Chatham Vineyards' Church Creek Vintner's Blend (2008)

This week's wine is by Chatham Vineyards out of Machipongo, VA.  Chatham Vineyards is located on the Eastern Shore and makes a variety of wines.

Today, we're trying their Church Creek Vintner's Blend, which is a mixture of Merlot (65% and my favorite), Cabernet Sauvignon (25%) and Pinot Noir (10%).  I don't usually like blended wines but I thought I'd give this a try since it's from a local Vineyard.

    

To me, a lover of red wines, this wine is a little on the light side. It is definitely not as full bodied as some Merlots.  The nose of the wine has very strong black cherry smells. To the taste, you will immediately taste a mouthful of fruit and then completely tannin. (Tannin is the woody taste). In my opinion, it’s very acidic and a tad bit on the bitter side. This wine would pair well with beef or venison. 

According to the website, the wine is  "a classic Bordeaux-style wine made from Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes barrel-aged in French oak. The blend was created from the vintner's choice of select barrels. The result is an elegant and well-integrated wine with good tannic structure and ripe fruit."

www.chathamvineyards.net 

Details

Appelation: Chatham Vineyards

Vintange: 2008

Grape: 65% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Pinot Noir

Cost: $30.00 a bottle

Bones of a wine review

Before you can read and get anything out of a wine review, it's important to know what they're actually talking about.

The basic terms you'll see in a review are:

1. Bouquet - this is the way it wine smells to you.  For example, does it smell fruity or nutty?  Do you smell more citrus than fruit?  Bouquet can be interchanged with nose or aroma.
2. Taste - this may seem simple but it is SO not!  This is where the slurping and gurgling part of wine tastings comes in.  The flavors of the wine can change from the time you take the first sip so it is important to sip and gurgle.  The pros do this trick of aerating the wine into the nasal cavity to make the flavors come out.  I don't recommend doing this as a beginner...the results may not be pretty!
3. Finish - this refers to any flavors that you may taste after you have swallowed the wine and how long the flavors last.

Most reviews are a lot more complicated but for the sake of your attention spans and my beginner's skill sets, I'll keep mine brief.  


Hope you enjoy!

Why do they spit???

Ok, I've always wondered why wine tasters spit out all that great wine they get to try!!  Holy cow, I'd love the chance to taste (and drink) the wines that they do.

It seems so unseemly to spit out all this expensive wine but after my class and doing some reading, I learned a thing or two.  If you are there to test wines, chances are you are going to taste at least ten different wines.  You don't want to get sloppy by the tenth wine you taste, right? You actually want to be able to taste it and give an honest opinion.

Which is why those snooty (or so we thought) wine tasters spit it out!

Stay tuned...I bought a couple of local wines from a vineyard in Virginia yesterday!  I'll be posting a review on one this weekend!

New directions...

Ok people...I've had a change in heart and direction for this little blog 'o mine.

I had the pleasure of taking a wine tasting mini-class (for dummies!) at the Total Wine store near my office last week.  (It's a passion my co-workers and I share, especially after we've had one of "those" days).

So, you ask, what does this mean for the blog?  Well, it's not going to be about nothing anymore!! Woohoo!!

My plan is to get a different bottle every week to taste and review for you and to give you little tips about how to be an educated wine aficionado and be able to drink it like a pro!

Let me know what your favorites are and I'll do a little taste test for 'ya (oh, my life is so hard!)

So, what I want to know is...To Drink or Not To Drink?  That is the ultimate wine question!

Grady pictures! :)

Here are some new photos of my little man.  Love him!!

PS. For anyone that's interested, I think I'm going to start a sale blog and eBay store.  Been going through my closet lately and noticed that I have a lot of things I've never even tried on (all still NWTs)...time to get rid of them and maybe re-coup some money!  If you like J.Crew or Ann Taylor Loft, that'll be the majority of what's posted.

NEW PUPPY!

Got to bring home my little man on Saturday.  He is a Brittany Spaniel and his name is Grady.

We picked him up from Troy, NY and unless you have been anywhere near Albany, you've probably never been there or even heard of it (yea, it was that exciting).  The trip took almost 14 hours and by the time I got on the Jersey Turnpike for the second time, I was ready to scream.  Having to spend that much time in the car with the family is so not what I had in mind for my Saturday but all turned out good.  

I have been super busy with all things puppy and have had zero time for me.  So ready for him to start sleeping through the night and to figure out that the first floor of the house is not his personal bathroom...

I'll put up more pics this week!