On Saturday my friend Hayley and I had a whole fabulous Delille Cellars wine tasting planned for the afternoon. It was a deal we both got off LivingSocial.com, or so we thought. Looking all fabulous (like you should for all afternoon wine tastings) we piled in the car and headed from Renton to Woodinville. We didn't print the coupon because as it turns out people no longer invest in printers, so we figured we could bring it up on my phone. Yet after searching they were no were to be found. NOT LivingSocial's fault, my fault. The card I used declined and they told me by sending it to my old email address, which I never updated. So my fault not theirs, I still love you LivingSocial.
Well we were in Woodinville, which has no shortage on wineries and we decided to check out the tasting at Chateau St. Michelle. Oh jeeze another blog post about CSM. My bad. But they had barrel tastings for $10 with a free glass of wine. I wasn't about to pass this up. So crammed into a little cellar room we proceeded to taste giggle, push, chat, taste giggle... you get the idea. 8 tastings, 3 whites, 5 reds.
We started off with two whites: 2010 Cold Creek Chardonnay and 2010 Canoe Ridge Estate Chardonnay. Being a white wine lover I was disappointed that I didn't like either of these. The first was a milky color (from the French oak barrel), it was crisp and pretty intense. Even though it came from an oak barrel it was quite acidic, which I hear the vintage is known for. Yet this still confused me. Everything I know about wine is wrong! JK, but if someone wouldn’t mind explaining how a wine in an oak barrel can still be acidic, I’d appreciate it. The second was better; I have a cute little plus to it, just one though. I wrote down that it was mild, soft and pretty good. Very fruity with some understated oak. Ok maybe I need to go back and try this one again.
The reds: 2010 Canoe Ridge Estate Merlot - heavy, almost like a dessert wine but has a fantastic elegant finish. It was a surprise for a CSM Merlot. 2010 Canoe Ridge Estate Malbec - My favorite from the tastings (a red gasp!). It has a delicate smell, tastes earthy, light and crispy. A perfect wine for summer (I said even with seafood, but Hayley disagreed). Will be purchasing this one.
2010 Cold Creek Cabernet Franc - (the worst) Good strong smell of blueberries and mocha (yum) but once you taste it's like a roundhouse kick to the face. So strong, I start coughing and embarrassing myself. So much for looking suave. 2010 Cold Creek Cabernet Sauvignon - smells like chocolate coffee, not a bad start but unfortunately it tastes like coffee too, not a fan. It's strong and that gross coffee after taste sits on your tongue. Had to go back for more Malbec just to erase the memory of those last two wines. Last red: 2010 Stone Tree Syrah - another nice surprise. Soft, mild, warm, although it was served cool :P would go great with red meat, cheese, crackers...my note continues to reflect how hungry I've gotten at this point.
Last white wasn't from a barrel. Got a glass of CSM Chardonnay Canon Ridge 2008 -crisp, acidic yet from a French Oak again (hm), woody smell with a rich yellowness and a thick color from the oak barrel. Was ok. I was too hungry to care. Next time please have some bread, crackers or cheese. Having better wine to cleanse your bad wine palette just isn't sufficient enough.
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