Dipping Our Toe in Politics

We were invited to a wine tasting Sunday evening sponsored by a PAC in Paradise Valley where we were introduced to several local Democratic candidates, notably Bob Lord who hopes to defeat John B. Shadegg of the Third District.

A wine tasting consists of an aroma component-- detecting wines based on aroma. For exampe, a lemon aroma relates to the citrusy qualities of Sauvignon whereas the smell of jasmine, orange, an apricot can be found in Gewurtztraminer and Riesling. Gererally, the aromas break down into floral, spicy, herbal, vegetable, nutty, woody, earthy, oxidized, and micro biological (yeasty and lactic).

The tasting components consists of seeing how foods interact with the wine causing sometimes similarity and blending and other times contrast. For example, Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio shows similarity with basil pesto and contrast with toasted pine nuts. With Beaulieu Vinyard BV Pinot Noir (a red wine), the grilled portabello mushrooms showed simalarity on the palate. The sundried tomatoes accentuated the acidic taste thereby showing contrast.