Tasting Fine Wines with Friends

Is there anything better than sharing a nice glass of wine with friends? The answer is definitely – the one thing better than that is sharing multiple glasses of wine with friends! And even better, taking the opportunity to learn more about wine from each other as you imbibe! That’s what Laurie and I did a couple of months ago with a few of our neighbors down the street – here’s the story of that tasting!

We live in a VERY social street, in a VERY social community. If you are a homebody or don’t naturally gravitate toward parties, get togethers, or other social events, well that’s just tough – you are getting invited and shamed into joining in on the fun!

Laurie and I really weren’t social animals before moving down to Sarasota – we’d host wine tasting dinners and happy hours with friends on occasion, but mostly we stayed at home and hung out together. That was largely due to the long hours we spent at work – any free time we had on the weekends we spent recovering from the week. But we always regretted not being able to spend more time with friends and family and committed to doing better once we retired and moved down to Sarasota.

We actually worried about being able to meet new people when we moved into our new home in Lorraine Lakes. The community was still relatively new, with lots of construction going on. There were only two houses on our street when we moved into ours, and the club house and amenities center where we expected to meet new friends was years away from opening. Little did we know how easy it would turn out to be to meet new friends and engage socially with them!

Early on we met some through our community Facebook page. In other cases, we met some of our best friends as they were visiting their homes under construction – they would stop by (and in one case, aggressively back up and chase us before we went inside – I’m talking about you, Theresa!) to introduce themselves and get acquainted a bit. As more neighbors moved in, our neighbors started organizing street get-togethers on holidays which made it easy to meet the newest neighbors and get to know them better.

In the end, we have more friends than we ever had before, most of them in our small two-street portion of Lorraine Lakes. They are all wonderful people who we absolutely love spending time with! We have a regular battle rhythm of social activities, many of which center around food, wine, and spirits! And Laurie and I try to do our part by hosting get-togethers for our dear friends, like wine tasting dinners and happy hours. We prefer hosting smaller rather than larger groups, which allows us to spend more one-on-one time with our guests.

A number of our friends are wine lovers, so one of our favorite things to do is host them to help us drink from and enjoy our wine collection. Recently, we hosted a fine wine tasting with a few wine-loving friends and decided to turn it into an educational wine tasting experience for everyone. I selected eight high-end wines (three whites, one rose’, and four reds) that were tailored somewhat to the tastes and preferences of our guests. That meant a Rose’ for Terry and Cathy, a Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon for Gerard, and some Chardonnay for Matt!

Helped along with some light hors d’oeuvres, we tasted our way through the eight wines, sharing our impressions, likes and dislikes, and proclamations of favorite and least favorite wines. After the formal tasting, we retired to the lanai to take in the beautiful evening while enjoying great conversation, great music, and a glass of our favorite wine from the tasting. It was a fun afternoon/evening, and we’re already looking forward to doing it again some of our other wine-loving neighbors!

The wine tasting table, complete with wine tasting placemats!

 Here's a quick recap of the wines we tasted and how each of them fared – it’s worth it to try and find some of these wines, although they are all highly allocated so somewhat difficult to find (but not impossible in every case!).

The white and rose lineup for the tasting

• 2023 Chateau Minuty 281 Rose, Provence, France, ($70).  Both the bottle and the wine inside of it are absolutely beautiful! This is a light, yet lively rose' that shows floral and citrus notes along with nice balancing acidity. It’s a “pretty” wine, built for sophisticated palates and definitely worth the price! This one made it into the top 3 favorites from the tasting. It’s available on-line and at Total Wine in limited quantities. Perfect with an heirloom tomato and burrata salad, or just sipping alone, well chilled, on a warm summer evening. 600 cases made.

  
  

• 2023 Lail Blueprint Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley, CA ($69). Sauvignon Blanc is an acquired taste, and one of the most contentious varieties that solicits the strongest reactions. Wine drinkers either absolutely love or absolutely hate this variety. That’s because it has a unique and strong flavor profile that consists of vegetal characteristics, grass, and some even say “cat pee” which I have never tasted nor smell so can’t comment on here. In reality though, a well-crafted Sauvignon Blanc like this one is subdued with soft citrus and herbal notes, vibrant acidity, and just the slightest touch of sweetness courtesy of the fruit. This one is elegant and soft and similar in style to a Pinot Gris. Absolutely delicious – if you think you don’t like Sauvignon Blanc, try this. Perfect with grilled shellfish. 1000 cases made and available at Total Wine in limited quantities.  

  
  

• 2023 Gargiulo Vineyards Frank Wood Chardonnay, Napa Valley, CA ($80). This highly allocated Chardonnay is only available from the winery if you are family or a friend (or one of their original wine club members in the case of Laurie and I) – we get 6 bottles a year, which is awesome since they only make 40 cases of this wine each year. It’s a classic Napa Valley Chardonnay, with lush tropical fruit buttressed by light acidity and light vanilla and spice notes on the finish. This wine isn’t shy, but it still maintains its elegant character. A beautiful wine that pairs perfectly with a chicken and morel mushroom cream sauce dish.  

  
  

• 2023 Pride Mountain Vineyards Viognier, Sonoma County/Napa County, CA, ($48). This is another highly allocated wine that’s only available via the winery’s wine club or from their on-line store. This wine has all the hallmarks of a classic Rhone Valley Viognier – floral notes on the nose, with rich fruit like tangerine, peach, and kiwi on the palate. It’s full-bodied, with nice acidity and a long, satisfying finish. This wine pairs perfectly with richer dishes like seared scallops with risotto. 150 cases made.

The red lineup for the tasting

• 2021 Solena Estate Domaine Danielle Laurent Pinot Noir, Yamhill-Carlton, OR ($100). This was a bottle we bought at the beautiful Solena Estate Winery in Willamette Valley, OR during one of our recent vacations. This is their flagship Pinot Noir, and worth every penny! It's a medium-bodied Pinot Noir with an intoxicating nose of rose petals, baking spice, and red fruit. In the mouth, this wine shows plum, black cherry, and earthy notes. The finish is lingering and long and shows the still bright acidity at its core. An absolutely lovely wine and a textbook expression of this grand grape variety. This was a tasting favorite, making it into the top three! Perfect with a grilled fillet with wine braised mushrooms. 50 cases produced.

  
  

• 2022 J Bookwalter Suspense Cabernet Franc, Columbia Valley, WA ($60). Most people have tasted the Cabernet Franc variety, but don’t know it. That’s because it’s primarily used as a blending grape with Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. But this grape variety shines on its own, and more and more wine makers are choosing to produce single varietal releases of Cabernet Franc, and they get top dollar for them because they are both delicious and their availably quite limited. This one is from Washington State and shows all the classic characteristics of Cabernet Franc – an earthy character, subtle vegetal notes, robust tannins, and black and blue fruit notes like blackberries, blueberries, and black cherries. This is a wine that needs food, since we were drinking it relatively young – it could easily age for another 10 years. Still, it was fantastic! This wine would be a good match for a smoked beef brisket with a spicy tomato-based sauce. 800 cases produced.

  
  

• 2016 Porter Family Vineyards Barre Azure, Napa Valley, CA ($200). This rare wine is a Bordeaux blend consisting of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. With 9 years in the bottle, this wine is drinking splendidly now! The tannins have softened but are still prominent and provide the perfect foil for the still-bright fruit. Notes of plum, cherry, and blackberry along with leather and light spice follow through from the first sip to the finish. Speaking of the finish, it’s long and satisfying. This is a big, full-bodied red that was a monster in its youth but has mellowed out as it has aged. Serve this one with a grilled porterhouse with a loaded baked potato and grilled asparagus! 300 cases produced.

  
  

• 2014 Gargiulo Vineyards 575 OVX, Napa Valley, CA ($250). This is another highly allocated wine from Gargiulo Vineyards, with only 400 cases made. It’s also one of my all-time favorite red wines because they taste great upon release, but taste even better if you age them for 10 or more years. In this case, we were drinking this one after 11 years in the bottle. It was, in a word, stunning! Bright cherries on the nose, this wine showed fresh and juicy red and black fruit on the palate, along with moderate tannins and hints of earth and dust on the finish. Beautifully integrated and balanced, this wine was at its peak when we tasted it. Also, and not surprising, this was the favorite wine of the tasting! Perfect with a beef bourguignon and crusty bread.

I hope you enjoyed reliving our fine wine tasting with me – makes me want to start planning my next one ASAP!