Wine Wednesday: Wagner Family of Wines

Kretch and Ms. K are thrilled to announce that Malbeca Tango will be staying with them during her transition in starting a new life adventure in another city. Naturally, during this time, there will be a lot of wine consumption. To start off the house guest celebration, Ms. K and Malbeca headed to a Wednesday wine tasting at the local beer and wine store to enjoy the well-known Wagner Family of Wines.

WHITES

#1 2013 Emmolo Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc

The Emmolo Sauv Blanc by Jenny Wagner is the perfect summer white with lemon scents and a clear grapefruit flavor. The finish is light with the tartness of the grapefruit flavor disappearing. A wine that could easily be paired and consumed daily — very delightful.

#2 2012 Mer Soleil Santa Barbara Reserve Chardonnay

This Chardonnay had an earthy nose, which Ms. K thought smelled a bit rose petal-ish. It had a bolder, complex flavor  with lots of vanilla; it then settled into a smooth, lingering finish with plenty of resonance.

#3 2013 Conundrum California White Blend

This white blend surprised Ms. K and Malbeca with the familiar childhood olfactory memory of a big bowl of Fruit Loops. After moving on from smell to taste, Ms. K kept saying she wanted to eat the wine; it was so complex and delightful that drinking it was almost not enough. It wasn’t surprising, then, to learn that these folks wrote the book on blends years ago with Conundrum.

REDS

#1 2012 Emmolo Napa Valley Merlot

This was a great full-bodied, big nose Merlot. Ms. K described it as a “big piece of pie.” In fact, both Malbeca and Ms. K agreed it was like a dark fruit pie, perhaps black cherry, very chewy with lots of oak and baking spices. Despite that description, it was not particularly jammy.

#2 2013 Caymus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 

Malbeca and Ms. K have spent many a wine tasting wondering, “What does a currant taste like?” So often, wine reps and other tasters will note the taste of “currant,” which neither of them had ever had. Finally, one of the other regular tasters brought them a bag of dried currants to the tasting. At last, they could add “currant” to their wine tasting vocabulary without being total liars. This cab can be described as having a subtle taste of currant with a pepper finish

#3 2012 Conundrum California Red Blend

The final taste is always the most fun because, by this point, Ms. K and Malbeca are on a roll, throwing out all kinds of odd and wonderful descriptions. Some of which make no sense to anyone else. Many times, the two of them resort to sounds and gestures to describe a wine. If there were room for Malbeca to do a dance interpretation, she probably would. They decided this last wine had a strawberry high note (yes, they sang the sound) with dark fruit underneath (another sound) and a raisin wraparound (this was a gesture).

Happy Wine Wednesday!