Random Thoughts and Tasting Notes: 2010 Decatur Wine Festival

Autumn is my favorite time of year. The changing leaves, cool weather, and thoughts of the holidays put me in a good mood, and, of course, there are fun festivals. No, I'm not talking about harvest festivals. My favorite by far has to be the Decatur Wine Festival.

This year's Wine Fest was particularly good, likely because the weather was cooler than in years past, when the red wines at tables in the full sun tended to get overheated and taste more like mulled wine than how the distributors intended. As Hubby noted, we all reached cellar temperature this year, and I ended up wearing my gloves toward the end of the day. However, the temperature of the wines ended up being about perfect, and we only tasted at one table where the wines were too warm (and it wasn't over the MARTA station).



Of course I didn't try all of the hundreds of wines that were poured. One very helpful addition this year was a featured wine or two for each table. This gave the experience some structure. After getting some snacks, Hubby and I started at Table 26, Pasternak/Black Tower. I tried the featured Trumpeter Torrontes and found it to be less floral and more fruity than I had expected. It started with stone fruit and went into citrus with a good mineral backbone. A few other solo wines that I liked:

Duboeuf Cru Beaujolais (W.J. Deutsch table): light bodied, with dry, delicate fruit

Concannon Conservancy Petite Syrah (Sustainable; Wine Group/Sebastiani Table): grapey nose, but not a fruit bomb, moderate tannins

Steele Lake County Merlot (Also the Wine Group/Sebastiani Table): not a fruit bomb like a lot of Merlots. Nice fruit, but also hints of cedar.

Shooting Star Zinfandel (Pacific Southern Table): toward the end of the day, so my notes simply said, "very nice"

Val de Salis Marselan (first Catamarca Table): made from a grape that's a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache Noir, this gorgeous red had overtones of butter.

Yellow + Blue Malbec (Organic; first Quality Table): this one made me curious to try more box wine. Definitely not my mother-in-law's Franzia!

Santa Julia Organica Bonarda (also Organic and at the first Quality Table): drinks well on its own, but would love some food.

The festival website noted that the focus was on organic and sustainably grown wines, and there were a few, but one change that excited me was the number of sparkling wines being poured this year. Some of the better ones:

Taltarini Brut Tache (Empire – a whole table of sparkling wine and champagne!): light peach color, yum. Per the website, it's from Victoria and Tasmania, and the blend is, "52% Chardonnay, 41% Pinot Noir, and 7% Pinot Meunier" with a dash of red wine liqueur.

Valdivieso Extra Brut (New World Wines table): a very reasonable sparkler from Chile made with the same process as champagne, this one would probably hold its own in a blind tasting.

Fontallada Brut Cava (Compass Wine Group): this Spanish sparkler had nice hints of almond

What would a wine festival be without cool wine toys and displays? Compass Wine Group at Table 20 had a gorgeous decanter, from which they poured the Martius Selection Red. I went to look up the blend online but couldn't find anything about it. It was very smooth with dark fruit. The Iberian Pig also had a nice display (and their yummy dates wrapped in bacon).



Finally, let's talk about good wines with interesting labels. Of course this one at the New World Wines table caught our attention:



The Sexy Rosé was actually one of the better ones I've had. Not too dry or too sweet, it hits the palate just right with plum notes to smooth out the berry.

Of course, if you're gonna have Sexy, you'd better have Naked Grapes:



Not to be confused with the Naked winery in Washington or the Naked Grape winery in Canada, this one had a great Pinot Noir that wasn't earthy but still had great fruit and body (no pun intended). The Cabernet Sauvignon was also very good.

Hubby and I had ended up skipping lunch in anticipation of stuffing ourselves at the festival, but this turned out to be an epic fail on our part. It's not the restaurants' fault – all the food we tried was great – but there was less of it than we remembered from years past. Particular highlights were the Crab and Prosecco Cream Sauce tossed with Gemelli pasta from Capozzi's, who won the award for favorite food, the sushi from Sushi Avenue, the pumpkin ravioli from Saba, and the Orange and Tomato Soup from Mercantile. Farmstead 303 and The Marlay House also had good stuff, Caroline Barbecue and Apple-Rhubarb Crumble, respectively.



Okay, so now that I've put all that in a list, it sounds like we ate a lot, but remember, these were all samples. We ended up at The Square Pub for after-festival snacks. The nachos with grilled chicken and fixins were good, and we're curious to try the rest of the menu.



And okay, I'll admit it, my post-festival libations were decidedly non-vintage:



For my Decatur News Online article on the Wine Fest, click here.

Decatur Wine Festival: This Year's Tips

This year's Decatur Wine Festival has a focus on organic and sustainably produced wines. In the same spirit, this is a sustainable blog post in that I've recycled some of last year's etiquette and survival post.

Now that we've all survived the elections, who wants a glass of wine? Or several? Seriously, whoever planned the Wine Festival for the weekend after Election Day was a genius. Nothing makes me want a drink more than weeks of mudslinging and robocalls.

However, no one wants a hangover or a miserable Saturday night after having spent three hours in the sun drinking wine. The temperature looks to be a little cooler than in years past, which will hopefully keep the reds from getting too warm.

Of course it's impossible to taste every single wine. First, the festival is only a few hours long. Second, a lot of tables start to run out toward the end of the day, especially the ones from popular or well-known wineries. Third, even if you have phenomenal tolerance, you've got to pace yourself.

Here are some survival and etiquette tips:

1. Bring a bottle of water and/or avail yourself of the ones there, if offered. An occasional glass of water is not going to be enough to stay hydrated. Try to consume equal parts water and wine, ideally more water. Hopefully they will continue to have the fancy portable bathrooms. Also, avail yourself of the food and keep something in your tummy.

2. To keep things moving, get a pour and move to the back of the line. Sip as you move forward again. There's nothing more frustrating than waiting forever for someone to go through four or five tastes while they block the entire table.

3. Rinse between tastes, especially if you're going back and forth between reds and whites. If you don't rinse, pour thoroughly and shake your glass out. Even if you're really tempted, don't shake it out on the table hog.

4. Try to save the sweet wines for the end. They'll burn your palate. They also tend to have higher alcohol content, and really, who wants to be sick by 2:30 on a Saturday afternoon?

5. As I mentioned above, pacing is everything. Hubby and I have a "two sip, three strike" rule: If the wine isn't good after two sips (two to allow for the interference of previous tastes), it gets dumped. If you try three wines at a table and don't like any of them, move on. Don't try to sample everything! The setup this year will make this easy with featured wines at each table.

As a wine professional commented last year, "Wine tasting is a journey, not a destination!" Relax, enjoy, and remember -- this is one of the few occasions where it's actually okay, even encouraged, to spit.

Disclaimer: all of the content of this post is mine. I didn't get any perks or freebies from the Decatur Arts Alliance or any of the festival sponsors. No wines were harmed in the writing of this material, although I can't make any guarantees for later.
Posted by Cecilia Dominic at 2:39 PM

Decatur Wine Fest: The Good, The Bad, and the Warmish

When I first heard that the Decatur Wine Festival was always held the first full weekend in November, I was shocked. "Are you crazy?" I thought. "The weather is going to be terrible!"

I've now attended the Wine Fest three years in a row, and each time, the weather has been fantastic, although the beginning and end of the day last year were chilly. The forecast yesterday was for a high of 67 and sunny, so Hubby put on our jackets and walked to downtown Decatur, where the entrance was indicated by a line of people snaking along the sidewalk and over by the old courthouse. While we waited, I spotted something that one rarely, if ever, sees in Decatur -- available parking:



It stayed empty for a good five minutes, too!

I also got a picture of the big wine grapes on top of the tents juxtaposed with Christmas decorations, which Decatur puts out after Halloween:



Merry Winefest!

The jackets came off quickly. The deceptive thing about "67 and sunny" is that on the square on top of the MARTA station, it ends up being about 78 and sunburn-inducing. I'm actually a little concerned about Hudson of Two Friends Imports (aka "The Macedonian Wine guys"). He was looking seriously pink by the end of the day, but then, like me, he was wearing black. While speaking with his business partner, I revisited the Popova Kula Merlot and Cab, which I'd reviewed before, and found that I liked the Cab better this time.

Side note: I got lots of comments on my "Drinks well with others" t-shirt. So if you were there and told me you liked it, thanks for the compliment!

Hubby and I started in the sun because last year, we noted that some of the reds had become undrinkably warm. My plan: focus on reds and try some of the more interesting-sounding whites

The first stop was Angeline/Pernod-Ricard at Table 26. I rated the Campo Viejo Crianza as Very Good, and the Graffigna Malbec was Okay due to its odd finish.

Then we stepped to Table 27, Freixenet. This wine holds good memories for me because when I graduated with my M.S. degree in 2002, I had a small party (didn't want to celebrate too hard when the Ph.D. was the final target), and I could afford the Freixenet sparkling on my graduate student budget. We've found their wines to be consistently good through the years. Here's what we tried:

Freixenet Cordon Rosado: Very Good -- don't let the pink color fool you; this is an excellent sparkling

Segura Viudas Aria: Good

Gloria Ferrer Va de Vi: Very Good to Excellent: bubbles with elegant dry citrus flavor

Tapena Verdejo: Good

Tapena Tempranillo: Meh to Good, a victim of the sun already

Tapena Garnacha: Good to Very Good with interesting sweetness on the edges of the palate

A brief stop at Table 28, Gruppo Mezzacorona, found another heat victim, the Righetti Valpolicella. I'm going to try that one sometime when it's not been overheated.

Hubby wanted to go to Table 30, Legacy Sales, because of the Soprano's wine line. One of the volunteers told us it was part of a promotion for an upcoming movie. I tried the Pinot Grigio, which was very good. Hubby said the reds were okay, but already warm.

Speaking of interesting labels, I'm a sucker for wine with dessert names, so we shifted to Table 31, Concannon. The wines:

Cupcake Chardonnay: didn't try, but Hubby said it was an "over-the-top oak bomb" Yeah, he liked it.

Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc: Good. It's a Marlborough. 'Nuff said.

Cupcake Merlot: Meh, had a funky structure and flavor profile

Cupcake Riesling: Very Good and Very Dry, just how I like my Rieslings

Table 33, M Imports, looked like they had some interesting Portugese wines, so we skipped the Pacific Southern (Kenwood, NO, Firesteed) and went there. The NOPA inho Verde was Good to Very Good but wanted food. The Qinta do Portal Grande Reserve Duoro was also Good to Very Good with an interesting cherry nose and very dry finish.

Table 35, Avanti Fine Wines, apparently had not monitored the amount poured by their volunteers. They were already out of the Villa Granda Prosecco, and it wasn't even 2:00 yet! The Alba Rosa Albarino was Very Good, and the Sombrero Rojo Crianza rated a Good to Very Good.

Catamarca Imports at Tables 38 and 39 had noted the heat problem and was taking care of the reds. Intrigued by the blend, I had the Eguren Shyraz Tempranillo, which was Very Good to Excellent.

Back to the interesting names, Hubby and I went to Table 42, Unique World Wines, for the Big Red Monster, a blend of Syrah, Zinfandel, and Petite Syrah. It was big and fruity, as promised, and rated a Very Good to Excellent. Norman "The Monster" Zin, another fruit bomb, was Very Good.

We did stop by the Sherlock's table to find Warner and Darryl. Most of the wines looked familiar to us, so we only tried a few:

Chateau Marjosse Blanc: Good to Very Good

Chateau Lescours St Emilion: Meh

J Sanders Nuit St George Vaucrains: Meh

By that point, it was time for a food break and the first raffle. The food went better than the raffle, although there were long lines at all the tables. I tried some pasta from Zucca and renewed my intention to try that place out soon. The Pharm House had run out of chicken salad sandwiches, and I just didn't feel like vegetable soup, although I heard it was very good. I did try one of the sandwiches later, and it was okay, but a little bland. Hubby got a meatball from the Iberian Pig. Cake Cafe Atlanta (warning: web site has cheesy music) had brought something, but it was gone by the end of the first hour, and people were scraping up caramel icing off a board with forks. As much as I love icing, I didn't want to kill my palate so early. FIGO similarly ran out quickly. Later in the afternoon, I had some Praline Pecans, but I'm not sure from where, and The Grange was dishing up excellent wine munchie food: mashed potatoes, gravy, and sausages. The most perfect food for the afternoon? Definitely Parker's on Ponce with their fancy cheeses and bread and/or crackers.

Okay, back to the wines.

Hubby and I enjoyed stopping by the Mad Housewife table (#1). We tried the Merlot and the Cabernet, which were both Very Good, especially at their $7 price point. They're not fancy examples of what they are, but I think they're great "training wines" for beginning oenophiles as well as good "pop open on a weeknight" wines. No, I have not received any freebies or other endorsement compensation from the Mad Housewife or Rainier Wines.

Table 2 brought us to the Pacific Rim/Oregon wines. I tried the King's Ridge Oregon Pinot Gris, which was Good but not great. We tried to skip around the crowd and go to Quality Wine & Spirits at Table 15, but the crowd caught up with us. The Crios Rose of Malbec was good, and the Malbec itself would have been very good had it not been warm. Quality W&S also poured from Table 16, and I tried the Evodia Old Vine Garnacha, which was Okay but had an odd herb taste.

Still in the shade, Table 20 (Delicato) poured the 181 Merlot, Very Good and fruity, and the Brazin Old Vine Zin, which was Good but lacked brazenness and body. We tried a couple of Pinot Noirs at Table 21, Georgia Crown. The Redtree was Good. The Veramonte was Meh. Finally, we visited Artie at Table 22, Georgia Crown, and Table 23, Banfi--Italy. The Zaca Mesa Z Cuvee was Very Good, and the Banfi Rosso di Montalcino was Very Good. I was disappointed to find that they were all out of the "Rosa Regale." Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it in my previous post because Feast had also run out of the bread pudding, which was my suggested pairing.

By the end of the Wine Fest, we had a serious case of the Wine Munchies, so we headed to the Brick Store, where we sat in the Belgian bar and enjoyed some beer and frites:



Finally, thank you to Dan Browning and Artie Macon of Banfi for their tips in the comments section of my last post! I did take your tips to heart, and it seems that several others did as well. Thanks also to Hudson of Two Friends Imports, who was turning pink (see above) and pouring some good Macedonian Wines at Table 47, for his comment. Also, thank you to the Decatur Metro and inDecatur blogs (see right) and Inside Access for re-posting my Wine Tasting survival tips.

Disclaimer: All opinions expressed in this post are my own, but I am not responsible for what others say in the comments section. I'm still not getting any freebies for my reviews. Bite me, FTC.

Decatur Wine Festival: Survival and Etiquette

For those who don't know, the Decatur Wine Festival is a fundraiser for the Decatur Arts Alliance. The event takes over the Decatur Square from the area behind the Old Courthouse (where the Bandstand is) to the part of the square on top of the MARTA station. Last year there were fifty tables, each from a different winery or distributor, lined up around the edges of the designated area.

One of the best parts of the festival is that several Decatur restaurants offer samples of items from their menus. A full list of participating restaurants is on the Decatur Wine Festival web site. Often they bring signature dishes; for example, Feast usually has a big pot of their famous white chocolate bread pudding (great especially when paired with the Banfi Rosa Regale).

Of course it's impossible to taste every single wine. First, the festival is only a few hours long. Second, a lot of tables start to run out toward the end of the day, especially the ones from popular or well-known wineries. Third, even if you have phenomenal tolerance, you've got to pace yourself.

Here are some survival and etiquette tips:

1. Bring a bottle of water and/or avail yourself of the ones there, if offered. Even though there are jugs with water at the table, an occasional glass of water is not going to be enough to stay hydrated while drinking wine, especially if it's hot and dry outside. Try to consume equal parts water and wine, ideally more water than wine. Hopefully they will continue to have the fancy portable bathrooms. Also, avail yourself of the food and keep something in your tummy. I'm looking forward to trying the samples from Pharm House and Iberian Pig because I haven't been to either yet (will likely try one or the other on Thursday).

2. To keep things moving, get a pour and move to the back of the line. Sip as you move forward again. There's nothing more frustrating than waiting forever for someone to go through four or five tastes while they block the entire table.

3. Rinse between tastes, especially if you're going back and forth between reds and whites.

4. Try to save the sweet wines for the end. They'll burn your palate. They also tend to have higher alcohol content, and really, who wants to be sick by 2:30 on a Saturday afternoon?

5. As I mentioned above, pacing is everything. Hubby and I have a "two sip, three strike" rule: If the wine isn't good after two sips (two to allow for the interference of previous tastes), it gets dumped. If you try three wines at a table and don't like any of them, move on. Don't try to sample everything!

Disclaimer: all of the content of this post is mine. I didn't get any perks or freebies from the Decatur Arts Alliance or any of the festival sponsors. No wines were harmed in the writing of this material, although I can't make any guarantees for later.

Remembering better times...when it was actually warm outside!

People who live outside the Southeast are often surprised at how cold it can get in the winter. We've also been pretty dismayed at this year's turn of temperatures. My personal indicators of "when it gets cold" -- wearing my long wool/cashmere coat, having to bring the potted plants inside at night, putting flannel sheets on the bed -- have all come earlier than in the past.

I'm not complaining about the sheets or the coat, but I wonder if my poor plants are going to make it, especially since the basil got one whiff of the below-40 temperatures and promptly died in spite of having been moved into the warmer garage. I'd bring it inside the house, but I have gourmet felines, including one who will eat aromatic vegetables and herbs. I know that basil can successfully over-winter in a sunny spot inside because a former employer did just that with a plant I gave him. It even appeared dressed up as a Christmas tree in their family holiday photo!

Hubby, who is sitting behind me at his desk and checking his email, just told me, "Hilton wants us to visit Madison, Wisconsin!" My response was a prompt, "Hell, no!" I also don't want to hear about how we're wimps from people in the northern Midwest, who are already dealing with several feet of snow. As for the Northeast, well, they now see why everything shuts down at the mention of snow or ice; you just can't drive on ice, and it makes a huge mess.

With all this talk of cold temperatures and places, I think I'll turn my mind to a warmer time: November 1 and the Decatur Wine Festival. I promised Decatur Package Store's Herb that I would write about it; sorry it took so long! The Wine Fest wasn't so warm for him and the others who had to set up and tear down because it was a clear day, cold in the morning, and then up to the mid-seventies in the afternoon. Once the sun set, the temperature fell again.

Here's a quick description for those who aren't familiar with the Wine Fest. The event takes over the Decatur Square from the area behind the Old Courthouse (where the Bandstand is) to the part of the square on top of the MARTA station. This year there were fifty tables, each from a different winery or distributor, lined up around the edges of the designated area. Some distributors bring a lot of wines and have more than one table. Several Decatur restaurants also have tables where you can try items from their menus. Often they bring signature dishes; for example, Feast is usually out there with a big pot of their famous white chocolate bread pudding.

Of course it's impossible to taste every single wine. First, the festival is only three hours long. Second, a lot of tables start to run out toward the end of the day. Third, even if you have phenomenal tolerance, you've got to pace yourself. Hubby and I have a "two sip, three strike" rule: If the wine isn't good after two sips (two to allow for the interference of previous tastes), it gets poured. If you try three wines at a table and they all suck, move on.

I thought I got a good sampling, but I'm sure I missed some good ones. Also, I also only have names since vintages were not provided for most of the wines, and things moved too fast for me to get them. For the same reasons, my notes are briefer than usual. Wines listed without any comments were checked off, which means we drank them, but they were neither horrible nor fabulous, and they're likely worth another try without so many other things having crowded our palates.

Table 10: Firestone Vineyards
Firestone Select Chardonnay: drinks like a Verdejo.
Firestone Select Cabernet: light Cab
Firestone Select Riesling: sweet, but not too sweet

Tables 11-12: Banfi
Trivento Select Malbec: Ok
Casillero del Diablo Carmenere
Banfi Sauv Blanc/Chardonnay
Principessa Gavia Gavi: like water (no, I'm not sure what this means)
Banfi Rosa Regale: a great sparkling sweet wine; Hubby and I ran to the Feast table to pair it with the bread pudding, which went well with it

Table 14: Trinchero Family Estates
The Show Cabernet
Angoves Nine Vines Rose

Table 15: Old Bridge Cellars
D'Arry's Original: Shiraz/Grenache
Innocent Bystander Shiraz Viognier

Table 16: Prestige Wholesale:
Mark West Pinot Noir: Ok
Avalon Napa Cabernet
Van Ruiten Cab-Shiraz: Light & smooth
Van Ruiten Old Vine Zin: Got a star, which means we really liked it

Tables 17-19: Quality Wine & Spirits
Sawbuck Malbec
Ercavio White: Ok
Castano Rose: Ok
Oyster Bay Sauv. Blanc
Ciacci Piccolomini IGT: Got a smiley, so we really liked it
Jip Jip Rocks Shiraz: Bleh, smoky
D'Andezon Rhone

Table 20: Unique World Wines
Zolo Malbec
Wishing Tree Unoaked Chardonnay: Wants food
Nell Pinot Noir

Tables 21-22: Grapefields
El Coto Rioja
Astica Sauvignon Blanc
Campante Vina Reboreda

Tables 23-24: Catamarca Imports
Printhie Shiraz-Viognier
Reinares Tempranillo
Mercedes Eguren Shiraz-Tempranillo
Santos Beck Torrontes
Santos Beck Malbec
Santos Beck Gran Malbec

Table 25: New World Wines
Vinas de Balbo Rose

By the time we hit tables 26 and above, a lot of them were out, and the wines had been sitting out, so we tasted fewer of them.

Table 27: Pacific Southern
Kenwood Sonoma Cabernet
NO Sauvignon Blanc: um, No
Lake Sonoma Cabernet

Table 29: Diageo
B&G Bistro Pinot Noir
Archetype Shiraz

Table 30: Centera
Monkey Bay Rose

Table 36: Sherlock's
I have to give Warner and Darryl credit here. They were aware of the potentially deleterious effects of direct sunlight on red wine and made efforts to keep it at a drinkable temperature. Still, since I'd tried many of the wines before, I limited my time there.
Nicolis Amarone Classico: unsweet raisin

Table 37: Hemispheres
Centennial Bong Bong Shiraz
Icaria Creek Alexander Valley Cab

Table 47: Treana
Liberty School Cabernet
Westside Red, Rhone Blend
Treana Red Cabernet-Syrah

Here are some survival tips for the Wine Fest. I'll post them again when it's time for the next one.

First, start with the tables over the MARTA station. The wines, especially the reds, got hot by the end of the afternoon because the area is in full sun.

Second, bring a bottle of water and/or avail yourself of the ones there, if offered. Even though there are jugs with water at the table, it's not going to be enough to stay hydrated while drinking wine, especially if it's hot and dry outside.

I'll probably think of more between now and next November.

And the best news -- the weather forecast for Decatur has us going up to 70 on Wednesday! Just ignore the rain.