Ah, Meursault. Just say the name and it rolls off the tongue like silk. Made from chardonnay in the Burgundy region of France, these elegant and full-bodied wines are considered to be among the best whites in the world.

And though I’ve never been much of a fan of some New World chards, I have always had a soft spot for Meursault.

So you can imagine my excitement when the Swirl Girls received a bottle of the 2007 Louis Jadot Meursault ($50 online) to review. What a treat!

Maison Louis Jadot is a négociant house that owns vineyards in many regions of Burgundy. Their appellation Meursault wine is a blend of grapes from multiple vineyards around the village of Meursault.

This wine is a lemon and gold color in the glass with a nose of bright apple, pear, pineapple and banana with hints of vanilla and hazelnut.

On the palate, the wine has fresh fruit flavors blended with warm vanilla and caramel, a medium/full body and long finish. Read the full story

We’ve been busy sipping the first quarter of 2012. Here are our thoughts on some recent wines we’ve tried. All of these wines were sent to Swirl Girls for review:

From Dry:

2008 Benziger Cabernet Sauvignon – Sonoma County, California ($17 Total Wine, $20 Crown, $21 ABC)
What a delicious wine and what a great value! This wine has a complex nose of red and black cherry, blackberry, vanilla and cinnamon with hints of red roses. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied and smooth with ripe, sweet fruit and a nice, dry finish. A very good wine for the price.

2009 Tenuta Luce della Vite Lucente – Toscana ($24 Total Wine)
This wine has a deep garnet color in the glass and a nose of red and black cherry, cranberry, dried earth, dried leaves, toasted oak and cinnamon. On the palate, the wine has sour cherry and cranberry fruit flavors, a medium body and tight tannins that mellowed as the wine opened. The wine is balanced and complex, with high acidity and long finish. This is one that can age.

2010 McManis Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon – California ($9 Total Wine, $10 Crown)
A deep ruby in the glass with a fruit-filled nose of black cherry, blackcurrant and vanilla. On the palate, the wine is fruity and smooth, with juicy dark cherry and vanilla flavors, a medium-body, fairly soft tannins and a short finish. A somewhat one-dimensional wine, but pleasant. Read the full story

From a land that is seemingly as old as time itself comes one of the world’s most exciting new wine regions. References to winemaking in what is now the modern state of Israel date back to biblical times, but only recently has it become recognized as a producer of quality wine.

"Israeli wines have exploded in popularity in the past 10 years," says Gary Landsman, director of marketing and public relations for Bayonne, N.J.-based Royal Wine Corp., the largest importer of Israeli wines to the United States. "We’ve seen Israelis travel abroad to Europe and become more accustomed to great food and wine, then come home and ask why they can’t have the same. There’s been a demand for better quality, and you see the evolution." Read the full story

I’ve met a lot of wine drinkers who tell me, "I drink only red wine."

And once, I would have thought the same thing of myself. But then I started trying white wines.

And then I found sauvignon blanc.

It was years ago, but I still remember the nose on the first one I tried, and I thought, "Nothing can smell this good and be for real," so I took another breath and it was even better. Then I took a sip. The beautiful nose had been translated into the taste, and I fell hard for this varietal.

So when the chance came to try three different sauvignon blancs sent to the Swirl Girls for review, my hand was the first one up in the air. Ah, three different countries – what a great tasting opportunity!

I tasted the 2010 Justin sauv blanc from California (Justin is one of my favorite wineries, as regular readers know), the 2011 Chasing Venus from Marlborough, New Zealand and the 2011 Casa Silva Reserva from Colchagua Valley, Chile.

The grape originated in France, but New Zealand has taken over as the world’s enormously popular sauvignon blanc region, with the wines being known for their tropical noses and tastes. (And reviewers keep mentioning gooseberry. Have you had a gooseberry recently? I haven’t.)

My biggest problem was what food to make with the wines, because I wanted to taste them with and without food. I settled for a paella, which had some kick (a couple of jalapeños), but also had some tomatoes, ham, peas, yellow rice and the right seasonings I thought would go well with a usually dry white wine.

My husband is a riesling fan, but happily volunteered for the tasting, especially since it came with my paella. Up first was the 2010 Justin ($14 online), which had some light tropical scents on the nose, but not as deep a nose as I was expecting.

The Paso Robles winery is known for its big, bold reds, so I thought the sauv blanc would have some of those traits, too. Nope, not in smell and not in taste. I got some light vanilla with a dose of grapefruit, and lime and lemon, some minerality and a tinge of straw. It was a crisp, pleasant wine, but didn’t bowl me over.

Then we tried the 2011 Casa Silva ($11.99 online), which I think is the first 2011 vintage I’ve tried, period. This has a faint citrus nose, is a light-bodied, slightly acidic wine with some grapefruit and pear notes and a nice finish to it. The sauv blancs’ acidity were proving a good match for the paella, which toned down the sharper acids. This Chilean wine was more delicate than the Justin in nose and palate, tasting of citrus and a faint coconut, tropical finish. It would be a good poolside wine on a hot day.

The 2011 Chasing Venus ($10.25 online) was a yummy, typical New Zealand sauv blanc, and that’s what I was looking for: a beautiful, aromatic nose of coconut and banana, with a taste of honeysuckle, pear and lime all rolled into a smoother, more unified wine.

This was crisp without being astringent and had a medium finish. With the paella, the wine had a green apple taste that was added to the mix, and this bigger sauvignon blanc went better with the dish than the other two. It’s also the least expensive, so it’s a true find.

It was both fun and educational to taste the same varietal from three countries over dinner. I highly recommend doing the same thing with any varietal – it would be a great dinner party idea, too. Keeping wine fun could be the Swirl Girls’ mantra.

Earthy and her mom tasted the 2009 Estancia Pinot Grigio, California; 2011 Two Oceans Pinot Grigio, Western Cape, South Africa; 2010 Ca' Montini Pinot Grigio, Trentino, Italy. (Jennifer Podis/The Palm Beach Post)

There could be no better way to welcome spring than with crisp, light-on-the-palate, white wine. (Maybe there are better ways, but this is a pretty darn good one.) And an evening with Mom seemed to be an ideal time to compare three pinot grigios, each from a different country. The wines were sent to the Swirl Girls for review.

We had South Africa, Italy and the United States on the table and an artichoke and leek tart in the oven. The 2011 Two Oceans Pinot Grigio, from the Western Cape in South Africa ($8.99 online), had the lightest body color, so we started there.

It also had a very light aroma of citrus and grass, and a palate that was predominantly grapefruit with a bright, dancing acidity. It’s simple and breezy, and quite pleasant to quaff. Especially at that price!

Read the full story

I was at a recent Winettes tasting party, where a bunch of gals get together to explore different kinds of wine, and someone said to me, "I just don’t taste the kinds of things you do in wine. I never taste leather or licorice or things like that." I replied I thought it was largely a matter of practice – tasting and trying different varietals or regions a lot, until you can begin to pick out other smells and tastes around the normal apple (whites) or cherry (reds).

Now a new study from the American Journal of Enology and Viticulture is causing some chatter in the wine world. It says some of us can taste things in wine that others can’t. That the taste abilities rest with our individual physical makeup, and that some of us "may self-select for specific professions based on sensory ability."

Well, of course, that makes sense. If someone has a heightened sense of smell, hearing, taste, then they would be more likely to seek out a living using those senses.

I have no doubt that there are a lot of wine experts among that group, with extra-sensitive senses of smell and taste. But you can improve your wine-tasting expertise even if you’re not the Superman of smell.

Read the full story

I came, I swirled, and I sipped plenty of good wine. Here are my favorite wines from this year’s SOBE wine and food festival:

2007 Qupe Rousanne, Bien Nacido Hill, Santa Maria Valley
To anyone who loves Cali chard, please try this wonderful rousanne from southern California. The wine has a very aromatic nose of pineapple, apricot, pear and all manner of tropical fruit with white floral notes. On the palate, it’s big, round and smooth with lush, ripe fruit and well-integrated oak.

2008 Stag’s Leap S.L.V. Estate Cabernet, Napa Valley
Compared with some of the big Washington wines in the Antinori/Ste. Michelle tasting, this iconic Napa cabernet was positively ethereal on the palate. An elegant mix of fresh red and dark cherry and currant with hints of red flowers and licorice. A lovely balance of acidity and well-integrated tannins. Full-bodied and lingering. Read the full story

She came, she swirled, she sipped. See Swirl Girl Dry’s favorite wines from the fest

Bright white sand. Clear blue water. Countless bottles of wine and more than your fair share of foodie celebrities. Really, what’s not to like about the South Beach Wine & Food Festival?

Now in its 11th year, the festival is a four-day extravaganza of seminars, beach parties, formal dinners and all manner of gustatory excess. Probably the biggest draw for the festival is the Whole Foods Market Grand Tasting Village – a two-day event set right on the sand of Miami Beach, with Food Network stars, decadent bites and an embarrassing amount of alcohol.

But what I’ve learned in the past few years covering this festival is that for the true wine lover, the Grand Tasting Village really isn’t where it’s at. Sure, the village is fun. Perhaps, too much fun. But it’s much more about the party than it is about tasting some serious vino. For that purpose, you have to leave the beach behind and check out some of the festival’s other events, namely the wine seminars. Read the full story

Ask Virginia Philip what wine she most resembles and she’s got the answer almost before the question is asked. She’s Gevrey-Chambertin – a red Burgundy made from pinot noir. Or, as Philip puts it, "elegant, powerful, but knows exactly what I want."

It’s the perfect description for a woman who seems to know herself even better than what she wants, and loves the challenge as much as the accomplishment.

In 2002, Philip became the 10th woman in the world to earn the title of Master Sommelier, one of the industry’s most prestigious accreditations. Less than a month later, she won the national title of "Best Sommelier in the United States" from the American Sommelier Association, which she says is one of her most rewarding accomplishments, considering the timing of the event and caliber of her competitors. And just last week, Philip was named a semifinalist for a James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine & Spirits Professional. Read the full story

Missed the fest – or having some memory issues? Check out the glitz, the glam and some serious food porn in our photo gallery from South Beach Wine and Food Festival 2012.

Click here to view a photo gallery from the festival