Wine Tasting: 2016 Classicus from Chateau La Roberterie

 

Hello wine drinkers! Today's wine tasting features a red blend, Classicus, from the Bordeaux region of France. This wine is specifically from Julliac, France, and the grapes for this wine were harvested in 2016.  The wine is made by the Chateau La Roberterie, which was established in 1590. The specific blend of grapes in this wine are Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon. I bought this bottle from the Vintage Cellar for $9.95. 

For today's outside review, I chose to report what Chateau La Robertie has to share about this wine. The chateau states "Fruity and floral flavors, with red fruit and currant aromas, highlighted by violet notes. The palate is supple and restrained on the tannins. Its fresh acidity underlines the fruity aromas."  They also say that this blend is specifically 65% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. It's appellation is Bordeaux Superieur, which Wine Folly describes as one of the best value wines on page 84.

On page 83 and 84, Wine Folly describes a red Bordeaux blend to have notes of black currant, black cherry, graphite, chocolate, dried herbs, high tannins, and low sweetness. It describes more detailed tasting notes including baking spices, caramel, cedar, tobacco, dill, black plum, pomegranate, fig, bay leaf, charcoal, leather, and wet gravel.

Per my own sniffing, this wine smelled like gravel, dark cherry, black currants, vanilla, dirt, and lingering tobacco. It is very earthy, and smelled fruitier than it tasted.  This wine tasted like dried herbs, especially mint and maybe dill.  I got a strong taste of leather, minerals, graphite, and dried, tarte fruit like Craisins but not as sweet. This wine has medium acidity and high tannins.

I was very excited to try a Bordeaux wine because I like a dry, earthy and less fruity red wine.  I would highly recommend this bottle to someone who was looking for the same traits. I ate some sausage Cajun fried rice with this wine and I felt they complemented each other well, both being bolder with a hint of spice. I loved this wine, and think it is well worth its price point.

Wine Tasting: Smith Hook 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

This wine tasting features Smith Hook's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Central Coast of California.  This wine is available at Harris Teeter for $18.99.

Vivino rated this wine 3.9 out of 5 stars. It is described as bold, medium-high tannins, mostly dry, and  medium acidity. The tastes noted are oak, vanilla, chocolate, blackberry, plum, dark fruits, cherry, red currants, and raspberry.

Wine Folly's page 88 designates Cabernet Sauvignon as having high tannins, medium to low acidity, medium alcohol, low sweetness, with hints of cedar, black currant, black cherry, baking spices, and graphite. 

Per my own tasting, this wine smelled of blackberries, dark cherries, vanilla, oak, and sediment. It tasted dry, with medium tannins, mild acidity, blackberries, black currants, jam, and oak. I like the depth of this wine. I felt I could taste the woody undertones, vanilla, and spice more than cheaper, previous wines that I have tried. I would recommend this to friends looking for a reasonably priced Cabernet Sauvignon, but I would opt for a more acidic red for myself.

Wine Tasting: Black Stallion 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon

 This week I tasted Black Stallion Estate Winery's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon.  This wine is from the North Coast of California.  This bottle was purchased for $19.00 from Kroger.  

On Wine Enthusiast, Tonya Pitts describes this wine as "rich, with aromas of dark plum, Bing cherry, blackberry coulis, dried florals, and bittersweet chocolate. Flavors open further to sour cherry and molasses, interlaced with dried tobacco, orange rind and a dry finish with gripping tannins." 

Page 89 of Wine Folly describes Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, which is the North Coast region of California, to have "dusty, minerally character" with tastes of black cherry and lush tannins.

Per my personal review of this wine, I smelled bacon, spices, black cherry and plum.  I tasted dark cherry, plum, red currants, cranberry, vanilla and leather.  I also felt this wine had high tannins with a medium-low sweetness.

I will 100% be buying this wine again if the opportunity presents itself. The wine would be delicious with a medium-rare steak and potatoes for a weekend dinner.  

Wine Tasting: 2022 Menage a Trois Exotic White Blend

This wine tasting features the 2022 Menage a Trois Exotic White Blend.  This wine is from California and is a blend of Chardonnay, Moscato, and Chenin Blanc.  This bottle was bought from Kroger for $9.99 for a group wine tasting.

As a lover of dry wine, I was immediately put off by Moscato being in this blend because Wine Folly describes this wine as very sweet with low tannin and hints of meyer lemon and orange blossom on page 138.  Page 96 and 98 ascribe notes of pineapple, butter, and light acidity to Chardonnay and high sweetness, pear and honey to Chenin Blanc, respectively. 

The Vivino community reviews this white blend as medium sweet and soft.  They taste tropical flavors of mango and pineapple, as well as pear, honey, citrus and grapefruit.  From my own experience, I smelled honey, sugar, pear and an orangey citrus.  I then tasted pineapple, orange, and felt light acidity and light tannins. 

This wine was very sweet for my own taste, but the tropical fruit flavors were refreshing. I would recommend it to someone who was looking for a sweet white wine to drink on its own. 

Wine Tasting: Cavit Collection Pinot Grigio

Hello wine bloggers! This wine tasting reviews my experience with Cavit Collection's 2023 Pinot Grigio. This wine is from the northeastern region in Italy. This bottle was a Magnum bottle, priced at $13.76 from Walmart.  

On Honest Wine Reviews, Jon Rogers reviews this pinot grigio. He notes aromas of citrus and "crisp green apple." Rogers says this wine tastes like pear, grapefruit citrus, and a little green apple.

Page 149 of Wine Folly describes pinot grigio with fruit elements of white peach, lemon zest, cantaloupe and crush gravel. This varietal wine has medium to high acidity and lower sweetness levels.

Per my own tasting, Cavit's Pinto Grigio smelled faintly of pear and minerals with a hint of wet bandage. Wine Folly explains on page 29 that wet bandage aromas come from the presence of Brettanomyces yeast.  It is not bad yeast, so some wineries embrace this, but I did not enjoy the smell.  For taste, I felt this wine had medium acidity with a mild mouth zing.  It tasted like citrus zest, pear, and rather tarte.

After tasting this wine, I will not be buying it again. I also would not recommend it to a friend because it lacked much taste and the smell was unpleasant.  It was not priced high, so I did not expect much, but it also reminds me that I prefer a dry red wine over a white for casual sipping.

Wine Tasting: Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay

 

Cheers wine blog! This is my second tasting this week, and since I have only done tastings with red wines so far, I am switching it up. Today's wine of focus is Trader Joe's 2023 Coastal Chardonnay from the Central Coast of California. This bottle was $6.99 from Trader Joes. 

Vivino reviews of this Chardonnay consider the taste bold, mildly dry, and decently acidic.  It is said to have notes of "melon, peach, and pear" as well as "oak, butter, and vanilla."  

Visually, this chardonnay seems like a lighter yellow than some of the more buttery colored ones I have seen before.  It smells faintly of apple, pear, and lemon zest. I found it much more challenging to pick out scents in the white wine than in red wine, but I am excited to continue to practice with white wines.  

When tasting this wine, the experience is crisp and fresh. The Trader Joe's Chardonnay has a citrus flavor, with a slightly bitter citrus rind taste as well. There are notes of honeydew melon, and it is very minerally. I think the wine has a medium sweetness and a strong acidity.  

Wine Folly, page 96, describes Chardonnay as low sweetness and medium acidity which is what I got from this wine. This wine is also said to have notes of yellow apple, butter, and pineapple.  Even though I described the taste as green apple, I think yellow apple may be a more accurate description.  However, this Chardonnay is not very buttery, especially compared to others that I have tasted before.

For the low price, I would recommend this Chardonnay to someone who wanted a slightly sweeter wine, but I would prefer a dryer, more buttery Chardonnay.  I probably will not buy this bottle again, but I also prefer red wine to white wine because white tends to be sweeter.

Wine Tasting: Giardino Pinot Grigio

Hello wine drinkers! This Thursday evening, I am trying the 2023 Giardino Pinot Grigio wine from Italy. This wine is specifically "delle Venezie" ("of the Venices").  This bottle was purchased at Trader Joes for $4.99. 

As can be seen from the wine label, this bottle is an example of the Old World adopting New World style. This Pinot Grigio is from Italy but lists the name of the grape as the largest words on the label! 

On the Cellar Tracker, Mike Kopanski describes this wine as "not intense or concentrated but relatively correct and complete. Decent moderate gold color. Pineapple and peach on the nose and entry. More than medium bodied. Mild acidity. An oily, moderate stone fruit, like pear with mild lime on the finish."

Page 149 of Wine Folly lists Pinot Grigio as a "zesty white wine" that has notes of white peach, lemon zest, cantaloupe and even crushed gravel.  From my own tasting, the Giardino Pinto Grigio tastes like green apple, pear, and faint melon.  It has a weaker aroma of apple and lemon.  I felt that this wine is dry and has a high acidity level and a light body. I also felt this white vine looks like the color of "straw" as suggested on page 24 of Wine Folly. 

That is all I have for this wine! I felt that there was not a lot of depth in the flavors, but this was a $5 bottle. I would consider it a decent purchase for going to a very large social gathering, but I would not buy it again for myself.