Welcome to my wine blog. The Wooster Inn has the privilege of hosting winemakers from all over the world and this blog was actually the idea of Hunter Vogel, the owner of KitFox winery. He remarked that I tasted so many wines and am always looking for the best deals. This blog would be a way for you to learn about the latest, greatest buys.
Before I talk about any wines, I want you to understand my biases: I am a new world wine guy. That means that I prefer wines that are produced outside of Europe. Consequently you won’t find me talking about many French, Spanish, or Italian wines. We do have them at the Inn, but I find New World wines to be more food-friendly since they are generally lighter and fruitier. Some might think me strange, but I like wines to have fruit characteristics since they are made from fruit!
Many wine people marvel at the deep, dark, earthy flavors that are more common among European red wines. These types of wines are just not my favorite.
All of the wines that I will talk about on this site are available for purchase through the Inn at state minimum pricing. We also give a 10% discount on the purchase of 12 bottles (case).
SeaGlass Riesling 2010 (Monterey, California) ($15) – Generally speaking, Riesling has a tough time growing in sunny, warm California climates. After all the grape ancestors hail from the cool mountain regions of the German and French borders. Fortunately the SeaGlass vineyards benefit from direct Pacific winds that keep the coastal vineyards cool. Riesling is a great wine that pairs well with most lighter foods. Producing Riesling requires cold fermentation so that the wine maintains its crisp qualities. Although this is a dry wine, Riesling always has some residual sugar to balance the high acidity of the grape.
A to Z Chardonnay 2008 (Oregon) ($15) – Oregon is a great wine production region. In fact some of my favorite Pinot Noirs come from the state. Besides Pinot Noir, the state is known for Pinot Gris (the French style of Pinot Grigio). The state is not known for chardonnay, but here we have one. Chardonnay prefers warmer climates but, as some speculate, global warming is moving grape growing regions north. I am not sure of the science there, but this is an extraordinary chardonnay. The cooler growing climate allows the grapes to ripen slowly and develop their fruity flavors. Unlike most chardonnays, this one is never aged in oak so you can really taste the fruit quality of the chardonnay grape.
R8 Wine Company Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 (California) ($12) – The R8 Wine Company is based in Sonoma, California but the label does not designate the wine as being from that county. When a wine is simply labeled “California” it means that the grapes are sourced from a variety of regions within the state. The French believe in the concept of “terroir,” which means that each vineyard imparts particular qualities to a grape since each plot of land has qualities that differ from any other space on the planet. Although the production region (Napa, Sonoma, Russian River, etc.) is important to the tastes that show up in the bottle, the blending of grapes from various vineyards brings more layers of flavor to the wine. There is one other great benefit to this general sourcing of grapes: the wine is generally less expensive and a great buy.
