Stay Rad

So…

Kara and I were in Phoenix, Arizona this last weekend for a wedding.

Kara was one of the bridesmaids, and spent quite a bit of time with the bride for her bachelorette party, rehearsal, and prepping for the wedding.  As a result, I had quite a bit of alone time this weekend.

Fortunately for me, there were tons of wedding guests in the same boat.

Sunday, the day of the wedding, I was planning on just kicking back in the hotel room and watching baseball when I got a call in my room…

On the other end of the phone were my buddies Valerie and Jason, who were also in town for the wedding.  Being hardcore Giants fans, like me, they were gonna take a quick trip to nearby Scottsdale to check out the stadium where the San Francisco ball club plays their Spring Training games.

I was all like, “Heck yeah, foo!”

Here’s what the stadium looks like…

Scottsdale Stadium: Spring home of the San Francisco Giants

A big decorative ball.

Since Spring Training is over, the gates were hella closed.

After checking out the ballpark, we drove down the street to Old Town Scottsdale for lunch.  Since it was Seis de Mayo, we decided to hit up some Mexican food…

Cien Agaves on Seis de Mayo

Cien is Spanish for 100.  Blue Agave is the succulent plant that is used to make Tequila.

True to the name, this place always carries between 100 and 150 Tequilas on their menu.

Tequila, however, is not why we came to this place.

It was all about the tacos!

Tinga Taco: Made with Shredded Chipotle Chicken

Carnitas: Shredded Slow-Roasted Pork

Tecate Fish Taco: Beer-Battered Ono with Cabbage and Baja Sauce

Taco al Pastor: Classic Pork

While stuffing our bellies, I used Yelp to see if there were any wineries nearby.

Sure enough, Su Vino Winery was right down the street.

They are billed as Scottsdale’s first, and only, winery… So we had to check it out.

The tasting room had a very modern feel, and the staff was genuinely friendly and engaging…

The Wine…

Well…

The wine was okay.

Check it out.

Su Vino NV Summer Rain White Wine

Summer Rain is a Riesling infused with green apple.  It is also one of the winery’s biggest sellers.

I’ve got to tell you that I am not a fan of infusing different flavors into wine.  It kind of takes away from the romance of the grapes and their sense of place.  That being said, it kinda works… Kinda.

The Riesling grapes are mainly from Washington.  The infusion of green apple gives the wine pear-like flavor.  It’s a little sweet.  It’s a little tasty.  It’s a little fakey fake.

It does, however, have its place.  On a hot ass day in Arizona, this is what you would want to drink.  I give it an 80-.

Su Vino NV Merlot

The first thing I noticed on the label was that it said “American” on the label.  The folks working there told me that most of the fruit for their red wines come from Napa Valley, but they must also have some juice coming from other states.

The Merlot has a super fake-smelling nose of vanilla.  On the palate, it brings more vanilla with cherry, cranberry, and olive.

I didn’t like it.

72

Su Vino NV Syrah/Grenache

You’ll notice that there is no label on this wine.  Su Vino specializes in personalized labels, so they keep a lot of their bottles bare just in case somebody wants to get one printed.

It had a nose of blackberry, cinnamon, and oak.  On the palate, it was very nutmeg-tasting with a few dark berries sprinkled in.

78+

While I was tasting the Syrah/Grenache, Valerie and Jason were tasting the Sangiovese.  They seemed to like it, so the server offered me a taste as well…

The grapes for the Sangiovese are all from Italy.  It had a good cherry flavor, but was a little thin for my liking.  I gave it an 81+.

Up next…

Su Vino NV Syrah

The nose on this one had hints of cocoa shavings, soil, and plum.  The wine tasted of blackberry fruit, tires, and cocoa.  You’d think I would have liked this wine more.  The problem is that the flavors don’t really marry each other that well.

80+

Su Vino NV Zinfandel

This American Zinfandel had a sugary nose of blackberries.  The Zin tasted very ripe.  It had lots of blackberry fruit mixed in with vanilla.  It’s a 77+.

I really do like the idea of Su Vino.

I think more downtown areas would benefit from tasting rooms.

All the folks working there were awesome.

I just wish their wine was a little better.  All of them tasted generally flat, to me.

Well…

This tasting experience was kind of a miss for me.  So, now I have some questions for you…

Have you ever had any wine from Arizona?  Did you like it?

Leave a comment below, yo.

Stay Rad,

Jeff