Creekside’s Hazy Days Tasting

This week’s tasting featured some nice wines. The theme was the “Lazy Hazy Days of Summer” – and the wines were nice wines to complement the theme. This week’s tasting featured nine wines, we tasted eight of those wines.

2011 Voss Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley – ($19) – This wine had a hay and Cheerios bouquet on the nose. It had hints of grass as well as raw egg and peach.

Pinot noir grapes have a much darker hue than ... — Pinot noir grapes have a much darker hue than the bluish-gray coloring of Pinot gris (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2010 Benton Lane Pinot Gris from Willamette Valley, Oregon – ($17) – This was a good generic white, it had apricot notes and paired quite well with the Petite Agour cheese (sheep’s milk cheese with a nutty brown butter flavor from the French Pyrenees) that was served.

2009 Sbragia Chardonnay from Dry Creek, Sonoma – ($27) – This chardonnay was a lovely combination of oak butter, and cream. It would pair well with the creamy Swedish meatball dish I make. It also had some subtle hints of cantaloupe during the tasting.

2011 Muga Rose of Tempranillo from Rioja, Spain – ($13) – This rosé was sour with a watermelon nose. It had notes of grapefruit with a bit of kick and spice. It was a bit like a sour Jolly Rancher.

2009 The Dreaming Tree “Crush” Red Blend from the North Coast – ($17) – This wine was very nice and balanced. It had a cigar box feel to it with berry notes. It was sweet with a bit of a bacon fat taste – but in a very good way. This wine also carried notes of pluots – it was very good and very nicely crafted.

2008 St. Amant Tempranillo from Amador County – ($18) – This wine was wow. It’s nose contained hints of the ocean and a forest and cigar box taste. It was just lovely as a wine.

2008 Cooper Vineyard Zinfandel from Amador County – ($26) – This wine was also very nice. It was big, beefy, yet at the same time it was a balanced and well-rounded Zinfandel. There were notes of vanilla, cinnamon, and plums. It would pair very well with beef bourguinon, steak, or beef tacos.

2009 Honig Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley – ($38) – This wine was smooth. It had sweat on the nose, but somehow that smelled good. On the tasting there were notes of chocolate, coffee, and hazelnut.

Have you had any of these wines? What did you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments.