D&D Wine Review

For my first night away from my almost 10-month old daughter, I joined some girlfriends for a night on the town in Atlanta. We dined at Shout, and moved up to their patio for an evening of sangria and people watching. It was a lot of fun and I’m glad we had our girls night out.

During the dinner portion, our waiter recommended their ‘house’ wines, from Trinchero. We decided on the Pinot Noir, a favorite normally for us. I have to say, it was just okay. And considering they had a huge markup on it … it wasn’t worth it - or at least it won’t be bought again. From the scent, I thought we were in for a light fruity wine, very typical of Pinots - instead it seemed heavy and you couldn’t really taste the fruit that you could smell. It was fine - it was okay - it wasn’t something I was excited about. We decided afterwards to stick with Sangria….

Also, I have to say how disappointed I was by the markup at Shout on wine. One example - we dined at probably one of the best restaurants in Atlanta - Kevin Rathbun Steak (reviewed previously on this site), and had the Ridge Three Valleys Zin - priced around $46 and found in wine shops for around $23 - so a reasonable doubling of price, as I expect at a restaurant. Shout listed the wine at $70. Yes, $70… That’s insane! I don’t think I’ll be going back to Shout - that just turned me off too much. The sushi was very good - the other food was good but not remarkable by any means. So… sorry - not a great review for the wine or the restaurant.

Winery: Trinchero (the Family line I believe)

Price on website: $12 - Price at Shout: $48 (yeah 4x - that’s just not right)

Varietal: Pinot Noir, aged 4 months in oak

Year: 2006, I believe

Rating:

I rated this below my drink again threshold of a 3 - however, I think a lot of my experience has to do with the price and the restaurant - I’ll probably get a bottle for the more affordable $12 and try again and then maybe update the rating according. Per the tasting notes below, it should be a wine I like - this is normally the kind of tasting notes I look for….

Tasting Notes from the website: Expect ripe, open flavors on the palate with strawberries, sandalwood, cola and earth. The nose is focused and bright, the texture is soft and generous and the finish is long and complete. This luscious Pinot Noir balances generous ripe black cherry and mocha aromas with cedar, spice and vanilla. Sleek and supple on the palate, the wine is brimming with bright bing cherry and spice with a hint of mint.

I didn’t really get all of that - but I’d like to try again for the $12 pricetag and in my own home.

Sidenote: The second D of D&D - the Duttons - are off on a month-long excursion to Australia and New Zealand - so all the updates will be coming from the Dyars until they get back… hopefully they get to hit the wine regions out there and post all about it.

Kelly

Since I also like to post fun photographs on this site, here are just a couple from me being artsy with the roses my wonderful husband gave me for mother’s day.

We opened the Marega Pinot Grigio to try out another white wine for the upcoming summer season - it came recommended from our friends at Murphy’s in Virginia Highlands.  It was typical of Pinot Grigio - slightly sweet, pale color, light fruit, no woodiness (Pinot Grigio’s are rarely aged in wood) - a nice in-between that isn’t a Chardonnay and isn’t a Reisling.  I liked this white colder - I’d recommend definitely letting it get to temperature before drinking.  However, it was an enjoyable white wine for summer. 

Winery: Marega

Grapes: Pinot Gris

Country: Italy

Price: $13 - $15 range

Rating:

Just in case there is any confusion about our ratings - anything rated a 3 or better is definitely something we’ll drink again - especially if it has a good price point.  The Marega will be one of the summer wines we enjoy this year. 

For Brent’s graduation dinner from GT with his MBA - we let him pick any bottle from the wine cellar to enjoy. Thankfully he picked one under $30 - just kidding. We were having seafood and he decided on a Pinot Noir from Oregon - it was a great choice.

I unfortunately didn’t write down my tasting notes, but I remember it being very fruity, smooth and delicious. Heavier than some of the more typical Pinots out there, which I liked. And its price, in the mid-$20s, was very reasonable for the quality of wine - so I highly recommend this wine. I’m also excited that we have a few more bottles in the cellar to enjoy. (Tasting notes I’ve found said to enjoy through 2016, so its a good wine to have in a cellar)

Vineyard: White Rose, Oregon

Year: 2004

Wine: Nekaia Pinot Noir

Price: $25 - $28

Rating:

for designing and building our wine cellar. I love it and it looks great. I can’t wait to keep finding new and great wines to include in our collection, and write about them here of course.

Kelly