Clos Palet Vouvray AOC 2008, $11.99

OK. I have to come clean here: I originally purchased this wine for a Memorial Day BBQ. It came highly recommended by Phil at Stew Leonard's, he even told me how disturbed he was by the fact that he & his wife both love this wine and she asked him to save her the last glass in the bottle, and it's been over a week now, so Phil can't stand looking at that one last serving in the refrigerator. Sadly, this wine never got used for the BBQ. As I noted in my other blog with Julie, my Grandpa was in the hospital.

Readers, tragedy hit me hard this week. My beloved Grandpa passed away on 6/4/10. He was one of a kind, almost 88 years old (his birthday is July 9th). He served our country in World War 2 by jumping out of airplanes into enemy territory 13+ times, serving as one of Donovan's Devils in the Office of the Secret Services (OSS), which went on to become the CIA. He spent over 40 years working in G.Fox before retiring in 1984. He was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather & great-grandfather. And I loved him.

His wake was today & his funeral's tomorrow. Obviously, I need something to drink. And since Grandpa loved sweet wine so much (Riunite was his favorite), I felt that this 100% chenin blanc wine was a fitting tribute to him.

On the nose, this wine smells like a sauvignon blanc, acidic & crisp. Like the back of the bottle proclaims, it has a flowery scent, though I don't quite get the aroma of fresh almonds that it promises. There are no legs on this glass, the wine slides down the side like a heavy sheet. The alcohol content is on the lower side (12%), which may help explain its easy-drinking attitude.

On the palate, this is a pleasant wine. It has a very soft but full mouth-feel. (I hate that word. Don't ask me why.) It tastes like flowers with a little bit of tart candy flavor coming through, sweet with a sour aftertaste. It's a nice touch. There's also a teeny bit of sour cherry flavor on the aftertaste.

This wine definitely is not something that I would pick out on my own, but I like it. It's a pleasant, happy wine that my Grandpa would've loved if he'd gotten to drink it. I'm only sorry he wasn't. I will think of that lovely man every day for the rest of my life.

Cheers!

Kate