I was “window shopping”  the wine aisles at the grocery store the other day when I noticed the same wine but 2 different years.

The wine was called Summation by Kendall Jackson (www.kj.com) and the years were: 2008 & 2009. Summation is a white blend of 8 varietals with the top 4 being Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Semillon, & Viognier.

For me, that was very exciting because usually it’s the same varietal offered by the same wineries and nothing is older than 2 years. I get very bored with what I see on my weekly trips to the store. In fact I usually beg my Long-Suffering Hubby to go instead because I hate grocery shopping. But when I say I’m going to the liquor store, he cringes because that is where I go a little crazy. It’s like shoe and jewelry shopping rolled into one fabulous activity!

I noticed the 2008 had a beautiful gold color because of aging and the 2009 was a light yellow. I had to try them and I hoped that the older one was not spoiled because sometimes a change in color (usually when it becomes brown) means it has been oxidized and too much air got through the cork and then your beautiful old wine becomes funky instead of fantastic.

The 2008 smelled of *petroleum, melon, bubblegum, brown sugar (No barnyard smell so it was good). The taste was mineral, honey, butter, vanilla. No bright acidity and was very smooth over the tongue. *You might think petroleum is a bad thing, but aged Rieslings have this quality and it is quite acceptable.

The 2009 smelled of very light grass, green herbs, grapefruit. The taste was raspberry, melon, grapefruit with light pepper acidity. It coated the back of the tongue with a creamy melon and citrus flavor.

I was tickled that both wines were good and yet so different. I would pair 2008 Summation with spicy food and 2009 with pasta and veggies.

The next thing I noticed were the labels. The 2008 label was cluttered with words and designs. It even had Jess Jackson’s signature on the front and the back label looked like an essay talking about the family in the first paragraph and then the wine in the 2nd one. In 2009 they streamlined the labels and used bigger type (Thank Goodness because my old eyes were hurting after reading the 2008 labels). The back label was one paragraph and described the wine and even mentioned the winemaker, Randy Ullom which is cool. Both descriptions of the wine were exactly the same, “honeydew melon, apricot,pink grapefruit,white pepper and honeysuckle with a creamy mouthfeel”.

FYI…If I am about to drink a wine I do not look at the descriptions on the label. I like to drink it first, write my notes and then see if I come up with the same adjectives…it’s sort of a game to me.

I hope y’all find your own little buried treasure in the most mundane places. 🙂

Cheers Y’all!