Jenna & Wine

Bogle Phantom Blend Disappears Fast!

Jenna — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:48:32 +0000

Stock up on this amazing bottle before it makes like a Phantom and disappears!

Here’s a bottle that I search for every year and this year bought a case of it (should have bought 2)! It’s a lovely Zinfandel blend that is an amazing value and a crowd-pleaser as well. Very smooth and round with a good finish and loads of juicy flavor! You can pair it with just about anything (tomorrow I am bringing it to a pizza party). And the best part is that you can usually find it between $14-17! I would say this is comparable to some other Zinfandel blends in the $50-70 price range. Amazing Value!!

**Every year this blend sells out by Spring and then I have to wait patiently til the next season to buy more – no wonder they named it ‘Phantom’**

Preserve Your Wine: Argon, Cork & More!

Jenna — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:52:48 +0000

Here’s another wine preservation test that I conducted, comparing several popular methods:

Basic Cork
Argon Gas
Vacuum Pump
Olive Oil (ancient method)

Wine Doctor (Preserver) Review

Jenna — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 05:03:18 +0000

THE PRODUCT: The Wine Doctor is a wine preservation product that pumps air out of the wine bottle so you can save and enjoy your vino at a later time.

HOW IT’S DIFFERENT: Rather than just blindly pumping and hoping your wine is all set to sit for a few days, this product has a red indicator in the stopper that signals whether or not air is in the bottle. This way, you can’t overpump, and you know if air has leaked back into the bottle, which means it’s time to re-pump (or enjoy immediately).

HOW I TESTED: Using 3 bottles of of the same wine, I poured equal amounts from each bottle and sealed them up for 2 days:

Bottle 1: Argon gas preserver (my top-performing preservation technique; the benchmark)
Bottle 2: Sealed with The Wine Doctor and monitored for air leakage; pumped when red indicator was visible
Bottle 3: Sealed with The Wine Doctor, but not re-pumped when red indicator became visible.

RESULTS: After 2 days I tasted from all 3 bottles. Here’s how they held up.

Bottle 1: Perfect
Bottle 2: Perfect
Bottle 3: Less than Perfect

WHY IT’S COOL: For a bit of background, I have conducted numerous preservation tests. My lifestyle prohibits me from opening and drinking a full bottle every night (I’m the only wino in my family, with a new an active baby). Therefore, it’s been absolutely necessary to find a better solution than opening a bottle only to dump it the next day due to oxidation. The problem with most vacuum pumps, is that there is no way to know if the seal is leaking or not. With The Wine Doctor, that problem is truly solved. As long as you keep an eye on your bottle and re-pump when the red indicator shows, your bottle and its flavor should be safe and sound! I think this is a great preserver, especially for those weary of the argon gas method.

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William Hill Unfiltered Chardonnay

Jenna — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 01:20:36 +0000

This was a truly lovely wine frome one of my favorite California Chardonnay regions, Carneros, Napa Valley. This bottle was especially intriguing with the appetizers served.

Tasting Notes: The wine itself was very complex and floral and married well with slightly sweet toasty hints.

Pairings:
1) Tuna-blend on mini cucumber slices
2) Pork sausage w/gorgonzola wrapped in lemon leaves and grilled

Unfiltered: This means that the solids normally stripped out are left behind to add additional flavors to the final product.

Wine Picnic Tip: William Hill is a fantastic spot to go for a picnic, with spectacular panoramic views of surrounding hills of vines.

William Hill Winery Picnic Spot

Jenna — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 02:54:50 +0000

I was impressed with William Hill winery’s amazing panoramic views. This is an over-the-top picnic spot and I recommend to anyone wishing to indulge in Napa Valley to spend some time here. The winery also has some pretty decent wine

Wine Safety

Jenna — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 18:02:37 +0000

Wine is safe & secure with strong seat belt

Gallo Chardonnay Tour: The Versatile Varietal

Jenna — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:34:45 +0000

All set to taste 8 unique Chardonnays at MacMurray Ranch

Gallo wines invited me on their first ever Chardonnay tour and allowed me to discover a whole new world of California wine that I am looking forward to tasting more of, in the form of Chardonnay. I have to admit that growing up in California, ‘Cab is King’, and I am one of the proponents of this mindset. Chardonnay is something that I often find myself disappointed with – I guess the real reason has been due to consistency. In the past, every time I tried a Chardonnay, it was the same as the last – something industry people refer to as an ‘oak-bomb’. I know you are familiar with it – the oaky, buttery bomb that spells California Chardonnay. This classic style grew so popular that it eventually became over-produced and, to those looking for something different and complex, undesirable. Since oak can easily mask and hide underlying grape characteristics, this could be problematic for those looking for more.

Still, Chardonnay is the top selling varietal in the US. It is very versatile and agreeable with just about any palette. One thing I learned in this tour, from MacMurray’s winemaker, is that this grape’s versatility extends to the winemaking process as well, with a variety of techniques that can be used to affect the final taste and flavor or the wine. In the past, the problem has been that huge oak-forward flavor was in demand, so that’s what was primarily made. Now, I believe that consumers and winemakers are both realizing the true range of depth that this grape can offer and, in turn, are testing and tasting its many shapes and forms.

This is where Gallo’s Chardonnay tour comes into play. With their extensive portfolio and range of wines, Gallo has somewhere between 40-60 Chardonnay wines alone that they manage for various wine labels. The point of this tour was to taste some very unique Chardonnay wines and to introduce and increase awareness for the various styles this grape can showcase. I felt that the tour was very thorough and knowledgeable and succeeded in opening my eyes to the world of Chardonnay. I was definitely impressed with the efforts they have taken to explore this varietal for the consumer as well as their decision to become a bit more transparent and willing to share their endeavors with the industry.

So that’s my first Chardonnay post as it pertains to this Gallo Tour. In the upcoming weeks, I will review more specifics on exactly which bottles I liked the best! (hint: I already know many of you are also fans of my favorite one!)

Gamba Zinfandel: A New Favorite

Jenna — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 05:04:40 +0000

Gamba Zinfandel (Dry Creek), Limited Production - $35

Here’s a truly amazing wine that I tasted a few weeks ago and haven’t stopped thinking about since!

- Smooth & Supple
- Full-Bodied & Rich
- Toasty Finish
- 15.9% Alcohol (can’t tell!)

This old vine Zinfandel was perfectly juicy and extremely complex. At first, I thought it smelled similar to other Dry Creek Zins I’ve tasted (Sonoma Valley). However, upon sipping this delight, I realized how unique and different this one is. Wonderfully smooth, rich and full-bodied, this wine also carries a lot of complexity that will definitely intrigue even the more sophisticated palettes. Gamba is easily comparable to other Zinfandels selling for two to three times the price.

I think the most interesting thing that I learned about this bottle, and probably one of the secrets behind the amazing flavor has to do with the winemaker’s method of farming. ‘Dry farming’ is a method that has been practiced on these old vines for as long as the family has been making wine. What this means is that, rather than occasionally irrigating the vines throughout the summer, these vines are limited to only what Mother Nature offers in the form of rain water. This is good because it makes the resulting grape clusters small, but packed with huge flavor concentration! The only downfall to this method is smaller production and limited quantities – these bottles don’t stick around long! I have one bottle in my wine fridge, and wish it was a case.

If you are interested in trying this one for yourself, email me and I will have one of my favorite wine shops send some over to you ($35/bottle)!

BAD WINE: Signs of Heat Damage

Jenna — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 13:00:54 +0000

A sign of wine oxidation is the cork popping above the bottleneck

About a month ago, there was a local heat wave that was in full force just as I was having a bottle of white wine shipped to me. The bottle arrived HOT – not very warm – HOT. I was positive the wine was toast. Still, I received some excellent tips on how to revive the bottle from my winemaker friend.*

How to Revive a Hot Bottle of Wine

• Location: Store in a dark location for 1 month
• Temperature: Should be cool (70 degrees)
• Environment: Quiet and still

I carefully followed his instructions, but nothing could rescue this poor bottle. After waiting a month, when I finally opened the wine I found evidence that the bottle had in fact been damaged by heat, or oxidation:

Signs of Heat Damaged Wine (Oxidation)

• Cork: My first clue was that the cork was not flush with the bottleneck. Instead it was slightly popping out, as illustrated above.
• Aroma & Taste: After observing the cork clue, I confirmed my oxidation suspicion through taste. The wine was flat, with no aroma, no finish, and no fruit, minerality, or any other flavors you’d expect from a freshly opened bottle of wine.
• Color: Another sign to look for, but one which I did not particularly notice, is a darker color for whites. Since I didn’t have another bottle to compare with, it was difficult to say if color had been affected for this bottle.

And now you know that if you ever receive a very hot bottle, or notice the cork popping out and a very dismal tasting wine, that it’s most likely not the fault of the winery, winemaker, or even the UPS delivery person; this is a tell-tale sign that, once again, Mother Nature has had her way with our vino.

* Thanks Mark (Big Dog Vineyards) for the tip!

Red Wine & Sangria: Summer Skin Protection

Jenna — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 23:55:26 +0000

Sangria is the perfect summer concoction - refreshes & protects!

I don’t get as many sunburns as I did when I was a kid and always thought that this was a result of age – the more sun you get, the less likely you are to get new sunburns since that skin has already been damaged to a certain extent. Well now there is a new theory that makes even better sense and it has to do with wine consumption!

New research by Spanish scientists¹ shows that flavonoids, a compound found in red wine, actually serves in protecting the skin from sun damage. No wonder I suddenly stopped getting sunburns after I turned 21! And that summer in Spain when I was 15 and burn-free, that suddenly makes sense too (there appeared to be no minimum drinking age during my stay in Spain, only the ability to reach the height of the bar stool). I have to commend these Spanish researchers for keeping focused and continuing to study and deliver on the positive benefits of wine.

The Problem. If you were to simply drink warm or ‘room temperature’ red wine while laying in the sun, that might not be very pleasing or refreshing. Red wine isn’t my first choice for poolside sipping.

The Solution. Add some fresh fruit and ice, and you have a chilly refreshing concoction that is also known as Sangria, bringing us full circle to the Spanish scientists and their research inspiration

Now we can update our definition of Sangria:

Sangria: An iced drink typically made with red wine, sugar, fruit juice, soda water, and spices, and containing fruit slices that also helps protect against skin damage from the sun.

¹ University of Barcelona and the CSIC (Spanish National Research Council).

Jenna & Wine

Bogle Phantom Blend Disappears Fast!

Preserve Your Wine: Argon, Cork & More!

Wine Doctor (Preserver) Review

The red line indicates air leakage

Examining for air leakage before tasting

Wine Doctor Test Preparation