We started the night with a recap of the Deductive Tasting Method then dove into discussing the two regions.

Some basics:

Burgundy

Primary Grape Varieties:

White- Chardonnay, Aligote

Red- Pinot Noir, Gamay

Vineyard Classification:  Complex system of land ownership. Thousands of tiny vineyards each with multiple owners thanks to Napoleonic Code and inheritance laws which split property equally amongst children.

• Based on terroir NOT chateau of brand
• Breakdown;

Regional appellations: 56%, Village: 30%, Premier Cru: 12%, Grand Cru: 2%

Bordeaux

Primary Grape Varieties:

White- Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadelle de Bordelais

Red- Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot

Typical Bordeaux Blend:

Medoc (left bank)

-70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and minor varieties

St. Emilion and Pomerol (right bank)

-70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc

• Medoc Classification of 1855- ranked 61 properties in Medoc by Napoleon to showcase in the Universal exhibition in Paris. Currently, there are five 1st growth.
• 80% of wine made is red. Cabernet Sauvignon is 18% of plantings, Merlot is 40%

Time for Blind Tasting!

I brown bagged four different bottles and using the deductive tasting method, the Swirl Girls swished, sniffed, and slurped our way through all of them.

Chardonnay, Bouchard, France 2009

A simple, delicious chardonnay from Burgundy. Easy to drink. Nothing magical or offensive. We recommend it as the second bottle of wine you drink, not the first.

Chardonnay, Liquid Farm, Sta. Rita Hills, 2009

I threw in a stumper from California, but the Swirl Girls would not be fooled. They guessed it down to the region and all agreed this wine ROCKS.. Our very own Wine Nerd Nikki Palleson is responsible for this ‘deliciousness’ (as she would say)

Pinot Noir, Chambolle-Musigny, Bouchard, France 2009

A little young. Some of the Swirl Girls mistook it for a Cru beaujolais, but its nose was intoxicating and has potential to be a spectacular accompaniment to a Thanksgiving feast.

Bordeaux, Chateaux Gree Laroque, France 2004

The clear winner of the night. Not only was it interesting, complex, and pleasing to the palate. We decided it was like drinking a very sexy, intelligent, outdoorsman.

Cheers to that!

A couple months ago, I became obsessed with owning a vintage ice cream truck. Everyday, I scoured searchtempest.com in search of the perfect pre-1980’s postal carrier turned ice cream machine.

Finally I found a 1971 AM General International Postal carrier in Albuquerque… it even had a working siren! SOLD.

The truck was hauled from New Mexico to Los Angeles (most truck haulers don’t make the trip to San Luis Obispo). Which means we had to road trip the ice cream truck, named ‘Choritto’, from LA to SLO.

5:30pm- Redondo Beach

Starting our adventure to SLO during rush hour traffic was a blessing and a curse. We saw all sorts of friendly faces; people waving, smiling, even asking if we had an ice cream for sale, but at 6pm, we had driven only 5 miles, and the honking and waving can only do so much to raise our spirits.

We stopped to get gas and met a super nice clerk, Renaldo, who was eager to buy a chocotaco but we didn’t have any to sell. Disappointed, he asked if we had a local route.  I broke his heart yet again, by telling him we were heading to SLO.

6:30pm- Manhattan Beach

Back in ‘Choritto’, we turned on the jambox and trekked up PCH at 35 mph, just as the sun was setting. The traffic started to thin as we cruised the winding Malibu highway and got up to speeds of 50+.

7:30pm- Oxnard

Unfortunately, the previous owners of the ice cream truck turned the backdoor into a  wrought iron gate.. Obviously, they had not taken ‘Chorrito’ on a road trip because the toxic fumes coming from the exhaust were being sucked into the interior.

8:30pm- Santa Barbara

By the time we arrived to SB, were starving, thirsty, and feeling sick from the fumes. We thought a quick stop at Olio Pizzeria for a glass of wine and a pizza might give us the extra bit of strength for the home stretch. We pulled into the parking lot for Olio y Limon,  and Buchon with our lights and siren on. We parked between two Mercedes Benz and accidentally hit a Dodge Ram truck in front of us. All in a days drive for ‘Chorrito’. Its not an adventure till something breaks.

Wine. Pizza. Meatballs. and we were ready for the last half of the trip.

9:00pm- Goleta

Gas stop #2. I was starting to feel strange about driving in an ice cream truck without any ice cream so I went inside the gas station and bought two old fashioned drum sticks while we gassed up the truck. As we drove off, people started honking and yelling at us. At first we thought they were commenting on our cool siren but why did it sound like we were dragging something? We pulled over and realized that we had taken the gas pump and hose with us… shoot!

“Thanks for bringing it back” said the gas station attendant as we dragged the 8 foot hose back to the station. Apparently, it happens all the time.

9:30pm- The Home Stretch

Back on the road we drove like the wind, barely able to stand the fumes, but determined to make it back to SLO. The last few hours were in agony. The fumes were causing us to feel nauseous, and the freezing air coming in from the back gate was bone chilling.. but at 1230am, we pulled into the driveway, turned off the siren, and pondered whether the ice cream truck was really all the amazing after all.

1:00am- Relaxing at home

Yes, it is that amazing…Viva la Chorrito!!

Monday night. Our first session of the Swirl Girls @ Granada Bistro

What better way to learn about wine, than drinking it with your girlfriends? Armed with notebooks, deductive tasting charts, an array of elements, and our thirsty palates, we started the series with review of the Deductive Tasting Method

Sight, Nose, Palate, Conclusion

Sight

• Provides valuable information about a wine’s age and/or condition
• Key: tilt glass away from you against a white background

Generally speaking…

• White and blush wines grow darker with age, Red wines grow lighter with age
• Pigments and tannin in red wines precipitate into sediment with age
• Rim Variation is the difference in color between wine at the center of the glass and the wine at the edge (rim) of the glass. The older the wine, the more rim variation

• Check out the ‘legs’ of the wine as an indicator of residual sugar/alcohol level

Nose:

• Most important aspect of tasting, accounting for 85% of taste
• Three short sniffs (like a dog) is more effective than one long inhale.
• Concentrate on aromas in categories; fruit, non-fruit, earth, wood

Palate:

• Confirming what you have already smelled
• Focus on how the wine changes as it travels across your palate – especially the finish
• Sometimes very young wine smell different than taste

The Conclusion:

• Taking evidence gained from the sight, nose, and palate to form the best possible conclusion. Use process of elimination using markers for classical grape varietals.

In order to put these steps into practice, we sniffed samples of characteristics found in red and white wines:

Strawberries, blackberries, plums, truffles, black pepper, dark chocolate, cinnamon

Lemon, lime, oranges, peaches, wet grass, vanilla, butter, almonds

Once our noses were fully engrossed in aromas, we blind tasted two different wines using the Deductive Tasting Method; one New World, one Old World with outstanding results.

Homework for next week: Stop and smell the elements and taste all you can. After all, the best way to learn about wine is to drink it! Cheers