Californian Wine Tasting @ Sampling at the Fourteenth

Hey Everyone! Well it's time to switch it up alittle instead of food, we are going to learn and taste some wines from the California Region which has the most famous Napa Valley! 

This was actually an invitation from the Treasury that is distributed by the Luen Heng company.. 

Here are the wines being featured today and it's all own by single company that manages the Wolf Blass Winery! 

Well I'm sure you are wondering what's so special about the Californian Wine Region compared to other regions? Well every wine region in the Californian region is different in terms of its soil, landscape and also their location as some might be surrounded with mountains or some is nearby the ocean.. It may seem beautiful to have this sort of landscape but this kind of location would affect the wines taste, texture and characters of it's grape varietal.. 

Let's start the tasting!

From the left which is the Beringer Classic White Zinfandel 2015, Beringer Founders' Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Beringer Private Reserve Chardonnay 2013, Stags' Leap Merlot 2014, Chateau St Jean Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 and Sterling Vineyards Vintner's Cabernet Sauvignon 2015.. 

Yes! In total we have 6 wines to taste! 

Well I will just choose a few of the standouts to talk about in this post..

Beringer Classic White Zinfandel is actually made using the Zinfandel grape variety that is a red grape.. The color of this wine is bright pink that comes from the grape skin that was pressed lightly.. It is actually a youthful wine that is made to enjoy immediately after bottling as it is more suited to be a dessert wines. 

This wine has a moderate intensity in terms of aroma with hints of ripe and juicy strawberries, freshly picked raspberry and towards the end you can get a slight note of cranberry and also the floral aroma of honeysuckle.. 

In terms of sweetness, this beringer white zinfandel has a medium sweetness and very light yet refreshing in terms of body.. On the palate, it has not much of flavorful intensity here as it was mainly dominated by the sweetness and you may mistaken it to be honeycomb then later it comes the raspberry or strawberries and some blood oranges.. 

Conclusion is that this wine is really fruity from the aroma but it is sweet on the palate which is why their characteristics goes amazingly well with a berry dessert.. 

There are 3 different types of red wine to taste that consist of a 100% Merlot wine and 2 Cabernet Sauvignon wines that is made in varying of styles and also origins.. 

The first red that we tried was The Stags Leap Merlot.. This is actually one of the wines that was listed in the Judgement of Paris as one of the top wines rated by the french wine experts.. Well in terms of taste, we finally do know why as it does really reflect the terroir of the Napa valley with its rich, velvety mouthful with intense ripe black currant and raspberry notes alongside the earthy notes that you can get towards the end and it still continues to evolve after some time and aeration.. 

The 2nd wine was the least impressive and relatively new to us is the Chateau St Jean winery in California.. The grape variety of this wine is Cabernet Sauvignon.. 

According to the speaker, their Cabernet Sauvignon is harvested from a few different plots of vineyards that is owned by the Chateau St Jean and it is planted above the hill and with it's high altitude and elevation, it would get the sufficient amount of sunlight and ripeness..

 In the palate, it was not as impressive as what they pictured for us to be as it has a really strong vegetal and also a cured fish like a cured salmon that is really dominant through out the whole tasting.. There wasn't much fruit characters or other secondary flavours in terms of palate.. 

The 3rd and final red that we tasted was the Sterling Vineyards Vintner's Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 which is the star for me as the moment the wine was poured into the glass it gave us a whiff of enticing aromas.. After further aeration, the wine further reveal a moderate aroma of toasted bread, clay, limestone, a hint of vanilla and mint and also a slight hint of saw dust.. 

This wine is more to off dry in terms of sweetness. For now, it is still a relatively medium bodied red with a tart acidity and medium level of tannins that is surprisingly round for this young wine.. In the palate, the wine has a ripe dark fruit like black berry, ripe plums, dark bitter chocolate, mint and earthy notes..

 In conclusion, this wine is really the most enjoyable red that I had in this entire tasting as the wine continues to evolve with more time and the inclusion of oxidation to make the wine to breathe and be more alive.. 

This wine has a great ageing potential around 10 years and it goes great with some red meats like dry aged sirloin or even duck breast or if you're adventurous; you can opt for the mexican dish of chicken mole..

Verdict: 

The Cabernet Sauvignon of Sterling is the best bet you can have in terms of cellaring it for more than 10-15 years at least as it is considerably young to be enjoyed now.. 

Among the whites, I would say that the Beringer Classic White Zinfandel is a nice wine for a newbie to begin with as it is really easy going and refreshing to appreciate either on its own or with a fish dish or even a dessert.

Sampling at the Fourteenth

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