Susquehanna Valley Wine Tasting Club Halloween Tasting
November 8, 2005 by mmparks
Filed under Miscellaneous, Wine-reviews
Several of my closest friends are members of a local chapter of the American Wine Society and have suggested that my fiance and I join the club. Since a couple whom we are very close to, Laurie and Bob Resele, were hosting the event this month and it happened to be a Halloween costume party, I figured it was a great time to “test the waters”. I can’t remember the last time I get dressed up for Halloween and thought it would be a blast. Since we were away for the weekend, we only had 20 minutes to get ready and this was the result (not great, but not bad either when considering the timing)
All dressed up and looking better than ever!
Below are the host and hostess of the event.
We had a great time at this wine tasting. As I have come to expect from Laurie and Bob, it was especially well-organized and informative. The theme was “Shiraz” and it was done as a blind tasting. There were six wines that were sampled: Two French, two Australian and two American. Prices ranged from $13.00 to $35.00 per bottle. Had I kept better notes, I would be able to give reviews of each of these wines, but since it was done as a blind tasting, I somehow failed to get the names and prices of the wines as they were unveiled. This ended up being more of a social event for me rather than a serious tasting. However, these are the wines that were tasted: 1998 Cote Rotie “La Chavaroche,” B Levit, #30.99; Marquis Philips Shiraz 9 2003 $34.99 (the overall winner); Joseph Phelps Syrah, $17.99; Marquis Philips Shiraz 9, $34.99; Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz Cliff Edge, $14.99; Miner Family Syrah Napa Valley, $17.99.
Although I always enjoy the sense of adventure in tasting new wines, the best part of the evening was the meal that was served afterward. Laurie is a fabulous cook and the food was an excellent culmination to a great evening.
Below is a photo of some of the guests being served at the tasting.
Although we enjoyed this wine tasting and found it very informative, we are still “on the fence” as far as deciding to join and make the commitment to attend monthly tastings.
A suggestion to the wine tasting club.
You are surrounded by award winning wineries in the Susquehanna Valley and Lehigh Valley. May I suggest that when you are doing your wine tasting, you include a quality vintage from a local winery.
With the shiraz/syrah tasting, I would suggest the Syrah from Vynecrest winery near Allentown. I sampled some this past weekend and found it to be excellent. From the nose through the finish, it can stand up to most of the more celebrated wines and at about $11.00 per bottle, it’s an incredible value.
Enjoy
Thank you so much for your comment and suggestion. I have not heard of the winery you suggested, but will check them out. I’m always on the lookout for new wines to try and a local winery is an added bonus.