Wine and Cheese for a Summer's Eve - The Well-Caffeinated Mom

This week’s tasting at Creekside had several stars. We tasted eight out of the ten wines offered, and enjoyed most of them. The theme for this week was wines that can be enjoyed during the summer – either as summer sipping wines or as accompaniments to summer food fare.

2010 Green & Red Sauvignon Blanc, Catacula Vineyard, Napa Valley ($20) – This wine had notes of orange peel, honeydew melon, and oats. It was quite green and pretty good. It would be a nice by the pool kind of drinking wine.

2007 Arrowood Saralee’s Vineyard Viognier, Russian River Valley, Sonoma ($30) – This was a rustic, warm, and spicy wine with roses on the nose. There were also hints of rosemary and thyme in the wine. This wine will be going on our wishlist.

Pinot noir grapes have a much darker hue than ... — Pinot noir grapes have a much darker hue than the bluish-gray coloring of Pinot gris (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2010 Gassier “Sables d” Azur, Provence, France – Rosé ($13) – This wine was lovely. It had notes of peaches, and it was light like a wonderful pink lemonade. It was sweet. It would be a great wine to pair with a fruit salad at a summer BBQ.

2008 Steele Pinot Noir, Caneros, Napa ($20) – This wine would go very nicely with a blackberry cobbler. It had notes of plums, blackberries, tobacco. It was definitely a wonderful, robust and full Pinot Noir.

2010 Sevin Sinners Petite Syrah, Lodi ($20) – This wine had an ink flavor, but tit did not turn into a monster. It had a ton of spice, including cardamon. It also had notes of black cherries.

2009 Landmark “Steel Plow” Syrah, Sonoma Valley ($30) – This wine was fabulous. It was very good with green olives, and it would pair well with any of your feistier foods. There were notes of blackberries, raspberries, black pepper, currant, and tobacco. This one is highly recommended to those who love a bold wine.

2009 Sbragia “Gino’s Vineyard” Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley ($30) – This was light but spicy and had a bit of cream to it. It was nice, and is a good staple wine, especially if you’re looking for a lighter, less jammy, Zinfandel to enjoy.

2009 Louis Martini Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley, Sonoma ($30) This wine has a wonderful nose. This wine is filled with notes of dark chocolate, espresso, cayenne pepper, almonds, and that cigar box that Wining Husband and I so love.

Have you had any of these wines? What were your thoughts on them?