Finally, time to sit and taste the wines from the Conway Family Wines! Feeling pretty cocky with my new Riedel stems freshly washed from last night's glassware class at LearnAboutWine.
First, full disclosure - These wines were sent to me by the winery, and the winery rep did treat JD and me to dinner the other night. It was very pleasant, and I do plan on helping Elizabeth put together an event for the winery somewhere in Burbank. So stay tuned for that, and for the special offer at the end of this blog!
2008 Deep Sea Chardonnay. 98% Chardonnay/2% Viognier. Clear, pale golden color. Swirling displays some pretty good legs; even in the huge Montrachet glass, the nose is a bit hot. Checked the bottle - the alcohol content is 15.2%, which seems high to me, even for California. However, the bouquet is full of bread, doughy not toasted. The mouth feel is oily - in a good way! This wine has gone thru full malolactic fermentation, so there's a softness to its texture. There's apple and almond toffee in the mouth; nicely balanced oak; you can still taste the fruit, and the finish is long and soft. I don't find this wine particularly crisp, but there is a nice floral quality to the finish which I attribute to the Viognier. I tried a bit of smoked Gouda with the wine, which seemed to push back the alcohol a bit. This is a well-made wine, although it's a bit too high in alcohol for my taste. $24
2008 Deep Sea RED. This is a California blend - 74.3% Syrah/13.5% Petit Sirah/5.8% Lagrein/3.7% Merlot/2.6% Mourvèdre. Based on the specific percentages, I'm assuming the family sat around in the lab at the winery and blended and blended and blended until this perfect mixture emerged. As I said before, JD and I tasted and drank this wine while up in Cambria last month and we really liked it. Getting the chance to taste this a second time so soon, and in my huge Riedel Bordeaux (also used for Syrah) glass, is a delight. Visually, the wine is deep, dark, purple-red. The nose is redolent of smoked meat and intense dark fruit. In the mouth, the texture is surprisingly light, with soft tannins and just enough acidity to keep it interesting and age-able. The alcohol content is a typical New World 14.9%, and yet it's much better balanced than the Chardonnay. It has a long finish, with hints of cherry and lavender, and finishes with just the barest hint of vanilla. I like this wine a lot. $28
And here's the special offer! Visit http://www.deepseawines.com, choose the wines you want, and in the shopping cart click on the "Enter Coupon" button, and enter the code VINO to get 30% off your purchase! That's what they call a TRADE discount!
Cheers!
Photo credit: Ian Shive
1 comment:
Great review + great deal = a great blogger!
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