Wine 101

Last night I went with Kimmi K. to a Wine 101 class at Crush. We both enjoyed it very much and would highly recommend it. The classes there are small - they only hold about 18 people. Luckily there were only about 12 in our class. We were seated around 2 tables in a very comfortable room.


The evening started with a sparkling Loire Vouvray. This was my favorite of the night - wrap it up - I'll take a case! From there we moved on to the whites - a still Vouvray(from France) and a Chenin Blanc (South Africa). We didn't LOVE either of them (they were good for what they are but neither of us really loves the chenin blanc grape), although we were thankful when he told us he usually does chardonay's for that portion but had decided to switch it up for us. Then, finally, on to the reds. The first 2 were burgandy's - a French Bourgogne and an Australian Pinot Noir. I enjoyed them both, leaning a bit more towards the Pinto Noir. The last round of reds were both cabs - one from Bordeaux and one from California. Both were great - full-bodied and delicious, although in the end the Aussie Pinot Noir was still my favorite of the night.

To keep you from falling over, there are plates of cheese, meat, fruit, bread and crackers for you to nosh on. The instructor, Steve Bitterolf was young, hip and very knowledgeable. The format was a bit unstructured - mostly dialogue back and forth between Steve and the group discussing each wine with facts peppered throughout. Despite the haze we left in, we did both learn some stuff and are looking forward to Wine 201!