For the next installment of Wine Blogging Wednesday, our monthly virtual wine tasting, event founder Lenn has teamed with Alberto of the monthly Is My Blog Burning? for a special event entitled Fabulous Favorites Festival. On May 19th all of us wine bloggers (and some podcasters) will dive into our cellars for a bottle and then find a recipe to pair with it. The reverse is the case for food bloggers (or podcasters). Sounds like a great plan and I hope to be able to entice a food podcaster to participate with me… stay tuned.

De La Montanya, Zinfandel, Sack Vineyard Russian River Valley 2004 ($32/sample) – Dark purple in color with blackberry and plum aromas coming through quite a lot of cedar. Lots of dark fruit and pepper flavors that barely balance the alcohol, but the thick, rich mouthfeel and lack of noticeable tannins is intriguing. Finishes hot with a slightly raisony aftertaste, but nothing objectionable. For lovers of big Zin’s only and not one to match well with food. Drink now before the fruit goes away.

Score: 8.5/10

Beaulieu Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2001 ($17) – Garnet in color with aromas of black cherry and spice. Black cherry, mint and black pepper flavors with moderate tannins and a nice dusty finish. A nice Cab to have around for everyday drinking. Score: 8.5/10

Wow, talk about a brave move in the country that produces 55% of the world’s corks… Cheers to Quinta do Cotto for such a progressive decision to adopt modern wine closures. Hopefully more wineries, and consumers, will welcome this technology.

Les Vignerons du Mont-Ventoux, “Grange des Dames� rouge, Cotes du Ventoux 2000 (~$10/gift) – Since my parents are again in France, I pulled out a gift from a previous trip some years ago. The back label states this red to be a blend of 50% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 20% Carignan and 10% Cinsault. Dark ruby in color with a funky earthy nose of rhubarb, spice and a touch of Brett. Strawberry, leather and tar flavors with smooth tannins. Could use some more fruit, but pretty interesting anyway. Most likely would have shown better a couple years back so drink ‘em if you have ‘em. “Barn of the Ladies� seems like an apt name for this one Score: 7.5/10

Well, I’ve crossed a threshold of sorts by posting a review for a wine that I didn’t like. Most times, I just skip posting these unless they are fairly high priced to warn readers. This one was different; as the wine itself did not show any flaws and is actually very well made. I just didn’t like the style so this affected my notes and ultimately the score (how can I rate a wine “delicious� that I don’t care for?) I’m not sure how pros like Robert Parker and Jim Laube deal with this issue, but perhaps there is some technique of separating your preferences from the mechanics of tasting. Sort of like “tasting at arms length� and clinically evaluating the wines’ attributes. However it’s done, I’m not there yet. Maybe it really doesn’t matter too much either way.

Acacia Vineyard, Chardonnay, “Sangiacomo Vineyard�, Carneros 2003 ($30) – Golden yellow in color with aromas of caramel and vanilla over a bit of pear and pineapple. Silky attack of butterscotch and nutmeg with a bit of pineapple fruit with a moderately long finish. I think this wine is too overpowering to match well with food, but still very well made in the typical oak laden California style. Whatever terroir there is from Sangiacomo Vineyard fruit has been overshadowed by ML and new oak barrels, in my opinion. Not my style of Chardonnay, but if you like popcorn-butter style Chard, this might just be the ticket. Score: 8.5/10

Early this afternoon, I was pleased to see an email about a new wine video podcast come into my Gmail. It was not from someone new to the wine blogging (or podcasting) scene, but from Jathan over at Winexpression. He has just released the first episode of his show and I have to say that it is one of the best video podcasts on wine I have yet seen. Check it out.

Weingut Eduard Hauth-Kerpen, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Riesling, Kabinett, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer 2001 ($17) – Light straw-green in color with the classic Mosel nose of flowers, lime and minerals. Fresh lemon, lime and mineral flavors finishing very crisp and dry with plenty of acidity. This wine is light and elegant with only 7.5% alcohol, but is very flavorful and food friendly. It paired perfectly with our Honey-Baked Ham this Easter. Score: 9/10

A little over three months ago I posted about my personal life for the first time here. It was because I thought that the loss of my day job would have a direct impact on my podcast and this blog. So it is with great pleasure that I announce my return to full employment as Director of Marketing for Goosecross Cellars in Yountville, CA. “But don’t you live in the Twin Cities�, you ask? The answer is yes and I’ll remain living here. If you would have said I would be working for a winery in the Napa Valley in January, I would have thought you were crazy, but this is indeed how things worked out.

So what does this mean for Winecast? Nothing and everything. I don’t plan to change anything and will be getting back into more of the routine of weekend podcast postings that I had been doing in the past. As a member of the wine trade, this will open many opportunities to taste new wines and talk with winemakers and winery owners, but it will not be from the vantage point of a consumer, but as an industry insider. I don’t plan on changing my focus here away from exploring wines from around the world and will make sure that I don’t get too California-centric given my more frequent trips to Napa. I will also not review any Goosecross wines or talk about any aspects of my business here. Winecast will strictly be a private blog and podcast, as it has been since I started in December of 2004.

I appreciate all the listeners who supported me with donations and good words during my time of unemployment. I will be using all the funds collected to buy wines for future podcasts and will get back to purchasing wines myself or accepting samples from wineries or distributors. My samples policy has always been to accept if offered, but never to solicit them. When I do accept samples, I will fully disclose this, as I have been doing.

This is a turning point in my life and I am very happy things worked out the way they have. I will now return to posting about wines and interesting industry stories I come across in my blog readings. I’ll also be disclosing my employment status when it makes sense to do so for transparency.

Cheers and Happy Easter!

Even before the clock struck midnight on this week’s Wine Blogging Wednesday, host Bill of the Wine for Newbies podcast had posted three summaries of entries in a near live-blog of the event. A great innovation that I’ll have to remember when my time to host comes around. It was very interesting to look at all the entries that ranged from a crappy Gewürztraminer fellow podcaster the Cellar Rat sampled to some interesting Rhone whites to the great vino of Austria. Joe and Pam from A Guy, A Girl, and A Bottle even tasted one of the same Verdejo that I did.

Check out all four summaries here, here, here and here; then Bill’s own entry here. It was good to see the founder Lenn making a late appearance this month yesterday; I thought perhaps he preferred plumbing to the fruit of the vine

This month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday is hosted by the first wine podcaster/blogger, Bill Wilson of Wine for Newbies. And since his theme is any white wine, “…But Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, or Riesling�, I’ve selected a varietal native to Spain’s Rueda region, Verdejo. I’m also going to be doing my blog post separate from my podcast on these wines because for the first time in many years I feel I have discovered something new and want to research this grape a bit more for the audio version. The first time I had this feeling was discovering Gewürztraminer in the early 1980’s; the second, Viognier in the mid-1990’s. It seemed like the right thing to do to honor the host by producing the best podcast for this WBW, so stay tuned for this coming shortly.

So why Verdejo? The short answer is I’ve covered most of the major white varietals that are left and the few that remain, like Semillon and Grüner Veltliner, I’m saving for some upcoming shows. I again consulted my local wine merchant, Solo Vino, for some suggestions. Their recommendation was Verdejo from Spain and Australia, of all places, to get a sense from how the grape travels. Before I get into my tasting notes I’ll cover a short background on the grape.

Verdejo is the signature white grape of the Rueda DO of Spain and one of the best white wines made in Spain. Often compared to Sauvignon Blanc, the characteristics are a bit less austere on the palete, but certainly similar on the nose. Long grown in this region, it had a renaissance of sorts in the 1980’s with modern winemaking techniques producing clean, un-oaked wines in place of the barrel fermented and aged wines of earlier times. Many of these wines are blended with Sauvignon Blanc to round out the flavors.

Tasting Notes:

Vina Sanzo, Verdejo, Rueda, Spain 2004 – Light straw/green in color with aggressive aromas of fresh hay, apricots and hazelnuts. An exotic mixture of gooseberry and apricot flavors finishing very crisp and dry. A Sauvignon Blanc on steroids. Score: 9/10

Garcia Arevalo, “Casamaro�, Rueda, Spain 2005 – Light straw yellow in color with fine bubbles. Grassy apricot aromas with pear and peach on the palete finishing dry with a nice spritz from bottle fermentation. Very good. Score: 8.5/10

Woop Woop, “V 2005″, Verdelho (Verdejo), Southern Australia 2005 – There seems to be some controversy that this wine is made from the grape responsible for Madeira and not the noble Verdejo of Rueda, but I’m going to give this bottling the benefit of the doubt because it’s so good.

Pale straw in color with pineapple and pear aromas. Peach and some grassiness, a bit like the bitterness of Gewürztraminer, on the palete finishing dry with zingy acidity. Drink this one with some roast chicken or a salad on a hot summers day. Very good, but more like a blend of Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc than the other two wines tasted, so perhaps there is some credence to the Madeira connection. Score: 8.5/10

The best of tasting this month clearly goes to the Vina Sanzo, Verdejo 2004 with the best value to Woop Woop, “V 2005″. If you couldn’t tell by my tasting notes, I was blown away by these wines and look forward to exploring them further on my podcast. Thanks to Bill for a great theme and I’ll see you soon with a podcast version with more details and perhaps another wine tasting note.

And, yes Bill, I’ll say nice things about you and your podcast on mine