Flaskandcask ventured on our first ever field trip last weekend to the Irish Pub in Titusville, Florida. The staff was warm and welcoming and the pub definitely had a flare of a “true Irish pub”. I was pleasantly surprised to see their extensive menu featuring traditional Irish food like corned beef and cabbage or shepherd's pie. But we weren’t there for the food this time, but the drink! While the Whisky warrior was sipping on his bourbon, I partook of the fermented grape! Although the staff first told me they had a great New Zealand wine on hand, which peeked my interest, then they came back and informed me they were out due to the overzealous winos from the previous weeks St Patty’s day festival, but that didn’t deter the wine muse from her quest for good tasting wine! My first glass of wine was a Benziger Chardonnay (From the vendors site: This Sangiacomo Vineyard Chardonnay is a rich, luscious wine with a lovely mouth feel. In this vintage, there are bright tropical flavors of pineapple, pear, and peach with a slight hint of vanilla from oak barrel aging.) While I am not sure what “a lovely mouth feel exactly entails”, this wine was average. It didn’t make my mouth feel lovely, but it wasn’t the worst chard I have ever tasted either. The oak-y taste wasn’t super prominent (and those of you that have read my very vocal feelings about oaky chards before, KNOW where I am coming from) If I had to rate this on a scale of 1-10 (1 being vinegar and 10 being the best wine I have ever had, which to date is probably the Startree, unoaked chard, based on the sheer amount of bottles I have consumed over the past year) I would probably rate this a 5. Mediocre at best. Nothing I would ever seek out and intentionally order, but I wouldn’t turn my nose at it if it was served to me.
The next wine I tried was Rosemont Shiraz. (Winemaker Notes Richly textured with well defined, ripe blackberry fruit flavors, soft generous tannins on the mid-palate and a long, rich finish. Try with lamb, pasta, antipasto, osso bucco)
First off, I love this wine. I actually could taste a hint of blackberry in the wine. (and I never taste any notes, hardly EVER, so this was amazing). It was smooth and didn’t have a harsh aftertaste that I hate about so many reds. Ok, lets be honest, the bottle was cool too. I am a sucker for the art on the bottle, a cool shaped bottle or a creative name. The tannins, I am sure, were quite generous. (What are tannins, you ask? Tannins are polyphenolic compounds that bind to and precipitate proteins. And if you don’t understand this term still after reading this description, tune in for my next article: "What are tannins and why are they generous"??) I would rate this wine a 7 on a scale of 1-10. I would probably seek it out in a bar or if I happened to see the cool bottle at the wine shop, I would grab a bottle. Try it! Tell me what you think!
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