Wine Tasting - U of A Faculty Club

 The U of A Faculty Club has been hosting wine tastings for many years now and this is the first time I've attended. Every November and January, they have a formal event hosted by sommelier William Bincoletto of Vines Wine Merchants. This past Friday, eight different wines from the Dominio del Plata vineyard in Argentina were featured.

Stacey and Emily ready to sample wine

I was quite excited for the tasting, as I wanted to try different grape varieties from Argentina other than the typical malbecs you find everywhere. We sampled almost all of the wines from the Crios label: torrontes, rose, malbec, syrah-bonarda, and cabernet sauvignon. Malbecs from the Zohar, Ben Marco, and Susana Balbo lines were also on the list. We started off with the light wines: torrontes and rose (2010). I actually didn't enjoy either of them. The torrontes was citrusy and dry, but I didn't like the acidic finish. The rose was also too full bodied for my liking.

Wine pairings

Next we moved onto the reds, starting with the 2010 Zohar Malbec. It smelled strong, but had a very light taste that I quite enjoyed. This wine was aged in stainless steel rather than oak barrels which contributed to the overall light body.

The 2009 Crios Malbec was something 6/7 people at our table didn't enjoy. We might have been the only table out of 25 who put our hands up when William asked if anyone didn't like this wine, which made him come over to our table to give us drinking instructions. He stared at Leeann and directed her to take a big bite of strong cheese, and while the cheese was still in her mouth, to take a sip of the wine. He asked her if the wine tasted better with the cheese, to which she nodded agreeingly so that the attention would no longer be on our table. With or without food, we still didn't like this wine.

Leeann avidly taking notes - you'd think she was cramming for an exam!

We made our way to the more full-bodied wines: the 2008 Syrah-Bonarda and Cabernet Sauvignon. Both were okay - oaky, but nothing spectacular. The 2008 Ben Marco Malbec, however was wonderful. I've had this wine before as it is one of the malbecs on the Faculty Club wine list. It's a very smooth and velvety wine that goes well with a wide range of foods.

Lastly, we finished off with the 2008 Susana Balbo Late Harvest Malbec. This wine was a pleasant surprise. I have never heard of nor tried a red dessert wine up until now. This red is meant to be served slightly chilled and pairs well with chocolate (not that we had any to eat with the wine). I'm not normally a fan of dessert wines, but I liked my small portion of this wine because of the novelty.

My top two picks: 2008 Ben Marco Malbec ($28.99) and 2010 Zohar Malbec ($21.99)

The Faculty Club wine tasting is a popular event attended by approximately 200 people. A variety of cheeses, fruits, crackers, and breads are served to pair with the wines and there are abundant wine-related door prizes.

Garson's prize: Koonunga Hill Chardonnay and a Crios corkscrew

Andrew's winning

I would be happy return to a future tasting night if anyone else wants to go. The next one will be featuring cabernet sauvignons and will be on January 13. Tickets go for $22.50 each and sell out quickly, so if you're interested, let me know as soon as you can!

Remnants of wine

The end of the night