Wine Redux

I love ending my Sunday evenings with a glass of wine, trying to ignore looming Monday. Mr. K and I didn’t used to drink much wine until a trip to Temecula for wine tasting a few years ago. After doing tastings at almost all of the wineries in Temecula, we were finally able to develop an appreciation for wines. We love going wine tasting and we’ve recently accumulated a lot of bottles of dessert wines from recent trips to Napa, Sonoma, and some other sources. I thought I’d share some of the more memorable ones.

Jessup Cellars 2006 Cabernet Port

We’ve tasted a lot of ports over the years but this is by far our favorite. Sweet, smooth finish, with hints of black cherry flavor from the cabernet. Whenever we go to Napa Valley, we like to stop by Jessup Cellars. They have great tastings with friendly staff and crackers, cheese, chocolate. You can read more about my first tasting here. It’s definitely on the pricey side, but it’s the best port we’ve had and worth it for us.

Bon Affair

This is a wine spritzer from right here in San Diego. I love the bottle design. It’s so perfect for a party. I was recently given a couple of complimentary bottles of the Sauvignon Blanc to sample since this is a new product (they also offer a syrah version). I really enjoy it. It’s crisp and light. Unlike most wine spritzers, there’s no sugar added. I think the bottles are perfect for parties and it’s a great drink for people who want something bubbly or are looking for a low calorie wine drink.

V. Sattui Madeira

I first heard about this wine from my mother who had tried it at a party. She raved about it and mentioned that it is quite well known and is so popular that customers are limited to the number of bottles they can purchase. I didn’t get a chance to visit V. Sattui on my last trip up north but I had really wanted to, especially after seeing their award winning wine selection. However, I thought their shipping prices were quite reasonable in California ($18 for 1-6 bottles), so we decided to buy a few of their top rated dessert wines to try out, including this Madeira.

I thought the seal was quite interesting, though its a pity that it gets ruined once you open it. Mr. K, who opened it, said the wax seal is annoying to take off but it does give the bottle a very unique look.

This is a Solera-made, wood-aged wine, fortified with brandy. The brandy smell is quite strong when you take a whiff of this wine. In fact, you don’t even have to get very close to smell it. I wish the brandy aroma wasn’t so overpowering because the wine itself is quite interesting, with flavors of almonds, caramel, toffee and orange zest. I was only able to appreciate this in small sips though because of the brandy.

V. Sattui Angelica

This is a more traditional dessert wine but a very good one and I really enjoyed it. I’ve had a lot of sweet dessert wines and some just end up tasting like grape juice. This is not just sweet, it’s smooth and silky and you can taste the hints of brandy and the grapes. This reminded me a little of the ice wines I’ve had. I also love the golden color of the wine.

So these are some of my favorite dessert wines lately. Do you have any recommendations that I should try?