The other night, I attended a tasting hosted by the ladies of House Wines – Michaela Morris and Michelle Bouffard. If you’re a Wine and Spirit Education Trust or an International Sommelier Guild student, this is an inexpensive way to practice your tasting notes. If your intention is to taste an array of wines and do a comparison of different styles, it’s a venue I’d recommend since you get to try new wines without having to spring for the whole bottle.
The evening was built around Bordeaux blends. The Bordeaux AOC allows for the following red grape varieties; Merlot (shown right), Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec,
Petit Verdot, and Carmenere meaning a Bordeaux is a wine with any of these grapes blended together.
The price range of the wines varied widely, peaking with the 2004 San Leonardo Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT from Italy at $110. The opposite end of the spectrum was represented by the 2008 Trivento “Reserve” Cabernet Malbec from the Mendoza region of Argentina and cost a mere $13. The British Columbia entry was the 2006 Mission Hill Compendium VQA priced at $40, a wine that compared very well with all the foreign competition. The value wine of the evening was also the only white, a Mouton Cadet Bordeaux Blanc AOC coming in at $14. This wine is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.
The event was a great value with 12 wines on offer for $40. The next tasting by House Wines is on November 9th and is titled an Ode to Gernache. This should be a great evening as Grenache encompasses so many different styles. Hope to see you there.
Susan’s note: One thing you can be sure of with any of Michelle and Michaela’s tastings, they make learning fun and you just never know what surprises they’ll have in store for you when it comes to the wines you taste. I mean honestly, don’t these two ladies look like they’re having fun? I wasn't able to attend this one, but you can be sure I'll be on board at the Grenache tasting.
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