Name: Opera Prima Pink Moscato
Variety: 97% Muscat, 3% Tempranillo
Region: La Mancha
Country: Spain
Year: ??
Price: $6.95
Winery Review: A blend of Muscat 97% and Tempranillo 3%. This fine sparkling presents an intense aroma of fresh berries and tropical fruits with hints of white flower petals. Delicate bubbles caress the palate offering a silky and pleasant sweetness well balanced by a crisp, refreshing finish. Ideal on its own, as an aperitif or with all types of sweets and desserts. Serve it very cold, between 7 and 9°
My Review: I'm not a fan of moscato or rose wines so I had a feeling I was going to be in for a rough ride. Straight off the bat it smells like you walked into a flower gallery. Some other light fruits in there I couldn't place. It was an incredible light wine and tasted like I was drinking flowers and fruit juice. Extremely sweet tasting, too much for my liking. I'm not a big fan of sparkling wines either but perhaps paired with the right dessert I might be able to choke down an entire glass of this.
Name: Cortenova Primitivo
Variety: Zinfandel
Region: Puglia
Country: Italy
Year: 2012
Price: $6.95
Winery Review: Dark, ruby-red color with violet highlights. Intense and fragrant bouquet with a rich array of red and black fruit aromas and flavors. Harmonious and velvety on the palate. Great balance and structure. 100% Zinfandel.
My Review: This wine was very light on the nose. I struggled to really get much of anything from this wine. Very tight and closed. Light fruits but a biting finish. A little young for my liking but maybe decanting would help greatly.
Name: Riebeek Cellars Shiraz
Variety: Shiraz
Region: Swartland
Country: South Africa
Year: 2013
Price: $6.95
Winery Review: Often referred to as Shiraz Country, the Riebeek Valley is renowned for exceptional Shiraz wines. The Riebeek Shiraz is a lively rich wine, full bodied with a subdued smokiness on the nose and a pallet of ripe fruit and interesting spice.
My Review: Berry and dark fruits on the nose. Similar tasting fruits to the smell with the addition of pepper. A nice full tannic structure. Very smooth with little astringency. I can imagine that it would be a very nice wine when decanted. This particular wine didn't really do a whole lot for me but that might be partially attributed to the fact that I didn't get to try it all that much since it was at a free wine tasting. I still am not sure where I stand on this one.
Name: Le Jade Sauvignon
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Region: Languedoc
Country: France
Year: 2013
Price: $5.95
Winery Review: Silvery straw color. Lively aromas and flavors of pineapple, yellow apple, melon, and Meyer lemon with a silky, bright, dry-yet-fruity medium body and a tingling, complex, medium-long finish with notes of lemongrass, pear, and lemon with no tannins and no oak. Bright and crisp with layers of juicy pineapple, pear, lemongrass and ripe melon make this perfect for repeated sipping or enhancing fresh farm to table cookery - Beverage Tasting Institute. 89
My Review: This is another wine I got to taste at one of the Vintage Cellar tastings. The first thing I noticed was there was a distinct lemon and apple aroma. It had a very nice light fruity taste with pineapple, lemon, and apple. It was very smooth all the way through. It was a nice refreshing wine that reminded me of sitting around in the summer eating fresh fruit. I was pretty surprised by this wine and for the price it is definitely worth giving it a try. I already had 2 bottles in mind when I went to the store so maybe next time I'll pick up this one to try it a little more.
Name: Monetebuena Cuvee KPF Rioja
Variety: Tempranillo
Region: Rioja
Country: Spain
Year: 2012
Price: $8.95
Winery Review: Dark ruby. Ripe cherry, red berries and smoky minerals on the nose. Spicy, firm and tightly wound, with very good lift to the flavors of red currant, bitter cherry and licorice. A gripping, lithe midweight, with appealing sweetness and bracing minerality on the long, incisive finish. In an elegant style, with zero excess fat- Stephen Tanzer. 90
My Review: This wine has a very pleasant nose. I got the cherry and berry aromas as well. I haven't had many wines like this so I had trouble placing the flavors but I agree that this wine is fairly tight and would do very well if decanted. It was a little astringent and but as it opened up it mellowed out. It had nice light fruity flavors with a hint of pepper. A very nice wine but I don't see this wine being a 90 point wine but in a year or two it very well might be. It was an easy wine to drink and hopefully the next time I get this bottle I'd really like to try this with food. For the price this wine is definitely a steal.
Name: Canyon Road Moscato
Variety: Moscato
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: 2013
Price: $6.95
Winery Review: Floral, with tea rose and cherry blossom notes, this balanced Moscato shows flavors of ripe white cherry, candied plum and almond on the smooth finish.
My Review: Again another free tasting wine but I'll let y'all know what I thought anyways. I got a very strong peach smell with floral aromas. It was a very smooth wine with orange in the finish. A very sugary tasting wine and too sweet for my liking.
Name: Gruner Veltliner Hugl Weine
Variety: Gruner Veltliner
Country: Austria
Year: 2013
Price: $7.95
Winery Review: Wine Enthusiast – 89 points "A fresh scent of green pears greets the nose. What follows comes in a light, crisp citrus vein, supported by a rounded mouthfeel. A refreshing wine for immediate drinking. - Anne Krebiehl, MW"
My Reveiw: This is another wine that I tasted at one of the free tastings at the Vintage Cellar in Blacksburg so I was unable to try this as much as I would have liked but here is what I got. It smelled like green apples and that's all I was able to detect. It was a very sharp tasting wine with lemon and light fruits. Still developing my taste for white wines but it was tasted pretty good and easy to drink.
Name: Bogle Phantom
Variety: 46% Petite Sirah, 40% Zinfandel, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Mourdedre
Region: Clarksburg, Lodi, and Amador, California
Country: United States
Year: 2011
Price: $19.95
Winery Review: This wine is a fantastic value for the price point. It's round with plenty of fruit and some interesting earth notes. It carries a little bit of structure, but is generally a soft wine with weight. Nice with or without food. I plan to keep a few bottles around for whenever I feel like an easy red. 87
My Review: A very dark ruby color with a fully body aroma. The main smells I picked up were dark fruits, blackberry, and strong pepper. It has a very bold tannic structure that fills the mouth and then melts into an incredibly smooth finish with a hint of vanilla. This wine is extremely easy to drink and the 24 months of barrel aging is very noticeable in the finish. This has been my favorite wine I've tasted so far. Definitely planning to get this again soon.
This is one of the wines that I tasted at the Gourmet Pantry and am just now getting around to posting about it. I wasn't able to try this wine as much as some of the others since this was a free wine tasting which as a poor college student if you say "free" is always greatly appreciated.
Name: Maule Valley Sierra Cruz Chardonnay
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: Maule Valley
Country: Chile
Year: 2013
Price: $9.99
Winery Review: The Maule Valley, with its cool nights, low rainfall and lengthy growing season allows grapes to reach full maturity while maintaining optimal acidity and good juice concentration. On the nose, this wine is redolent with aromas of dried apricots, stonefruit, and toasted hazelnuts. Nectarines dominate the palate, with interwoven hints of tropical fruit and dried lemon peel. A outstanding example of what a fresh, un-malo’d Chardonnay can be.
My Review: I haven't had that much chardonnay so I had some trouble placing some of the smells and flavors. That being said I got a hints of apple mostly in the smell. It had a light fruity flavor and with apple. It had a nice smooth finish. It was a nice wine and I'd like to try a more at some point soon.
Name: Castle Rock Sauvignon Blanc
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Region: Mendocino County
Country: United States
Year: 2012
Price: $9.95
Winery Review: With a suggestion of New Zealand-style grass, this is a widely distributed Sauvignon Blanc with layers of racy acidity that’s all in all snappy and cleanly linear. The taste is mostly grapefruit rind, crisply rendered. A great wine to have on hand for large gatherings. 85.
My Review: I am not a huge white wine drinker especially fruitier ones but I was actually pretty surprised how much I enjoyed this wine. It had strong smells of apple and pineapple. It was mellow on the tongue with a hint of lemon. The fruity flavors melted away nicely into a lightly earthy finish. I then tried this wine with a caesar salad and the dressing brought out the lemon and sweeter flavors while not being too "puckery". I liked the wine much more with the salad and even more so as the wine opened up more and mellowed out. Solid white wine that I would definitely get again considering the price being under $10.
Name: Parker Estates Four Keys Crossing Pinot Noir
Variety: Pinot Noir
Region: Sonoma County
Country: United States
Year: 2013
Price: $12.95
Winery Review: Dark cherry flavors mingle with hints of vanilla, caramel and toasted coffee bean. A fruit-forward mid-palate, followed by soft, mature tannins leads to a smooth, rich finish. Pair with cedar planked salmon with scalloped potatoes, beef tenderloin or eggplant parmesan.
My Review: This wine had a pretty mellow aroma and I was having trouble identifying anything in particular. This might be in part due to the fact that by this point of the night I had already had quite a few glasses of other wines. I found this to be a fairly light wine with a balanced flavor profile with no one flavor over powering the rest. I got hints of dark berries with strong tannins up front but melted away pretty quickly for a very smooth finish. I wasn't able to detect the coffee bean described in the review above. This is the wine I had with dessert (chocolate snack pack pudding cup!) and found that this pinot noir was just not bold enough to stand up to the rich chocolately goodness from my childhood. This wine would more than likely be much better for the main course but was still a fairly pleasant wine by itself and easy to drink. If I get it again I definitely plan to let it open up more because I think that will really help bring out some more of the flavors.
Name: Rubus Wine Selections Old Vines Zinfandel
Variety: 98% Zinfandel, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Lodi, California
Country: United States
Year: 2013
Price: $12.95
Winery Review: Similar in character to Rubus' Cabernet Sauvignon, warm vanilla and currant were present. It was enjoyable, but lacked complexity to justify a higher rating. Decanting did not result in an appreciable improvement - 86
My Review: A nice fruity smell. Berry and plum aromas. It was very smooth and I thought it had a nice round taste profile. Fruity but not overbearing with a hint of pepper. I then paired this wine with a grilled steak seasoned with salt and pepper. Not only was the steak cooked wonderfully, by yours truly, but it softened the wine and brought out the fruity flavors. The flavors blended extremely well and had an incredibly smooth finish. I really enjoyed this wine and would definitely get it again especially at at this price.
Name: 2012 Geyser Peak Winery Cabernet Sauvignon
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Sanoma County
Country: United States
Year: 2012
Price: $18.00/$13.00 on sale
Critic Review: Dark black fruit aromas of black currant, blackberry, and cinnamon with some wooded aromas of cedar and forest floor. A strong blend of Cabernet and Petit Verdot, this wine has a fair bit of structure and good fruit flavors, with some savory notes of teriyaki and black olive, clove, cinnamon, black currant and a long finish with chocolate coffee beans and gripping tannins.
My Review: I found strong berry aromas with a hint of coffee. Strong tannins throughout. I tasted bold berry and fruity flavors. A very long smooth taste profile with hints of mocha in the finish. I was unable to taste the teriyaki and cinnamon mentioned in the critic review. As the wine opened up the tannins mellowed out and was a very pleasant wine to drink. I then tried it with a pasta with meat sauce and was very surprised how well it went. It softened many of the sharper tastes and really brought out the fruits and overall rounded the wine out very nicely. A good wine especially since it was on sale.
One of the things I'll be posting about are wines I taste each week and so if you're brave enough to trust my taste keep on reading. Hopefully as I try more wines my descriptions will get better so bear with me.
Name: Kenwood Vineyard Merlot
Variety: 98% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Sonoma County
Country: United States
Year: 2012
Price: $14.00
Winery Review: I was unable to find a critic review of this wine so here are the notes from the vineyard about this vintage.
Fragrant ripe fruit aromas of cherry and raspberry combine with aromatic notes of cinnamon, dark chocolate, and vanilla. Well-balanced tannins and rich mouthfeel give way to a long finish. Kenwood Vineyards creates its award-winning Sonoma County Merlot from vineyards located in Sonoma County's best grape-growing appellations. Our Estate Vineyard located in the heart of the Sonoma Valley provides good color and excellent texture. The blend is balanced with grapes from the warmer Dry Creek and Alexander Valley regions which have a more fruit-forward character.
My Review: The smells I picked up were chocolate and fruity aromas. I am still working on getting better at picking out specific fruits so for now that's what I got from the smell. It has a fruity flavor up front with a smooth finish. Not much of a mid-pallete but I tasted hints of chocolate and light oak in the finish. Very pleasant and easy wine to drink. I did not drink this wine with food but I can imagine that it would go great with a nice steak and probably the notes of chocolate would make this wine go well with a chocolate dessert like cake or brownies. Definitely something that I could see myself drinking again.
