Northern Virginia Chapter of the American Wine Society

		AMERICAN WINE SOCIETY A non-profit corporation Northern Virginia Chapter
	“The power of the gods hardly equals the usefulness of wine.” -- Aesculapius, Greek physician

JULY MEETING:

Mike Schlosser led us through a discussion on "Change!" and how various components will impact the wines we are tasting. The conclusion is to keep an open mind and continue to try everything as well as to begin to try to understand what causes the differences that you have detected. Mike really got us thinking about the individual wines, even from the four social wines with which we started. Each flight consisted of two wines, served blindly. This generated much discussion as to what they were and why they were similar and why they were different. In tasting order, including the four social wines, we tasted:

Flight	Year	Producer	Varietal	Region	Cost
Social	NV	Paul Brehem	Blanc de Blancs, Brut	France	$ 5.99
Social	2002	Hugues de Beauvignac	Picpoul	France	$ 6.99
Social	2003	Conte Priola	Pinot Grigio	Italy	$ 5.49
Social	2002	Villa Maria	Riesling	Marlborough, New Zealand	$ 10.00
1	2000	Bridgeman	Sauvignon Blanc	Washington State, USA	$ 9.99
1	2003	Crossings	Sauvignon Blanc	New Zealand	$ 11.49
2	2003	Santa Maria	Chardonnay	Chile	$ 6.99
2	2003	Gumdale	Chardonnay	Australia	$ 6.99
3	2003	Goats do Roam	Marsanne	South Africa	$ 7.99
3	2003	Goats do Roam	Marsanne	South Africa	$ 7.99
4	2002	Sobon Estate	Zinfandel (organic)	Amador County, California, USA	$ 10.99
4	2001	Roccadei Mori	Primitivo Roso	South Africa	$ 10.99
5	2001	Georges DuBoeuf Prestige	Cabernet Sauvignon	France	$ 10.99
5	2001	Monthaven	Cabernet Sauvignon	Coastal California, USA	$ 9.99
6	2000	Chateau Garraud	80% Merlot	France	$ 18.99
6	2000	Santa Maria Grand Reserve	Merlot	Chile	$ 13.99

As you can see, it was quite an evening! And, you noticed the little trick that Mike threw at us by presenting the same wines in the third flight. It was decided that there was a very slight bottle variation between the two, but they were the same wines. Needless to say, this flight generated quite a bit of discussion!

Thanks again, Mike, for a great evening that really got us thinking, as well as enjoying the wines!

AUGUST MEETING:

Chris Braun is scheduled to present Italian wines so come on out and see what she will be sharing with us. The meeting is scheduled for Friday, July 16th at St. Mary’s Church. The gathering will begin at 7:30 p.m. while the formal meeting should get underway at 8:00 p.m. Please RSVP at least 24 hours in advance if you are planning to attend so we will have enough of everything. Call 703-941-2384 or complete the following RSVP form.

See you on the 20th! Also, mark your calendars now for the following chapter meeting on Friday, September 17th.

Cheers,
Dave Barber

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