Twitter Taste Live - Hahn Estates Wines

I was fortunate enough to be able to take part in a Twitter Taste Live wine tasting on Saturday, November 14.  I must confess - a few confessions here.  A few years ago I spent 10 days in Central California.  On our drive down from the San Jose Airport to Avila Beach, Hahn was the first tasting room we stopped at.  We new nothing about their wines then, but saw a sign and pulled off Highway 101 and began our tasting.  When #TTL was announced and it was Hahn Estates, I was thrilled.  I even have a 2004 Hahn Pinot Noir in my wine cellar.  I did not open it during the tasting.  I will save that for another evening.

Second confession is I couldn't find the wines listed for the tasting at any wine store in my area.  I check the larger ones as well as the smaller ones.  Shame on them!!  My friends at Hahn rushed to my rescue and sent me some samples so I could participate.  THANK YOU!

First wine of the evening was the Cycles Gladiator 2008 Chardonnay from the Monterey region.   On the nose it had a little oak, with hints of lemon and vanilla.  On the taste I got some apple with a slight butter finish.  This wine is very affordable at the price of $9.99. 

We then moved onto the reds with a 2006 Hahn Pinot Noir from the Monterey region.  This wine had great clairty with a nice deep ruby red color and a nice nose of pepper with hints of alcohol. On the taste I got raspberry with a finish of spice.  Once again, this wine is very affordable at $12 a bottle. 

2007 Huntington Petite Sirah.  This had an inky color, which is typical of the grape.  I didn't get much on the nose by a little pencil shavings.  Dark Cherry on the taste.

 The last wine of the evening was a 2006 Smith & Hook Cabernet Sauvignon from the Central Coast.  This wine had strong alcohol on the nose.  I then looked at the bottle at it was 14%.  That explained that.  On the taste got some mint with cherry and cassis.  What was interesting is the next day the cherry became more pronounced and the nose had a strong bouquet of licorice.  This Cab is a little more expensive than the rest at $30.