Some wines I enjoyed at the Charlotte Wine and Food Weekend

[wondersofwine]

This event took place May 8-10 but I haven't had the time to report about it. will have to do it in bits and pieces. The Vintners' Tasting was Saturday at 11:00 in a courtyard in uptown Charlotte. Many of the winemakers were there in person to pour and discuss their wines.

Some I enjoyed:

2006 Miner Chardonnay. Lightly oaked, half new French oak, 10 1/2 months inoak.
Miner Pinot Noir, French oak with spicy notes (pepper) on the finish.

2005 Vision Rosella's Vineyard. Pale garnet color, transparency. Chatted some with Mac MacDonald.

2006 Vision Cellars Rose' Table Wine--blend of Grenache and Syrah. Very pale color. Pleasant flavor of light summer berries. Vision Cellars also produces an Anderson Valley Pinot NOir and one from the Santa Lucia Highlands.

2006 Saintsbury Carneros Pinot Noir--garnet color, some transparency. Mellow cherry flavors.

2006 Mollydooker Two Left Feet (merlot) My only written comment was "nice" (Australia, Sparky and Sarah Marquis)

2006 Two Left Feet Shiraz-Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon blend Deep ruby color; quite an aroma, boysenberries, some sediment, must be non-filtered

2005 Patz and Hall Chardonnay. 35% French oak. Very food friendly and refreshing. Good for a summer sipper. Was pleased to find a few Cali Chards that weren't all tropical fruit or heavily oaked.

2005 Bouchaine Chardonnay Some of the grapes are from a 25-year-old blcok.
Bouchaine Pinot NOir--cool climate, San Pablo Bay at high elevation.

2003 Landmark Grand Detour Pinot Noir. (In 2006 or 2007 I went to a Landmark wine dinner and thought they had nice Pinot Noirs although a bit pricey.)

2004 Flora Springs Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Mellow tasting--almost like a Pinot NOir. Doesn't require aging. The 2005 will be released in June.

2005 Barnett Cabernet Sauvignon Purple-red, semi-opaque. Napa Valley near Pride Winery. In business since the 1980's. Smooth tasting with blackberries? on the palate. I liked this quite a lot.

2005 Long Shadows blend of Sangiovese (45%), Cabernet Sauvignon (35%) and Syrah (25%). That adds up to 105% so one is off by 5% but I don't know which one.

2003 Silver Oak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 80-85% C.S. Some Petit Verdot and possibly some Syrah? Smooth and delectable. Not as oaky as some opinions would lead you to expect.

2004 Aalto Ribero del Duero--nice red but at $50 retail tag I will spend my money elsewhere.

[dananne]

Was Mac wearing his overalls?

Anne and I love, love, love Vision Cellars. We've not had a Pinot from them yet (going back to '99) that hasn't fallen on our favorites list somewhere. I think we've got two or three left in the cellar for now. Will pop one soon.

We got a half case of the Saintsbury when we visited last summer. It'll be nice to have on hand this summer. I might have already posted on one, but as WW says, the memory's . . . well, you know the rest.

I've heard glowing reviews of wines coming out of the Long Shadows stable, but I've yet to get my hands on one.

Thanks, as always, for taking the time with the notes!

[wondersofwine]

Mac was wearing his overalls and his straw hat.

[hotwine]

You mean everybody doesn't wear overalls and a straw hat (and rubber boots)? That's my daily uniform. D had me leave 'em behind, though, when we went on the cruise last week. Can't imagine why...