Ratings:
Hoorah Run out and buy it before they run out
Yah Enjoyable, would buy again
Shrug Drinkable, but not memorable *
Nah Life is too short to drink bad wine, marinate something in it.
| Grocery Outlet Picks | Price | Nah | Shrug | Yah | Hoorah | |||||
| 1 | Cove Viognier 06′ | $3.99 | 4 | 2 | 2 | |||||
| 2 | Adler Fels Sauvingnon 07′ | $5.99 | 4 | 4 | ||||||
| 3 | Saddler Peak Geyser Cabernet 05′ ** | $5.99 | 7 | 1 | ||||||
| 4 | Farleigh Zinfandel 05′ | $5.99 | 6 | 2 | ||||||
| 5 | Yelcho Chardonnay 05′ | $4.99 | 1 | 7 | ||||||
| 6 | X Sauvingnon 07′ | $3.99 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |||||
| 7 | Fonti Pool Chardonnay 04′ | $3.99 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
Notes:
*Shrug: Added as a new rating
** “Tasted like sweatsocks” ” If left to age, it may be a tawny port”
* * *
Our wonderful wine tasters assembled at Don Cohen’s for a late summer sipping event.
As usual, Elaine and Don Cohen offered wonderful home-crafted goodies: puff pastry pizzas with caramelized onions, roast tomatoes and cheese, a delightful pesto cheesecake from Ina Garten’s website on the Food Network. Joy brought fried wontons filled with ground pork, water chestnuts, cilantro, green onions and sesame seed oil. Don shared his delicious glacé figs from his garden – a 10-day process of preserving the fruit and ending with a vodka infusion. Delicious!
Some of you asked about understanding how to taste wine – well, there’s a lot of information on the protocol, but mostly trust your own palate. Here are basic tasting tips:
LOOK: Pick up your glass and hold it to the light – it should be clear. The color is a cue to the age, variety and sweetness.
SWIRL: Hold the glass by the base and give it brisk swirl (except of course for bubbles). This releases the aromas.
SMELL: Place the glass to your nose. Inhale and be seduced by its bouquet. This will enhance the tasting experience.
TASTE: Finally, take a mouthful and swish it around your mouth (sucking in air as the professionals do!) Let the wine cover all corners of your palate. From here you can choose to swallow or spit in the spittoon.
Don Cohen is a retired commodities trader who has lived in Redding for 10 years. Joy Yoshioka is a retired high-tech exec who has lived in Redding for four years.
