ANOTHER SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE RECAP

As the events leading up to the Cincinnati International Wine Festival stack up in and around the metro Cincinnati area, we welcomed Cannonball/Perfecta winemaker Dennis Hill to our Fort Thomas store last night for an impromptu tasting of his California wines.

Wednesday nights are usually pretty slow, so it was a bit of a boost in the normal routine. Dennis will be pouring at the Festival this weekend, so it was nice for him to come by and try the wines with many of our customers beforehand.

My assistant, Shannon, whipped up some pretty nice appetizers to go along with the evening, though I was sad to see that our turnout wasn’t what I had hoped. Still, Dennis, who formerly worked as winemaker for Blackstone for 14 years prior to starting the Perfecta and Cannonball brands, gave great insight into making wine in California.

The wines featured were the Perfecta Sauvignon Blanc North Coast 2006, Pinot Grigio California 2006, Chardonnay North Coast 2006, Arroyo Seco Red 2005, Merlot Napa Valley 2005, and the Cannonball Cabernet Sauvignon California 2006. The Perfecta wines see significant time in oak hence the older vintages. All the wines were tasting remarkably well, the Perfecta Arroyo Seco Red – a blend of Grenache and Syrah – in particular. Quite spicy from the Syrah, there was a tremendous amount of red currant and pomegranate character, alongside jammy black raspberry and baking spice notes. However the Cannonball Cab, one I’ve reviewed here twice before, was the overall favorite.

Many thanks to Dennis for stopping in, and to Devon from Tramonte & Sons from bringing him to our store, as well as to Shannon, our Ft. Thomas store manager Matt, the staff and all the folks who came out in the middle of the week to drink some wine with us.