a tasting we will go
We're heading to the Zinfandel Festival this weekend. Been trying to stay as hydrated as possible ahead of the event. And it was recommended that we eat a heavy meal before hand. Wine tasting is like an endurance sport. (Well, ESPN can turn just about anything into a sport nowadays).
I don't think it's possible to get through the entire list of wineries that will be there unless one plans to crawl out of Fort Mason. But, it'll be fun comparing and contrasting the same grape. It certainly requires tasting alot of wine in order to develop a taste for it.
We just watched the movie Sideways a few weeks ago and how the main character is an incessant Pinot fan who vehemently hates Merlot. Of course like the farmers who grow the grapes, even this character took on the characteristics of his favored wine grape. If that's so, and I've heard rumors, Zinfandel lovers tend to be as wild, free spirits, and untamed as the grape vines they come from. Unlike other varietals, Zinfandel vines are not trained to wires like other varietals. Hmmm...free spirits mixed with free spirits. This should be a hoot.
There's actually another wine tasting on Friday, unrelated to the one above. The theme for that one is transitional wines. Wines that haven't quite turned or are in the midst of turning. I don't quite know what that means. I guess I'll find out on Friday.
3 comments:
Mr. Thesis' father is here for wine tasting-- in Mendecino. He said he couldn't be bothered to hangout with 7,000 drunks in San Francisco for the Zinfandel Festival. [laughs]
did I mention the "free spirits" with the free spirits? lol
Turning is a point where wines suddenly clam up and don't taste like anything, but after that point, they're supposed to be incredible. Kinda like an ugly duckling becoming a swan sort of thing.
Most real wine tasters leave a very open mind about all wines before they taste--people who have bad opinions about wines usually don't know jack shit about them to begin with.
It's also kinda weird to have a wine tasting without a food to go along with it. Red Zins usually play pretty well with most meat or meaty-type foods if I remember correctly, so if there's something close by, grab a bacon cheeseburger before you have the wine. :)
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