The Eldridge Hotel here in Lawrence holds a wine tasting every first Tuesday of the month. I've only been once before, and not only enjoyed myself but learned a lot. So Scotch man and I decided to go to the February tasting together last week.
Wine tastings make me goofy. It's just enough wine, especially before dinner, to go straight to my head. We did attempt to be serious wine connoisseurs for the first few glasses, at least. I'm afraid I dissolved into silliness by the fifth.
We began with the Willow Crest Pinot Gris. I'm not a huge fan of white, but this one wasn't too bad. The description told us that it "bursts with lovely citrus and pear fruit with just a touch of earth." At the very beginning of each sip, we did definitely taste the citrus, and the pear was more of an aftertaste. Neither of us could figure out what earth was supposed to taste like, so I'm not sure if it actually had a touch of earth or not. I did notice a slightly earthy aroma when breathing through the nose, so maybe that's what they were referring to?
Next was the Januik Riesling. White wine
is very sparkly and pretty, if a bit too sweet for my tastes nowadays. The description for this one said we should taste "pineapple and other tropical fruits, as well as peach and spice." We detected the scent of pineapple when smelling it, and we could definitely taste a peachy flavor. The spice part was more of an aftertaste. It was a very light, sunny wine that I think would have been good for a summer evening.
We transitioned into reds after that. The Barnard Griffin Syrah was next. I am becoming a big fan of the syrah these days. This claimed to taste of "dark berry and layered plum flavors with hints of pomegranate and black licorice." My handwriting starts to go down the drain here, so I think what I recall from this glass is that we definitely detected the licorice and plum. He wasn't sure what "dark berry" meant, but I am pretty sure I tasted it, whatever it is. I've never had pomegranate before, but he assures me he could taste that, as well.
At this point, we stopped looking at the descriptions before we tasted to see if we could guess. When the Novelty Hill Royal Slope Red was poured, I was convinced that I could smell caramel. What we actually smelled was what they described as vanilla. I also detected the "black cherry aromas and flavors" but not until after I read the description.
The last glass was our favorite grape, in the form of the Chateau Smith Cabernet Sauvignon. He looked at the description and made me guess, swearing I never would. I never would have. The description read "aromas of cigar box, pencil lead, cedar and currants with super refined tannins." Pencil lead? As an art major in college, he was familiar with the smell, but said he never would have associated it with wine. I think I was beyond tasting anything at this point, so I just giggled as he Googled what tannins were on his phone. I still don't think know what that means, although apparently nobody else really does either.
After we finished the Cab Sauv, we stumbled across the street to Free State Brewery for dinner. I ate heartily, and was still feeling silly even after we finished. So to be on the safe side, we enjoyed a coffee nightcap at Starbucks before heading home.
It was a great adventure and a fun evening. I hope we can do it again sometime.
Some of you may remember my trip to Davenport Orchards and Winery last year the weekend I went to pick grapes.
After we finished working, we went back to the tasting room and tried all of the different wines they had for tasting. The Scotch Man bought a bottle called Jazz Man, and I got one called Matrot - which is made with Norton grape, the same type of grape we were picking today.
