After a week off from FEWC, we finally got back together for some wine drinking… it would have been bad luck not to meet on Friday the 13th.
Those of you who are familiar with FEWC will know that Merlot is our favorite maligned wine variety. Bad publicity from the movie, Sideways, has given this delicious wine a bad rap. We rarely find a Merlot that we don’t like (imagine that). We started with a 2013 Merlot from Rutherford Ranch in Napa Valley. We all loved it. Rutherford ranch has proven to be one of our favorite Vineyards.
Next up was a Bordeaux that Scott brought over. 
This was a special treat from the area of Bordeaux that we visited in September, St Julien. It was a 2003 Sarget de Gruaud-Larose. A stunning wine that we all agreed had very little to offer on the nose but… the flavor was outstanding! It was the kind of wine that you can barely stop yourself from taking a second sip as soon as you have swallowed the first. We don’t often get an opportunity to taste a wine that is 17 years old so this was quite a treat. Thanks Scott.
While Janet brought out some tasty Charcuterie for us to enjoy, I opened the third bottle of the night. I decided to take a chance on a 2013 Pinot Noir from Averaen in the Willamette Valley, Oregon,
that I had tried at a Binny’s tasting, and liked. Over the years, us snobby FEWC members have typically turned up our noses at Pinot Noir (except French Burgundy – Oooh la la) because we have found the nose to be rather offensive. The term forest floor translates to musty mildew to us. We recently have tried a few Pinots from Oregon and found them to be much more to our liking. Everyone thought this one was very good and did not have the “Pinot” smell that we don’t like.
With plenty of excellent wine and food, fun conversation and of course great music selections by Scott and Lenny, this week’s FEWC meeting was terrific!