Getting our latest delivery from A Taste of Monterey has made me nostalgic for another trip to that part of the world.  Carmel-by-the-Sea is God’s world as the old expression went.  I guess wine and great moments just go hand in hand for us.  As always there was a pamphlet describing the wines we were receiving, as well as write-up about Gouda cheese and a recipe for a Cheese Fondue dish.  There was also a featured article on Hot Wine or mulled wines, talking about the Gluhwein popular in Germany, Austria and Alsace, the glogg from Scandinavia, the vin chaud from France, the versions found in Southeast Europe, the style made in Portugal and the drink known as Caribou that is found in Quebec, Canada that is flavored with Maple syrup.

The second wine of the shipment was Mission Trails Vineyards Friars’ Reserve Chardonnay 2017 from the Arroyo Seco AVA.  Here is a wine that has been babied and treated special from day one and made from two different Dijon Clones.  The wine was aged in French Oak of which forty percent was new.  The Arroyo Seco is where mountainside soils and cool breezes from the Monterey Bay have made this area special for the growing of Chardonnay.  This particular wine is said to feature citrus and jasmine, offering a creamy mid-palate and a lingering finish.  There was a production of one-hundred-fifty cases mad of this wine and the aging potential is for five to six years.

The third and last bottle from A Taste of Monterey is from a winery that we have received wine from several times without a disappointment.  Wrath Estate Winery is located in Soledad and produce three series of wines, all with small production in Monterey; there is the EX series, the Winemaker Series and the Single Vineyard Series.  The newest wine we received is the Wrath Wines Destruction Level Monterey 2015 from their Winemaker Series.  Here is a wine that is a blend of fifty percent Syrah from the San Saba Vineyard and fifty percent Grenache from the Alto Loma Vineyard.  The wine was aged in French Oak, but only twenty-two percent new to maintain as much of the fruit dominance as possible.  The wine is described as very inky and intense, with dark fruits and earth and a long, lively finish.  There were ninety-seven cases produced of this wine with an aging potential of eight to ten years.  According to the winery wine site, this wine is already sold out, so I may as well just hold it for the right meal to come around.