What do you do on a Wednesday night in mid-June, you participate in a virtual wine tasting brought to us by Spring City Wine House. Given the continuing social distancing rules, Tom from Spring City is still making wine tasting fun. Since large groups still can’t gather, why not host a tasting via zoom. For a nominal fee, $20 for non-club member and $15 for Spring City wine club members. My friend, Randi signed us up. Her husband went out to Waukesha to pick up the samples. We received six 2 ounce samples of the wine we tasted.
Now I know, you are thinking, J Lohr? Well these are not the wines you normally see in the grocery store, this tasting is covering single vineyard and small production wines only found at the winery. Our host, Teo spent the first half of the tasting covering the history of J Lohr, where their vineyards are located and where their tasting room and wine making facilities are located. The disappointing part of this tasting was the host didn’t interact with us on the Zoom meeting. And because he had so much content early in the tasting, that by the time we got to taste the wines, we rushed through all six varietals. The best part of the tasting, Steve Lohr, CEO of J Lohr joined the Zoom to chat with us and answer questions. It was really nice to have him join the tasting and share some personal stories and be a great ambassador for the brand.
On to the wines we tasted, we started with the 2015 October Night Chardonnay. It was a pale yellow chardonnay that wasn’t too buttery and was fruit forward, I really picked up apple when tasting it. At $20 per bottle it was reasonable and one I would drink again and I’m not a huge chardonnay fan. In my assessment, this was a very drinkable chardonnay that would work well with seafood or risotto.
The second wine came from Monterey CA, the 2018 Wildflower Valdigule, it was a very light red wine that had an interesting nose, not in a bad way, but different. I was not a fan of this red, I love a good cabernet, this was too light, lacked tannins for my pallet, and at $10 a bottle, it’s good for beginner wine drinkers, but if like me you are a Wine Diva, I say pass on this one.
We moved on to Cabernet blends next. This one the 2017 Pure Paso Proprietary Red Wine, it’s a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Merlot, Petite Verdot and Malbec. You could definitely smell the Petite Verdot on the nose, which for me, isn’t a good scent. This wine, like it’s name implies, is from Paso Robles. It’s a $25 bottle, and for me reasonable, but still not a favorite or one I’d buy for my cellar.
This next wine was my favorite of the night, the 2013 Cuvee St. E, a Bordeaux style wine, as in St. Emilion, which holds a special place in my heart since I visited Bordeaux three years ago on a Viking cruise. This wine had great structure but soft tannins and a nice finish. It was the second highest price bottle of the night at $45, but definitely one I’m adding to my cellar. I recommend it if you like Bordeaux blends.
The 2017 Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon was the 5th wine of the evening, some of you may be familiar with this wine it can be found on wine lists and in some wine shops. It was a solid Cabernet, what you would expect, but for me, not as good as the Cuvee. However at $25 a bottle definitely is a solid choice.
The final wine of the evening was the 2014 Carol’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. I love a wine that also does good, proceeds from the sale of this wine go to support the National Breast Cancer Foundation for women who cannot afford mammograms’. The wine is named after Jerry Lohr’s wife Carol who lost her battle with breast cancer. The story touched my heart and was one of the details that Teo shared that I did enjoy. This wine had a heavy mouth feel and the fruit came from Napa Valley. I love Napa Valley Cabernets. The bottle price was $47, reasonable for a Napa Valley Cabernet and supports a good cause, definitely one I’ll purchase.
Thanks to Tom from Spring City Wine House for continuing to feed our wine additions and education on all things wine. Until next time, cheers to enjoying a glass or two.
I highly encourage you to try some of the virtual tastings that are still happening with many wineries in California. My friends at Jessup Cellars and Handwritten are hosting virtual tastings, you can visit the websites for more details.