The Desert WIne Guy - Sanders Winery - Serenity White WIne Table Wine

   Starting off this review I have to tell you about the owner and winemaker at the Sanders Winery (http://sanderswinery.com/) which is located in Pahrump Nevada. The owner / Winemaker is Jack Sanders. I have personally met and talked to Jack on numerous occasions and I have to tell you that Jack is the kind of person who is not only interested in but truly has a loves and passion for his vines and the wines that comes from them. Jack also "keeps it real" so to speak. Jack isn't the kind of guy who is there to pretend that he is interested in interacting with you or pretend that he enjoys pouring wine for you the customer. Jack is the kind of guy who will finish your tasting pour and come out from behind the counter and actually draw pictures for you to describe how to grow and cultivate wine grapes. Jack will explain not only his vines and wines but talk to an extent about the present and future wine industry in Southern Nevada. How you might ask do I know this? I know this because  he has done it many times for me. Jack is a wealth of knowledge and a lot of what I know about the local wine industry as well as my own vines and vineyard I owe to Jack.  Jack doesn't know the word "pretentious" and seems unaware that he is supposed to act "too good" to talk to the average wine fan so don't tell him :) Wow you say, Desert Wine Guy you really are going crazy on this dude. Yes I am, and he is worthy of every praise and more. If you want to learn about wines and vines AND drink some great wine than get to the Sanders Winery in Pahrump Nevada which is about 45 minutes North of Las Vegas. By the way his Son is just as awesome and he also works behind the tasting counter and is every bit as knowledgeable and accommodating to wine lovers who visit.  Beware however that Jack and his son will give others the same undivided attention that he will give you so depending on how busy the Tasting Room is you might have to wait your turn if you require one on one attention.  You know, it's kind of funny (or sad, depending on how you look at it) how the so called "master wine makers" dismiss Southern Nevada area as being unable to grow good / great wine grapes or produce a good / great wine. By the way the state of Arizona is ignored the same way but that is starting to change. As someone who lives in Las Vegas and grows two varietals of wine grapes I can tell you that not only is growing good /great wine grapes possible but a given. There are certain varietals of grapes in general that simply love the Desert heat. As an example I offer you the two varietals of Cabernet Sauvignon as well as Sauvignon Blanc that I grow here in the Desert heat. The one draw back however to the Desert heat challenge presented here is the fact that Harvest is really early compared to the Napa Valley due to the quick rise in the Brix (sugar) level of the grapes. Where Napa and other wine growing regions temperatures will drop as the sun goes down this does not happen in Las Vegas where the drop in the Summer temperatures might be 15 degrees at the most. When the Daytime temperature is 113, that 15 degree drop doesn't make a heck of a lot of difference in the development of the grape. O.k so let's move on now and deal with an issue I discovered with what appears to be a lack of attention to detail.
   Let me continue here by bringing up a slight issue that could have turned into a bigger issue perhaps even to the point of ruining this wine. When I removed the foil off off the mouth of the bottle there was a very apparent defect in the cork. The wine appeared to be sealed well but the attention to detail of the cork was lacking. If you look at the picture I took of what I saw when I removed the foil you will see what I mean. Looking closely you will see not only an unevenly cut cork but one with little bits of cork as well as cork dust laying on top of the cork itself. This actually wasn't something that I noticed until I reviewed the pictures just prior to writing this review.

Cork with particles and dust visible

These pieces of cork could have gotten into the wine bottle itself and ruined the presentation / ability to drink the wine. To say that I was surprised would be an understatement. Looking back on the fact that I didn't actually see the bits and pieces of the cork until just now I was very lucky to have avoided contamination of the wine. 
   So with all this being said, how was the wine? Great question so let me go ahead and answer it. The first thing that I want to establish is that this is not a dry wine by any means. This wine is fruit forward and a little more than slightly on the sweeter side, as it was meant to be by the way. Is this a Wine Cooler, absolutely not, not even close to it. The wine is indeed smooth and not harsh in any way. It is certainly sweet but not overly. The wine also does not have tons of Alcohol coming in at only 12.5% which is pretty nice. Fruit forwardness is in actuality a plus in this wine and being a white wine and Summer wine, I like that. This is not a fancy dinner wine nor does it pretend to be either, it is a friends over, out back, Barbecue at the pool wine to enjoy all day wine. It is as simple as that. Nothing harsh or offensive. No bitter taste to put one off simply a first note of moderately sweet Peach, moderately sweet Nectarine, Honey Dew on the Palatte White wine blend. On the nose (only) there is a slightly syrupy note that I thought was refreshing although a little scary until you realize that it does not appear on the Palatte. Here is what I think is an important point that I want to emphasize. This wine is not heavy or syrupy and therefore is not some cheaply or carelessly made wine. In my opinion there was indeed thought and care put into this wine. Upon initial inspection of the wine in my glass I thought that this was perhaps a slightly carbonated wine but that is ever so slightly seen only but yet not tasted on the Palatte in any way. A secondary Fermentation perhaps but whatever caused it you will not care because it takes nothing away from the Palatte nor from the visual presentation of this indeed overall great wine. I would consider that the perhaps slight carbonation presentation is more than made up for in the taste, structure and indeed overall lightness of this White blend.

Jack Sanders

   Let's wrap this up now fans. Sometimes I wonder if my opinions of a wine is influenced by outside means. An example of this for instance is, did I just get done with a visit with Jack? Was there another influence that altered my perception of this particular wine? Today I went to do some research on what the varietal blends of this particular wine was and I came across the fact that I had already reviewed this particular wine but actually forgot about that review. Prior to this revelation I had informed a friend after he asked me what I would rate this wine that I was very early into the review and that I was initially probably looking at a rating on The Desert Wine Guy Rating Scale of 92 points. He replied that he thought that was really nice. I than proceeded with researching the varietal makeup of this particular wine since it is not stated on the bottle itself and I came across my original review (http://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-desert-wine-guy-sanders-family.html) of this wine. I discovered that I initially gave this wine 92 points. For those of you who wish to discover if I am indeed consistent, here is a perfect example of my consistency indeed. A one (1) point deviation on a review that was done almost two (2) years to the date is pretty darn consistent I would say. With that being said I am going to put this wine today at 93 points on The Desert Wine Guy Rating Scale. If you get to Las Vegas and love wine, spend the 45 minutes and take the trip to Sanders Winery, you won't be sorry you did. One last thing. Tell Jack that The Desert Wine Guy said hello.

                                                                                                                The Desert Wine Guy
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