconut Curry Rice... burps fruity... kinda thick viscosity

Jon ~ sweet... goes well with Tandoori... burped peachy

(yeah... we're wicked classy)

Erin ~ smells winey... pretty good actually... peachy... fizziless champagne

Andrew ~ appley... same after... no aftertaste... would be nice used as liquid for fruit cocktail

Would you buy again?: Yes... I actually liked it one!

Wine Pairing Ideas/Recipes: It went very well with Spicy Curried Potato Pockets, Tandoori Chicken and Sweet Coconut Curry Rice. This is really the first wine I've had that I could really say, "Wow... this wine really 'goes' with this food!"

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Erin & Andrew brought this wine...

Name: Chateau Ste. Michelle

Region: Columbia Valley, Washington

Price: $10.99

Year: 2008

PHOTO of bottle:
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Short intro from the wine maker about the wine:
The magical combination of sun soil and water - the "terroir" of Washington state's world class growing region produces bright spicy Gewurztraminer grapes. A slow, cool fermentation preserves the wine's characteristic spice notes. Grapefruit and citrus flavors are lively on the palate in this refreshing medium-dry wine.

Review:
paler yellow than the Fetzer

Me ~ smells like wine... kinda squinchy face... sour sour apple... sweeter after Spicy Curried Potato Pocket.

Jon ~ smells like outside... sour-er... I don't mind sour... likes this one better... awful wine taste leftover... can taste grapefruit...

Erin ~ definitely wine... peachy... hitting the back of my mouth more... wants to suck on it, like hard candy... def taste grapefruit... loses sour after Spicy Curried Potato Pocket...

Andrew ~ more grape-y... like a snake-bite shooter... after burn like kerosene... 1st one was two sweet... this one is spicy like a peppercorn...

Would you buy again?: Probably not, not being a wine drinker... If I needed a Gewurztraminer... I'd choose the Fetzer.

Wine Pairing Ideas/Recipes: It went very well with Spicy Curried Potato Pockets, Tandoori Chicken and Sweet Coconut Curry Rice

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So Erin & I liked the Fetzer better and Jon & Andrew liked the Chateau Ste Michelle.

I was totally lame and didn't take any pictures at all this day! Ok... actually I did take pics of making the Tandoori... but totally spaced when we started wine tasting.

So these are our newest friends/wine-tasters... actually... they've been Jon's friends for a very long time... but I just really met them at Ericka & Drew's wedding a couple months ago. They are very cool and you can expect to see more of them!

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Aren't they cute??
(I stole that from Erin's facebook... shhh....)

And since I didn't take any pics that day... I just picked a picture of Jon and me that I like!
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That was us a few years ago in Amsterdam. =)

Have you joined the BakeSpace Wine Tasting Club yet?



What are you waiting for?

5 comments:

Patti T. said...

I learned to love this wine when we lived in Germany. I am trying to decide between the Gewurtztraminer and the Reisling for Thanksgiving. Tough decision.

NKP said...

This is one of my favourite whites too. Great pairing with your meal.
I should do some wine highlights too, Niagara region has some lovely wines.

The Cooking Photographer said...

How fun! I love wine tasting, and I love a good gewurztraminer with blue cheese.

Laura

tamilyn said...

I love Gewurtztraminer with turkey. I like it all the time! I like Fetzer but I also really like the Hogue too. Yum~

Unknown said...

I stiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiill have to pick up a bottle of this wine. I'm such a knucklehead. Actually I looked for it at my grocery store and they didn't have any so I have to got to BevMo. I think I'd really enjoy this wine too. Good job on picking the wine this month :)