A Flight that Requires no Security Check In

This past Wednesday, my friend, Rachel, and I met up at Bin 14, an afore-mentioned favorite place in Hoboken, to indulge in Rachel's somewhat regular "Wine Wednesday" celebration.

One of the things I really like about Bin 14 is that they offer 3 "sizes" for each of their wines - a 2oz pour, a 6oz pour or a bottle. Rather than have a few 6oz glasses, I decided to create my own wine flight.

As it was a hot evening, it made sense to start with a light, crisp white.

1) For those who've been keeping track this summer, this meant I started with a Luc Choblet Muscadet from 2008. It was light in color and light in body with a nice crispness and some pineapple notes. Perfect thirst quencher to start off my evening!

2) From there I moved on to another of my "whites of the moment," Torrontes. I had a 2008 Laborum Torrontes and it contrasted quite nicely with the Muscadet. It was also very dry and crisp, but it had a little more body and it had a lovely nose with a ton of honeysuckle and some tropical notes. Went down a little too quick!

3) As my word of the summer has been Loire, I couldn't just leave it at Muscadet so my next wine was a Chenin Blanc: Domaine du Closel Savennieres from 2007. It was very dry with a lot of acid and though it is a very young wine, it had a lot of nutty notes mixed in with some pear. It also had some yeast notes and I have to believe it's spent some time fermenting "sur lees" or "on the yeast." Definitely a wine I plan to get back in the near future. Of the 3 whites, this was had the most depth and was easily my favorite.

As the night wore on and as our thin crust pizza came out, I decided to switch over to red and I wanted something that would hold up to the robust sauce and the fresh mozzarella.

4) Rather than go with an Italian red, though, I went with something from the Southern Rhone, a 2007 Chapoutier Belleruche. 2007 is supposed to be a blockbuster year for the Southern Rhone, but this wine was either a bit young still or the Grenache was overpowering the Syrah. The nose was beautiful - lots of spice, pepper and jammy currant on the nose - exactly what you'd expect from a young Southern Rhone. However, on the palate, the wine was out of balance and "throwing a lot of heat" as they say, which means you taste a lot of alcohol in the wine. Hopefully some age will help this wine come into balance. I probably could have let the glass breathe a little more as well, but with only 2oz, it's hard to be that patient!

5) I couldn't end my flight on that note so I decided to revisit an old friend: a 2008 Felino Malbec. For those that followed my blog during my trip to Argentina, you may recall my writing about Felino, one of the labels from Vina Cobos, a winery in the Mendoza region of Argentina that is a partnership between Paul Hobbs, one of my favorite California winemakers and a few Argentinian winemakers. For me, the Felino Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the best Cabs available in the $20-$25 range and the Felino Malbec is also wonderful. It also has a lot of "heat," but it's in much better balance than the previous wine allowing the plum and berry notes to burst through. Juicy, but dry and structured - a classic example of what a good Malbec should be.

Although you may be thinking, "Wow, Alli, you really tied one on," keep in mind each pour was approximately 2oz. A wine flight - whether you DIY or rely on an already created one - is a great way to taste a lot of different wines without putting your liver or your ability to walk upright at risk. When you try one, I encourage you to seek out a flight that has a wine that you've never heard of or know little to nothing about because it's the easiest and one of the least expensive ways to discover a new favorite or find that you don't like a certain style and should steer clear. Or you could just keep reading my blog to find out about new varietals! Of course I recommend both.

Until the next sniff, sip, quaff or "Wine Wednesday" (or "Tasting Tuesday" or whenever),

Cheers,

Alli M.