On the Road Again

         Hard to believe we’ve been at this wine-tasting, wine-blogging adventure for over a year now.  To celebrate, we are hitting the Carmel Valley road again to check out all the local wineries to see what they are offering that is new and fun.

 Because we started our second round of “research” on a 90 degree day in the valley, we went to the one of our favorite shaded wine tasting gardens, Georis.   And did we hit a bonanza.  We tasted their 2010 Pinot Grigio, a new varietal for Georis; their 2010 PV Cowgirl White; and finished off the afternoon with their just released 2007 La Chapelle.

The 2010 Pinot Grigio was very aromatic, clean and crisp--perfect for a hot day.  The 2010 PV (Petite Vignes) Cowgirl White was equally pleasing, with lots of fruit flavors, a nice finish, and a good price ($19).  And the 2007 La Chapelle (blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet franc, Malbec, Merlot and Petite Verdot) was full, rich, earthy and spicy, with subtle taste hints of prune and tobacco, according to Damien the Georis wine maker.  We liked all three wines.

This was all accompanied by four incredible tasting breads that the chef at Corkscrew had just baked as an evening special—we tasted pesto bread, white, whole wheat, and olive bread. We thought the pesto and olive breads were especially wonderful accompaniments to the cadre of wines we tasted.

 Plus, we talked with a man from San Francisco who was in the wine business.  We loved hearing him praise Georis wines for being a nice blend of European wine-making philosophy and techniques with California terroir and grapes.  What an apt description of why Georis wines appeal to so many.

We will be traveling the Carmel Valley Road over the next few months, as well as going to more wineries in Monterey County and beyond.  We will keep you posted on what we find on our adventures during this 2011 harvest season. Salute.