A Wine Tasting
Spent the afternoon in Litchfield Park, AZ today at a wine store and tasting bar called
Park Wines
A quiet small store selection seemed limited, but still held a wide variety of wines. One of the things that really stood out to me was the Italian wine section was one of the most extensive in the store.
The store features 3 white and 3 red wines every one to two weeks depending on stock for tastings. They offer a 2 oz or 6 oz tasting ranging from 1.75 to 5.25 for the featured 2 oz tastings and 5.25 to 14.75 for the 6 oz.
This week they are featuring :
White
05 Dashwood Sauvignon Blanc- This particular white wine has a very dry taste but has a wonderful hint of citrus, almost a Kiwi flavor to it.
05 De Tareczal Moscata Giallo- This particular wine almost knocked me out of my chair at the first sniff. VERY heavily perfumed and strong with the taste of tropical/passion fruit. It took me along time to get a hold of the underlying mineral taste present in the wine due to the overwhelming perfume. I gave this wine serious thought and proceeded to the other wines before coming back to it in the end. From a culinary point of view it was hard to think of a dish that would suit the wine well due to the strong aroma. At last while staring at the bottle it dawned on me. The grapes for the wine come from northeastern Italy, which lurched my mind in the direction of Pesto and Herb oil pastas. Pesto I thought was the only smart match.
04 Zilliken Riesling Spatlese Hailing from, of course, Germany this sweet full flavored wine was an instant hit with me. My affinity for all things sweet drew me to stay on this particular glass for quite awhile. Most commonly paired with deserts I spent most of the time enjoying this wine trying to pair it with a dinner course. At last after some serious thought the idea of a spicy fish course came out at me. The sweetness of the wine opens your palate well to its natural partner of hot spicy food. Being a white wine I thought how well it would suit a nice fish dish. I finally imagined a Blackened Halibut with a Creole Mustard sauce. On the lighter end I also thought of how well the glass would compliment a nice Orange and Walnut Salad.
Red
05 Hanenhof Cabernet Franc- An Austrilian Red this wine was nothing to exciting in my opinion. A strong raspberry flavor this wine was all in all not a bad Cabernet
03 Walter Hansel Pinot Noir WOW, just WOW. From the first sip of this wonderful red your mouth is filled with the wonderful taste of smokey wood and cherry. Very heavy in texture it lasts for awhile on your palete. If I would pair it with anything it would definatly be smoked gamey meats like Venison. After sipping on the wine I thought how wonderful the taste of applewood smoked bacon with a nice sharp swiss cheese would taste with it. By far one of my favorite strong reds.
01 Paolo Scavino Corale- A very full bodied red with a long long LONG finish. A strong flavor of cherries with a hint of smoke leaves this velvity red leaning toward a wonderful pairing to grilled red meats. Particularly Veal came to mind as I sipped on it , maybe with grilled tomato and sweet onion risotto and asparagus.
All in all I was very happy with the tasting selection, but information on the wines was lacking slightly. I left wishing that there was someone there who could have talked me through each of the selections.
One of Park Wines biggest features is the presentation of live music every Friday/Saturday night. A mix of Jazz and classical bands are booked for the nights with a rather strong regular turn out. Park Wines also features Q&A sessions with Vineyard Reps who come and offer free tastings at least once or twice a month, A great source of information about the growers and the wine making process.
All in all Id have to give Park Wines:
Overall great decor and feeling. A little more information and one on one at the tasting bar would have given this location a 5 out of 5 for sure.
Park Wines
A quiet small store selection seemed limited, but still held a wide variety of wines. One of the things that really stood out to me was the Italian wine section was one of the most extensive in the store.
The store features 3 white and 3 red wines every one to two weeks depending on stock for tastings. They offer a 2 oz or 6 oz tasting ranging from 1.75 to 5.25 for the featured 2 oz tastings and 5.25 to 14.75 for the 6 oz.
This week they are featuring :
White
05 Dashwood Sauvignon Blanc- This particular white wine has a very dry taste but has a wonderful hint of citrus, almost a Kiwi flavor to it.
05 De Tareczal Moscata Giallo- This particular wine almost knocked me out of my chair at the first sniff. VERY heavily perfumed and strong with the taste of tropical/passion fruit. It took me along time to get a hold of the underlying mineral taste present in the wine due to the overwhelming perfume. I gave this wine serious thought and proceeded to the other wines before coming back to it in the end. From a culinary point of view it was hard to think of a dish that would suit the wine well due to the strong aroma. At last while staring at the bottle it dawned on me. The grapes for the wine come from northeastern Italy, which lurched my mind in the direction of Pesto and Herb oil pastas. Pesto I thought was the only smart match.
04 Zilliken Riesling Spatlese Hailing from, of course, Germany this sweet full flavored wine was an instant hit with me. My affinity for all things sweet drew me to stay on this particular glass for quite awhile. Most commonly paired with deserts I spent most of the time enjoying this wine trying to pair it with a dinner course. At last after some serious thought the idea of a spicy fish course came out at me. The sweetness of the wine opens your palate well to its natural partner of hot spicy food. Being a white wine I thought how well it would suit a nice fish dish. I finally imagined a Blackened Halibut with a Creole Mustard sauce. On the lighter end I also thought of how well the glass would compliment a nice Orange and Walnut Salad.
Red
05 Hanenhof Cabernet Franc- An Austrilian Red this wine was nothing to exciting in my opinion. A strong raspberry flavor this wine was all in all not a bad Cabernet
03 Walter Hansel Pinot Noir WOW, just WOW. From the first sip of this wonderful red your mouth is filled with the wonderful taste of smokey wood and cherry. Very heavy in texture it lasts for awhile on your palete. If I would pair it with anything it would definatly be smoked gamey meats like Venison. After sipping on the wine I thought how wonderful the taste of applewood smoked bacon with a nice sharp swiss cheese would taste with it. By far one of my favorite strong reds.
01 Paolo Scavino Corale- A very full bodied red with a long long LONG finish. A strong flavor of cherries with a hint of smoke leaves this velvity red leaning toward a wonderful pairing to grilled red meats. Particularly Veal came to mind as I sipped on it , maybe with grilled tomato and sweet onion risotto and asparagus.
All in all I was very happy with the tasting selection, but information on the wines was lacking slightly. I left wishing that there was someone there who could have talked me through each of the selections.
One of Park Wines biggest features is the presentation of live music every Friday/Saturday night. A mix of Jazz and classical bands are booked for the nights with a rather strong regular turn out. Park Wines also features Q&A sessions with Vineyard Reps who come and offer free tastings at least once or twice a month, A great source of information about the growers and the wine making process.
All in all Id have to give Park Wines:
Overall great decor and feeling. A little more information and one on one at the tasting bar would have given this location a 5 out of 5 for sure.