A garden party wine tasting to ring in Spring at the Twilight Lounge. Perfect! And it was. After a long cold winter we were all very happy to be out in the fresh air and warm sunshine … sipping Viognier!
We sampled Viognier, a full-bodied white wine with floral aromas, hints of fruit and spicy undertones. The aroma reminded me of the Honey-Suckle in my garden.
One thing this wine is not, is wimpy. It held its own against spicy Thai dishes as well as seared scallops and a goat cheese and lemon spread. Viognier is food friendly and I actually enjoyed it more with the food pairings than sipping it alone.
Overall, this group of tasters were not lovers of this wine in the sense that they would run right out and buy a bottle. But in all fairness to Viognier, this is not a “White Wine” crowd (we love our Cab’s). And that is the beauty of a wine tasting, it forces you to branch out and really experience a wine so you can make an informed decision based upon your own tastes, not on someone elses’ opinion.
If you read my previous post, “Wine Today Spring Tomorrow: How One Book Led to 3 Years of Parties“, you’ll know that I was inspired by a book, The Wine Club by Maureen Petrosky, to start a wine tasting club several years ago. It has been an adventure bringing family and friends together to learn about wine and food.
At first we followed the book faithfully in organizing our wine tastings but now we use it more as a guide which is a true testament to the book. We have grown in our knowledge of and comfort with wine through experiencing it.
For this tasting, I used three recipes from the book: Peas & Pecorino, Scallop Pops and Goat Cheese Spread, and once again I will probably make these dishes for other occasions, they were that easy … and that good.
I wanted the table to mimic Spring and serve as a fresh backdrop to the true Star of the party, the wine. I used striped bamboo placemats that I had picked up at Job Lot and made centerpieces of fern fronds and lilacs cut from my garden for a light and natural setting.
Tip: Our club usually does four or five Wine Tastings a year. One member will host the wine tasting at their house, prepare the menu and assign the wines that each guest will bring.
With 10 to 12 guests at a tasting, having enough wine glasses and transporting them can quickly become an issue. Problem solved by buying the glasses in bulk; you can pick up a case of 24 glasses relatively cheap Target, etc. After the tasting the wine glasses go back into their boxes, run through the dishwasher at a later time and then stored in the boxes until the next tasting. Easy-Peasy.
Food, friends and wine on a warm spring afternoon, this is why I love my patio!
The Stars of the Garden Party:
(A bottle of Chardonnay was thrown into the mix for a little intrigue).
I hosted my first wine tasting years ago after a tour of Napa County Wine Country. I put together wine and food pairings doing research on-line. So whether you follow a book or design your own tasting, buy some wines, create a menu, gather your friends and have a wine tasting! You’ll laugh with your friends, learn something new and love wine more.
Sue says
I love this, inspired now to start my own wine club!