Wine tasting blog entree

At my vacation location I had the option of doing a wine tasting. Fun! 

The guy talking us thrue the 6 wines we were going to taste had set up 2 glasses for white wine, 2 for rose and 2 for red. One glass for cleaning the palate. 

First up were two white wines. 

First was a 2014, Sauvignon Blanc, gros manseng, Côtes du Gascogne.

Second was a Allram, Grüner Veltliner, kamptal. 

After nosing and tasting the question was which one would go best with smoked salmon. My thought at first were the first white wine because of the lemon nose of the first wine. After tasting i decided the second one was the better match. The guy explained how the first white wine was a stand alone drinking wine. The second was for combining with fish. The two compliment each other. 

Then two rose wines. The guy explained how rose it not a watered down red, nor a mix of white and red, but a gentler more subtle pressing of a blue grape so it only gets a hint of red.

The photo above is made after the tasting and I'm sorry for the quality. Guess 6 glasses of wine get the better of me, or my iPhone takes crapp photos. 

Again the first was a "chill sit on a terras" one , while the second was the "culinary" version. Only after nosing all wines side by side did I spot the pear on the nose of the first. 

I know, this blog is useless for the rose wines! Sorry ;) 

First red wine is from chily, Maipo valley, 2013, Cabernet Sauvignon. Fruity, tannins not to complicated.

The second one is a 2012, languedoc, Mad la Chevaliere. The man said it was a Shiraz grape. This one is more wood influenced with light spice note on the palette. 

With these reds was served some salted Ham. This did marvels for the second red.

My conclusion? The intercity of noses on wine are far less the on whisky. Because of the lack of strong alcohol there is the opportunity to smell longer. Eventually I spotted smoke, spice, pear, Apple, lemon. The palette is less intense too. Oak yes, fruit, tannins. Something buttery. It's fun taking the whisky experience to wine. Educational in a sense. 

What I learned the most is the obvious nose of pear that I spotted in one rose, that I only spotted after nosing the others. Only then did the pear jump at me. Would that work on whiskies too? Let's try!