Vino Volo: Dallas/Fort Worth

Recently I was lucky enough to get to take a trip home to warm & beautiful California.  It was a solo trip (I risked the Hubs killing off my vegetable seedlings), as well as my second time flying alone.  I am not the best flier. I am a panicky person; it happens to the best of us. But since I had previously forged the way, this trip was easier to handle. The more you fly, the easier the process gets.

Or maybe it was just that I was so completely stoked to finally have a layover at an airport with a Vino Volo and a couple of hours to kill. A little wine to calm my nerves?

Vino Volo is a tasting room I first crossed paths with back in 2012 at the Dulles Airport in Washington DC.

What better way to wait for a flight than to casually sample wine flights or drink full glasses of multi regional wine?  And if you are hungry you can take full advantage of an artisan menu equipped with tapas style delights.

This time I enjoyed the Shades of White (feeling reminiscent of a 50 shades reference)   wine flight and was pleasantly buzzed by the time I took the tram to my terminal.

Here is what I tasted:


2012 Pinot Grigio - Cantine Settesoli, Italy: this wine is light and crisp. It is easy to drink but lacks some defining pizazz that would make me say "I have to have a bottle of this". It has a sweet nose, and is very opaque in color.  It carries strong melon notes of c antelope and some sweet notes of honey. Summer BBQ or deck wine.

2012 Sauvignon Blanc - MaiMai Haukes Bay, New Zealand: New Zealand wines are exciting to me. This is not your average class act of a Sauvignon Blanc by any means. Grassy, juicy nose, more yellow in color but still pale.  There are sweet notes of pineapple  that makes this wine almost juicy but it has a nice dry finish the brings you back to a grassy, minerality or earthiness. It's easy drinking and worth sharing.  At $9.00 a bottle, this wine is more than a deal and I would gladly tuck two bottles under my arms and prance off into the night.

2011 Chardonnay - Hill Family Castle - Napa, CA: Looking at this wine, I was pleasantly surprised. Its a classic Chardonnay; rich buttery yellow. A little mirky and thick but not so that it lost it's opaque qualities. The nose is mellow, slightly oaky, and the taste is smooth, buttery and filled with oak. It's not just the buttery oak that resonates in this wine; it's a toasted bread, warm and full bodied. It is dry. It warms the entire palate as it rolls over your tongue. It gives the body of this wine something to talk about. There are fruit notes in the background, some apple, but they are not overwhelming and it's a good mix.  It isn't quite your typical chardonnay. It brings back taste-bud memories of Roussanne wines.  This wine is also worth a purchase to at least make a good chocolate and cheese plate (buttery triple cream brie, super soft and milky milk chocolate, and some dry roasted almonds to really balance out your meal).

By the time I was done at Vino Volo, I was toasted in a wine filled bliss.

In short - when traveling, make the most of your time. Seek out what you love and indulge in it.

Salute!

Wine: Ma Cherie

So this wine isn't part of the Fresh and Easy grocery hall. It's actually just a part of me wanting to buy a white wine with a pretty label.

Be weary of impulse buys based on labels.

The wine is a Chardonnay, Viognier, and Grenache blend which sounds good.

And I mean it wasn't terrible, just different. It was buttery like a Chardonnay but grassy and herbaceous like a Sauvignon Blanc. Overall I would rate it a 2, out of 5. It was interesting and different but I wouldn't buy it again. There was a rough alcohol taste around the edges so it wasn't a smooth wine. Semi dry.

Although we could have accidentally aerated it when the Husband put it in the decanter [it had a lot of bubbles]. So maybe second chances are due...

Speaking Of decanter, check it out! It's actually a white wine chiller! Pretty awesome, don't you think?

How do you drink white wine; chilled in anther receptacle or out of the bottle?

Winery: Grovedale Winery

Going through my wine paraphernalia  I realized I never did a review of Grovedale Winery back in September (when i did the Nimble Hill Review).

Let's take a trip down memory lane (well, memory lane for me anyways).

Grovedale, Grovedale, how I did adore thee, Grovedale! There's is nothing like enjoying an afternoon wine tasting with your hubby and in-laws (if you have cool in-laws), Mostly, I am just gleeful if I am drinking wine between M-F 8-5 whilst on vacation!

After tasting at Nimble Hill, we mozied on over to Grovedale Winery to further explore Pennsylvania wineries [The Husband was our DD while my mother in law and I were very toasty in the back seat].

Grovedale does not necessarily arrange the tasting from Whites to Reds, but rather Drys to Sweets. We started with a Chardonnay which was dry, with subtle fruit notes. It wasn't too dry,and had a crisp clean finish.

From there we all ventured to try the Seyval/Chardonnay (in the semi-dry) category. This wine had a very pleasant mouth feel and slight apple taste. We ended up buying a bottle and sharing it after the tasting, a lush and velvety wine experience.

I took the lone road and tried the Fontenac Gris. And oh-em-gee I die. I die of happiness. I die of candy in a bottle. This wine, to my utter surprise and befuddlement on the tasting notes, was the wine embodiment of COTTON CANDY! Intoxicating?  Yes. It was very soft, and sweet, but still a semi-dry wine and no where near the sweet wine category.

The dry Merlot was a true Merlot; dry and rich in tannins with blackberries, berries, blueberries, with a hint of chocolate at the throat.

I quickly embraced the semi sweet and sweet reds; Grovedale Red and the Susquehanna Sunset. The Grovedale was remarkably balanced with it's sweetness, very raspberry/cherry jammy in taste almost like a jammy Shiraz (but not quite like my beloved favorite Jam Jar!). This was a smooth wine and it must be a crowd-pleaser because they turned it into a wine slushie!  The Susquehanna was a true sweet wine, very easy to drink. It was much like the "Hot tub wine" - Harvest Moon, from Nimble Hill.

We finished the tasting with the Grovedale Red slushie and some neon green margarita thing that I did not embrace (it just tasted like margarita mix. Boo!) and shared a bottle out on the lovely patio.

I wanted to taste their Cab Franc (big time Cab Franc fan here), and their Sweet wine blend "Optimism" (tasting notes read: A sweet, red blend with lots of strawberry and cherry notes), however both were sold out and unavailable for tasting. I think that is a sign that speaks volumes.

Wine: 2012 Fig Festival

Fresno State hosts the annual Fig Festival. This was my second year in attendance, and the 9th year running. For 10$ you can sample fig inspired eats from local restaurants and eateries, and for 15$ you can sample those eats and delicious local wines with a bonus fig fest wine glass!

This year we sampled delicious bites from Fleming's (a fig, artichoke, onion, and mushroom flatbread), P*DE*Q (amazing mini pão de queijo BLT's with crumbled bacon and butter leaf lettuce and a cream cheese fig jam that was out of this world with the bacon), Whole Foods (vegan fig and date brownie with a cashew cream and raspberry garnish), Dusty Buns + Enzo Olive Oil ( crostini with figs, olive oil, and duck), Love and Garlic ( ah-MAZ-ing fig spread) and lastly, some sweets with Rosetti Fine Foods + Biscotti House ( mission fig with white chocolate and biscotti crumbs).

Oh yeah, Trelio made some BOMB fig glazed pork tacos with pickled jalapeños.

It's local festivals like this that showcase local eats and major creativity from these restaurants and eateries.

Paired with wine, and it's an experience out if this world.

We stopped at the Birdstone Winery booth where they were tasting the Syrah, Tempranillo, and Pinot Noir. While the folks at Birdstone know what they are doing with their wines, and you really can't do wrong with any, the Syrah was my favorite. Slightly sweet, with berries and a little bit of spice and leather, the Syrah paired extremely well with Fleming's flatbread.

Cru is another Madera winery that does it right. I sampled a nice dry Rosé of Pinot Noir, a Albrino that was crisp and smooth, and a delicious Chardonnay.

Quady is hands down my favorite moscato-maker. It may be the sparkle, but red or the signature orange blows me away every time; sweet, bubbly, with that Thompson grape sweetness and light citrus notes. I was floored to try Quady's Essensia, a syrupy, orange & apricot bomb. But the Elysium, a black muscat wine, sweet and berryish, may have blown the others out of the wine barrels so to speak: it was delicious and decadent.

Lastly we sampled San Joaquin Wine Co. They make a mean Green Eyes Moscato, and a pink version as well. Moody Press Cellars is their other label , so we sampled their Cabernet Sauvignon. OMG. I wish they were selling, I would have bought a bottle. I think it was the pomegranate Sangria that won my heart though. It was the best pomegranate wine I have ever sampled.

It is unfortunate they don't sell wine at this event. But I guess it is safer for my wallet...

Living in the Central Valley, we are fortunate to have Vinters of two wine trails (Fresno & Madera) so close together, growing & producing so many different and delicious wines.