Tasting - Rodney Strong Pinot Noir

Wine Tasting #1
============================================
Name: Rodney Strong Estate Vineyards
Grape: Pinot Noir
Region: Russian River Valley
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Price: $22.99 (Kroger UCB)

Wine Critic Review:
      "This food-friendly Pinot Noir has a light body, dryness, and crisp acidity that make it easy to pair with steaks, chops, salmon, mushroom risotto and similar fare. There's nothing shy, however, about the flavors, which brim with ripe raspberries, cherries, and pomegranates, accented with toasty, spicy oak. Drink now - 2017." Critique from Wine Enthusiast.

Personal Review:
     This wine pairs extremely well with salmon. When I uncorked this bottle earlier, I was preparing a honey-lemon glazed salmon with some diced potatoes. The fruitful flavors, and acidic elements complemented the sweetness of the salmon very nicely. This Pinot Noir lacked an earthy taste and focused on letting the grape itself do the talking. I am not experienced in determining which berry flavors I detect, but you definitely can taste and smell an oaky aroma. I highly recommend enjoying this wine with food.

Personal Score: G (3.8/5)

An Aromatic Introduction

I give you a hearty HELLO blog readers and wine enthusiasts! My name is Alex Hawk (a.k.a. The Vintage Chemist) and I am a soon-to-be graduate from Virginia Tech with a degree in Biological Sciences and a degree in Psychology. Despite the fact that I only recently turned 21, I have a long history and respect for wine and wine culture!

I am a born and raised Italian Catholic, so you could say that wine runs through my veins and not blood. My personal experience with wine spans beyond just tasting and enjoying the flavors and smells of this grape-derived drink: my grandfather and I started our own business focusing on fine wine photography! Our business is called Cork and Art Studios and our website is right here => http://corkandart.shootproof.com <= click it fool! The two of us choose various wines that we wish to create unique scenes for, which gives the wine character beyond what's inside the bottle.

As for my personal experience in drinking wine, I love the Android/iPhone app: Vivino. This app is extremely convenient when you're on the go and want to know more about a particular wine. I am a man of simple pleasures; I thoroughly enjoy a nice full-bodied Pinot Noir, especially ones from Oregon. I am also a sucker for a nice cabernet sauvignon. Just because my taste buds prefer a red wine doesn't mean I don't like white wines! White wines are great in particular when you pair it with a fish...but of course the wine changes with whatever food I am having. A rule of thumb I live by is that "food impacts the flavor of the wine more than the reverse". When I am home, we tend to open a bottle of wine almost every night and explore some wines we don't normally try. Whenever we feel adventurous we trek into Whole Foods or Total Wine to take advantage of the free wine tastings they offer!

I thank you for reading my very first post talking about my experiences with wine and how it has been a major part of my life as a way to bring family together!