Vintage Cellar Tasting - Wine Men of Gotham

• Name: Wine Men of Gotham
• Variety: Chardonnay Semillon
• Region: South Australia
• Country: Australia
• Year: 2008
• Price: $5.95
• Shop Review: Gotham's 2008 Wine Men of Gotham Chardonnay Semillon is a blend of 80% and 20% Semillon.  It give a moderate intensity of melon, guava, apricot, and butterscotch aromas.  The medium bodied palate provides attractive acidity along with plenty of tropical fruit flavors and a medium-long finish.
• My Review: A light fruity smell with a bit of a sour tinge.  The flavor was a nice berry with a bit of tartness to it.  I know I'm not supposed to judge based on the label, but this one is just so strange, it kind of deterred me from the wine itself a little, even though the actual wine was pretty good.
• No food was served.

Vintage Cellar Tasting - Beringer

• Name: Beringer
• Variety: Riesling
• Region: Sonoma, California
• Country: United States
• Year: 2009
• Price: $5.95
• Shop Review: This wine is the perfect balance of honeysuckle and bright peach flavors.  A perfect compliment to light fare, appetizers, or just sharing with friends.
• My Review: I didn't get the strongest smell out of this one, it was a very light wine, with maybe a slight hint of white grape.  The taste was much better than the smell, as I didn't smell much of anything strong, but the flavor was very sweet and fruity, I liked it a lot.  I also bought this one, I am trying out some white wines just to see if I can get into them and this was a good one for me.
• No food.

Vintage Cellar Tasting - Bartenura

Name: Bartenura

Variety: Moscato

Region: Pavia

Country: Italy

Year: 2010

Price: $4.95

Shoppe Review: The inviting apricot preserves, honey, butter, and roasted almonds aromas of this semi-sparkler pull you right in.  It's on the sweet side, with stone-fruit flavors kept alive by decent acidity.  The palate bubbles and tingles and maintains its balance.  Fine as an aperitif or with dessert.

Review:  When smelling this wine I noticed an aroma of strawberries and bananas similar to the Georges Duboeuf wine.  When tasting the wine, it tasted very similar to how it smelled, strawberry banana and it would definitely go well with a sweet food like a dessert.

No food in sight.

Also, I'd like to point out, that I was one of the last to finish each of these wines, probably holding everyone up, because I was trying to smell and taste "properly" to get all the flavors out of each one.  I'll try and go during a less crowded time as to not hold everyone up.  I really am beginning to enjoy the process of wine tasting.

Vintage Cellar Tasting - Finca

Name: Finca del Castillo

Variety: Tempranillo

Region: La Mancha

Country: Spain

Year: 2011

Price: $4.95

Shop Review: Rooty, spicy and baked on the nose, with aromas that lean towards raisin.  The palate is more gritty and acidic, with raisin, cola, and spice flavors.  Darkens up on the finish, which is long and peppery, with adequate juiciness and a final note of tomato.

Review: I read that the tempranillo grape is more common from the region of Rioja which produces a lighter wine, but because this was produced in the warmer region of La Mancha, the flavors are more intense with stronger, fruity flavors.  I completely agree with this, although I haven't tasted wine from Rioja, I definitely smelled the heavy, fruity flavors of berries as well as a flowery aroma in the background.  When tasting it, the flavors were kind of crazy and almost didn't match the smell at all.  I got all sorts of flavors including bitter, spicey, smokey, and even a little tobacco.  I also noticed a strong amount of tannins.

Our pourer noted this would go very well with foods, a website mentioned BBQ, but unfortunately, no food here :(

Vintage Cellar Tasting - Georges Duboeuf

Name: Georges Duboeuf

Variety: Gamay

Region: Beaujolais Nouveau

Country: France

Year: 2012

Price: $3.95

Shop Review: Bright and tangy, offering a classic banana note on the nose, with flavors of raspberry, wild strawberry and light spice.  Modest finish.

Review: This wine was had a very fruity smell right off the bat, with definite strawberry smell as well as other distinct berries and a definite banana aroma in the back of the nose.  A nice sweet taste, not overpoweringly so though.  Left a nice aftertaste on the back of my tongue, perhaps of blackberries.  This is obviously the cheapest of the wines in this tasting, so obviously, it was the wine I chose to purchase.  I also thought it was pretty good.

Food?  No, no food.

Vintage Cellar Tasting - Mars and Venus

Name: Mars and Venus

Variety: Chardonnay

Region:

Country: Spain

Year: 2011

Price: $5.95

Shop Review: A very nice value Chardonnay that comfortably over-delivers vs. its modest price tag.  No oak here, just bushels of clean, crisp, Chardonnay apple and stone fruit with a hint of caramelized pineapple.  Juicy and clean, this is a mid-weight white that's just perfect for parties or weeknight sipping.

Review: When first smelling this, the best word that comes to mind is sour.  Not a bad sour, not like a Warhead sour, but like a subtle, flavorful sour that would leave a tingly feeling in your nose.  After sipping this wine, it had a nice full body but was hard to put a word to the initial flavor, but the aftertaste definitely had hints of pineapple.

No food was served.

Vintage Cellar Tasting - La Cappuccina

Name: La Cappuccina
Variety: Garganega
Region: Soave
Country: Italy
Year: 2011
Price: $7.95
Shop Review: Bright straw yellow in color.  Delicate on the nose, with notes of flowers and almonds.  Dry, well-structured and delicately fruity, with hints of bitter almonds on the finish that is typical of Garganega-based wines.
Review: When smelling this wine, with my new wine smelling techniques thanks to Gary V, I sensed a light, delicate, flowery smell.  Swirl and smell, swirl and smell, I did this multiple times to try and find the right words for my senses (note: I have the technique, but not necessarily the sensory perfection to correctly identify different smells, I'm still a novice here, gimme a break).  So when I tasted the wine, I definitely got a strong hit of honey and a light nutty taste.  It was smooth and went down well.  I liked this one, but the price, not so much.
This was not served with food.
Also note, I am still trying to figure out the proper format for these blogs and what looks best.  Notice last time I used bullets, this time I used centered margins.  I will remain consistent once I find something that suits my fancy.