So we hosted our first official WineParty sipping on great Pinots and Sparklers at J Vineyards & Winery this weekend. It was a blast. About 50 super fun and friendly folks joined us for a tasting filled with all sorts of fun and games on a gorgeous afternoon in Sonoma. When they arrived, everyone received a copy of our new WinePassport: California and then we quizzed them with questions from WineSmarts and then had them guess about the wines they were tasting which we blinded with the WineWrappers from WineParty.
This type of event was exactly what we designed WineParty for, and I think everyone learned something about what they were tasting because they had to take a step back and think about it. It was great to have our "official" launch at J as we've been fans of J for years. I think their bubbly is my all-time favorite, and it's always such a nice place to visit - friendly staff, nice patrons, delicious food (check out their recipes), and awesome stylish merchandise (and I'm not just talking about our stuff).
We had 3 stations set up outside of J's gorgeous tasting room and our guests tasted two wines at each station.
Station One was manned by our friend Stefani, the creative genius
behind J's merchandising program and a super fun gal to boot, who poured their Chardonnay and Viognier. While I'm typically an ABC girl ("Anything But Chardonnay") I really enjoy J's version of it as rather than an oaky and buttery style, it made in a nice and crisp, almost in a Burgundian style. The Viognier, which is currently one of my favorite whites these days, on the other hand had just enough oak to mellow out some of the citrus characteristics of the varietal.I covered Station Two which featured two Pinot Noirs: 1998 Nicole's Vineyard and their 2003 Russian River. I had a blast getting our guests to identify which was which. At first they were stumped, but after I explained that with age, the flavors in a wine are going to blend together and it will become smoother and mellower, almost everyone got it (and they went home really understanding how age impacts a wine). I really would love to do a tasting with the same wine from various years and see how well people do. (The first photo is me manning my station with some yummy Crimini mushrooms on creamy polenta).
Finally, Jen poured a yummy Zinfandel and of all things a Pinotage at Station Three.
The only Pinotages I've ever had have been cheap ones from South Africa, and I found them to be thin yet jammy and they didn't really impress. But J (which, by the way, is one of just three wineries that make the stuff in California and I believe there are only 15 acres of it under vine in the state) has done something really nice with it. In fact, it was so yummy that I was duped and mistook it for the Zin - Oops. Oh well, I've never claimed to be a wine expert, just passionate about it and love to continue my education too. (Second photo is Jen pouring wine for some of our guests).BTW - Jen and I would love to hear about your wine tastings and fun themes or comparisons you're doing so we can provide suggestions on PartyCentral of our website. If you have some good stories, please send them our way
