I know it is not Tuesday, but I had every intention of publishing this then….

Over the holidays, I got an intriguing email from Trione Winery in Sonoma: They asked if they could send me some wine to enjoy over the holiday.

Um.

OK.

We exchanged a few more emails and the winery let me know that they would not be able to send the wine to Pennsylvania since the Commonwealth is the most inexplicably backwards state this side of Utah.

Utah.

The hits just keep coming.

Utah.

It was not a huge deal since we were going to be in Washington state over the holiday, a state much more conducive to receiving legal wine shipments than the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Or Utah.

Utah.

We set it all up to be sent to my wife’s sister outside of Seattle and we could drink the wine while we were there. My father-in-law thought I was some sort of rock star blogger since wineries were sending me wine. To make this part of the story short: the wine never showed up and I lost a few points with my father-in-law.

We got back to Philly and I contacted the winery and found out that the wine arrived a few days after we left, but since there was no one there to receive the package, it was returned to the winery. They asked if there was another state where they could send the wine, other than Utah.

Utah.

We decided to have it sent to my father-in-law’s house in California since we were going to be there over Spring Break (plus the added benefit of gaining back a little of favor with him). We received a call from my father-in-law once the wine arrived, and he assured me that there was no possible way that there could be wine in the box.

I was confused.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and we were on our way out to the West Coast. The trek is a long one–a six hour flight, waiting for bags at SFO, schlepping everything over to the BART station, a 75 minute train ride to the far reaches of the East Bay, topped off with a 20 minute car ride from the BART station to the house. By the time we finally ended the odyssey, it was well past 11:00 p.m. West Coast time, meaning it was pushing 3:00 a.m. back in Philly.

As we pulled into the garage there was only really one thing on my mind–I had to see what was in that box. I helped unload all our crap luggage (since I still have this fantasy of still being in the running for husband of the year), but I did not exactly help put the kids to bed (any chance for “father of the year” has long since been blown).

After exchanging some pleasantries with my mother-in-law, I tactfully (well, as much tact as I could muster at shortly before 3 a.m.) asked her about the box. She showed me where it was and my father-in-law was right–it did not look like there was any wine at all in the package. In fact, it seemed much more likely to contain a box of Raisinettes than it did any wine.

Much to my surprise, it contained this:

Six miniature sized bottles of Trione wine. The wine was packaged by a company called Tasting Room which has since been bought out by Lot18.

We never did taste the wine out in California (although we did visit Trione while we were out there and had a wonderful time–more on that in a week or two), so we brought it back with us to Philly where my wife and I sampled the wines one evening before dinner.

2010 Sauvignon Blanc: The color has a slight green hue and on the nose it is a bit herbaceous with lime and asparagus. The palate is all lemon curd with good balance and a bracing acidity. Very Good to Excellent. 88-90 Points.

2008 Chardonnay: A golden color that caused a bit of concern. Lemon, vanilla and oak on the nose, but not in a big obnoxious way. On the palate, the fruit was noticeably understated, with an oaky finish. Very Good. 86-88 Points.

2008 Pinot Noir: On the nose bunches of blackberry, cloves, and sage. On the palate, a bit lacking on the fruit end of things but really nice secondary flavors and complexity. Finish was long and memorable. Very Good. 87-89 Points.

2008 Syrah: Considerably darker than the Pinot (no real surprise), but hello Brett! Brettanomyces (aka “Brett”) is a bacteria that imparts a “barnyard” type odor to wine, and I am normally one of those people who do not mind a bit in wine (there is no way you can be a Burgundy fan and hate Brett). The structure seemed to be there, but…. [Note: When we visited the winery, this was one of our favorite wines–we even bought a couple bottles of the 2006]  Not rated.

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon: Lighter color than the Syrah with great raspberries and a very appealing dustiness that added intrigue. Really great fruit and balance here with a hint of mocha and considerable backbone. This one is built to last, but is also doing well right now. Excellent now, could move to Outstanding in a few years. 91-93 Points.

2007 Red Wine: This Trione’s signature bordeaux style blend that showcases the winery’s style. Big fruit up front with cassis and even chocolate on the palate. The Cabernet seems to dominate here, but there is a softer, more approachable aspect in this wine–no doubt attributable to the Merlot in the blend. Excellent. 90-92 Points.

A very fun tasting, conducted in my own home, with my own glasses, and with my lovely wife. A pretty great idea all in all. Thanks to Lori at Trione winery for providing the samples.

For another take on the same experience, visit Talk-a-Vino‘s post from a few weeks ago (he also took much better pictures).