Good Morning!

This category is totally confusing to me and so I expect you might be as well. This 4th and final region of my wine tournament and I have tasted over 1600 wines throughout the past year and picking 64 wines that rocked my world was hard, really hard. I narrowed it down to 200 wines pretty quickly and then down to 100 quickly just using the philosophy that only use wines that are easier to find, so if you want to find these wines you could. Many of the wines I tried I really only got to experience because it was in a private cellar or someone was hosting a tasting with a rep of some pretty pricey wines. I have a small cellar of what I think are really great and affordable wines. The most expensive bottles are a few that might be over $200.

I think there is so much great wine at affordable prices out there and honestly, I am on a budget, we have a son in college and with launching a business keeps me watching my pennies. So, I try to keep my wines affordable and findable, if that is even a word!

These wines could have been in different regions but just did not fit, they are in no specific order and not in any way organized from red to white or grape varietal. What I learned about my palate with these wines…well, I really have a love for the grape Pinot Noir and I am constantly stretching my white wine palate!

2006 Guitian Valdeorras Godello (White) from Spain $20.00

1989 Chateau Suduirant Sauternes (White) France $67.00

2001 Stefano Inama Vulcaia, Fume, Sauvignon Blanc (White) from Italy $32.00

2007 Slowine Rose’ (Pink) South Africa $13.00

2005 Val Llach Embruix Priorat (Red) Spain $34.00

2007 Eroica Riesling (White) Washington $22.00

2009 Veramonte Ritual Pinot Noir, (Red) Casablanca Valley, Chile $20.00

2007 Darting Durkhiemer Riesling (White) Germany $17.00

2004 Muga Rioja Reserva (Red) Spain $24.00

2004 Malvira Roero Arneis Saglietto (White) Italy $30.00

2003 Stonier Estates Reserve Chardonnay (White) Australia $35.00

2005 Louis Martini Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve (Red) California $27.00

2006 Cristom Jefferson Cuvee Pinot Noir (Red) Willamette Valley, Oregon $30.00

2005 Chamonix Chardonnay Reserve (White) South Africa $40.00

2005 Matetic EQ Pinot Noir (Red) Chile

2005 Foris, Rogue Valley Maple Ranch Pinot Noir (Red) Rogue Valley, Oregon $45.00

I was surprised how international my tastes have become and how diverse my “textures” have become, from crisp, light Rieslings, to warmer, heavier Chardonnay’s and vibrant Pinot’s to massive Cabernet…I love where my mouth and taste buds are taking me these days!

All of these wines have a great story behind them and I love them all for different reasons, but the wine that wins this bracket for me I tasted while I was standing on the most magnificent veranda in Casablanca Valley while I was in Chile. I was with my family and friends after I finished harvest and they came to visit the country with me and I just remember this wine as tasting like my life was perfect, I was successful, I had found a moment in life that could not be any better.

Winner hands down is Veramonte Ritual Pinot Noir…$20 a bottle and I was in a state of pure bliss…I will never forget that day, that moment and the wine that joined in the experience.

Tomorrow, I will put the four finalists together and let their stories, experiences and flavors slug it out! I love basketball and I love wine…this is my favorite time of the year!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

Good Morning!

Today, I celebrate with bubbles and the March Madness of wine! This will be my entire region of the best sparkling wines, cava, prosecco and champagnes that I tried over the last year. I found after looking at my tasting notes that I tasted so many French champagnes, it surprised me the amount in general. I am normally on a budget so some of the champagne I tasted was several hundred dollars a bottle, but the most surprising fact is only one really pricey bottle made it onto my top 16!

I have wines on the list from $12-$160 dollars and many of the top tastes hailed from France, Spain, Italy and of course the USA. Most are NV (Non Vintage, meaning they blend several vintages together to create the finished wine), but if they are made in a vintage year, I will state the year so you can find the wine for yourself.

Scharffenberger Brut, NV California $19.00

De Conciliis Selim Spumante, NV Italy $18.00

Laurent-Perrier Brut NV, France $42.00

Roederer Estate Brut Sparkling NV, California $22.00

Juve y Camps Brut Cava Cinta Pupura Reserva NV, Spain $13.00

Rao’s Prosecco VSAQ Extra Dry NV, Italy $15.00

Domaine Chandon Rose’ NV, California $22.00

Santa Margherita Prosecco NV, Italy $13.00

Pol Roger Brut Reserve NV, France $45.00

Krug Brut Champagne Grande Cuvee NV, France $160.00

Segura Vidus Aria Estate Cava NV, Spain $12.00

Drappier Brut Blanc de Blanc Champagne Cuvee Signature NV, France $55.00

2010 Rock Wall Blanc de Blanc, California, $18.00

Francoise Bedal Champange Brut “Entre Ciel et Terre” NV, $70.00

Moutard Pere & Fils Brut Champagne Grande Cuvee NV, France $40.00

Pierre Moncuit Brut Rose’ Champagne NV, France $50.00

I drank Champagne, Cava, Prosecco and Sparkling for many occasions this past year..The Royal Wedding, My step-son turned 21, I celebrated a huge career milestone when I finished my apprenticeship as a winemaker for Casa Lapostolle and Clos Apalta…I also had a milestone anniversary with my main squeeze as well…so we had some great bubbles, but my personal favorite of these top 16 turned out to be Pol Roger Brut Reserve NV….I tasted this for the first time on my birthday and I ended up buying a case for the future!

Tomorrow, I will show you my 4th and kinda the miscellaneous region, it has a little be of within these final 16 wines!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

Good Morning!

Yesterday, I posted my Big Ass red Region and today I am posting my top 16 Spectacular White Wines from this past year….actually there are several more whites that will be named in the 4th region…but they would not all fit in this region.

What I learned most about my palate last year was I tried more white wines than I expected and I really surprised myself by how many different types of grape varietals I raved about in my tasting notes and on this list, I have wine from France, Greece, Italy, California, Oregon, New Zealand, Austria, Australia and Spain, more diverse than I would have expected from me who drinks many regular everyday Sauvignon Blancs from California.

Another surprise for when I look at the list are that most of the wines are finished in stainless steel and not oak, but a few wonderful barrel aged wines made my list. The list covers quite a range of prices from $11-50 dollars and the oldest wine is from 2004 and some were just released last year.

Here is my Spectacular White Wine Region for March Madness!

2009 Morgan Chardonnay Monterey Metallico Un-Oaked $20.00

2004 Marimar Torres Estates Dobles Lias Chardonnay Sonoma, CA $40.00

2005 Vergelegen White Stellenbosch, South Africa $30.00

2006 Sollner Danubio, Gruner Veltliner, Austria $13.00

2008 Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blanc, Sonoma, CA $30.00

2010 Foris Pinot Gris, Rogue Valley, Oregon $14.00

2005 Remelluri Blanco Riojo, Spain $30.00

2006 Souverain Chardonnay, Alexander Valley, CA $17.00

2010 Saget Pere & Fils, Vouvray Loire, France $11.00

2005 The Florita Clare Valley, Riesling, Australia $20.00

2006 Pighin Pinot Grigio, Italy $16.00

2010 D. Kourtakis Patras Kouros White, Greece $15.00

2007 Dutton Goldfield Rued Vineyard, Chardonnay, Sonoma, CA $30.00

2006 Selaks, Ice Wine, New Zealand $18.00

2010 Domaine de Loye Menetou-Salon, Loire, France $18.00

2009 Shafer, Chardonnay Napa Valley Carneros Red Shoulder, California $50

Ok, it’s kinda a splurge for me but every year I buy a case of Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blanc and I savor that wine like it’s my last bottle, so if you are feeling like you want to commit to an awesome wine, this is my March Madness 2nd place white….this year my fav white wine and winner of my Spectacular White Wine region is The 2004 Marimar Torres Estate Chardonnay from Sonoma.

I hope you will be trying some new wines after seeing this list….I have fun all year tasting and taking notes and love sharing the experience with you…if you try a wine you think I should check out, let me know!

Tomorrow is all about the Bubbles, Cava and Prosecco!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

Good Morning!

After 4 days of amazing college basketball, the upsets, the Cinderella stories are starting to emerge and the sweet 16 are now in place for the March Madness of NCAA men’s basketball. I am a huge college basketball fan and not just of the men’s game, I love women’s college ball as much or possibly more.

Last year, I set up my blog to start with 64 wines and eliminate wines until I had my number 1 wine of the year. (This is totally a personal wine competition). I start by taking all my wine tasting notes from the year and start looking for the wines I absolutely went crazy for. In the last 12 months, I have tasted 1600 wines and it was really easy for me to sift through the notes and find about 200 wines I really, really found to be different and fantastic. The hard part was sorting to get to the 64 wines to start this year’s March Madness!

I have divided the 64 into 4 regions just like the real March Madness tournament. I have given each region a fun name and will unveil a different region each day this week. My hope is while you are out and about if you see one of these wines, you will try them as well. Today’s region is what I have named Big Ass Red wine Region!

As normal, I will remind you that for me many wines I sample are excellent, but sometimes the place I experience them or the event I am attending or the people I enjoy them with really make these wine go from being great to being something amazing and possibly life changing! You may or may not agree with me on my wine picks but if you had the same experience as me, you might feel the same way.

You will see I have bottles of wine from $15-400.00. I discovered something interesting about my palate over the last year and that is I have found a real fondness for wines from other countries, something that surprised me.

Here are my top 16 Big Ass Red wines

2001 Hardys Eileen Hardy Shiraz Australia $60

2004 Clos de Los Siete Malbec/Merlot Argentina $20

2008 Denner The Dirt Worshiper Paso Robles, California $45

2003 LeRiche Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve South Africa $40

2009 Crocker & Starr Cabernet Franc Napa, California $90

1998 Domaine du Cayron Gigondas, Rhone, France $85

2005 Joesph Phelps Insignia, California Blend $200

2004 Herdade do Esporao Reserva Tempranillo $30

2005 Marchesi di Gresy Barbaresco Martinenga Piedmont, Italy $60

2000 Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmenre Chile $21

2004 Clos Marie, Pic-Saint-Loup Cuvee Simon Syrah/Greneche France $33

2004 Chateau La Nerthe Chateauneuf-du-Pape Rhone, France $42

1999 Casa Lapostolle Merlot Chile (Priceless to me, $100)

2009 Braida di Giacomo Bologna Barbera d’Asti Montebruna $23

2004 Nord Estate Wine Petite Sirah Jonquil Vineyards Napa Valley, California $40

2009 Neyen Cabernet Sauvignon Chile $85

Of these 16 wines my personal number 1 wine is 1999 Casa Lapostolle Merlot Chile…. I had this wine while sitting on the outdoor patio of the residence of Lapostolle in Chile with Madame Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle and the winemakers of Lapostolle. It might have been the most enjoyable few hours of entire month long trip in Chile. This wine was like red liquid velvet. I know that is not really a very elegant wine description but it was so smooth, so berry, so lush, so full, so luxurious, I don’t have a strong enough vocabulary to fully encompass how this wine tasted…but I can tell you how this moment in my life felt…so let me tell you about that…Imagine, being surrounded by the people with the talent to take some of the best grapes in a fairly “new” wine producing region and painstakingly watch and monitor wines until you create wines that are not only award winning but are so highly revered all over the world. But these folks were down to earth, they don’t take themselves seriously. They talked about their kids, life and all the regular details of daily living with the causal attitude of your next door neighbor.

I sat with Jacque, Andrea, Jerome and Madame Alexandre and listened to they stories and we ate and laughed. I was sitting across the table from a visionary in the wine industry (and spirits too), who told me about her trip to San Antonio, Texas and in the next breath we talked about the filming of The Winemakers reality show…the next minute we talked about our sons, our hopes and dreams for their futures. Her sons are a bit older than my stepson, but their journeys are the same and the entire time sitting there, I could have easily felt intimidated by all the greatness surrounding me, but it really felt like a family gathering and the energy was as relaxed as they wine.

As you can see this wine was my number one pick of the year and is in the Final Four of my March Madness of Wine…this one might be hard to beat…This wine is the Kentucky of this years’ real NCAA tournament!

Tomorrow…we will move on to the next region…Big Bold White wines!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

Good Morning!

I have been re-reading all my tasting notes from the past year and I am preparing for my second annual March Madness of wines! I forgot how many amazing wines I had last year during all my travels. I am going to do the same as last year, pick my top 64 wines and divide them into four regions and slowly eliminated wines until we discover what wine I think it the best wine I tried last year.

After looking at my notes, I tasted over 1600 wines…YIKES! That might sound like a lot of wine but I was talking to a dude who is a wine judge and he tastes and judges all year and he said last year he tasted over 9000 wines at competitions. So, with that info, I want to be a judge..not really, being a judge to me, would be like being a Sommelier…I’d love to know what they know and I’d love to have had the experiences they have had, but I am not willing to put that much work in on my palate at this point in my life.

Back to the brackets, if you are not familiar with the whole bracket thing, go to the internet and then go to the NCAA basketball tournament and print out a bracket. I did and then I started with the four regions and gave each of them a “sub title” my regions are split into the following regions, Bubbles, red, white and whatever is left…..I know that sounds kinda lame, but I always have more reds and whites than I bracket can hold so I have to lump them into the extra regions bracket.

Last year, I caught a lot of flack having two wines that are not even closely related competing against each other….Really? This is not scientific, this is Tammi’s March Madness, this is only for my entertainment and this is all about my tastes and experience with the wine. Last year I really was on a Pinot Noir kick and it was reflected in my brackets and regions….this past year I spent a significant amount of time in Chile and I guarantee many, many of the wines from South America will show up on my top 64 wines.

As I started looking at my top wines, It was easy to peel through about 1200 of the wines, they were all lovely, but the last 400 left for me to chose from really made me take a bunch of notes and I loved all these wines. I did not use a price point on my wines this year and I have wines from $10-$400 a bottle.

Many of these wines might surprise you and some surprised me and I had to also consider the environment where I had them, who I was with when tasting, where they paired with foods etc….I would bet some of my fav wines will be the ones I had when I was with Andrea Leon, winemaker of Lapostolle, Dr. Charles Thomas of Chateau Thomas wines and then when I was with friends and family during my world of traveling.

Anyway, I just wanted you to know, I was working on my brackets and be prepared to follow my wine madness!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi