Tasting - Kendall Jackson Chardonnay

Name: Kendall Jackson Chardonnay
Variety: 100% Chardonnay
Region: California
Country: USA
Year: 2017
Price: $18

Winery Review: “Beautifully integrated tropical flavors such as pineapple, mango and papaya, with citrus notes that explode in your mouth. These flavors delicately intertwine with aromas of vanilla and honey to create depth and balance throughout. A hint of toasted oak and butter rounds out the long, lingering finish.”

My Review: This is my first white wine tasting and I wanted a dry but not too dry wine. This was a little sweet, but it started to grow on me and I like it now. It was extremely fruity with a mix of fruit types from berry to tree fruits to citrus. If my palate isn't lying to me, I tasted apples, grapefruit and pineapple from the wine. It has a smooth finish which actually does last long like the review (which I figured out right before I typed up this review when I went back for another sip).

I didn't try this with any food.

Tasting - E. Guigal Cotes du Rhone

Name: E. Guigal Southern Rhone Cotes du Rhone Red
Variety: 50% Syrah, 45% Grenache, 5% Mourvdre
Region: Southern Rhone
Country: France
Year: 2013
Price: $11 (half bottle)

Winery Review: "In this wine, almost equal proportions of Grenache and Syrah yield a steady balance between plush, easy black fruit and darker notes of peppery herb and granite. Fleshy and full bodied yet bright with acidity, it's an appealing wine marked by delicate touches of dark chocolate, bramble and sweet spice."

My Review: So I went to buy a bottle of wine, but I was only drinking wine for myself and had just learned about the different wine sizes so I got this interesting half bottle. There was a lot of fruit flavor, specifically berries and even more specifically, blackberries. I thought there was a little bit of cherry in it and thought the taste was similar to cherry cordial. It was a dry wine and drier than the Pinot Noir from last week. It was also sharp at the end of its taste. My friend also tried it and got some cacao from the wine. I guess I paired it with some beef and olives. It was good with the beef, but was very not good with the olives which was interesting to me.  I thought it was a pretty good wine, but I'm not sure if I would get it again because of the dryness.

Tasting - Game of Thrones Pinot Noir

For my first wine tasting of the semester, I had a lovely pinot noir from Westeros. Well not really of course, but it was the Game of Thrones Pinot Noir. However, it was actually from Willamette Valley in Oregon. It was a 2017 vintage and costed around $20 dollars. My friend and I were scouring for a wine to try and we were watching Thrones before we left the house, so when we saw this it was an instant purchase.

Name: Game of Thrones Pinot Noir
Variety: Pinot Noir
Region: Willamette Valley, Oregon
Country: USA
Year: 2017
Price: $20

Winery review: "This Pinot Noir is elegant, well-built and bursting with brilliant, ripe, rich fruit flavors and aromas. It is fruit focused with subtle tones of earthiness, vanilla, spice and toasted oak in the background. There is a long, smooth inviting finish; tannins are present and well blended."

My Review: This is my first time actually discussing the taste and flavors of a specific wine so bear with me. It was a lighter red wine that didn't have much of the usual dryness or bitterness of other reds, in my opinion. It was incredibly fruity with each sip and I caught a slight hint of apple when I first had any sip. There may have been some citrus in it, but there was a heavy amount of berry flavors present. Maybe I'm just not good at noticing it yet, but I didn't gather any woody or earthy flavors. There also was a small taste of a yogurt taste, but not in a fouled way. Overall, I enjoyed the wine and was pleasantly surprised that a TV show themed wine wouldn't be terrible.

Initially I didn't have it with food, but then it actually got paired with a hamburger, but the flavors didn't really affect each other.

My Wine Introduction

Hello there! My name is Jack Wood and I'm a microbiology student at OU. My schedule this semester was kinda a mess at the beginning of the week and I finally stumbled upon this class and jumped right on the opportunity. I forgot about this class even being offered, but was super excited when I suddenly remembered it. This is because learning to drink wine is something that I have wanted to do, instead of just blindly guessing.
My parents drink a good amount of wine and most every family function involved wine in some fashion. Usually they drink a type of red varietal wine, but I'm not sure how much my family really knows about wine. I do know for sure that they have way more experience and knowledge than me. As for my tastes, it depends on what my mood is when it comes to my wine of choice, but it is usually red over white and nothing too sweet or too dry. Definitely a middle ground type of person so far.
I actually went to Arezzo, Italy this summer for study abroad and, as you do, tested some of the wines there (it was mostly Chianti). The Chianti was pretty good, but it wasn't like I loved it, but I wanted to acquire a taste for it. Hopefully, I can learn some things from this class so that I can pick some wines that I might like. Then, I can branch out to similar wines and expand what I know which can help me enjoy wine in different capacities.