Wine Tasting at K&L Wine Merchants

K&L Wine Merchants
1400 Vine Street
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 464-9463
http://www.klwines.com

參加了一場加州和奧勒岡州紅酒大對決的品酒會，完全不懂酒，猛灌了10小杯紅酒，最後帶著愉快的心情醉醺醺的離開。

Dr. Park loves wine.  First it was just an enjoyment to drink wine, but now wine has became a passion.  He's been studying wine from books and magazine.  I don't know much about wine, but have loved all the wines he purchased for us.  Dr. Park has became really good paring wine with food as well.  Lucky me! ^^



When Dr. Park told me about the wine tasting event at K&L Wine Merchants, I didn' really want to go.  I have no particular interest in wine, nor the taste buds for it.  All wines just taste kinda the same to me.  I can only say "good I like" or "no good I don't like" about wine.  So I just felt like going to wine tasting is such a waste of money for me.  But Dr. Park insisted that we experience the "wonderful moment of wine tasting" together, so we went.





K&L Wines is a huge wine shop.  Dr. Park seems to be a regular there.  The clerk greeted him and asked if he liked the wine purchased last time.  Now that's some good service (and some good memory).  The wines were displayed by the origin.  It was pretty fun browsing through different aisles.  I like looking at the pretty wine labels and yelled out "hey, look at this pink label!  It's so pretty.  Let's buy this one."  Yes, I like judging the wine by its label.



The wine tasting area was at the back of the shop.  The theme that day was California vs. Oregon Pinot Noir Throwdown.  The fee was $20/person that we paid at the front cashier.



We got to taste 10 different wines that day, 5 from Oregon, 5 from California.  They were grouped by similarity in taste as well as price.  A comparison chart was handed out for note taking.



There were so many people at the wine tasting event that day.  Even the lovely wine pouring girl mentioned she has never seen so many people at their event.  I guess people love pinot noir.  Because of the crowd, we had to wait in line, get one pour, go back in line, taste the wine while in love, wait some more, get the next pour, repeat. 



Our first wine was 2006, Brandborg, "Bench Lands", Umpqua Valley ($17.99).  As I mentioned before, I don't know much about wine.  So please excuse my very unprofessional description of the wine.  This Oregon wine was so sour that made me squint.  Yike!  I don't like it a bit.  Dr. Park didn't like it much, either.  He tasted it, then poured the wine into a big bucket.  I saw most of the guests doing the same thing, too.  But I couldn't do that.  Being Asian, we were taught not to waste anything.  Even though I didn't like the wine, I still had to finish it.  I finished the glass in one gulp.



Move on to the second wine, 2006, Kalinda, North Coast ($17.99).  According to Dr. Park, this one is more structured and has more depth.  I didn't really get that, but this one is definately better than the first one.  Still, I didn't like it too much.  But California got one point in round one.



2006,  Hocus Pocus, Willamette Valley ($24.99) was the third wine we tried.  It smelt funky, reminded me of mushroom.  I guess the proper term should be "earthy".  But it tasted pretty smooth.  Not too bad.  It's like Taiwanese stinky tofu, smell bad but taste good.



Next one is 2006, Hitching Post, "Cork Dancer", Santa Barbara ($24.99).  This wine is the total opposite of the last one.  It smelt so good, like a mixture of flower and fruit.  But when I took a sip, it was just too sour for my taste.  The winner for round two was Oregon.



Moving on to round 3, we had 2006, Patton Valley, Willamette Valley ($33.99).  Dr. Park described this wine as "classic and thin".  He liked it, but for me, I think it was sour (again).  Why do they have to make Pinot Noir sour?  Was it supposed to be sour?



Sour no more!  2006, Migration, Anderson Valley ($31.99) how I love thee!  First, it smelt like heaven.  The wine pouring lady said it was blackberry and some other kinds of dark berries (sorry about the fuzzy memory.... too much wine).  But somehow it smelt like strawberry for me.  It didn't have that sour taste.  It just tasted rich and sweet.  This one is the winner so far.  California, one more point!



7th wine was 2006, Carter Vineyard, "Hillblock", Willamette Valley ($42.99).  Sorry, no no.  Sour again.  No me gusta.



Next one was 2006, Lucia, Santa Lucia Highlands ($39.99).  First I noticed it smelt like rusted nail.  It had some kind of mineral smell and it was just weird.  It also tasted kinda wierd for me.  I didn't like either wines in round four.  But if I had to pick, California still got my point.



Now on to the expensive one.  First we had 2005, Domaine Serene, "Evenstad Reserve", Willamette Valley ($54.99).  The wine lady said it was a blend of 7 different something (sorry again... blame it on the wine).  Perhaps 7 different wines?  Do I have to say it again?  Yes, it was sour, again.  And I didn't like it, again.  But Dr. Park really like this one.  He said it was "complex and deep" and some other descriptions which didn't make sense to me.



The last wine was 2006, Red Car, "Amour Fou", Sonoma Coast ($54.99).  I was really looking forward to try this one because.... I like its label.  The wine lady told us this winery started by two show biz producers in Culver City (and I forgot the rest of the story).  With lots of anticipation, I took one big gulp and almost spit it right back out.  This wine tasted like.... puke soda.  Seriously!  Dr. Park told me the bubbly texture was from second fermentation.  But I don't know where did that puke taste came from.  Was it me?  Did I drink too much wine then accidentally puke into my own wine and didn't know about it?  I really don't know.  So Oregon was the winner in this round.



The result was Oregon 2 points : California 3 points.  My favorite wine is 2006, Migration, Anderson Valley.  Dr. Park's favorite is 2005, Domaine Serene, "Evenstad Reserve", Willamette Valley.  Dr. Park bought a bottle of Migration for me.  So I guess the final winner is.... ME!  haha....



After 10 glasses of these ↑, I was buzzed.  It was a really good and relaxed kind of buzz. 



Because I was a little drunk, so we decided to go accross the street to McDonald's to get my favorite Fruit Yogurt Parfait.  I clearly told the clerk I want Yogurt Parfait.  She even asked me if I want regular size or snack size.  My mistake for not checking the content of the paper bag.  My Yogurt Parfait turned into French Fries!  Oh well, I wanted Yogurt Parfait, but anything taste good when you're drunk.  So I still enjoyed the fries.  I just wish McDonald's workers can be a little smarter.

I had fun at wine tasting.  I thought all wines taste kinda the same.  But I was surprised that I could actually taste the differences that day.  I can't wait to try the bottle of Migration we got (saving it for our Las Vegas trip next weekend yeahyeah~~~~). 

P.S. I am not a professional wine critic.  So please don't judge the wines simply by my review.  I am just writing about my personal preference.  I only like fruity + sweet wines.

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