Last week I decided to try something different at one of my Vino Virtuoso wine tastings - using Jelly Bellys as a wine tasting tool. Bizarre, right? A bit. But kinda fun, too.
Wine X Magazine paired with Jelly Belly to create the Jelly Bean Wine Bar - a fun way to "deliver true flavors associated with specific wine varietals/styles". Each kit contains a "recipe" for a specific varietal or style of wine. The idea is to follow the recipe by gathering the specific flavor Jelly Bellys, pop them all into your mouth at once and chew (and chew...and chew....) until they combine to create the flavor of the specific wine you are researching. A fun idea. Did it work??
I ordered the generic "Red Wine Flavors" kit for this first experience. The kit came with the following flavors: Blackberry, Strawberry, Cherry, Raspberry, Blueberry, Berry Blue, Plum, Cola, Pink Grapefruit, Cappuccino, Grape, Berry and Pepper. At the wine tasting, we tasted a total of six different wines - three whites and three reds. The reds were a Malbec, a Petite Sirah and a blend. The kit came with recipes for Malbec and Petite Sirah, so we used those. The instructions that came with the Jelly Belly Wine Bar said that the jelly beans should be tasted after you finished tasting the wines (unless you were tasting dessert wines). Obviously, the highly sugared candies wouldn't go well with the wine but tasting them after the wine was done and trying to recreate the flavors from memory was a bit disappointing to the guests at the wine tasting.
After tasting the wines, we all gathered around the pretty little candies. We started by tasting each of the candies individually and talking about the flavors - how true they were to the real thing, which flavors the guests remembered experiencing in the wines they had just tasted, which flavors they were surprised to find in wine. Once we had tasted each of the flavors by themselves, we follwed the "recipes" provided for Malbec and Petite Sirah. First of all, let me just say that putting upwards of five Jelly Bellys in your mouth at one time is a little...challenging. As we all attempted to masticate the candies in a polite fashion, we couldn't help but laugh at each other's faces. Laughing while attempting to masticate a huge mouthful of Jelly Bellys was a little messy, but highly amusing. Between the wine we had consumed and the sight of everyone chewing huge mouthfuls of gummy candies, I can assure you that hilarity ensued.
Once we recovered - and finished chewing - we talked about the experience. The bottom line is that everyone thought the Jelly Belly wine tasting was great fun and a novel idea but that it didn't add greatly to their wine tasting knowledge. The guests agreed that tasting the flavors individually - and also smelling them - was more helpful in learning the different flavors present in red wine than following a recipe and tasting them all together. To a person, everyone agreed that the "recipes" for the Malbec and the Petite Sirah tasted nothing like the actual wines. In fact, that many candies at once just seemed to end up tasting like a mouthful of sugar.
I think that the novelty and fun quotients of the Jelly Bean Wine Bar were definitely worth the price. It certainly loosened everyone up and had them laughing (or was that the wine?) The individual flavors were useful in helping people less familiar with the different flavors in wine to isolate and identify those flavors. I would use the Jelly Bean Wine Bar at a tasting again, but probably mostly for corporate events or tastings where I know there are people who are not extensively familiar with wine.
Side note: It was funny to note that the most popular flavor Jelly Belly out of all of them was Pepper! People ate them up and loved them! After following the recipes provided, everyone started concocting recipes of their own - the most popular being two Cappuccinos and one Pepper. Oddly, they were great together.
Everyone said they had a great time, so the experiment was a success in that regard. I couldn't help but wonder how many stomach aches there were later than night, though! :)
Cheers!
I joined an exciting new company called Vino Virtuoso this past November during their “soft launch”. You may have heard me talk about it (and if not, you are about to!). In the past few months, I have completed the training, learned even more about wine and had a great time sharing my knowledge and love of wine during Vino Virtuoso wine tastings. The soft launch of the company has been very successful and now Vino Virtuoso is ready to go full steam ahead. Vino Virtuoso is looking for Wine Educators to help fill the demand for tastings. Curious? Read on.
Uncork your passion! Become a Wine Educator
Get in on the ground-floor of an exciting new concept. We’re looking for friendly individuals to conduct fun and educational wine tastings in homes and businesses in their area. If you love making new friends and learning about wine, then you’d be a perfect fit for Vino Virtuoso! Earn $50 - $250 per Tasting!100% Flexible Schedule!Full Training Provided!Carry Zero Inventory! Award-Winning Artisan Wines!
100% Risk-Free!
Learn More about Wine!
Join a Young & Exciting Company! For a limited time, Vino Virtuoso is offering a special launch promotion to new Wine Educators.
- Get started for 50% off. If you join by May 31, 2011, you will get your Virtuoso Kit ($600 retail value) for $94.50 – an extra 50% off the regular discounted price of $189.
- Earn a $50 bonus for every tasting you conduct. For every tasting that you conduct during your first 2 months as a Wine Educator, you will earn an extra $50 cash bonus – on top of the average income of $50 - $250 Wine Educators earn from each tasting!
- $100 Bonus for every new team member. If you are interested in mentoring new Wine Educators, you can earn a $100 cash bonus for every new Wine Educator you refer during your first two months. Plus, you’ll still earn up to 15% commission on your team members’ sales.
- 40% discount on personal wine orders. Celebrate your new VV business by stocking your cellar at a huge discount! Enjoy a 40% discount on up to 2 cases of wine if you join by May 31st.
Joining Vino Virtuoso as a Wine Educator is 100% risk free. If within 6 months of becoming a wine Educator you decide that Vino Virtuoso is not right for you, you can return your Virtuoso Kit for a 100% refund. No questions asked.
I joined Vino Virtuoso because I love wine. I wanted to learn more about it and help others learn more as well. In addition to the wine, a big reason for joining was to get out of the house, spend some time with grown ups and meet new people. So far, I’ve done all of these things! I’m looking forward to learning even more, getting out and spreading the love while meeting new people. Of course, the extra money certainly doesn’t hurt, either! If you’d like to ask me any questions about the company or about my experience with Vino Virtuoso, I’d be thrilled to talk to you. Otherwise, you can check it out online at www.VinoVirtuoso.com. Cheers!
Depending on who you talk to, we are either bad, selfish parents for dragging our girl around wine tasting with us or we are giving her an early exposure to and knowledge and appreciation of wine. Obviously, we prefer to think it's the latter. At age eight, my daughter knows more about wine than a lot of grown ups. We've been taking her wine tasting with us since before she could walk. With a couple of notable exceptions, most wineries welcome well-behaved children and even go out of their way to treat them well. As Jim Morris of Michel-Schlumberger said (as he poured my girl a glass of sparkling cider), "I'm securing my future customers thirteen years in advance." I love that! We spent this past President's Weekend in Healdsburg. Our goal for this trip was to try new-to-us wineries instead of going to our tried and true favorites (with a quick exception). We kept the schedule fairly low-key, hitting 8 wineries over 2 days. We spent time with some fabulous people and found some new favorite wineries. Of the 8 we visited, the following are our Top 3 finds of the weekend (in order visited). It's no coincidence that all three wineries not only had excellent wines, but they each provided an "experience", a personal touch, and treated my daughter like a real person. Carol Shelton Wines (www.carolshelton.com)
I was thrilled to be able to briefly meet Carol after speaking with her on the telephone. She and her husband were on their way to San Francisco for the Chronicle Wine Competition but took the time to say hello, and Joanne took excellent care of us in the tasting room. Carol Shelton is cited as the most awarded winemaker in the U.S. and has been honored as Winemaker of the Year numerous times. After tasting her wines, I see why. After years of working with top winemakers and wineries, Carol and her husband, Mitch, launched Carol Shelton Wines in 2000, focusing on zinfandel. You can read more about Carol Shelton and her wines on her website. Of the many (and there were a lot!) wines we tasted on Saturday, there wasn't a bad one in the bunch (I even loved the Rhone style white, Coquille Blanc). One that stands out even a few days later is the 2007 Rocky Reserve Zin. This Zin from the Rockpile appellation (one of my favorites) is a really elegant wine with notes of very dark chocolate and blackberry fruit, with some pepper and oak on the finish. I can't wait to see how this one ages - if I can keep from drinking it! Carol Shelton wines range in price from $15 to $52, with most bottles at $33. If you join the wine club, you get a discount of 20%. Rather than bore you with description after description of each of the wines we tasted, I encourage you to try some of Carol's wines. You can even try six of her wines in the comfort of your own home by ordering a tasting kit, either through her web site or through www.tastingroom.com. You won't be sorry!
Michel-Schlumberger (www.michelschlumberger.com)
We had talked about stopping here many times and just hadn't made it. This trip, we had the incentive of trying their wines and meeting some people I had gotten to know on Twitter. Talk about the best of both worlds! Michel-Schlumberger is a little bit off the main track in Dry Creek Valley but well worth the extra few minutes drive. It is spectacularly beautiful. We didn't take advantage of any of their tours this time but plan to change that very soon. The tasting room is a very different experience than most. You feel like you're walking into a friend's house, complete with tables and comfortable chairs. It was such a nice change of pace to have a seated tasting. We were met by Jim Morris and Deborah Kravitz of Michel-Schlumberger, along with the Housmans, and were made to feel like old friends. I feel like I first need to say something very important: I liked the 2007 La Brume Chardonnay ($25) so much that I - wait for it - bought a bottle (Jason was thrilled). I know! I, too, wondered if the world was coming to an end. Anyway, the Chardonnay was fabulous. As I rarely (ok, never) drink it, I don't know much about it, but the tasting menu describes it as being a classic Burgundian style Chardonnay with creamy balance and minerality with flavors of citrus blossom, honeysuckle and pear. Deb did tell us that this was unlike most Chardonnays and she was right! All of the wines we tasted were good and we especially loved the 2006 La Source Syrah ($32) and the 2007 La Cime Cabernet Sauvignon ($40). At the end of our tasting we were treated to a taste of the 1991 Cabernet Sauvignon and wow, it was delicious! Talk about finishing on a high note! I highly recommend Michel-Schlumberger next time you're in the area. Michel-Schlumberger offers four levels of wine club memberships with discounts of 15-20%. As with the Carol Shelton wines, you can sample the wines of Michel-Schlumberger without leaving the comfort of your home by purchasing one of the tasting kits from www.tastingroom.com. (I love TastingRoom.com, in case you hadn't noticed. If you haven't heard of it yet, go check it out! But beware: it's addicting!) J. Keverson Winery (www.jkeverson.com)
This previously unknown to us winery was recommended by our friends the Housmans. And what a find it was! I'm a sucker for good wines and wineries with a good story, and J. Keverson fits the bill. "John, Kevin, Scott and Doug. Four fast friends who love a good game of bocce and the next quest in life. After sharing many wonderful meals and hard to find wines, our quest became a unified passion for making wine from some of the most highly regarded vineyards throughout Northern California." Our tasting experience here was great. John treated us, and my daughter, like family. After making our way through the tasting menu, John treated us to a barrel sample of his soon-to-be-released Cabernet Sauvignon. All of us fell immediately in love. If it tastes half as good once it's bottled and released as it did the other day, this wine will be a big winner. We can't wait to pick it up this Fall! While we were tasting here on Sunday afternoon, J. Keverson's wines were also being judged at the 2011 San Francisco Wine Competition, which judges 5050 wines from 23 states over 4 days. And so you don't have to take my word for just how good these wines are, take a look at the results of that competition: J. Keverson takes DOUBLE GOLD at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for our 2008 Starkey's Court Zinfandel. Our other medls winners include:
GOLD - 07 Sangiovese
SILVER - 08 Starkey's Court Chardonnay
SILVER - 08 Sonoma Zinfandel Huge congratulations to the team at J. Keverson Wines! And thanks again for a great experience. We can't wait to drink some of that wine. In fact, tonight is sounding good.... Special thanks to Sherri and Dennis Hausman for a great day. We really enjoyed spending time with you and look forward to doing it again soon. And, lest you still fear that we are terrible parents, Monday was declared a No Wine Tasting Day and my girl chose our activities. These included a visit to the Charles Schulz Museum (fantastic!), a nice lunch, and a chocolate tasting at Tcho Chocolates in San Francisco. A great end to a great weekend. Cheers, and happy Wine Wednesday!
I survived! Last night was my very first Vino Virtuoso wine tasting. Thankfully, I hosted this one myself, in my own home, in front of my own friends (who were merciful!). I was so nervous about doing ths, I felt like I used to before a big exam. I spent a good part of the day wondering what the hell I was thinking when I signed up for this. Sure I love wine, but I hate talking in front of people and I am a horrible sales person. Thankfully, in this instance, alcohol was not only allowed, it was required. Woot!
The evening was, I think, a big success. After all, it was wine tasting with friends, what's not to love? I overcame my nerves (with a little help from my friend, Vino) and ended up enjoying myself. I'm sure I forgot half of what I meant to say but guess what? I'm the only one who knows that!! The first wine of the evening was a 2009 Cantine Lunae Botini Vermentino from Italy. I had never heard of Vermentino before, let alone tasted it. This baby was the hit of the evening, even among those of us (ahem) who aren't big white wine drinkers. From grapes grown on a steep hillside in Liguria, this wine was medium bodied and very crisp. It had notes of flowers and melon and minerals. There was even a hint of salt on the finish from the local sea breeze. As one taster said, "This is the kind of wine that makes a sneak attack". She's right! It's a very easy drinking wine with great flavor that keeps you drinking until suddenly - whooo - it hits ya! I was really impressed with this wine. If you ever come across a Vermentino, I encourage you to try it.
Our last red of the night was a 2007 Pacific Estates Lustful Marriage Red Blend from Paso Robles. Talk about a nice end to the evening! This is an estate-grown blend of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Cabernet Franc. Jammy fruit flavors were complimented by cinnamon, pepper and chocolate. It had a nice, long finish. This one was amazing paired with dark chocolate and was the most popular red wine of the evening.
At the end of the day, I had a great time, and so did my friends. Let's see if I have this right: I get to learn more about wine; I get to get out of the house and talk to adults; I get to share my love of wine with others, AND I am expected to drink while doing it? Yeah, color me excited about this new venture.
Cheers to Vino Virtuoso and my friends who made it such a great evening. And here's to my next tasting!
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