Friday Wine Night
What a wonderful adventure in wine I had tonight, four wine tasting and a gallery opening. Tasting are so much fun and it is a great way to expand the pallet.
Stop One: The Red Ginger, Rye NH
This was a great tasting. Mindy the owner of the red ginger had the distributors of the wines come in and do the pouring. These were all wines that were new to New Hampshire. There were ten wines here to be tasted. There were some fantastic wines here like the North Ridge Pinot Noir 2004. I have a bottle of the 2002 at home for a rainy night but the 2004 was really good as well but not quite as good as the 2002.
Most tasting I have been to are equal reds and whites, or close, but here, out of the ten wines to be sampled only two were whites. There were two blushes/rosés as well. Six reds. All the reds were fairly heavy and good reds. The star of the evening came at this first stop. It was not a heavy red or German white that got my goat for the evening. It was a rosé. I am not a fan of rosé. I have painful memories of the white zinfandel in a box that my father kept in the fridge when I was younger. But this may be the wine that brings me over. This is a Renwood 2003 Syrah Rosé. It is very good. I will have a more detailed review of this wine later but it is fantastic. The distributor informed me that it was the first case in New Hampshire and I was the first person in the state to buy a bottle (actually three bottles). This is great wine. I can’t wait to share it.
One of the distributors there, Steve, remembered me from a previous tasting. We began talking and told me his wife was doing a wine tasting at the meat house down the street on route 1. So…
Stop Two: The Meat House, Portsmouth NH
This was not as fun. It was a little crowded for me. It was getting peak after work Friday hours, so I should not be all that surprised. The wines here were mostly wines that I have tried before and those that I haven’t were a little difficult to get to so I gave up. This was not my usual stomping ground so I felt a little intimidated and left.
Stop Three: Philbrick’s Fresh Market, Portsmouth NH
Well I was on my way by. I went to a tasting there yesterday and I knew they would be tasting the same wines, but I was on an adventure. They were tasting only Spanish wines tonight. I did get a bottle of Señorio del Aguila Reserva 1994 from Cariñene. It is good red. They were also tasting the Los Planos syrah 2003 form Spain; it was at the red ginger as well. It is good but I had already picked up a bottle a couple of weeks ago. Now that I think about it, it is a little weird that at a tasting of wines new to the area there would be a wine that I would have already tasted not to day purchased. Oh well, it is a good one.
Stop Four: Corks and Curds, Portsmouth NH
Here I had a couple more great wines. First was a white from Austria, I guess that is close enough to Germany for my taste. It was really good. It was a Sepp Moser 2004 Grüner Veltliner Gebling. Served very cold this is great. It is not too sweet or dry but very crisp. Next was a Zinfandel from California, Z-52. It was a good wine, I only occasionally drink zin so I passed but he does have another zin there called an Earthquake Zin that is a little better in my opinion. Next was 2003 Maarco Real Garnacha Navarra. It was very good. This also was at the red ginger tasting. It was new to both places. It is good and very enjoyable. I liked it but not enough to get a bottle. It really was a ton of Spanish wine.
Stop Four: The Banks Gallery, Portsmouth NH
It is always fun going to gallery openings and drinking free wine. I was slowing down a little at this point. I had one glass of a cab. It was OK. I think the wine he gets for this gallery is a little better than the average gallery. It was a good exhibit as well.
That was my night, a little anticlimactic but enjoyable nonetheless. I did have some great smoked provolone and goats milk Gouda for dinner that I picked up a Corks and Curds, with some peasant bread from Philbricks.
Stop One: The Red Ginger, Rye NH
This was a great tasting. Mindy the owner of the red ginger had the distributors of the wines come in and do the pouring. These were all wines that were new to New Hampshire. There were ten wines here to be tasted. There were some fantastic wines here like the North Ridge Pinot Noir 2004. I have a bottle of the 2002 at home for a rainy night but the 2004 was really good as well but not quite as good as the 2002.
Most tasting I have been to are equal reds and whites, or close, but here, out of the ten wines to be sampled only two were whites. There were two blushes/rosés as well. Six reds. All the reds were fairly heavy and good reds. The star of the evening came at this first stop. It was not a heavy red or German white that got my goat for the evening. It was a rosé. I am not a fan of rosé. I have painful memories of the white zinfandel in a box that my father kept in the fridge when I was younger. But this may be the wine that brings me over. This is a Renwood 2003 Syrah Rosé. It is very good. I will have a more detailed review of this wine later but it is fantastic. The distributor informed me that it was the first case in New Hampshire and I was the first person in the state to buy a bottle (actually three bottles). This is great wine. I can’t wait to share it.
One of the distributors there, Steve, remembered me from a previous tasting. We began talking and told me his wife was doing a wine tasting at the meat house down the street on route 1. So…
Stop Two: The Meat House, Portsmouth NH
This was not as fun. It was a little crowded for me. It was getting peak after work Friday hours, so I should not be all that surprised. The wines here were mostly wines that I have tried before and those that I haven’t were a little difficult to get to so I gave up. This was not my usual stomping ground so I felt a little intimidated and left.
Stop Three: Philbrick’s Fresh Market, Portsmouth NH
Well I was on my way by. I went to a tasting there yesterday and I knew they would be tasting the same wines, but I was on an adventure. They were tasting only Spanish wines tonight. I did get a bottle of Señorio del Aguila Reserva 1994 from Cariñene. It is good red. They were also tasting the Los Planos syrah 2003 form Spain; it was at the red ginger as well. It is good but I had already picked up a bottle a couple of weeks ago. Now that I think about it, it is a little weird that at a tasting of wines new to the area there would be a wine that I would have already tasted not to day purchased. Oh well, it is a good one.
Stop Four: Corks and Curds, Portsmouth NH
Here I had a couple more great wines. First was a white from Austria, I guess that is close enough to Germany for my taste. It was really good. It was a Sepp Moser 2004 Grüner Veltliner Gebling. Served very cold this is great. It is not too sweet or dry but very crisp. Next was a Zinfandel from California, Z-52. It was a good wine, I only occasionally drink zin so I passed but he does have another zin there called an Earthquake Zin that is a little better in my opinion. Next was 2003 Maarco Real Garnacha Navarra. It was very good. This also was at the red ginger tasting. It was new to both places. It is good and very enjoyable. I liked it but not enough to get a bottle. It really was a ton of Spanish wine.
Stop Four: The Banks Gallery, Portsmouth NH
It is always fun going to gallery openings and drinking free wine. I was slowing down a little at this point. I had one glass of a cab. It was OK. I think the wine he gets for this gallery is a little better than the average gallery. It was a good exhibit as well.
That was my night, a little anticlimactic but enjoyable nonetheless. I did have some great smoked provolone and goats milk Gouda for dinner that I picked up a Corks and Curds, with some peasant bread from Philbricks.
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