Tasting - Chateau Davril Bordeaux (4/16)

 Name: Chateau Davril Bordeaux 

Grape: Merlot (40%), Cabernet Sauvignon (40%), Cabernet Franc (20%)

Region: Bordeaux 

Country: France 

Vintage: 2019

Price: $17.95

Today I’m going to try my first Bordeaux blend! Feel like, with how much the region is talked about, it’s a must-try! Looking at its entry in Wine Folly (pg 83), it provides the following tasting notes: 

• Black currant

• Black Cheery 

• Graphtite!?

• Chocolate

• Dried Herbs

It also describes it as having a strong body, strong tannins, and medium-low acidity. 

Alright, time to taste! First impression: this is really delicious! I really can detect the chocolate, and a little bit of the dried herbs. I can’t taste the graphite (yay?). Overall I would definitely recommend trying this type of wine, although, having only tried this particular bottle, I don’t have a reference point to say whether this particular brand and vintage is a good choice. 

(Review Source): https://www.vivino.com/US/en/davril-bordeaux/w/1207595

Review - Heredos Del Marques De Riscal (4/16)

 Name: Heredos Del Marques De Riscal - Reserva

Grape: Tempranillo

Region: Rioja

Country: Spain

Vintage: 2018

Price: $19.88

Today I am once again trying some wine from the Rioja region. This wine is a little bit pricier than what I usually get, but I thought it would be worth it for the genuine article. I also think the bottle looks super cool :) This wine gets 4.1 stars on vivino, an improvement over the previous one. 

The descriptions from Wine Folly (pg 175) are as follows:

1. Body - Moderate  - Yes. Think it was a little bit fuller than the last one. 

2. Sweetness - Low  - Absolutely  

3. Tannins - Moderately High - Yes - even more so than previously 

4. Acidity - Moderately High - Could detect it better this time

5. Alcohol - Moderately High - Yes

(Review source): https://www.vivino.com/US/en/marques-de-riscal-rioja-reserva/w/1163903?year=2018

Review - Campo Viejo Reserva - 3/29

 Name: Campo Viejo Reversa

Variety: Tempranillo

Year: 2017

Grape: Tempranillo

Region: Rioja

Country: Spain

Price: 17.99

Today I decided to try a new type of wine - one that I thought would appeal to what I understand so far about my personal preference - I like dark, complex reds. After seeing this grape mentioned in Wine Folly, I decided that I should give Tempranillo a try. So I picked myself up a bottle of Campo Viejo Tempranillo. 

Once I tried the wine, I immediately knew I liked it - but I couldn’t articulate what I tasted. So I found the Wine Folly entry for Tempranillo (pg 175), and checked the descriptors

1. Body - Moderate  - I agree with this. Expected it to be a bit fuller - think I had a bit of a misconception

2. Sweetness - Low  - Absolutely  

3. Tannins - Moderately High - This is one of the things I could immediately tell 

4. Acidity - Moderately High - For whatever reason I don’t really associate a taste with acidity, but I think that’s more me not knowing what to look for. 

5. Alcohol - Moderately High - Yes

Now, lets look at the descriptors. It gives 5, and I think I detect 3 of them: Tobacco, cedar, and dill. 

Now lets look at some reviews. On vinvio.com, users gave it an average of 3.8 stars. One review particularly stuck out to me, as it mentioned the taste of coffee, which I didn’t realize I detected until reading it. 

(https://www.vivino.com/US/en/campo-viejo-reserva/w/1163217?year=2017)

Bogle - "Old Vine" Zinfandel - 3/26

 Name: Bogle “Old Vine” Zinfandel 

Type/Grape: Zinfandel (Red)

Region: California

Vintage: 2020

Price: $16

Today we are trying one of my favorite wines - red Zinfandel. I’ve had a few Zinfandels that I’ve enjoyed, and a few wines from Bogle that I’ve enjoyed - so hopefully, the two together will be lovely too!

On Vinvio, the wine has 3.8/5 stars, with some glowing reviews. Reviews tend to note its full body, smoothness, deep red color, and a certain peppery flavor. Now I’ll try it, and compare it to what Wine Folly (pg 189) says

1. Body - Moderately Full to Full - like the reviews, I definitely felt that it had a full body

2. Sweetness - Low: Like the reviews, I thought it wasn’t very sweet

3. Tannins - Moderately High: I definitely felt this - could feel that the tannins sort of parched my mouth. Reviews surprisingly didn’t mention this as much. 

4. Acidity: Low - Yep

5. Alcohol: Moderately High to High - Yes

Overall, I would give the wine a 4 / 5. I found it very enjoyable, and surprisingly complex. Would recommend! 

Tasting - Barefoot “Light and Breezy” Pinot Grigio - 3/26

 Name: Barefoot “Light and Breezy” Pinot Grigio

Type/Grape: Pinot Girgio

Region: Not specified on bottle

Vintage: Also not specified

Price: $6.99

Today we are trying an extra cheap wine: Barefoot “Light and Breezy” Pinot Grigio. This wine is so cheap and disregarded that I can’t find any “expert” reviews of it - so we’ll just have to go by random internet reviews! 

On barefoots own website, it has a measly 3.8 / 5 starts (with one review… you can… add a decimal point to your star rating?).  Elsewhere, they do not get better - on TotalWine.com, the overall score is a 3 / 5. There’s some variety in them - Lori J J expresses a love for the product, writing “I really enjoy this better than regular pinot grigio. Refreshing and flavorful.” Aerofanz laments the wine’s failure to meet expectations - “I had such high hopes for this but sadly it was so flavorless I ended up mixing it with another brand to give it some flavor.” BrianGT titled his review “Tastes like water”, going on to explain that it “literally tastes like water”. 

Well… these reviews aren’t exactly inspiring. Before we go ahead and taste it, lets look at what the book says Pinot Grigio should taste like. Oh, and to give some context to the previous reviews, note that this wine is marketed as “low calorie”... whether that justifies it (literally!) tasting like water is not for me to say. 

The book gives Pinot Grigio the following characteristics: 

• Body: low. Can confirm!

• Sweetness: Can range from very dry to very sweet. I can confirm it was not very sweet. If I had to take a wild guess, I would say there might be artificial sweetener in place of sugar. 

• Tannins: almost none. Can confirm!

• Acidity: relatively high. I think that sounds about right. 

• Alcohol: relatively low - also sounds about right. 

Ultimately, I would give the wine a 3.5/5. I think some of the reviewers miss the point of the wine - it is meant to be very, very light - and it definitely meets that standard. Despite that, I think a light wine can have more… personality than this one did. 

(TotalWine reviews: https://www.totalwine.com/wine/white-wine/pinot-grigiopinot-gris/low-calorie/barefoot-bright-breezy-pinot-grigio/p/241224750)

Tasting - Hive and Honey Riesling (2/27)

 

Today we are trying a Riesling! Going for $12.99, this Hive and Honey Riesling is quite delicious. Its very light, and, like the reviews said, a bit on the dryer side. The lack of sweetness definitely makes it more refreshing. It tastes a bit flowery, with a bit of citrus. We had it chilled - perhaps a little too cold, but in red glasses. Wine Folly (pg 158-159) says the main flavors you might catch in a Riesling are Lime, Green Apple, Beeswax, Jasmine, and Petroleum. I definitely didn’t get petroleum, nor a limey taste - I think green apple was the most applicable flavor. 

(Review: https://www.vivino.com/US/en/hive-honey-riesling/w/4467005)

Tasting - John Zinfandel Reserve

 Name: John

Type: Zinfandel

Region: California

Country: USA

Grape: Zinfandel

Vintage: 2020

Price: $15-$20 

I absolutely love this wine! Its bold, plummy, jammy, and quite dry - the dryness in particular is greatly appreciated after having had the overly-sweet port the other night. Wine Folly (pg 189-190) says that Zinfandel from California may appear pale; not the case with this! 

Reviewers online largely agreed with my assessment  - they said its bold, more smooth than tannic, more dry than sweet, and more soft than acidic (https://www.vivino.com/US/en/josh-cellars-reserve-bourbon-barrel-aged-zinfandel/w/10448124?year=2020)