Tasting: Jam Jar Sweet White

Name: Jam Jar Sweet White

Variety: 100% Muscat

Region: Unknown

Country: South Africa

Year: Unknown

Price: $8.95

Winery Review: “100% Muscat. Soft floral hints add depth to the otherwise straightforward ripe peach and nectarine aromas. There’s a good balance in the mouth, with a nice acidic lift and slightly lime edge to cut the sweetness on the finish and close with the faintest hint of honeydew melons.”

Personal Review: This wine had a unique smell to it. It reminded me of a good smelling kitchen cleaner, possibly something similar to Pine Sol! It was VERY sweet tasting! To me, it was like drinking white grape juice. It did have a slight peach taste to it, which was refreshing. I enjoyed this wine, but I would only be able to drink 1 glass of it, not an entire bottle. It is definitely a light, summery wine that would be perfect for the beach! Although I’m not sure what food this wine would pair well with. 

Tasting: Entrada Malbec

Name: Entrada Malbec

Variety: Malbec

Region: Unkown

Country: Chile

Year: Unkown

Price: $5.95

Winery Review: “Firm and structured, this is a solid wine, laced with mineral acidity and tight tannins. It has a juicy, blackberry fruit component cutting through the texture.”

Personal Review: This wine had a very pretty purple/plum color to it. It smelled a little dusty and reminded me of opening a cedar chest. The taste of this wine was surprising! I really enjoy Malbec’s, but I typically have had them from Argentina, so this Malbec from Chile was different. It was not as spicy as the Argentinian Malbec’s which was nice. It was very good and my favorite of the day! I did not taste this wine with food, but I will definitely be looking for this wine again!

Tasting: Vina Borga Borsao

Name: Vina Borga Borsao

Variety: 100% Grenache

Region: Campo de Borja

Country: Spain

Year: 2012

Price: $6.95

Winery Review: “86 Points – Robert Parker. Also made from 100% Grenache, the 2012 Vina Borgia was fermented and aged in stainless steel. Its medium dark ruby color is followed by abundant notes of strawberries and black cherries offered in a straightforward, medium-bodied, soft, hedonistic, round style. It is hard to believe a wine this good can sell for $7 a bottle. Enjoy it over the next 1-2 years.”

Personal Review: The smell of this wine was delicious! It smelled like strawberries! It reminded me of a combination of strawberry jelly and black raspberry jelly! The taste of this wine was surprising in a good way. For being a red wine, I was expecting it to be thicker bodied and heavier alcohol content, but it tasted like a rose wine. It had a lot of strawberry components to it and was smooth and thin. I really enjoyed this wine. I did not have it with food, but I would definitely like to try it again with a meal. 

Tasting: Peter Lehmann Chardonnay

Name: Peter Lehmann Chardonnay

Variety: Chardonnay

Region: Unknown

Country: Australia

Year: 2010

Price: $20, Sale for $9.95

Winery Review: “The 2010 Chardonnay presents subtle notes of spiced apple slices and ripe peaches with hints of freshly baked bread and melon. Light bodied, clean and refreshingly crisp in the mouth, it offers just enough apple and pear flavor concentration, finishing with medium-long persistence. Drink it now to 2014.”

Personal Review: This wine had a strong odor to it! To me, it smelled like someone had just opened a can of tuna fish! Gross! The taste was slightly better than the smell, but I was still not a fan! It had a smoky taste, but it was still fishy tasting. The body was also kind of slimy but the aftertaste was alright. I would describe this wine as “unique!” I did not try this wine with food and I do not think I will be any time soon!

Tasting: Protocolo Vino de la Tierra de Castilla

Name: Protocolo Vino de la Tierra de Castilla

Variety: Airen and Macabeo

Region: Castilla

Country: Spain

Year: Unknown

Price: $6.95

Winery Review: “Mostly Airen with a little bit of Macabeo. Greenish gold. Subtle aromas of mint, lemon, and orange, with a hint of honeysuckle. Dry, understated and focused, offering clean citrus and melon flavors and slow-building sweetness. Finishes dry and brisk, with an echo of lemon. As usual, this is an outstanding value.”

Personal Review: This wine had a sweet honeysuckle smell to it that was really refreshing. The aroma instantly reminded me of a warm spring day when the honeysuckle starts blooming and there’s a warm breeze blowing. It had a very refreshing taste to it. This wine tasted very fresh and clean. I would probably classify it as a semi-sweet wine, as it did dry out my mouth slightly but wasn’t overpoweringly sweet. I did not have this wine with food, but I would try it again with a meal. 

Tasting a homemade blend

Name: Homemade Blend

Variety: 75% Old Vine Zinfandel & 25% Carrion blend

Region: Napa Valley, California

Country: USA

Year: 2012

Price: N/A

Winery Review: N/A

Personal Review: This wine was a blend made by a friend of my parents in 2012. The wine spent 6 months in oak barrels. It had a wicked alcohol smell to it. It smelled harsh and slightly like a dirt floor cellar, but in a good way. This made it smell earthy and kind of reminded me of mushrooms. The taste at first was very hot from the alcohol. Once I got past the alcohol taste, it was fairly peppery and creamy. It had a hint of chocolate to it and was a little bit jammy in its taste. I think this wine would be good with a little more time in the bottle to settle down the tannins and alcohol levels. I did not drink this wine with food, but I don’t think it would have changed the flavor much because of the overpowering taste of alcohol. 

Tasting: Glenora Wine Cellars Bobsled Red

Name: Glenora Bobsled Red

Variety: Red blend

Region: New York State Finger Lakes

Country: USA

Year: Unknown

Price: $7.99

Winery Review: “Bobsled Red is a unique blend of high quality grape varieties that has blackberry jam aromas. This pleasant, semi-dry finish makes this wine enjoyable on its own or with pasta, pizza, or Buffalo style wings. This wine may be served slightly chilled, or at cool room temperature.”

Personal Review: This wine had been chilled before tasting it, so at first it had little to no smell to it. After swirling and warming up the glass for a few minutes, you could start to smell a light aroma. This wine smelled like bubblegum tape that I used to beg my parents for whenever we went to the store! I was already hesitant to taste this wine after it had that smell to it, but I went for it anyway. Mistake!!! This wine was terrible! It was super sweet and everyone in my family agreed that it was awful! No one even bothered finishing their glass of this wine because it was not worth it! I did try to make it seem better by trying it with cheese, but that may have made it taste worse! Overall, we all agreed that this was not the wine for us!

Tasting: Haras Chardonnay

Name:  Haras Chardonnay

Variety: Chardonnay

Region: Maipo Valley

Country: Chile

Year: 2012

Price: $8.99

Winery Review: “The Haras estate in Chile unites the twin passions of the Matte family: thoroughbred horses and fine wine. Located in the foothills of the Andes, the estate is home to South America’s top thoroughbred breeding farm and some of the best vineyards in Chile. The winery itself is built in a unique horseshoe shape, and its vineyards are managed with sustainable practices. The vibrant Chardonnay offers distinct aromas of white peach and citrus, pleasantly balanced with a creamy texture.”

Personal Review: This chardonnay was oaked, so I was excited to compare it to the previous wine, an un-oaked California Simply Naked chardonnay. It smelled like a lot of different fruits, but mainly apples and peaches. This wine tasted like peaches! It was delightful! I thought this wine was also slightly carbonated with a bubbly texture to it. Tasting this wine helped me to understand what an “oaky” flavor tastes like. I was not expecting to like the oak taste, but I liked this wine better than the Simply Naked chardonnay! I also drank this wine with the herb encrusted pork tenderloin and it was my favorite wine paired with the pork! I really enjoyed this wine and am definitely going to be on the lookout for it again! 

Tasting: Simply Naked Chardonnay

Name: Simply Naked Chardonnay

Variety: Chardonnay

Region: California

Country: USA

Year: 2012

Price: $8.99

Winery Review: “Simply Naked wines reveal themselves as they really are, without being hidden by the flavor of oak. Our winemaker has chosen not to oak age the wines, allowing the crisp fruit flavor and the true varietal characteristics to shine through. Simply Naked Chardonnay is a rich, fruit forward wine with crisp apple, melon, and pear flavors and a touch of honey.”

Personal Review: I was interested in comparing an un-oaked chardonnay with an oaked chardonnay. This wine was not very aromatic which surprised me. I expected to be able to smell a lot of the fruit in it. It tasted a lot like apples and pears, which was delicious! It also had a slight bubbliness to it. It seemed as though it had been carbonated just a little bit. I drank this wine with an herb roasted pork tenderloin and they were delicious together! I would definitely recommend this wine to those who don’t like the flavor of oak in wines. 

Dinner Blog: “Family time with a few bottles of wine!”

This year I decided to enjoy my last spring break at home with my family. Coming from a large, loud Italian family, wine is always a part of our gatherings, so I thought doing a wine pairing dinner would be a lot of fun! My parents, one of my sisters and brother-in-laws, and my boyfriend participated in this dinner. As an appetizer, I bought a few cheeses and grapes to pair with two bottles of wine. We had sharp cheddar cheese, imported provolone cheese, and parmesan reggiano. I chose to pair a Cabernet Sauvignon with the provolone cheese, and a Syrah with the cheddar cheese. As a side note, these wines were on sale at the wine store! Score! 

Parmesan reggiano, sharp cheddar, and provolone cheese along with red seedless grapes.

        The Cabernet Sauvignon was a 2011 by Clos du Bois from the Sonoma Valley, California. Everyone agreed that it smelled like black berries, cherries, and earthy. The taste of this wine was of rich fruit, medium alcohol, and plums. It was fairly oaky as well. Drinking this wine with the provolone cheese was delicious! It really helped to smooth out the tannins in the wine. However, this wine did not complement the parmesan cheese as well. My mom suggested that this would be an ideal wine to have with meat in a gorgonzola cream sauce! I can't wait to try that next time!

Clos Du Bois Cabernet Sauvignon $20.00

Next we tasted Campuget’s 2010 Syrah from the Rhone Valley in France. This wine smelled sweeter than the previous wine, the Cabernet Sauvignon, although we all thought that it did have a slight isopropyl alcohol odor to it as well. After tasting this wine, it was much thinner bodied than the previous wine. It did seem to be high in tannins, but these were mellowed by the cheddar cheese. This wine was alright with the parmesan cheese, but the cheddar was definitely better. While my parents preferred the Cabernet Sauvignon, my sister, brother-in-law, boyfriend, and I all preferred the Syrah instead. 

Campuget Syrah $9.99

My brother-in-law, dad, and boyfriend enjoying their wine and cheese.

My mom was excited to try the Cabernet!

        For dinner, I decided to make a meal of herb encrusted pork, mashed potatoes, peas, and dinner rolls. The pork was marinated in balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper. Everyone helped me to prepare dinner and we were excited to try it all with a Pinot Noir. We ate dinner with a 2010 Garnet Pinot Noir from Napa Valley, California. To our surprise, this wine did not have much of a nose to it. It tasted very smoky to several of us and reminded my mom of a cigar. It had a medium body to it and was fairly oaky. It did however complement the pork well. Everyone agreed that this wine was great with the pork and would have it again!

Garnet Pino Noir $11.99

Herb encrusted roasted pork.

Yum!

Dinner is served!

Delish!

Taking notes!

Rachel sippin' some wine!

Since there were six of us, three bottles of wine was definitely not enough! So, we decided to try a few others as well: two Chardonnay’s, a New York red, and a homemade Zinfandel. To hear more about these wines, look for my upcoming wine tasting blogs about them!

This was such a fun night at home that was really relaxing (especially after tasting seven bottles of wine!) We laughed for hours at the table and enjoyed comparing our wine palates with each other. Everyone truly enjoyed this experience and are excited to try it again soon!

Success!

Tasting: Val Verde Winery's Don Luis Tawny Port

Name: Val Verde Winery's Don Luis Tawny Port

Variety: Lenoir and Zinfandel

Region: Val Verde Texas

Country: USA

Year: Unknown

Price: $30.00

Winery Review: “A unique blend of Lenoir and zinfandel, this special port has a buttery, nutty caramel flavor with hints of chocolate at the edges.  Also ideal after a nice meal, the Tawny Port is complemented by dark chocolate or cigar smoking.”

Personal Review: This was my first tasting of port wine. On the first smell, all I got was alcohol! At 18%, this wine had a much higher alcohol content than I am used to. After a few more sniffs, once I got past the alcohol smell, I could sense chocolate covered cherries. The consistency of this wine surprised me, reminding me of Nyquil cough syrup. This was hard to take because I really hate cough syrup and have always had a hard time choking it down! However, the port did taste good. It was very sweet, tasting like sweet cherries and having a jammy aftertaste. For how much it smelled like alcohol, I was also surprised that it did not taste hot at all. I did not have this wine with any food, but the next time I drink it I will definitely taste it with a piece of dark chocolate! 

Tasting: 2012 Bota Box Shiraz

Name:  Bota Box

Variety: Shiraz

Region: Napa Valley, California

Country: USA

Year: 2012

Price: $22.99

Winery Review: “Our Bota Box Shiraz is a medium bodied, succulent wine offering complex aromas of blackberry, plum and white pepper.  On the palate, the wine forms a soft, supple mouth feel, bursting with blueberry jam and cherry.  Bota Box Shiraz is perfectly paired with grilled meats, slightly spicy foods, or aged cheeses.”

Personal Review: This wine had a very dark plum color to it and smelled high in alcohol. It took me a little while to get any smells other than the alcohol, but eventually I did begin to smell cherries. I was surprised when I tasted this wine that it did not taste too much like alcohol. While it was a very big, full bodied wine, with a rich texture, its tannins balanced nicely throughout the wine. It had a nice smooth finish and aftertaste. This wine also had a smoky, tobacco flavor to it which surprised me. In addition, it had the typical Shiraz taste of spicy black pepper. I drank this wine with roast beef and was very happy with it. It complemented the meat well. I would definitely drink this wine again!

Tasting: Beringer's White Merlot

Name:  Beringer

Variety: White Merlot

Region: Napa Valley, California

Country: USA

Year: 2012

Price: $5.99

Winery Review: “Since 1876, Beringer has crafted award winning wines in Napa Valley, and this White Merlot is no exception. Crisp and refreshing, bursting with the aromas and flavors of fresh fruit, this wine is well suited on its own or as the perfect complement to a meal. If you enjoy our White Merlot, try our Moscato. Serve chilled.”

Personal Review: I had never heard of a white merlot until I saw this wine! I was excited to try it and see what it was all about! It smelled sweet and had an aroma of apples, which I thought was interesting. This wine had a very pretty color, reminding me of cranberry juice. Even though it tasted sweet, it was not sickeningly sweet, which was nice. It was not hot with alcohol at all. It was very fruity and I would love to try this wine again in the summertime. I think it would be very refreshing! I drank this wine with an oven roasted chicken sandwich. It was delicious! The chicken really brought out the apple flavors in the wine nicely. I also tasted this wine at room temperature, but I the next time I have it I would be interested in tasting it chilled, as recommended by the winery.