Rosé – Stone Ash Vineyard

Our wine tonight is the Rosé from Stone Ash Vineyard.

Vintage 2019

Provence style.

Rosé of Cabernet Franc

Harvested fruit cold soaked for 12 hours and processed with a cool fermentation.

Crest of the Blue Ridge AVA (Hendersonville, N.C.)

Light salmon in color.

Nose of ripe melon, gooseberry, citrus, and flint.

Dry with tropical fruit notes on the front palate, pink grapefruit, red currant, with floral notes of daffodils and jasmine. Finishing notes of cold brew, almonds, and cocoa.

14.4% ABV

$24 a bottle.

Winery Escapades scores at 85 points.

August 27, 2020 0

Classic Rosé 2018 – Chateau Pigoudet

Our wine tonight is the Classic Rosé 2018 from Chateau Pigoudet located in the mountains of Provence, extreme Northeast quadrant of Coteaux d’ Aix.

Vintage 2018

Blend of 35% Grenache, 35% Cinsault, 15% Cabernet, 10% Syrah, and 5% Ugni Blanc.

Pale copper in color. Strawberry, citrus, and hints of mineral on the nose. Crisp with a medium-light mouthfeel, exceptional structure and balanced acidity. Dry on the palate with notes of green melons, peaches and cream, apricots, orange zest, tangerine, and lemon-lime.

A classic Provence Rosé true to it’s terroir.

13% ABV

A really good affordable Provence Rosé Wine.

Pair with a nice Charcuterie plate.

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May 20, 2020 0

Baby Doll Legs – The Cottage Winery

Our wine tonight is the Baby Doll Legs from The Cottage Vineyard and Winery in Cleveland, Georgia.

Rosé of Blanc du Bois

Blanc du Bois is a Hybrid grape cultivar developed at the University of Florida.

Blanc du Bois wines can be difficult to achieve a commercially acceptable clarity and is therefore often used in blends. We suspect this wine was lightly blended with small percentages of estate grown Syrah and Merlot.

Non-vintage.

Brownish orange in color. Shows long thick legs legs more expected of a red wine.

Aromas of pink lemonade, orange, lemon zest, and honeysuckle.

Semi-sweet with a moderate mouthfeel, notes of citrus explode prominently on the palate, pink grapefruit, orange, tangerine, pink lemonade, and finishing with a subtle woodsy tone and hints of vanilla ice cream and can pears.

13% ABV

Produced under the consultation of iconic North Georgia winemaker Joe Smith. Nathan Beasley is the assistant winemaker learning as an apprentice under Joe’s tutelage.

The Cottage Vineyard and Winery sits atop a North Georgia mountain offering stunning views.

April 30, 2020 0

Bearly Sweet Rosé – Serenity Cellars

Our wine tonight is the Bearly Sweet Rosé from Serenity Cellars in North Georgia.

Blend of estate grown Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon combined with Traminette.

Vintage 2019.

Nose of strawberries, freshly sliced strawberries! A little cinnamon, tart cherries, cedar, and spice.

Light copper in color with orange hues.

Semi-sweet and medium bodied on the palate with notes of strawberries, raspberries, sweet cherries, and cloves, and most definitely cream soda on the finish with hints of blood orange.

Labeled as table wine with no ABV. Therefore by law this wine can range between 7 and 14 percent ABV. We estimate approximately 11% ABV.

$25 a bottle.

Owner and Winemaker Joe Smith is one of the more established winemakers in the North Georgia wine region. Joe continues to assist as the winemaker for several other North Georgia wineries. He is well respected in the region and has up and coming winemakers learning as apprentice under his tutelage.

April 14, 2020 0

Red Clay Rosé – Wellborn Winery

Our wine tonight is the Red Clay Rosé from Wellborn Winery in Travelers Rest, South Carolina.

Cranberry in color with a light peach colored rim.

Blend of Catawba, Concord, Noble Muscadine, and Zinfandel.

Shows consistent long cascading legs.

Nose of cranberries, red apples, red plum, cherries, rose petals, white pepper, and boysenberry jam.

Off dry with a light-medium mouth feel. Flavor notes of raspberries , blackberries, cranberries, cherries, raisins, and a finish reminiscent of fig preserves.

A really nice easy drinking wine, we paired with a light Asian meal of chicken, vegetables, and fried rice.

12% ABV.

Wellborn Winery has racked up the wine rewards

April 12, 2020 0

Two New Rosé ~ Parker-Binns Vineyard

Our wine tonight…well yesterday….was two new Rosé releases from Parker-Binns Vineyard in the Tryon Foothills wine region.

These two are both new releases.

The Rosé Wine is a new release of Parker-Binns traditional rosé.

The Loco Lulu Rosé is the first release.

Both are produced from a blend of estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot.

Similarly each Rosé was produced from the pressed top run off of each varietal in saignée style.

How each was handled from that point is what makes them different.

The Parker Binns Rosé Wine is produced more in the traditional Provence style.

The Lolo Lulu Rosé was produced with longer skin contact and back sweetened to off dry.

Both are expressively fruit forward on the nose and palate.

The Rosé is salmon in color while the Loco Lulu a very light pinkish hue.

Parker Binns Rosé Wine is 13% ABV

Loco Lulu Rosé ~ 12.5% ABV

We thoroughly enjoyed both, with Jenni slightly preferring the Loco Lulu Rosé and Dennis leaning more toward the dryer PB Rosé Wine.

Winemaker Justin Taylor has hit it out of the ballpark with these two releases.

We rated both as gold medal worthy.

Parker-Binns Rosé Wine ~ 92 points

Loco Lulu Rosé ~ 91 points

April 7, 2020 0

Rosé – Mountain Brook Vineyards

Our wine tonight is the Rosé from Mountain Brook Vineyards in Tryon, North Carolina.

Vintage 2018.

Rosé of Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat.

Grapes harvested of the Yadkin Valley AVA.

Fermented and aged in stainless steel.

Salmon in color.

Bouquet of strawberries, cherries, cranberries, and spice.

Dry, crisp, medium bodied with subtle tannins.

Notes of cranberries, crabapples, raspberries, orange blossom honey, pomegranate, early season honeydew melons, and a delicate mineral finish.

12.5% ABV.

$23 a bottle.

Ships most states via VinoShipper.

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#NCWine. #YadkinValley #TryonFoithills

February 28, 2020 0

King’s Mountain Rosé – Overmountain Vineyards

Our wine tonight is the King’s Mountain Rosé from Overmountain Vineyards in Tryon, North Carolina.

Fermented of 100% Merlot grape.

Vintage 2017.

The 2017 growing season in the Tryon Foothills was challenging with overly excessive rainfall.

Gorgeous color of light rust or red-orange.

Fruity nose, hints of strawberries, raspberries, honeydew melons, and rose petals.

Crisp on the palate, with big citrus notes, hints of pink grapefruit, cranberry, tangerine, and lime, fading to a dry creamy finish.

13% ABV

$23 a bottle.

February 12, 2020 0

Wines of 2019

While scrolling back through our pictures of 2019, found some really interesting wines which we never wrote about. Our goal remains to promote locally produced, yet certainly that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy other wines from around the world. In fact, we feel tasting other wines from around the globe helps us to understand, judge, and appreciate locally produced wines.

We go regularly to our local wine bar, Bond Street Wines in Spartanburg, South Carolina where proprietor Jeff House shares and teaches about unique wines from around the word. Jeff is one of the most knowledgeable wine people we have encountered. He has a penchant for sharing unique, small batch, affordable and amazing wines with interesting back stories.A tasting at the wine bar generally consist of whites and reds which normally share a general characteristic, such region, varietal, or wine maker.

This one, vinhas Atlas, while a nice fruit forward flavor, was crystal clear, not sure that’s a good thing though….it’s wine not water.

This mead we tried at Savannah Bee Company in Myrtle Beach. Our niece gifted us this rosé in a lighthouse shaped bottle.

The tastings often include Whites and Rosé

Pinot Nero is Jenni’s “regular” at our favorite local Italian restaurant, Renato’s downtown Spartanburg. Pinot Noir fermented without skin contact to produce a full bodied white!

A nicely aged bold red likewise makes us smile!

Wine is such a great field to study. There exist so many different varietals and different wine regions along with different wine making techniques. There is really only one way to learn, and that is to drink it! Cheers!