Wine Tasting

This evening I had an opportunity to taste wines with a few of my fellow sommelier classmates at the Fairmont Hotel. Phil Prifold, our instructor from the fall class, brought two bottles of red wine from Bolivia--The Vinedos Sausini 2000 and 2002 vintages. Vinedos Sausini is a small family-owned producer vying for recognition in the US market. Who knows, Phil and I may start an import business with a small collection of boutique small production wines from South America.

Both wines were interesting. The winery uses very little oak and both wines had vegetal notes. The 2000 was by far the best wine of the two, exhibiting notes of muted fruit, leather, earth and mushrooms, and a bit of green pepper. The 2002 vintage was milder than the 2000 and extremely vegetal, with heavy notes of green pepper and a small bit of plum. Not bad for a region unknown to most wine consumers.



Castel Pujol Tannat de Reserva


We also tasted two bottles from my personal collection-the 2002 Castel Pujol Tannat Reserva from Uruguay and the 2003 Domaine Flamand Deletang Montlouis-Sur-Loire Sec made from Chenin Blanc. The Domaine Flamand stole the show. Its racy acidity and herbal/citrus notes screamed Sauvignon Blanc, yet the wine is 100% Chenin. A true find from my recent trip to France and a bargain at only 3 euros!