Wine Tasting

Last Thursday I attended at wine tasting of Charles Krug wines at my favorite wine bar, a place called My Wine Cellar http://www.my-wine-cellar.com/ in the Ahwatukee section of Phoenix. Marc Mondavi, son of Peter Mondavi, who runs the winery with his brother Peter Jr., was there to sign bottles. If you're not familiar with how someone named Mondavi owns the Charles Krug winery, you can find that and more in a book entitled The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty by Judith Flynn Siler.

Charles Krug Winery www.charleskrug.com is the oldest winery in Napa, having been founded in 1861. The wines we tasted were all 2005 vintages, and included a Savignon Blanc, a Chardonnay, a Pinot Noir, a Zinfandel, a Cabernet Savignon, and their flagship wine, a red blend called Generations.

I am a big Sav Blanc fan, and I was pleased to find out that they went back to a California style wine, from the New Zeland style they had done for the past 2 vintages. The Chard was nice, not too oakey like many California Chards. The Pinot Noir was weak, as are many form the Carneros Region.

My biggest surprise was the Zin. I am generally not a big Zin fan, but this was a very pleasing effort. The Cab was excellent, much better than the Generations and about $20.00 per bottle cheaper.

I went home with a case, 6 bottles of the Sav Blanc and 6 bottles of the Zin. I'm sure Marc Mondavi went home with a sore arm from all of the bottles he signed that evening.

Until next time, cheers.

Ted Pawlikowski