Wednesday nights are wine nights at Christian Michaels Ristoranté, where you can get 25% off your wine order. We went in thinking that we would take advantage of this, but then we saw that they offered flight tastings. We decided to try out the flights to see what wine we might prefer. Here are our notes from the flights offered.
The theme of the first flight was “Light and Bright.”
2007 Pacific Rim Dry Riesling, Columbia Valley ($24) – This wine was dry on the nose. Tasting it, it presented a wheat and oat flavor and was smokey and complex.
2010 Stoneleigh Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough ($36) – This wine was drier and green. It had notes of bell peppers, white pepper, Anaheim pepper, and spice.
2010 Cline “Cool Climate” Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast ($30) – This wine had a latex and paint thinner nose, and a butter and oil taste when drinking. It was very distinctive. It would pair okay with calamari or food, but it was not great on its own accord.
The second flight we tried was “Drink Me.”
2010 Coppola “Votre Sante” Pinot Noir, California ($28) – This wine was light no the nose. It had a tobacco and sour black cherry taste to it. It was almost inky, but that was kept in check. It would go very well with spaghetti.
2008 Cosentino Cabernet Franc, California ($38) – This wine was all butter and spice and curry. It was very smooth. It would go well with something like the Indian Butter Chicken dish. It reminded me of cardamon and chai tea, and it had a lot of red pepper in it.
2010 Trinedo Malbec, Mendoza ($31) – Sweet and minty, this wine also had hints of spice, vanilla, and plum.
The final flight was the “Big Bold Reds” flight.
2007 Jade Mountain Merlot, Napa ($31) – Initially, this wine had a chlorine nose and smelled like a swimming pool. Upon swirling, this nose disappeared. It changed into a smooth and fruity nose after the swirl. On tasting, it had notes of cloves, nutmeg, cherries and plums.
2009 Sobon Estate “Rocky Top” Zinfandel, Amador ($36) – This wine was a cigar box in a glass. It also had hints of blackberries, cashew nuts, black currents, butter and oil, raspberry and spice. It went very well with bruschetta.
2007 Geyser Peak Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley ($39) – This was the star of all the flights. It was fruity and vanilla on the nose, but otherwise very tight. It had a green beans and leather bouquet on the tasting. Upon ordering the bottle, with the larger red wine glass, this wine opened up more and showed notes of chocolate cake, artichoke, and was much smokier with a buttery finish. This one is quite a star.
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