Dolcetto & Chianti

Good morning all...

I decided that I needed to test my wine skills with a wine-professional yesterday, and so I took a trip down the street to visit Sebastian LeGoff @ Uva wine bar.

Sebastian is a warm, wonderful human being - and those are few and far between... we met when UVA first opened & I was down the street from him @ Subeez cafe. My general manager, Andrew Amy, and I went down to welcome him to the neighbourhood & were impressed with his devotion to food & wine (two of our favorite things). Since that day, I make time as I can to go and visit his oasis & forget the world in a good glass of vino.

So long story short, I told Sebastian that I was taking the sommelier class & he invited me down to taste wine with him. Yesterday I asked for two wines to be poured blind and I would write notes on them - then asking Sebastian to critique.

WINE A

--moderate+ intensity nose; plum, chalk, violet flowers

--00 dryness, moderate++acid, moderate++tannin; blackberry, dark cherry, peppercorn

moderate+intensity flavor, long finish, good structure

my guess: a Cab blend with Malbec

WINE B

--moderate intensity nose; bright, light cherry, grass, vanilla

--0 dryness, light acid, moderate+tannin; green apple, cherry, tiny bit of spice on the finish

moderate intensity, moderate+ finish, good structure

my first guess: Chianti

second guess : Gamay Noir

WINE A is a Dolcetto, from the Piedmont region of Italy. Beautiful rich wine that I would love to drink again with grilled meat.

WINE B is, according to Sebastian, a very old style of Chianti - the name of which is written in doctor scribble that I unfortuneately cannot read. Wonderfully bright, yet still intense, wine that drinks just a little too easily on it's own. I think (perhaps I'm mad to say this) that a sangria with that wine would kick a$$.

So, a worthwhile investment of time and money, as a visit to UVA always is... just give yourself an hour longer than you think you're going for... the balance of life tips very hard over to the "play" side of the scale when you enter those doors.