After taking a Champagne class together, Val and I decided to add a wine review page to my site. Val and I love wine and especially Champagne. We often experiment with new wines and Champagnes, so we figured why not post what we like or dislike about them. Our reviews, however, will not be your typical wine review. We will probably never use terms such as "full bodied" or "opulent." We're going to keep these reviews as basic and real as possible. After all, this review page is really just another excuse to drink more wine!
I will update this page with the newer reviews as we write them at the top of the page. No need for extra scrolling!

Girls Night In Wine Tasting...A couple of Vouvrays and a Rose'

On January 28, 2005 we had another wintertime girls night in at my house, complete with roaring fire. While shopping for wine one day, I saw a sign under a rose' that said it was a wonderful wine to pair with salmon. Val and I love salmon, so I bought a bottle. So on this night, I cooked maple salmon with sauteed broccoli and paired it with the rose'. After dinner, we decided to taste and compare 2 Vouvrays. Vouvray is supposed to be very sweet, and loving sweet wine as much as we do, I thought it would be a nice change to try a whole new wine other than our favorite Riesling.

Rose' Languedoc Wine 2003, Chateau de Flaugergues (France) $8.99

According to their website, this wine is described as "A lively and fruity wine, full of freshness with aromas of the south of France, pleasant to drink on all occasions."

Val- It's bitter at first, then watery.

Missa- Oh god, this is GROSS!

Val- Now is the taste of a wine supposed to taste differently when paired with food?

Missa- Yes, yes it is.

Val- Well we'll have to set it aside and try it with the salmon. Its so weird! Its so bitter, but it just goes away.

Missa- Yeah, it doesn't turn sweet, it just fades away.

-Afterwards, along with the salmon-

Val- Let's see if it makes any difference.

Missa- No, no it doesn't. Not in the least. In fact, it taints the salmon! That's a shame. It's hard to find a good rose' these days.

Val- It really is.

Our general thoughts on this wine is that it is gross. What DOTS and Rainbow are to the world of retail fashion, this is to the world of rose' wines.

Val- Not bad

Missa- Not bad at all.

Val- Now this is more like it.

Missa- Yes. This is like a cross between Riesling and Chardonnay.

Val- Yes. It's got that tinge of Riesling sweetness, but not the full sweetness of a Riesling.

Missa- But it finishes off with a taste similar to Chardonnay.

Val- Yes. That's exactly it!

Vouvray is made from 100% chenin blanc. This is a very nice wine. Not quite a Riesling, but a good second option if Riesling isn't available.

Missa- Smells fruity and light

Val- Not a fan. But yet Im not sure if I'd like it better had I not tried the other Vouvray first. This alone, I think I might like it.

Missa- This is a little stronger. Same taste, but a little more powerful.

Val- These Vouvrays are definately a close second to Rieslings.

Missa- It has a sweeter beginning than the first one but a more Chardonnay-esqe ending than the first. The more I drink it the more I like it.

Val- Yeah, its not bad once I lost the taste of the first one. Now see, a white zin is a white zin, but this is getting into the nooks and crannies of white wines.

We agreed that Vouvray is a nice, tasty wine. Although we prefer Riesling over this any day, this would be the next option if Riesling wasn't available.

Random Tastings at Various Places

Ingredients: Perrier Jouet Grand Brut Champagne (France), Massenez Creme de Peche and cranberry juice.

Upon inhaling the aroma:

Val- Oh!!

Missa- Mmmm. Peachy. Ahhh!

---cleansing of the palette, then first taste---

Missa- Oh its FABULOUS!

Val- (eyes bugged out) My, my, my. How could we not like this? Its peach, its champagne, its fabulous!

Missa- What more can we say? Its like a bubbly peach.

Val- Its almost indescribable, that's how good it is. You must taste this to understand. For once, we're out of words!

Our general thoughts- It is absolutely scrumptious. It's the Maybach of Champagne cocktails!

Missa- Its not sweet, but not bitter. Kind of a neutral taste. Its almost kind of sour.

Val- If I had to lean towards anything, it'd be that.

Our general thoughts- Not bad. Wouldn't buy it by the bottle, but it will suffice until our Stoli Dolis arrive.

Girls Night In Wine Tasting...Various Rieslings

On January 8, 2005 we had a girls night in at my house. It was a perfect cold, snowy night to drink wine by a roaring fire, which is exactly what we did. Val and I began, then Stacey joined in, and finally Nikki joined in. If you haven't realized it yet, Val & my favorite wine is Riesling. We are on a personal quest to taste and review as many Rieslings as we can get our hands on. Below are the Rieslings we tasted that night.

The first three Rieslings we tasted all at once, meaning we each had three glasses, each filled with a different Riesling so we could go back and forth and compare. All three are made by the same producer. The only difference is in the picking of the grapes from the vine, which is represented by "Kabinett" and "Spatlese." By tasting all three at once, it was quite easy to see what the differences are in the picking of the grapes.

Easy on the palette!

Stacey- Tastes like flavored water, in a good way.

Missa- Do you know how much of this you could drink at a time?

Val- Yeah, I think that's why we like Riesling so much.

The general consensus is that this Riesling is quite good, very light, very easy on the palette. Fruity, but not intense.

Val- I don't like the smell of this. It smells like rubbing alcohol.

Stacey- Yes it does. I like the first one better. This leaves an aftertaste.

Missa- It has more flavor than the first one. I agree, compared to the first one this does smell like rubbing alcohol, but it doesn't taste like it.

The general thoughts on this Riesling is that we all like it the least out of the three. It isn't as light as the first, but isn't as fruity as the third. It isn't bad, but we'd only buy it again if the other two weren't available.

Stacey- I like this the best.

Missa & Val- Me too!

Missa- This is sweeter and has more flavor than the first two. It's fabulous! And at $10 a bottle? Sign me up for a case. A gross even!

We all agreed that we like this the best out of the three Schmitt Sohne Rieslings. It's fuller bodied, fruitier, and sweeter without being overpowering.

The next two Rieslings we tasted independently that same evening.

Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett 2003 (Germany; Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) $13.99

Missa- This is heaven in a glass! This is my favorite Riesling of any Riesling EVER! It is perfectly sweet and goes down with the greatest of ease.

Stacey- Mmmm...it is good. It's almost appley. It tastes fruity.

Nikki- It's really smoove.

Val- This is just good all around. I can't say anything negative about it.

This is a truly wonderful Riesling. This would be our first choice when ordering from a wine list or when buying at a liquor store. Great fruity flavors, wonderful aroma, pleasant aftertaste...it doesn't get much better than this.

Aromatic White Sampler - Legal Seafoods

On November 12, 2004 Val and I dined at Legal Seafoods. Legal's offers several different wine samplers for tasting and comparing. We opted to try the Aromatic White Sampler because it included 2 Rieslings.

Grape Varietal: Gruner Veltliner

Legal's Description(given by Legals): Lemon/lime and spice aromas, bone dry with floral and citrus flavors in its straightforward character.

Our comments: Smells like Dom. Tastes like Dom without the bubbles. Very light, almost bland. Not much "flava," cracka-esque and all that applies (dry, white, etc.)

Grape Varietal: Riesling

Legal's Description: A cascade of flavors of apple, pineapple, apricot and mineral. Off dry with intense acid.

Our comments:
Val- Tastes like rubbing alcohol, not that I know what rubbing alcohol tastes like, mind you. I do not like this at all. In fact, I like this the least of anything I've ever had, except Hennesey & Hypnotic!

Missa- A very dry Rielsing. Not to great. In fact, this is crap. Then again, with a name like "Dr. Loosen," what did we expect?

Grape Varietal: Riesling

Legal's Description: A complex array of pine forest, apple, lime, mineral aromas and flavors mingle in this fresh, racy white. It is balanced, steely and dry, with a long aftertaste.

Our comments:
Val- It's got a shallac taste to it, not that I know what shallac tastes like, mind you. These are horrible Rieslings! These give Rielsings a bad name in fact.

Missa- Not too great. Not that the taste of a pine forest appealed to me anyway. Thank god we already had 2 white sangrias. It makes this paint thinner palatable. Although after drinking this and then going back to the Dr. Loosen Riesling, the Dr. Loosen actually tasted much better.

Champagnes and Sparkling Wines  

The following are Champagnes we tasted and learned about at a Champagne class we took on November 8, 2004 starting from cheap, not so good kinds to more expensive, wonderful kinds.