Tasting - Muga Rioja Blanco 2020

 Name: Muga Rioja Blanco 

Variety: Viura, Garnacha blanca, Malvasia

Region: Rioja

Country: Spain

Year: 2020

Price: $20

James Suckling's Review: "Mostly Viura with some malvasia and white garnacha. Linear and firm texture to the medium-bodied palate with hints of vanilla and cream. Long finish. Barrel-fermented and aged shortly in wood. Beautiful now, but can age nicely." (93)

Personal Review: My mother can trace her heritage to the Basque country of Spain, so for as long as I can remember we have always had Spanish wines in our house, and Rioja reds were a frequent part of our nicer dinners. However, I like many wine drinkers only realized recently the beauty of white Riojas. This wine was extremely expressive on the nose, with notes of lemon, honeysuckle, and orange. On the palate, the acidity was well-balanced by stone fruit and the vanilla and slight creamy tastes associated with sur-lies and oak barrel aging. I was lucky enough to enjoy this with a dinner of grilled shrimp and there are few wines I would want to pair more with seafood. The creamy notes of the wine blended with the fatty and savory tastes of the shrimp and sauce, while the brighter fruit and citrus flavors were a perfect complement. In my opinion, white Rioja is one of the most underrated wine groups!

Tasting - Domaine de la Mordoree Cotes du Rhone

 Name: Domaine de la Mordoree Cotes du Rhone

Variety: 50% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 20% Carignan

Region: Rhone Valley

Country: France

Year: 2021

Price: $15 (for half bottle)

James Suckling's Review: "A generous and joyful Cotes-du-Rhone rosé with plenty of power, but also very good freshness. So much red-berry, nectarine and orange-peel character. Some real structure means that this won’t fade away if you forget a bottle in a corner for a few months. Drink or hold." (90)

Personal Review: I have been on quite a kick with Rhone wines as of late and am a firm believer that they are some of the best value wines in France. This wine contains a very typical blend from the region, and expressed each varietal very beautifully. The dark red fruit notes of the Grenache were the first to hit the palate, bolstered by the firmness of the Syrah, and complemented beautifully by the Carignan. I unfortunately was not able to have this with food, but would absolutely recommend pairing with something with the savoriness that will hold up to the boldness of the wine, such as steak or a dark stew (Wine Folly pg 13). In retrospect, I believe that the wine would have also really opened up with some cheese to soak up the tannins. However, this wine was incredibly enjoyable and I would have loved to age it for a few years.

An Introduction!

 Hello, Readers!

My name is James Copley, and right up front I will make one thing clear -- I love alcohol! I love beer, spirits, cider, wine, and any other deliciously concocted medium by which we can enjoy the wonderful gift of alcohol (in moderation of course!). However, this blog will be dedicated to the drink I believe holds the most history, art, and widest flavor variety, wine. 

First, a little about me. From a very early age, I was exposed to an appreciation for good quality wine through my mother, who is Chilean and can trace her roots to the Basque country in Spain. While a little too young to really enjoy these wines myself, it was basically an unspoken rule in the house that wine was too good to have badly made versions of it. 

By the time I was a teenager, I regularly drank wine in the house with my family, and by 21 I was ready to enter the wine world myself. Since then, I've immersed myself as much as possible by visiting vineyards all throughout Virginia, Chile, and Italy, along with independent study and exploration (alotttt of tasting :) ). This past September, I began working at the Vintage Cellar in Blacksburg, which has hugely expanded my horizons with wine. 

The Geography of Wine class has been something I've been wanting to take since I first heard about it a few years ago, and now that my schedule finally allows for it, I'm looking forward to expanding my knowledge about the process of wine making, vineyard management, and anything else I can pick up along the way. This is gonna be a great semester!