Name: Santola Vinho Verde
Variety: Did not specify.
Region: Mealhada
Country: Portugal
Year: Did not specify. Likely 2010.
Price: $8
Winery review: Soft and creamy, although with just the right Vinho Verde bite, this is a crisp and clean wine, boasting light pear and pink grapefruit flavors. Off dry and very fresh.
My review: Light, citrus smells. Had pronounced lemon and citrus flavor that went down smooth. Not a bad wine, but not my favorite at the tasting.
I tasted this on its own with no food.
Name: Lost Vineyards Spumante Dolce
Variety: Spumante Dolce
Region: No idea.
Country: Italy
Year: Did not specify
Price: $5
Winery review: Pale silvery straw color. Floral aromas of apples, peaches, and potpourri follow through on a round, frothy entry to a fruity medium bodied sweet wine with good depth and tangy peach fruit and a breezy, harmonious green apple kissed finish.
My review: Sweet scent; smelled like apple juice. This is not a complex wine, but damn, it was good. Essentially carbonated grape juice for 5 dollars. I picked up a bottle with a friend and it was worth the money.
I tasted this on its own with no food.
Name: Charles Thomas Cotes-du-Rhone
Variety: 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache and 10% Mourvedre
Region: Rhone
Country: France
Year: 2009
Price: $9
Winery review: From a 140+-acre estate near the well-known Cotes du Rhone village of Pont Saint Esprit emerges this juicy Cotes du Rhone, a blend of 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache and 10% Mourvedre. Wellmade, with loads of berry fruit and a heady, meaty, peppery nose with a hint of Provencal herbs, the wine is fresh, lively, and best drunk over the next 2 years.
My review: Peppery, smokey nose as described. Not overpowering, but definitively the most powerful nose of any of the wines tasted at the sitting. I enjoyed the strong tastes of wooded meat and seasoning and imagined that it would go well with any barbecue or steak. The wine had a slight hotness to it, but nothing I couldn't handle.
I tasted this on its own with no food.
Name: Coreto Tinto
Variety: From the winemaker's website:
Region: Lisboa
Country: Portugal
Year: 2008
Price: $7
Winery review: This red from the Coreto range has loads of dark berry fruit with a hint of new oak creating a soft, velvet structure that makes it very to easy drink. Red currant and juicy acidity.
My review: Lots of cherry, raspberry, and general berry characteristics on the nose. Not a harsh wine; I was not overpowered by tannin and I did not have any trouble drinking it as I tasted. I picked up those same berry flavors in the palate and managed to pick up some kind of pepper taste in the background as I tasted. It is not a bad wine, and I would drink it if offered no problem.
I tasted this on its own with no food.
Name: Morro Bay White Oak Estates Chardonnay
Variety: 100% Chardonnay
Region: Lodi, California
Country: United States
Year: 2009
Price: $6
Winery review: Vanilla cream soda nose with a slice of fresh cut pineapple. Full body, tropical fruit, spice and pleasing vanilla oak note linger in the finish. Sweet flavor on the palate is from sur-lie aging the wine on the primary yeast lees for 7months. A versatile style of wine that can be served chilled with fine cuisine or a glass with friends. Certified Green by Lodi Rules Sustainable Winegrowers.
My review: I got the aforementioned hint of vanilla on the nose as well as the standard generic fresh fruit smell that most of the wines I taste seem to have. I picked up a smokey meat flavor on the palate that I was not expecting and I quite frankly was not overjoyed with the wine itself. Not one I would buy, but I guess that is why you go to tastings.
I tasted this on its own with no food.
Name: Cantina Villafranca Frascati
Variety: 45% Malvasia di Candia, 15% Trebbiano Toscano, 25% Malvasia del Lazio,15% Grechetto (Greco)
Region: Frascati
Country: Italy
Year: 2010
Price: $8
Winery review: Produced from a selection of the best grapes located in the Frascati Doc production area. Made from 45% Malvasia di
Candia, 15% Trebbiano Toscano, 25% Malvasia del Lazio,
15% Grechetto (Greco). Intense yellow color with greenish
reflections. Characteristic persistent fresh and fruity aromas.
Excellent as an aperitif and paired with fish, seafood or white
meat.
My review: This wine was not particularly unique on the nose; the only fruity aromas I picked up were those of grape. However, I found this wine to be smooth as the standard grapey tastes hit my mouth. I found nothing particularly unique about this wine, but enjoyed drinking it.
I tasted this on its own with no food.
Name: Legaris Crianza
Variety: 100% Tinta Fina
Region: Ribera del Duero
Country: Spain
Year: 2003
Price: $9
Winery review: 90 Points, Wine Spectator. A silky texture carries plum, tobacco, coffee and mineral flavors over ripe tannins in this balanced red. Berry and vanilla notes linger on the finish. Drink now through 2013. –T.M.
My review: Hard to believe I was 13 when they bottled this guy. Nose had a hint of vanilla and coffee, as suggested. Mainly I picked up earthy scents, but pleasing overall. The taste of the wine was probably more complex than my wuss palate could handle because I just wasn't too fond of it. It was relatively smooth, but something about the earthy flavors just didn't do it for me.
I tasted this on its own with no food.
