I Spy...

This is a cross post from my blog Wannabe Wino. This wine received an 89 from the Wine Spectator.

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Spy Valley Winery.

With my little eye a wine that's an excellent buy! (Oh, and I rhyme too!) I first came across Spy Valley wines at the 2008 Wine Blogger Conference (woohoo, only 18 days until I meet up with my wine blog friends again!) and then had a chance to try them again at the New Zealand Winemakers' Tasting in Dc. Folks from the winery contacted me and offered to send along a more complete sampling of their offerings, so I will have 5 wines to bring you over the next weeks! We first tried the 2008 Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc. It clocked in at 13% alcohol by volume, had a screw cap closure, and retails for as low as $12 on the internet.

On the nose I found lime, grapefruit, citrus, crushed stone, lemon, and tropical undertones. The nose smelled like a wine that would be tart and crisp, and the mouth did not disappoint! In the mouth I got grapefruit, lime, almost a hint of green apple, tart citrus, passion fruit, and an herbal quality. I found the wine to be really tart, extremely refreshing, and with great acidity and structure. We drank it with grilled pork chops and corn on the cob, sitting on our back patio enjoying a lovely evening.

This is a cross post from my blog, Wannabe Wino. This wine earned an 89 from the Wine Advocate. Since we're still talking about it days later, at $13, it's a fantastic value...and scoop it up for the QPR! Thanks for the 89 Wine Advocate, it's probably keeping the price lower!

Red wine is multiplying and having babies in my basement. We used to have just slightly more red wine than white wine down there....the red lived in 9 wine racks and the white lived in one old wine rack and 7 styrafoam shipper halves. Now, the red wine takes up the original 9 racks, plus the old rack, and more than 4 of the styrafoam shippers. I'm not really sure how that happened, but I think I need to start collecting some more white wine. My selection is dismal at the moment. So that would explain why I'm quickly drinking the few whites I got in my Domaine547 shipment last week!

On our ski trip, we decided that fondue would make a great meal after a day on the mountain. However, when I packed to go, I realized I had absolutely no bone dry Riesling in the basement to take with us. (My usual choice with fondue.) So instead I grabbed the 2007 Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon Blanc that I bought from Domaine547 for $13. It clocked in at 12.5% alcohol by volume, had a plastic cork, and hails from France.

On the nose I found grassy aromas, citrus, hay, lemon, herbs, tropical notes, and star fruit. I also thought I detected a hint of wet stone. In the mouth I got flavors of lemon, fresh cut grass, herbs, pineapple, stones, minerals, and other tropical fruit. Overall, I found the wine to be light and refreshing, and it went fabulously well both in the fondue and with it. At $13, this is a great bargain...Matt is still talking about it days later!