2009 TeSoAria Pinot Noir

B and I have gotten to the point where we've gone through our stock pile of 'cheaper' priced wine.  As usual, that makes me as happy as a clam in high tide because we can start uncorking the 'good stuff'. Tonight we had the pleasure of opening TeSoAria's '09 Pinot :-) For those of you who aren't familiar with my ravings of TeSoAria, the winery is located in the Umpqua Valley (Roseburg, OR).  WWW.tesoaria.com Now I'll be honest, B and I are TeSoAria wine club members, but its because we LOVE their wines. Okay, back to the Umpqua Valley... Pinots from this region tend to be bold sometimes spicy and anything but delicate. Here in the Willamette Valley pinots are prized for their subtle fruity flavors.  We are almost spoiled by the abundance of those types of pinots here (I know, life is hard).  When we first tasted pinot from the Umpqua Valley we were intrigued by the glaring differences between the two valleys. 

This pinot was one of the first bottles we purchased from TeSoAria :-)   We cellared* this bottle for a little while and are pleased we gave it just a bit more time.  We paired this Umpqua Valley pinot with BBQ chicken, homemade macaroni and salad. The following are my tasting notes from tonight...

AbV - 12.8%
Price - Not currently available for sale, but they do have their 2011 Pinot Noir available for sale
Color - Nice n light... Almost a light plum red/purple
Swirl - Fast forming (and running) long skinny legs
Smell - Leather, raspberries

Initial Tastes - burst of berry... Blueberry, raspberry
Mid Pallet - creamy raspberry, a whisper of spice
Finish - smokey with hints of vanilla

Overall, this pinot is very tasty and I am thankful we have one more bottle to enjoy. For those of you who might never get your hands on this pinot, I urge you to go out and try a varietal you enjoy, but from a different area/valley/region...  You might just discover something you like ;-)

Cheers and Good Night.

xoxo,

wine-o

* I use the term 'cellared' loosely. I do not have any fancy way to store my wine.  I just have a wooden wine rack and a moderately heated home.

2011 Paripaso Cabernet Sauvignon

2011 Paripaso Cabernet Sauvignon ... Another gem of a find from John's Market in Multnomah Village, Portland, OR. This Cab Sauv by Paripaso was bottled and cellared by Sweet Berry Wines www.sweetberrywines.com in Paso Robles, CA.  I just want to say really quickly that Paso Robles, CA makes my all time favorite Cabernet Sauvignons.  To this date I have not had a Cab Sauv from Paso Robles, CA that I haven't thought was the BEST Cab Sauv ever ... okay there is my two cents :)

For those of you who don't know, I LOVE LOVE Cab Sauvs. When I started seriously drinking red wine, I was drinking any and every Cab Sauv I could get my hands on.  I mean I drank $3.99 bottles form Trader Joe's, I drank $7.99 bottles from 7-11 and I even would splurge and drink $11.99 bottles from Fred Meyer. The more I drank the more I wanted to explore different regions and better bottles.  All this 'discovery' certainly snow balled my love and interest in all wines.  I attribute my Cab Sauv guzzling days to my current passion for wine. Anyhow, back to this delightful bottle...

I opened and let the bottle sit for about 15 minutes before we poured our glasses.  I will say that the cork smelled like Heaven and I knew the bottle was going to be right up my alley just from smelling the cork.

The 2011 Paripaso Cabernet Sauvignon is a very dark garnet color almost black in some light.  The wine in the glass smells of tobacco, leather and black cherry.  I swear there is a faint hint of vanilla, but B doesn't think so.  The swirl test produces lethargic forming, long, skinny legs with large bauble like droplets. First taste is hard to pin down, its really just a subtle sweet melange of a different berries. All of the sudden the berry flavors peel away to reveal velvety boysenberry mid pallet, and then BOOM a bold leathery currant flavor followed by a subtle dry finish.

I immediately wanted to open a second bottle of this stuff just so that I could continue to enjoy all of the flavors (I didn't drink the whole bottle to myself, I only had two glasses; B helped me finish the bottle). Needless to say I thoroughly enjoyed this bottle. I fully plan on raiding John's Market for as many bottles I can get my digits on :)

Peace, Love & Wine,
KEGW

2010 Behemoth Red Wine

I tried the 2010 Behemoth Red from Portland Wine Company (bottled in McMinville, OR) the day after B opened it.  This was another bottle from John's Market (in Multnomah Village) and at $12.99 a bottle, seems to be a great deal.  This bottle is 13.9% AbV and is a blend of grapes from both Oregon and Washington...which is why there are so many bold flavors in this 750mL carafe of red wine heaven.

As I said, B opened the 2010 Behemoth a day before I actually tried it.  He said it was a great bottle overall with big and bold flavors, and it did not have to be aerated. He tried some with me (day 2) and said it opened well and would be a great one to keep around the house.  The following are my second day tasting notes:

Super thin, very fast legs
Dark burgundy in color
Smell - cocoa, black cherry, vanilla with a hint of cinnamon 
Initial taste - smooth creamy blackberry 
Mid pallet - juicy berry 
Finish - vanilla and tobacco

I can see how (without letting this sit for 24 hours) this would be a drier finishing wine.  I will say, that day two, this wine is a great red blend. The 2010 Behemoth Red Wine would be a perfect bottle to open for a casual dinner party. I will be buying a couple of more bottles to enjoy.  I am excited to try it on the day it is opened, and will make a quick post about my tasting notes on the day of :)

Until next time...

xoxo,
KEGW