I found that I had a free Tuesday, so off I went to another wine tasting at D. Vine Fine Wines in Livonia, Michigan. This wine shop and wine bar tends to have a wine tasting class almost every Tuesday night, and there are some that make it the night to go tasting. They have assorted wine tastings whenever one wants to venture in, but it is on Tuesday when the tastings are conducted by Lee Hershey and his vast knowledge of wine and his years in the wine trade. I met Lee years ago, when my Bride and I took one of his wine classes during the Culinary Extravaganza at then Schoolcraft Community College and now it is Schoolcraft College and they have one of the finest culinary programs in the state.

The first wine of the evening was from the Wine Cooperative of the Orvieto Community, one of the oldest cooperatives in that particular area of Italy. The cooperative began in 1949 and had thirteen vineyards and it now has one-hundred-fifty vineyards as members. The cooperative also has their own aging and bottling facility and have received official sanction for their wine. The Cardeto Orvieto 2016 was just a crisp white wine that was the perfect way to start the evening off. This wine is a blend of Trebbiano, Gracietto and Chardonnay grapes. The average age of the vines used is twenty-five years. This wine fermented for three weeks and then was bottled where it then aged for four months before it was released. Just a very easy drinking wine and as a side note, if one had several bottles of this wine and lined the labels properly, one would get a panoramic view of Orvieto from an ancient engraving.

The second wine of the evening really caught my attention as I have been enjoying some of their wines for years through the only wine club that I belong to. The Wrath Estate Winery Ex Anima Chardonnay 2014 was a keeper. The fruit came from their San Saba Vineyard that is located just below the Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey. This wine was ninety-five percent Clone 4 and the balance was from the Kistler Clone and it was a delightful Chardonnay, if I do say. The wine spent four months on the lees in Stainless Steel, so it an un-oaked Chardonnay. Ex Anima means “from the soul” and I felt that it described the passion that I have encountered from other wines from Wrath and they are now a Sustainable Certified winery. The funny thing is that most of the attendees were not enamored by the wine, which allowed me to take some home with me that evening, their loss was my gain.