Last night
Old York Cellars
hosted their January edition of the
Virtual Wines online tasting where consumers can
watch and/or participate in a tasting of two wines from one New Jersey's
oldest wineries. The winery encourages consumers to
participate at the winery, by hosting their own tasting party, or
follow along via the
Virtual Wines Livestream site,
Facebook, or
Twitter.
For me, I was fortunate to receive a complimentary sample.
The tasting was hosted by winemaker Scott Gares and sommelier Laurin Dorman and featured
two wines: the 2012 Vidal Blanc ($15) and Syrah
($18). And quite frankly, these were the two tastiest wines I've tried from the winery.
This webcast started with a discussion on the cold hardiness of Vidal - particularly its use in ice wines or late harvest styles; I learned that it is even grown in Sweden as an ice wine. But the Old York Cellars 2012 Vidal is bone dry - zero R.S.. On the nose and palette it displays a Sauvignon Blanc character of lemon citrus, followed by a nice refreshing acidic finish. Always enjoy sampling this French-American hybrid and this wine shows Vidal is enjoyable dry just as much as semi or sweet. Dorman suggests several food pairings with the Vidal which include goat cheese, triple creme, brie, feta, risotto, shellfish, pasta with cream, poultry, and Greek or Caesar salads.
The Syrah was made from 50% estate grown fruit, maturated on skins for 20 days and then treated in medium oak. The finished wine starts with a dark cherry almost black berry nose followed by a nice balance of dark cherry flavor and a tasty peppery spice that lingers in the finish. This finish is also soft - just enough tannins to maintain a chewy affect, but not enough to overshadow the delicious flavor. This is an old world styled wine; very impressed - nicely done. Dorman's food pairings include Gruyere and smoke cheddar, beef stew, brisket, grilled lamb, London broil, sausages, and salmon.
And it wouldn't be a Virtual Wines tasting without
Laurie's Chocolates -Madagascar Single Origin 65% and Hawaii Single Origin Milk Chocolate with Macadamia & Sea Salt. The latter was paired with the Vidal so that the wine's acids mingle with the chocolate's milk fat. The darker Madagascar chocolate was paired with the Syrah, adding a litter bitterness to the fruit and pepper flavors. Like I wrote previously, these were the two tastiest wines I've tried from the winery. I hope to be included in the May addition as they introduce their SF Competition Gold winning 2012 Merlot. Cheers.
This week I spent a couple snow covered days in Raleigh, North Carolina as a guest of Nomacorc,
the world's leading producer of synthetic corks. In between a factory
tour and seminars, I discovered that Raleigh has a decent beer culture
with a fair number of breweries located within city limits. Big Boss Brewing Company
is one I've encountered before and during lunches and dinners I was
able to sample their Hell's Belle Belgium ale, Bad Penny dark brown ale,
and Blanco Diablo Wit ale. All nailed their respective styles and were
quite pleasant.
On my last day I had a couple hours free and planned to walk to a few that were closest to the hotel. However, because of the snow storm two were closed(Natty Greene's Pub & Brewing Co and Crank Arm Brewing Company), so using theCompass mobile app I sloshed my way to Trophy Brewing Company, a 3 barrel nano brewery and pizza joint. The restaurant was lively with all bar seating taken - as were most tables. Finding a seat, I immediately noticed the shelves of sports trophies - donated by generous patrons.
I ordered a four beer sampler and soon was Casanova Export Stout, Best In Show “American Saison”, Slingshot Coffee Porter, and Loner Berliner Weisse. The later is a low abv wheat beer, brewed to be tart and sour with very little of hop bitterness. Their version was true to form, although it is also brewed with peaches and ginger and I really didn't pick up on those flavors. The Slingshot was true to its name with the coffee sourced from local Slingshot Coldbrew Coffee. I definitely enjoyed the inter-play of the chocolate and coffee in the palette. In a similar fashion, the Casanova had a nice balance between the chocolate roasted malt flavor and hop bitterness. However, once again I failed to notice the additives, this time the vanilla notes as described on the chalk board. My favorite of the four was the Best In Show - a very appropriately named farmhouse ale. From the citrus nose to the bitter tail, this beer was completely enjoyable - well done. Next time, I'll try the pizza and expand my visit to the other breweries. But when in Raleigh, pair any of these breweries with American Aquarium. Cheers 
