OurGlass Wine Co.: Grand Fall Tasting

This is such an exciting season as so many new wines are released and many local wine stores have grand tastings, giving you the opportunity to try many different wines.

This past weekend, I attended the Grand Fall Wine Tasting at OurGlass Wine Co. in Saugus. A number of members of the North Shore Winers and a couple other Meet-Up groups were there as well so it was a fun event with many of my friends. I have been to numerous grand tastings events at this store and they are always very good.

This grand event had 12 wine distributors (with over 75 wines), 1 beer distributor and 3 food distributors. I tasted about half of the wines and found plenty of good and excellent ones.

I began the tasting at the Adonna Imports table, always one of my favorites. Of their new wines, I very much enjoyed the 2007 Gritsch Kalmuck Gruner Veltiner ($13.99) from Austria, the 2006 Casina Roera Vino Rosso da Tavola IGT ($18.99) from Italy, and the 2007 Villa Rosa Rosso Toscana "Poggio ai Rovi" ($11.99) from Tuscany. The Villa Rosa was one of the best value wines of the tasting.

Ideal Wine & Spirits had a couple of winners too. The 2007 Le Petit Mas ($9.99), a Rose from the Vin de Pays d'Oc, is a very good value. The 2005 Sorine & Fils, Santenay Burgundy ($27.99) is also another good value that is sure to please the Burgundy lover.

Charles River Wine Co. had a tasty and spicy 2005 Gerard Metz Gewurtztraminer ($17.99) from Alsace. Ruby Wines had a fruity and easy drinking 2006 J. Lohr Valdigue ($9.99), a California wine made with Gamay, the Beaujolais grape. For the price, this is a very good value. Boston Wine Co. had a smoky and earthy 2005 Spier Pinotage, Private Collection ($26.99) from South Africa. As I am a big fan of Pinotage, this wine certainly pleased me.

Vineyard Road Wines had a few excellent wines, including the crisp and fruity 2006 Fattoria Laila, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi C.S. ($13.99) from Italy, a nice, off-dry 2007 W. Richter Riesling QbA "Zeppelin" ($14.99) from the Mosel region of Germany, and the spicy and complex 2005 Domaine de Deurre Vinsobres ($20.99) from the Rhone region.

M.S. Walker had a lightly effervescent and very refreshing 2007 Twin Vines Vinho Verde ($9.99) from Portugal, one of the top values of the tasting. They also had an intriguing and silky smooth 2004 Swanson Merlot ($34.99) from Napa Valley. Baystate Wine Co. had an impressive and slightly sweet 2007 Robertson Gewurtztraminer ($10.99) from South Africa, another top value of the tasting. Their 2006 Peirano Estates Tempranillo ($15.99) from Lodi, California, was another good wine, with nice dark fruit and spice.