WSET Advanced Class 2

I could give you the highlights of the class, but the content was so dry (all about the planting and winemaking process) that even bullet points might put you to sleep. So I'll just get to my favorite part - the tasting.

We started with 2 different representations of Chardonnay - a Chablis and a Meruseult. Both were of great quality, but I didn't enjoy them as much as I should because they were quite acidic and I've learned that I'm particularly sensitive to the acid in acidic whites. Unfortunately this is something I'll just have to work through to move forward in my wine education.

From there we tasted two different Oregon Pinot Noirs - one that was a younger, "value" wine and another that was also young, but a bit pricier and also a bit more complex. The second, more expensive wine was from Domaine Serene, but for $33 I consider their "Yamhill Cuvee" a good value. It has a lovely ruby appearance with a nose of raspberry, spice and oak. You get the same wonderful flavors on the palette.

After that we moved on to Syrahs. The first was a funky, gamey, peppery wine called "Ro Ree" by Domaine Cheze in the Rhone. Rhone reds are another of my favorite varietals and the ones with the gamey funkiness rank the highest with me. And for the sake of transparency, I'd also had and enjoyed this wine before! Our last wine of the evening was the Jaffurs Wine Cellars "Upslope" Syrah out of Santa Barbara, CA. I've enjoyed a lot of Syrahs from this region before (Bridlewood Reserve Syrah is one of my favorite under $30 bottles), but I did not love this wine. I liked it a lot, but for $75, I don't think it's worth it. then again, if I bought a bottle I'd probably lay it down for a few years and who knows how great it could be after that.

I'm on a brief wine break until Saturday night when I'm going to a French wine tasting fundraiser. Charity rocks.

Unil the next sip, sniff or quaff,

Cheers,

Alli M.