Grand Wine Tasting at Attleboro Arts Museum: A Foray into Flavorful Complexity

Last Friday night, I had the amazing experience of attending 2016 Grand Wine Tasting at Attleboro Arts Museum, one of the premier local opportunities to experience some of the finest wines from around the world. The tasting featured an impressive array of domestic and imported wines, each with their own unique qualities that create a distinctive, lush sensory experience.

This popular local wine tasting was busy from the moment it started, giving me a great opportunity to say hello to many familiar faces from around town. The attendees were wonderful, and the event was as much an opportunity to be social as it was an opportunity to sample some of the best wines our city has to offer.

Out of all the wines I sampled, two stood out as my absolute favorites: The Taylor Fladgate Tawny Port, and the Red Rose Poem. Both were smooth, sweet red wines with impressive complexity, despite their delicate flavor qualities. When one thinks, “sweet red wine,” one doesn’t think of complexity. After all, many sweeter reds are rather cloying. But these two exquisite wines defied that stereotype.

Taylor Fladgate Tawny Port: This light, sweet port is an excellent dessert wine or apéritif. These ports are aged for ten or even twenty years in seasoned oak casks, leading to their distinctive “tawny” coloration. Its rich, mellow undertones of fruit are reminiscent of berry or pomegranate. It pairs well with nuts and dark chocolate. This one is probably my absolute favorite, despite its relatively high price. It’s sweet and distinctively fruity, yet rich and robust — a rare combination.

Red Rose Poem: This unique dessert wine is imported from Moldova, an oft-forgotten Eastern European nation nestled between Romania and Ukraine. Pale red in color, its aromas are reminiscent of rose water, with subtle red apple and blackberry notes. Light, fruit, and sweet, its slight acidity protects this delicate wine from becoming too cloying, creating a perfect balance that truly delights.

Fine Wine & Great People

City Spirits Liquors and Attleboro Arts Museum — The Grand Wine Tasting was a great opportunity to try some wines I may have never looked twice at otherwise, as well as meeting up with some familiar faces from all over Attleboro.