Sunday Wine Tasting: Olympic edition

Show your Olympic spirit by heeding these red, white and blue wine suggestions from Horse Nation’s in-house sommelier (yeah, we have an in-house sommelier, what) Kirsten Collins.

From Kirsten:

The Red

Grand Prix Dressage fans will have to wait a few more days to don their foam fingers, but you fans of Eventing have enjoyed two days of dressage and are gearing up for cross country–so the only thing missing from your weekend is a little red Shiraz. Chocolate Box 2010 is the offering from down unda and this wine packs a nice little punch; I daresay if this wine was a horseman it would have learned to ride by foxhunting in Tasmania. A very pleasing mouthful, and while I can’t detect the black fruit flavor so much, I do appreciate the smooth chocolate feel. And with a name like Chocolate Box this wine bottle practically flies into your hand.

The White

Gymnastics, diving, a little track-and-field, stadium jumping: It is bodies flipping through the air we’re talking about and Acrobat 2010 Pinot Gris will make you want to pop over a little cross-rail yourself, just for the fun of it (please put your glass down first).  This wine is crisp and not-too-sweet–kind of like my dressage coach. You can pair it with a little grilled pork tenderloin or even a kebab of grilled veggies. A chilled glass of Acrobat is the perfect finish to mowing the lawn, mucking out stalls, cleaning the garage, or complaining about your neighbor’s dog.

And the Blue

Having basically a set of $12 taste buds I purchase my wines accordingly, but I made an exception for Blue Label 2009 Merlot and plopped down a $20 for the bottle. (I do it for you, Horse Nation.) Now, we’ve all heard pretentious wine snobs refer to merlot as the “whore of the vineyard,” but I do not share their opinion. The Coppolas tell us this wine has a “plush texture” and while you may not think you want anything plush on your tongue this wine would probably be the exception. This merlot is a smooth medium-bodied wine, very drinkable yet also worthy of toast-making and celebration. Kind of perfect for the Olympics, don’t you think?