The 4th... Whoof...

Bear with me. I'm STILL recovering.

I'm happy to say there was not an American wine to be found at our July 4th celebration. It seems I've been plowing through so many of my Californian wines lately (actually just trying to get rid of them) that I never actually get a chance to drink what I like to. So, in honor of Independence Day, I granted myself the opportunity to drink fun, summer-y wines from the Old World. Nothing fancy, but good.

(And I will refrain from giving tasting notes on the Pabst Blue Ribbon that everyone was drinking. I didn't taste it, but I understand it tastes like beer-flavored water.)

As you might have guessed, this was completely informal:

Started out with a Simmonet-Febvre Cremant de Bourgogne Rose NV. This is a Champagne-styled rose sparkler based made from Pinot Noir and Gamay in Chablis. Delicious and fresh with peach, raspberry, green apple flavors. Also, good value for about $18 retail. Pinot Noir out of Burgundy for $18, you say? AND they do methode Champenois? That's what I'm sayin'!!!

We quickly moved on to a 2006 Dry Tokaji Furmint from Degenfeld. This is a Hungarian wine we don't often see. Sure, lots of Tokaji dessert wine out there made from this same grape, but what fun to see the dry version! What's it taste like? On the nose, it reminds me a bit of Sauv Blanc if you nix all the citrus - so smoke, parsley, and minerals. On the palate, particularly interesting is how it hits sort thin, but then expands into this Pinot Gris-bodied wine with a particularly long finish where all the real character shows. An inverted wine, if you will.

On to rose: a Cote du Rhone rose from Caillou 2009. This wasn't really my style of rose, but many would like it. Aromatically, it reminded me of those old popsicles that had banana and fudge flavor in them. Like Star Pops, but brown and yellow. Much too tropical for my taste. A nice wine, but I prefer a crisper, cleaner rose. Perhaps this would've been awesome with a beet salad so the beets had some fruit to tear away.

Next, the Re Manfredi 'Bianco' from Basilicata 2009. This is a Southern Italian blend of Muller Thurgau (a cross between Riesling and Sylvaner - supposedly) and Traminer (Gewurtztraminer). I often find Gewurtztraminer way too heavy to drink, unless paired with the right food or cheese. By blending in 70% Muller Thurgau, I get all the flavors of Gewurtz, but a lighter wine on the palate. Call it, Gewurtztraminer Light! So, stone fruit and flower-driven, lanolin, but also crisp citrus tones as well. Probably about $20 retail.

On to reds for the burgers: Bielsa 'Old Vines' Garnacha 2008 and a Cote-de-Brouilly by Domaine de la Voute des Crozes 2007. The Garnacha was the better fit for the burger, but I chilled both down for fun. The Bielsa is an unoaked old vines grenache from Spain. Dirt cheap and absolutely delicious! Ripe berry fruit that is pure and un-affected by wood - one of the cheapest wines on the table and probably the one I enjoyed most (particularly with the food). The Cote-de-Brouilly sort of got lost in the shuffle, I'm afraid. I tasted it with the food, then quickly returned to the Garnacha. And after eating, I immediately flipped back over to white wines. I don't think anyone actually drank it. If anyone live in the Toluca Lake area and wants to pick it up, let me know.

Lastly, as the night began wrapping up, we drank a Stephen Ehlen 'Erdener Treppchen' Kabinett Riesling 2007. Totally dig this inexpensive little German Reisling. She's so musty on the nose with the kerosene notes, but also honey and peach/lime fruits. Sweet, but not overtly, and it hits all the little targets that I love about Riesling. Retails probably for about $15. We didn't kill this one off, but I snuck it out with me to drink on the 5th. I know, it's poor etiquette, but the rest of the bottles were still quarter to half full and the party was winding down!

All-in-all, a great time. We watched the fireworks from Universal Studios on the corner where there was a perfect view. It was one of the best displays I've ever seen. Good friends and good fun! Can't wait to do it again.