Talk-A-Vino

One of my favorite sessions at Wine Bloggers conference is one hour of pure madness, called Live Blogging, or Speed Tasting. Everybody sit at the round tables, 8 people per table. Each table has a number. There are winemakers with their wines, and typically there are more winemakers than there are tables. Each winemaker gets exactly 5 minutes to pour and present their wines. Each blogger has this exact same 5 minutes to taste, write notes, take pictures and do whatever else they are pleased. At the end of 5 minutes, each winemaker has to move to the next table – no exceptions.

This session usually has love/hate reception from bloggers. I personally love it, and I take that “live” part of this speed tasting very seriously :), twitting about each and every wine as we get to taste them. Now I would like to present to you the recap of this session, so here are all the wines and all of the tweets as this session was evolving in the real time – you can read my notes as part of the tweet:

1st wine – NV J Vineyards Brut Rosé Russain River Valley – delicious start, don’t you think? One of my favorite Californian sparkling wine producers

Next wine: 2014 Concannon Vineyard Asemblage Blanc Reserve Livermore Valley (Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon blend):

Wine #3: 2014 Peirano Estate Vineyards “The Other” Lodi  (65% Chardonnay, 25% Sauvignon Blanc, 10% Viognier)

Wine #4: 2014 Kenefick Ranch Pickett Road White Napa Valley Calistoga (75% Grenache Blanc, 20% Maarsanne, 5% Viognier) – the winery describes this wine as “possibly the best food wine on the planet” – considering the acidity, they might not be too far off. Plus, look at the varietals used in the wine – very interesting.

Wine#5: 2015 Left Coast Cellars White Pinot Noir Oregon – had an opportunity to taste this wine before – 100% Pinot Noir and 100% White, delicious:

Wine #6: 2015 Troon Vineyard Longue Carabine Applegate Valley Southern Oregon (blend of Vermentino, Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne)- I already wrote about this wine, so here was the second encounter 🙂

Wine #7: 2015 Corner 103 Sauvignon Blanc Sonoma Valley

Wine #8: NV Oak Ridge Winery OZV Rosé California (blend of Zinfandel and Chardonnay):

Wine #9: 2014 Peirano Estate Vineyards Chardonnay The Heritage Collection Lodi – very classic and an excellent value at $14.99 (mentioned in the tweet):

Wine #10: 2001 The Lucas Winery Chardonnay Lodi – this wine deserves its own post, and I wish I had time to visit the winery. This 15 years old California Chardonnay was absolutely mind blowing, deserving the highest praise. The balance and freshness on this wine were just spectacular. Might be easily the best California Chardonnay I ever had (okay – too bold – one of the best for sure):

And we are done here – 10 wines, 60 minutes, lots of fun. The red wines speed tasting took place on the Day 2, and the report is to follow.

Until the next time  – cheers!