As a quick recap, first we visited Churn Creek cellars, then we did a wine tasting the following Saturday. After that tasting, we still had two bottles to sample, which is what we are finishing with today.
We met up on our deck, pulled out a bunch of foods, and started into the tasting. The rule was: no work talk. We were almost successful at that, but we were successful in tasting and enjoying the mid-week Happy Hour.
We started with the Churn Cellars 2012 Sangiovese.
The color was a sort of plum, or light brownish red (rose?) with a touch of amber on the top edge. It was floral smelling, a very light and mild floral taste that didn't have a long finish. It seemed to have more of an oak-tannin taste that we picked up on, so we set some aside to open up. It retained the taste, and so we felt maybe the wine a "young" still.
We all thought it was not a "drinking wine," but it was a "food wine." It did not work with the black fruits (made it bitter) but a raspberry was pretty good. Strawberries, not as much. Olives were just OK, blue cheese was not, but then we hit a pretty good combo.
Kathy brought a Welsh Cheddar Cheese, and that was a nice complementary taste, with the cheese smoothness mellowing out the tannin in the wine. But then we all agreed the best combination was sun dried tomatoes with basil, spread on a Wheat Thin cracker. That was enhanced when Steve topped his with some of the Welsh Cheddar.
Based on that, I think it would go well with a tomato sauce based meal, like spaghetti, ravioli or lasagna.
Overall, the wine is not a "Wow" wine like the Churn Cellars Syrah, and it is not just a sipping wine, but we felt with a little more age and a good pasta meal it would be a fine dinner wine.
We were wondering how it would taste slightly below room temperature, as opposed to warm, right out of the bottle.
The second bottle was the 2012 Tehama County Master Craftsman Red Wine. I believe Layne said it is a Super Tuscan style. It had a nice burgundy color which was more to the red and less brownish, and started with a big up-front nose.
Steve noted it was a "...very pleasant nose, with a good rounded combination of floral and fruit..."
Compared to the Sangiovese, it had a better taste; more rounded and balanced, not as tannic, with a better finish. The taste was more fruity, and went well with strawberries, and the sun dried tomato - basil combination.
It did not pair well with olives or blue cheese, but... But that being said, I tried a combination of
huckleberries on the blue cheese and that turned out to be a good combination. It seemed to take the sharpness off the cheese, and bring out the fruit of wine.
Whatever wines Layne blended, it is a nice combination of tastes. Again, we felt it was more of a food wine, not just a drinking wine.
Overall, we are pretty damn impressed with Layne and Denise, and the Churn Cellars wines. We will be heading back soon.
As the late afternoon light faded, we opened a 2007 bottle of Ravenswood Old Vine Zinfandel (only available at the vineyard) that we picked up four years ago. It was, as you might expect, fantastic.
It was great to share it with good friends, because, after all, isn't that the equation?
Appreciating good food.
Plus good wine.
Plus good friends.
Equals a good life.