Wineaux of the Goddess - Northern Rhone edition

Northern Rhone - Hermitage

That hardy group of tasters known as the Wineaux of the Goddess met at Fab's Corner Cucina the second Wednesday of February to taste some selections of wines from the Northern Rhone Valley of France. We brought one bottle per person, handed it off to the lovely Amelia for bagging and numbering, and dove in. A few notes to get us started:


The Rhône Valley is the oldest established winemaking region in France, dating back 600 years before the Romans. The Rhône River flows west through the vineyards of the Valais and then northwest into Lake Geneva, rushing south through the vineyards of Savoie and then west to join the Saône at Lyons. From there, it turns south for some 250 miles and flows into the Mediterranean Sea west of Marseille. It is this last stretch, between the city of Vienne in the north and the city of Avignon in the south, where the wines of the Rhône Valley are produced.

Wining in Ventura County...

Debra B and I were supposed to attend the Sierra Pelona Valley Wine Fest on January 26th, but the week's inclement weather forced the event planners to postpone until April 20th. As we already had the day available, we chose to go west to Ventura, to introduce Debra to Four Brix Winery. We spent a delightful time chatting with Karen, Chris (I think that was her name, d'oh!), winemaker Gary, and several happy tasters. Highlights included:

2011 Smitten - 100% Viognier. I first tasted Smitten on a hot day in Thousand Oaks a couple of years ago, and I am still impressed with its minerality and crisp acidity. The floral nose has overtones of stone fruit, and the long finish tastes of tart apples. I would drink this with cold crab or shrimp cocktail, or just sip it on a hot day.