This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards. All opinions are 100% mine.
This past weekend I got to celebrate two very happy occasions: summer (I know, just a tad bit early) and my birthday! A perfect evening was spent with our good friends— tasting wines, and eating some delicious appetizers.
I had originally wanted to gather on our lanai but the weather was just way to warm here in Florida and I didn’t want our guests (or any of the cheeses) to melt. We moved things indoors to the clubhouse at our condo complex, which set a classy, and most importantly, air conditioned atmosphere.
The stars of the evening were these three delicious (spoiler alert) wines from Sonoma Cutrer. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get my hands on a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, the wine you heard me talk about in this post, but I think that just means that we will be needing to have another one of these parties sometime soon!
No party of mine would be complete without the inclusion of some sort of printable, so I designed these wine tasting cards for us to document what we loved most about each wine. I’ll be sharing a downloadable version of these at the bottom of the post. They make a great addition to wine tasting parties, and give your guests something to take home at the end of the evening!
I deferred to the advice of our friend Scott, on which wine to try first. He has a great passion for wines and knows more about them than anybody else, so I knew we were in good hands. He suggested kicking off the evening with the Sonoma Coast Chardonnay (and even offered to pour it)!
We toasted to birthdays (my hubby James had also just celebrated his birthday the day before) and to summer before taking our first sip. I thought the Chardonnay had a perfect balance of sweetness and tartness, with some fruity undertones.
We discussed our differing opinions and tasting notes, while snacking on delicious appetizers— an artichoke mint salad, fire roasted pepper-feta bruschetta and a classic cheese plate. Instead of trying to pair certain foods with specific wines, it was fun to experiment to see which combinations we enjoyed the most, without any guidelines.
Next up was the Russian River Chardonnay. This one had a bit of a sharp taste, with notes of apple. Both Chardonnays were delicious and refreshing— perfect summer wines!
We ended our tasting with Sonoma Cutrer’s Pinot Noir. I’m usually more of a white wine drinker, but this one ended up being my favorite of the trio. It was fruity, smooth and and left a delicious sweet taste in your mouth. You better bet that I circled that “5” on my rating card!
As you can see we all very much enjoyed each of the wines and had a truly great evening. I feel so lucky to have such lovely friends! It was indeed a perfect birthday.
Now, more than ever, I want to take a trip out to wine country and take the Sonoma Cutrer Winery Tour! Next year’s birthday party, perhaps?
To learn more about the wonderfulness that is Sonoma Cutrer, follow along with their social media pages here: Twitter: @SonomaCutrer // Instagram: Sonoma-Cutrer Instagram // Facebook: Sonoma-Cutrer Facebook
{ Click here to download printable cards, for your very own wine tasting }
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