Kats and Julep Wine Tasting

We had a great time at the Kats Wine & Spirits and Julep Restaurant & Bar "Nothing but Nineties" wine tasting on July 29th.
There were eight total wines tasted, all of which were 90 + points.

The event was a great value - $45 per person or $40 if you bought 4 or more tickets.

Tasho Katsaboulas creates a wonderful, relaxed environment where novice winos, like myself, feel comfortable asking questions and learning about the wines presented.

Below is a recap of the wines we tasted on Sunday, all of which retail for $15 to $30 and are all available locally at Kats Wine & Spirits in Fondren.

Call Tasho and order up a bottle of each of the wines below and have your own at-home tasting with these great notes!

1. 2010 Eroica Riesling - Columbia Valley, Washington - lemon and lime accenting a mineral spine with plenty of drive - $24 - Wine & Spirits 93 points
2. 2010 Pazo Senorans Albarino - Rias Baixas, Spain - Jasmine, mineral, lemon zest, and tropical flavors highlight this multi-dimensional white - $28 - Parker 93 points
3. 2011 Cono Sur Vision Sauvignon Blanc - Casablanca Valley, Chile - Fresh and crisp with refreshing herbal citricity - $15 - Wine & Spirits 92 points
4. 2009 Uvaggio Moscato Secco - Lodi, California - a stunning white with tremendous aromatics of honeysuckle and melon - $18 - Enthusiast 92 points
5. 2009 Cambria Julia's Vineyard Pinot Noir - Santa Maria Valley, California - Crushed Indian spices, cherry, cola, and plum flavors accent a refreshingly acidic frame - $25 - Enthusiast 92
6. 2007 Cal Blanca Tempranillo - Toro, Spain - Delivers roasted minerality, black cherry, and blackberry with remarkable richness and concentration from 80 - 100 year old vines - $18 - Parker 80 points
7. 2009 Descendientes de J. Palacios "Petalos" Mencia - Bierzo, Spain - An elegant and harmonious delivery of complex, well-integrated flavors of mineral, fresh herbs, wild berry, violets, smoke, and Asian spices.  $16 - Spectator 93 & top 100 #26
8. 2010 Juan Gil Monastrell - Jumilla, Spain - Rich with notes of black raspberry, cola, oak spices, black tea, and smoke over fine-grained tannins.  $19 - Tanzer 90 points

Tashoe created easy "tasting exercises" that helped us pinpoint different aspects of the wines.

• Body Exercise:  Our tasting order introduces the wines in escalating order of body.  When going through the whites, do a side-by-side comparison of the light-bodied #1 and heavier bodied #4.  When going through the reds, compare the light-bodied #5 and heavier bodied #8.
• Flavor Profile Exercise:  As the body of the various wines sequentially increases throughout the tasting order, notice how the lighter bodied wines are more apt to display lighter fruit nuances (red fruits), medium bodies wines are more apt to display mid-weight fruits (plums, blue fruits) and heavier bodied wines are more apt to display dense dark fruits (blackberries).
• Types of Dryness:  Wine can be dry in two ways.  notice how wine #5 makes your mouth water profusely on the finish - this is tartaric dryness.  Wine #8 also has notable tartaric dryness, but, once your mouth stops watering, you'll also notice a dry feeling on your teeth - this is tannic dryness.  You will also notice tannins in coffee, tea, walnuts, and pecans.
• Acidity Exercise:  Wine #6 is relatively low in acid, so, for a great contrasting comparison of acidity, try it against the high acidity of #5 and pay attention to how much each makes your outh water.

So fun and so informative!

Definitely look out for the next one!  Search "Kats Wine & Spirits" on Facebook

and like them to get notifications of the next event.

Big thanks to Kats Wine & Spirits and Julep Restaurant & Bar.  If you want to keep up with them make sure to "Like" them on Facebook and follow them on twitter @KatsWine and @JulepRestaurant.