Ashby's Wine Blog

 The second lesson of Drink This Now was about choice of glassware and how it can effect the behavior of the wine you are drinking. The experiment done for the lesson proceeded as follows: 1. Make a selection of glassware, this experiment was performed with a shot glass, a whiskey glass, a pint glass, a wine glass, and a regular glass which featured a mild curve. 2. Using the shot glass to measure, pour one shot of chilled wine into each glass. 3. Smell the wine from each glass, giving one minute between each glass to clear your nose and consider the effects of the glassware on how the wine expressed itself. This lesson helped prove some concepts about glassware that I hadn't quite bought into yet. Particularly that a good wine glass can make a big difference in how a wine tastes. The smell was incredibly muted or hardly even present in some glasses compared to the wine glass. In particular, the pint glass gave the wine almost no chance to express any kind of scent due to the dista

   Name:  Palacio De Menade Variety: Verdejo Vintage:  2021 Region:  Castilla y Leon Country: Spain Price:  $12 Winery Review:   "Palacio de Menade has aromas of freshly sliced peaches, mingled with zesty lime notes, and subtle hints of honeysuckle. Enjoy our deliciously refreshing white chilled, served as an aperitif, or partnered with seafood paella for a classic Spanish experience." Wine Folly: From page 181 of the book, it says verdejos typically have a strong lime taste and should be served chilled. This wine is no exception. The lime flavor is really accentuated as the wine is further chilled, along with hints of grapefruit. My Review:  This is actually the first wine I have come back to multiple times since first tasting it. The citrus flavor is something I really enjoy. The wine really seems to come alive once its chilled, with all of its flavors much more pronounced.

  Name: Purple Owl Variety:  Pinot Noir Vintage:  2021 Region: California Country:  United States Price:  $10 Winery Review:   "This floral Pinot, vibrantly pure, like a breath of fresh air, is sourced from California's stunning vineyards, where you'll often see purple swaths of Owl's Clover blanketing the earth between rows of grapevines." Wine Folly:  From page 150 of the text, it can be found that Pinot Noirs are known for their light body and soft tannins. That was certainly true of this wine. Additionally, it is mentioned that there will be tastes of berries and vanilla which could be detected in this wine as well. My Review: This wine was an easy wine to drink. No element of it seemed to attack, as the tannins did with the Bordeaux, and no element seemed to really lack either. This wine was also well balanced especially considering the price.

  Name: Stellenrust Heritage Collection Bush Vine Chenin Blanc Variety: Chenin Blanc Country: South Africa Vintage: 2021 Price: $17 BBC Review:  If you’re looking for a smart Chenin Blanc with amazing depth, this 2021 is bang on target.   88% of the old-vine fruit is fermented in stainless steel, while the remainder is put into oak to give a greater degree of complexity. Then five months on lees produces a creamy texture that makes the wine ideal to serve solo, or with chicken. Wine Folly: From Page 98 of Wine Folly, Chenin Blancs are said to have many different tastes, but most commonly will have hints of yellow apples, pears, and honey. This wine had a more tart flavor than the text suggested, but given the variety of flavors chenin blancs can posses this is of little surprise. My Review: This wine was very tart for my taste. From the smell alone I could tell the flavor was going to be strong. As the glass continued the different flavors of the wine became more apparent, especially p

  Name: Fifth Note Cellars Sauvignon Blanc Variety: Sauvignon Blanc ("with a touch of Pinot Grigio") Region: Sonoma County, California Country: United States Vintage: 2019 Price: $25 Wine Enthusiast Review:  Floral in jasmine and orange blossom, this white is blended with 8% Pinot Grigio. The strong aromatics belie a simple, straightforward palate of melon and apple that shows moderate acidity. Wine Folly: From page 165 of Wine Folly, Sauvignon Blancs are said to commonly have an acidic taste, along with tastes of honeydew, peach, and grapefruit. This wine in particular did not have the acidic taste the book said it might have, but that could be due to the fact that it was tasted at room temperature instead of slightly chilled as recommended in the text. My Review: I liked this wine more than the Bordeaux earlier. The flavor seemed simpler and much easier to understand and enjoy. It felt light which was nice, and the fruit flavors were noticeable but not distracting. More aci

  Name: Chateaux Le Coin Variety: Red Blend (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon , and Cabernet Franc) Vintage: 2020 Region: Bordeaux Country: France Price: $25 WSJ Review:   "Red Bordeaux is prized by wine lovers and collectors the world over. This is classic Bordeaux, crafted with grapes from low-yielding, 45 year old vines. Its made for enjoying with food and boasts a freshness that will have you coming back for a second glass." Wine Folly: From pages 83-85, this wine is supposed to have flavors of black currant, black cherries, graphite, chocolate, and dried herbs. I certainly noticed the berries and chocolate flavors, but had a hard time picking up on the other flavors generally associated with this blend. My Review: As mentioned previously, the berry and chocolate flavors were evident from the first sip. As I continued through the glass I was able to notice a spicy flavor hidden in the background, likely the dried herbs taste mentioned in the text. This wine also had high tannin