Last Nights Wine

Tonight we (and 7 of our friends) took our friend out for her birthday for Tapas at Europa in downtown Richmond. Dinner was excellent as usual and so was the service (try and make sure you waiter is Slate), he is awesome especially with large groups. Twice now we have gone with 10 people and he didn't skip a beat.


So on to the food and wine....We were in the mood for a Cab Sauv so we chose the 2003 Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon. We have had it before so we new it was a good wine, and it was fairly inexpensive ($30).

nose: blackberry, cassis, tobacco

taste: chocolate, blackberry, black cherry

mouthfeel: smooth silky tannins

finish: decent

Overall this wine is great, and retail it is only $13.00 so it makes a nice "everyday drinker" (A-)

Check out this link from the Daily Press in Hampton Roads Virginia, airing its opinion on Virginia Wineries gettng the shaft with the new self distrubtion laws. Click Here

Today on Wine Business News they brought up the recent uprising in Rose popularity. Click Here for article!

I have to agree with the opening statement of the article that I have in the past turned my nose up to Rose wines thinking the are overly sweet wines reminding me Arbor Mist. But over the past few months I have tasted quite a few dry Rose's that I thoroughly enjoy, especially with the extremely hot summer we are having. I find them refreshing with out being too crisp and harsh.

Last Nights Wine


2004 Autumn Hill Cabernet Franc


We picked this one up at one of the six weekends that Autumn Hill is open during the year. While we were there we took part in the cellar tour and barrel tasting which featured the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. We enjoyed lunch on their nice large deck and soaked up the sun and enjoyed a pleasant conversation with owner/winemaker Ed.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Cherry, Raspberry, Chocolate

Taste: Raspberry, "dark fruit", green pepper, cinnamon

Mouthfeel: Smooth Tannins, silky light/medium bodied texture

Finish: The checkered flag came a little earlier but is to be expected from a VA wine

Good Wine, very enjoyable, although the Green Pepper did show up on the taste, it isn't the over herbacious Cab Franc that sometimes arises in VA. (B) $18.95

Last Nights Wine

Trinitas 2003 Old VinesCuvee

The wine was delicious. My wife and I had tasted it at one of the Friday night tastings at our local wine shop (The Wine Cellar) and picked up about a month ago. The wine is primarily Zinfandel (75%), with Carignane, Petite Sirah, Mataro, Alicante Bouschet and Black Malvoisie rounded out the mix. The wine hits the nose with an amazing array of dark fruit, and rich chocolate right of the bottle. On the tounge it does not dissappoint, wonderful blackberry and blueberry notes with a distinct finish of leather and cinnamon which last for a good while. The only thing I would rate this wine down on is a personal preference of Zinfandels with a nice peppery finish, which I would have expected more so with the addition of Petite Sirah. Overall the wine was very good!! (A-) Price $16.95