Despite me actually working for a wine company with a little over 30 or so brands in their portfolio, I actually do not drink that much wine. Maybe here and there I’ll do a tasting or I’ll open a bottle of something I already at home, but I really don’t drink that much.
I’ve decided to make a list of the wines I’m opening up during the rest of November, so here they are:
2016 Chalk Hill Estate Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
When I first tried this Pinot Noir, I wasn’t expecting it to be as elegant as it was. I know that I happen to manage this brand on social media, but this Pinot didn’t scream LUXURY to me. It was one of those Pinots that is drinkable on its own, delicious with food, but you wouldn’t know about it unless you got over your fear of rich boomers and went over to Chalk Hill Estate to try it for yourself. I definitely already drank this one this month, but once Chalk Hill recovers from the Kincade Fire, I’m headed straight over there to purchase another bottle. It’s by far one of my favorite Pinot Noirs.
2016 Mitchell Katz For Play by Candlelight Zinfandel
I featured this wine in my blog post two weeks ago. I wasn’t a big fan of Zinfandel until I had this in the Mitchell Katz tasting room back in July. Yes, if you were to blind taste this, you’d definitely know that it was a Zin, but it’s not as jammy as you’d think. I think there’s a perfect balance of jam flavors and peppery spicy flavors, but it’s not overpowering, you know? My family tends to make dry turkey for Thanksgiving, so I’m bringing this Zinfandel to sip on to make it bearable. I also like that the label is pretty cheesy. It just adds a bit of fun to the wine.
2016 Turnbull Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Interestingly enough, I’m getting more and more into California Cabernets. I’ve had the Turnbull sitting around for a year and I finally decided to open it. This one I opened up after a stressful week at work. Because of the time change, my commute went from 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours… ONE WAY. Ridiculous. This was great to open up that Friday, turn on my TV shows and get cajun chicken pasta delivered to my door. I was afraid how this wine would taste with the pasta, but I actually thought it tasted great. The fattiness from the creamy sauce cut through some of the tannins, and brought out more of the fruit flavors in this Cab. It was awesome!
2017 Chalk Hill Estate Sauvignon Blanc
Are we surprised that I put another Chalk Hill wine up here? I’m picky with my Sauvignon Blancs. I like the interesting Sauvignon Blancs that don’t taste like your typical Sauvignon Blanc. This one fits that category for me. It was delicious and refreshing. I would casually sip this on its own, but if I wanted to pair food with it, I’d do like a crab salad or something super light, so it wouldn’t take away from the flavors of this wine. This wine is in my list of top Sauvignon Blancs, so I’ve been waiting for my parents to get back from vacation to crack this baby open and share! I can’t wait!
2017 D’Argenzio Negroamaro
So I have both the 2017 and 2018 vintages of this particular wine. I love it so much and each of these vintages are delicious in their own way. I’ve decided it’s time to finally open the 2017 vintage, but I’m going to be doing that after I see Harry Potter next weekend. I just feel like I bought this wine as a graduation gift to myself and since I also received the Harry Potter play tickets as a graduation gift, I should just re-celebrate graduation. The 2018 vintage could benefit from aging another year or so before I open it, so I won’t touch that until 2020 or 2021. I’m super excited to open this one next weekend.
That’s about it for what I’m drinking in November. It’s really strange that I actually don’t drink that much wine for how passionate I am about it. However, that’s about to change in December when I open my wine advent calendar. Be sure to follow my Instagram when I open each day on my story! I’ll be posting a blog post about it after Christmas, so stay tuned for that.
If you have any questions on where to purchase these wines, please do not hesitate to ask! I love sharing where I buy the wine I enjoy and I love supporting brands that truly make fantastic wines.
