For the second half of last Wednesday’s #Winechat, George Miliotes, The Capital Grille’s Master Sommelier, introduced us to their big summer wine event, The Generous Pour… the chance to release your inner sommelier.

Now through September 2 at any of The Capital Grille’s forty-five locations across the U.S., you can enjoy nine wines with your dinner for only $25. The wines were all personally chosen by George, one of only 186 Master Sommeliers in the world, and are some of his personal favorites. He’s done the work for you so you can relax and enjoy with as many pours of each as you like!

I joined several wine industry colleagues here in DC at the downtown Capital Grille for tasting, tweeting and eating. While #winechat went through the nine wines in thirty minutes, we spent a few hours over dinner tasting our way through with each course.

The aperitif is the nice Lunetta Rosé, a sparkling rosé from Trentino, Italy with crisp berry notes. For dessert, the Kanu Kia Ora 2006 is poured, a lovely Chenin Blanc from Stellenbosch, South Africa full of apricot, orange and honey notes.

The most interesting wine of the nine is…

Simcic Rebula 2008/09

  • Variety: Rebula from Goriska Brda, Slovenia
  • Aroma: Apple and pear
  • Taste: Rich wine with roasted yellow fruit flavors
  • My thoughts: This white wine is known as “Orange Wine,” named for its color that comes from the grape skin contact during winemaking, the way wine was made over 1,000 years ago. It was a very nice wine, interesting and worth the try. It’s making its U.S. debut exclusively at The Capital Grille.

This summer you can enjoy a sommelier’s wine cellar, even if you don’t know one personally.

Cheers to generous pours!