Tasting - Dr. Loosen Blue Slate Riesling Kabinett

 

Name: Dr. Loosen Blue Slate Riesling Kabinett

Variety: Riesling

Region: Mosel

Country: Germany

Year: 2022

Price: $22

Winery Review: The 2022 growing season in the Middle Mosel was characterized by a warm spring, intense summer heat, and a severe drought that persisted from June to September. Overall, average must weights in 2022 were a bit lower than in recent years, leading Cellar Master, Berni Schug, to declare, “It’s a Kabinett year!” Nevertheless, through quick action and über-meticulous harvest selection, we brought in excellent quality fruit. The summer heat left us with slightly lower acidity levels, but it is an exceptionally well-integrated acid structure that beautifully complements the delicate nature of the vintage.

Wine Folly: German Kabinett (239): The lightest style of Riesling, made from grapes that have a sweetness level of 67-82 Oechsle (148-188 g/L sugar). Kabinett wines range in style from dry to off-dry.

My Review: My inspiration to drink this wine came from a simple Google search on which wines pair best with Chinese food. The first wine that the Wine Folly website recommends is a German Kabinett Riesling, so that's exactly what I did! The wine alone immediately gave me hints of apple and it was very light and refreshing. When I paired it with dumplings and soy sauce, it did a great job at toning down the saltiness of the dish. Also, the wine tasted even lighter and dampened down the acidity.

Tasting - Barone Fini Pinot Grigio

 

Name: Barone Fini Pinot Grigio Valdadige D.O.C.

Variety: Pinot Grigio

Region: Valdadige

Country: Italy

Year: 2022

Price: $19

Winery Review: Barone Fini’s flagship wine is made with minimal human intervention and from 100% handpicked Valdadige grapes, found in the pristine northern Italian Alps. Here, altitudes range from 150 – 300 meters above sea level to produce a beautifully bright, natural wine that is incredibly approachable and easy to share.

Delicate floral aromas with notes of lemon delight the nose. Refreshing flavors of honeydew and ripe apples are balanced with a bright acidity and warm minerality. Mouthfeel is crisp and lingering.

Wine Folly: Pinot Grigio In Northeast Italy (256): The regions of ALto Adige and Friuli are famous for Pinot Grigio. In the alpine, Alto Adige, wines are more floral with piercing acidity. In Friuli, you'll find them to offer peach and chalky flavor. Investigate Colli Orientali and Collio for great quality.

Lemon, White Peach, Crushed Rocks, Saline, Lime Zest.

My Review: Upon my first tasting of this wine, I could immediately pick up hints of tropical fruit. As I continued I honed in what I was tasting to traces of Pineapple and possibly even some lemon. I didn't really pick up on the honeydew that the winery describes, but I think that may be due to not being super familiar with what that flavor is like in general. I paired this wine with my salmon dinner, but honestly didn't notice a real difference in the taste of the wine or the salmon. This makes sense, as now that I look at the winery's website, they recommend pairing with lobster linguini or creme brulee.

Winery Visit - Chateau Morrisette

    Today (Sunday April 7th 2024), three of my friends and I took a trip to Chateau Morrisette in Floyd, Virginia (about an hour away from the Virginia Tech campus). This was my first ever trip to a winery, so I was looking forward to this trip all week! We got very lucky with some beautiful Southwest Virginia spring weather today. I decided to go with Chateau Morrisette because I was having a hard time figuring out exactly which local wineries did tours of their production centers and I knew from the example blog post that I could definitely get one here.

This was a picture we got with Mrs. Morrisette herself near the end of the visit.

    Immediately upon entering the main indoor space of Chateau Morrisette, we were lucky enough to be greeted by Mrs. Morrisette herself. She was extremely helpful in giving my friends and me a wonderful experience. We learned a ton from her in about an hour and it was especially helpful for my friends who are unfortunately not in Professor Boyer's class.

    During our tasting experience with Mrs. Morrisette, she gave us a sample of about 20 different wines produced at the winery, ranging from their signature "The Black Dog", to their "Farmhouse Sangria".  The first part of the tasting that really stood out to me was early on when we tasted their Unoaked and Oaked Chardonnay back to back. It's an experience that I wasn't able to easily create at home, so I feel like it gave me a much better understanding of the differences and my preferences. Personally, I now know that I prefer the oaked version, as it was much smoother and less acidic. I also had my first experience with Rosé today. I was pleasantly surprised with their style of the wine, as the hints of strawberry were very evident, especially at first scent. Another unique experience we were lucky enough to have was to try bottle-shocked wine. Although it wasn't the finished product of their unreleased 2023 Chambourcin, it was super interesting learning what a young wine tastes like and hearing how the viniculturist gets excited about the potential of the wine a few months down the road. This wine had hints of chocolate, which was an entirely new taste in wine for me. During our tasting, we even got to sample their $60 bottle of Archival 12, their 2023 Virginia Governor's Cup gold medal-winning red blend.

An overhead view of the warehouse portion of Chateau Morrisette

    Following our extensive tasting, we were lucky enough to be given a tour of the production center within Chateau Morrisette. In the image above, you can see some of their massive, 6000-gallon stainless steel fermentation tanks, as well as some of their oak barrels.

Bottling Machine

    Within the back warehouse, we also walked by the machine bottling area where all Chateau Morrisette's wine is bottled and corked. As we walked by some of the oak barrels, Mrs. Morrisette pointed out to us the unique identifiers on each barrel that signified every detail of the wine within. From vintage to section of the vineyard, the staff keeps track of many variables in case of issues that arise, like as a sugar recall.

$10 Flight Alongside Morrisette's Cheese Spread

    As for the flight I purchased, it was made up of some of my favorite wines during the tasting. Those included; The oaked 2021 Chardonnay, 2020 Dry Dog, The Black Dog, and the Sweet Mountain Laurel. The Sweet Mountain Laurel was a ripe Niagra grape wine that was very sweet and surprised me how much it tasted exactly like white grape juice. I made sure to buy a bottle to save and cure my sweet tooth at home whenever my cravings hit. I also made sure to buy their sangria to bring back home to my mom in a couple weeks, as she's a huge fan.

    We could not have asked for a more beautiful and fun experience at Chateau Morrisette today. My friends and I were so grateful for Mrs. Morrisette's hospitality and extensive wine and life knowledge she shared with us. I will be highly recommending my other friends to come out and pay the place a visit, and I'd love to return in the future!