Tasting on Twitter & WBW #48 follow-up

I'm on a steep learning curve, finding my way around 'Twitter' with my fingers all tangled up in Web 2.0, but I couldn't pass this one up: I love the bit of Alsatian wine I've had & none other than Étienne Hugel will play world-wide 'virtual' host in tasting a selection from his family's portfolio of wines, this coming Thursday, August 21st.
Robert McIntosh, wine blogger extraordinaire in the UK, makes a clearer intoduction to the event than I could ever hope to, here.

What have I had? Gewurztraminer from Hugel-- & Trimbach's too, I think. Easier to tick off what I haven't had: this will be my first taste of an Alsatian Riesling, & I'm looking forward to it-- even if it's not the '04 'Jubilee'. I'm also frustrated & sorry that V.Suárez has none of the Pinot Blanc-- after drinking a couple of interesting but fairly simple American efforts, I was wowed by a glass of Trimbach's sipped at Luna Park in San Francisco during the waning days of '06. Good to see it still seems to have a place on their wine list!

Meanwhile, I've been researching DeLoach Vineyards on the strength of their Zinfandel, which I had as part of my approach to Wine Blogging Wednesday's 'Dig Down Memory Roots' fourth anniversary assignment. There is a historical chronology here, which documents a veritable who's-who of winemakers associated with the operation.
Last Sunday, five days after pulling the cork, both the DeLoach as well as Montevina's Terra d'Oro Sierra Foothills Zinfandel evidenced an autumnal nutmeg & cherry-infused pipe tobacco spiciness. Smokier character with beginning oxidation in the DeLoach contrasted with brighter but simpler fruit in the Terra d'Oro. I thought I'd end up adding most of what was left of both bottles to my pasta sauce after a final taste today, a full week later. I was pleasantly surprised to find the tart-sweet berry notes I'd been missing come to the surface & ring out as tannins & acidity muted-- in the DeLoach.

Yet to buy the Jean-Marc Brocard 'Les Clos'...à suivre...