Sometimes a reserve really is special
We recently spent some time with friends visiting wineries in the Charlottesville area. One of our stops was Veritas. We’d recently been there, and we’re typically bigger fans of their whites than their reds, so we decided to do only the white flight this time out. I was really excited, however, when I realized that the flight now featured the ’09 sauv blanc reserve. I was a huge fan of the ’08, and the non-reserve ’09 just fell a bit flat for me. The reserve did not disappoint. There was a hint of grass along with some really balanced citrus and a hint of some other fruit I can’t identify (they say gooseberry, but I’ll have to take their word on that). There was great acidity to this white, and I can’t wait to pair with with a scallop and lentil recipe I love.
The other new to us wine we got to taste was the Mousseux, a sparkling rosé. This wine is a blend of chardonnay and cab franc and is an extra dry rather than a brut (it still has a touch of sugar). It was a fun wine with a touch of the yeastiness that I love. The flavors were a bit generically fruity, however, and I still prefer the drier brut style wines.
To revisit something…on our last visit Grape Envy Guy and I split on the chards with me, suprisingly, coming down on the side of the oakier, buttery “Harlequin.” This time around I preferred the “Estate Bottled” with the lighter oak and brighter fruit flavors. Maybe it was the crazy heat, but it was working for me.
As a final note, this was the first time we took advantage of the option of doing our tasting on their comfy couches. It made for a more relaxed, slower-paced tasting experience with plenty of time for a lot of chatting with our friends. I heartily recommend availing yourself of this option if the bar is busy.
The Sometimes a reserve really is special by Swirl, Sip, Snark, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
VA Wine Diva has good taste. I know that not just because she’s with me, but because the sauv blanc reserve truly was something special. I love that “green”-ness that sauv blanc can get, and this one was also full of bright citrus. It took no arm-twisting at all to convince me to take a bottle home.
I was, however, surprised to discover that my wine buddy had previously liked the Harlequin chard. Personally, I thought that the Estate Bottled was way more enjoyable, and a steal at sixteen bucks. I was also impressed by the Kenmar 2007. It’s an amazingly light dessert wine, even if the tasting notes border on the absurd. I mean, “…that fills the mouth and settles triumphantly on the palate, filling up all the space, finishing in mellifluous harmony?” Please.