A while back the F&E rolled out a selection of California wines, due to the old blog and my being acquainted with one of the F&E people I got invited along for the tasting party. At the tasting party I really enjoyed some of the higher end wines [which I will cover later] but felt that the I Heart California line ("IHC") was more of an afterthought. I didn't care for the Chardonnay but the Cab was serviceable. Carmen and I had fun that night and we even ran in to an old UC San Diego Classmate Annette Holland who runs a F&E food blog.
Up to this weekend I had not thought a lot about the IHC but I was heading out to see my Japanese side of the family the annual Kumamoto Summer Picnic, and per the stereotype they don't tend to drink much. My aunt said they had everything covered but I hate only bringing my teeth to a party. At $4 per bottle I could afford to make a mistake so I picked up a couple of bottles of IHC Pinot Grigio to beat the summer heat and a IHC Cab for later.
I think my prejudice towards Chardonnay skewed my view of this line. I popped the cork and between my cousins and I was out of the first bottle within minutes.
I was surprised how much everyone really enjoyed the IHC Pinot but going through the old Copia tasting checklist I found my opinion change quite a bit.
I had a set of picnic glasses and a waiter's corkscrew to work with so this is about as basic a wine experience as you are going to get. The appearance on the pour is light and clear, as a good Pinot Gris would be. The nose on this Pinot Gris is simple and lightly citrus. The taste is clean, refreshing and fruity almost like a summer peach. The aftertaste unlike other lower price point wine is smooth without the bitterness of say a two buck chuck. By the way the Miyamura team won the soccer competition and the water balloon toss winning a beach ball and a bag of rice if you were wondering.
I drank the Cab with some peppered tri tip tonight.that I put in the slow cooker before work. The Cab is as smooth as I remember it, the taste is simple and dark berry accented table wine which is wonderful for a weekday meal with the family. All in all not bad for $4 and a heck of a lot better drinkability wise than the closest competition.
Cheers!
