AA Wine Tasting Great Wine Made Simple

We are beginning wine tasters and we have started to have tastings around Andrea Immer's book, Great Wine Made Simple.

I've had three rieslings in my short wine tasting career, but I love them already. Crisper is better, and complexity is important. I love sweet wines, but the Hogue didn't do it for me. Too simple and cloyingly sweet.

• 2007 Kendall-Jackson Riesling Vintner's Reserve

  USA, California, Central Coast, Monterey County

  Possibly the most complicated of the (very cheap) night. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Complex, light bodied, crisp with a bit of sweetness. Very fruity. Definitely worth the price.

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• 2008 Hogue Cellars Late Harvest White Riesling

  USA, Washington, Columbia Valley

  Nice palatable sweet wine, but nothing special. Perhaps a bit too cloying and definitely monolithic. Nose of cooked fruits, palate was sweet but tough to discern.

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Crisper is better. Nobilo was quite good. Simi seemed flat.

• 2008 Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc Regional Collection Marlborough

  New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

  Very fruity nose, great crisp taste. Recommended especially given the reasonable price.

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• 2008 Simi Sauvignon Blanc

  USA, California, Sonoma County

  Reasonable wine, but too flabby. May have worked better with food, but definitely not special on its own. I prefer crisper whites.

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Unoaked chardonnay is my thing. Oaking gives the wine a burnt flavor/smell that I'm not sure I enjoy. I'll have to try more. Chardonnay is definitely not my favorite white.

• 2007 Joseph Drouhin Bourgogne Blanc

  France, Burgundy, Bourgogne Blanc

  Very enjoyable unoaked chardonnay. Not a huge fan of chardonnay, but I liked this one. Nose of fruits, full bodied palate. Very simple: no buttery or oak flavors. I liked it.

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• 2006 Beringer Vineyards Chardonnay Estate Grown Napa Valley

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Too oaky, covered the taste of the rest of the wine. Had it with bread and cheese and it may have worked better with wine. Too overpowering and woody without enough fruit.

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The pinot is easier to drink, but I think the cab showed its hand. It's bold with a clearer more complex nose and a palate that attracts attention. Both were good.

• 2007 Meridian Vineyards Pinot Noir

  USA, California

  Classic nose of fruits, low tannin. Easy to drink, but nothing special. Relatively light bodied.

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• 2006 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Knights Valley

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Knights Valley

  I recommend this wine. Medium to full bodied with a very strong classic cab nose with dark fruits. Palate was too tannic at first (didn't decant...), but improved rapidly over the next 30 minutes. I strongly recommend decanting 15-30 minutes. After some air exposure, tannins got sweeter and more enjoyable. Quite good for the price.

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My WOTN was the Kendall-Jackson dry riesling. It was complex, crisp, refreshing, and affordable. The Beringer Cab was a runner up, although in a different category. I particularly liked its nose.

As for the assignment from the book, I learned that I liked Rieslings (especially crisp ones, although I still want to try complex sweet rieslings), unoaked chardonnay, fruity and crisp sauvignon blanc, and full-bodied cabs that have been properly decanted. (Love the nose on those cabs...)