I felt sorry for him. I feel for all those free booze sample people, out there pushing their wares. I don't know if I could do it. But maybe I should feel bad for them. After all, they are the keepers of free wine/liquor shots. Who does not like free booze samples at a grocery store? Pretentious cunts that abstain for hypocritical reasons, that's who. Or people like me that would feel obliged to make a purchase. Catholic block....
So here I was at the 420 Hy Vee and Sample Man was there pushing a local Iowa wine. Cannot avoid him sine he is blocking the the first left turn into the store and right in front of the beer cooler. New Beer Thursday and I will have to search for a brew I have never drank before.
Oh well, just try one and then walk away. Perhaps it will be a vino I would enjoy. He was offering two varieties of Iowa wine form a vineyard near Keota, Iowa. This caught my interest because I am in the process of planning this summer's bicycle tour of Iowa, Wooden Wheel Vineyards, which names all their wine after family names. Only two were offered, a dry white and a red because the sommelier said that those two would sell the best. Disappointing that a sweet white was not offered, Mary likes those, but Iowa is full of sweet wine due to the climate--harsh long winters and short growing season. I preferred the red.
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| Hero |
Private G.W. is the name of the great great grandfather who fought for the Union in the 8th Infantry at Shiloh and later The Iowa 5th Calvary at the Battle of Atlanta. Have to take a hat off and salute him.
I waited a few weeks before drinking this on a cold snowy April day. I needed the wine to counteract the second pot of coffee I drank before dinner. I'll need to be able to sleep. So with a wonderful pork loin dinner with Caribbean vegetable I uncorked the vino. First note, a real cork printed with the name of the vineyard. Not a generic cork. Nice touch!
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| Cork on top of the turntable spinning vinyl from The Fall. |
How does it taste? A bit oaky and a fair amount of tannins. The bottle says medium body but it feels a tad bit light. After awhile the oak and tannin taste fades a bit. Clocking in at 12% it is strong and tastes that way. it's the grapes. A new hybrid that is related to pinot noir but can withstand the ice age we deal with in Iowa and the Midwest. Iowa Marquette It is growing on me and I just took the last drop from my glass.
So if you are looking for a red wine from Iowa you may like this one. I do prefer the Foch grapes but I do find this one good. In a few years it will be all sorta out and cold weather grapes will compare favorably with Napa. So visit the sample person and make a purchase. Buy local and enjoy!
