Tasting - Journey & Discovery Pinot Grigio

This is my mom, babushka, and I 
with our wine.

 Name: Journey & Discovery Pinot Grigio

Variety: Pinot Grigio

Region: Rubicone

Country: Italy

Year: 2021

Price: $3.99 for a half bottle

Online Review: This wine is dry, light, and refreshing- everything you want in a Pinot Grigio. But simplicity doesn't mean it can't taste great. Elegant aromas of apple, lemon, and peach are followed by a touch of minerality that showcases the complex terroir of Rubicone, Italy.

My Review: I also tasted this wine with my mom and Babushka. My mom hated this wine- she said it was worse than the first one. It still tasted like vinegar for her and even a little soapy. Somehow with these flavors, she rated it at a high of 5/10. My babushka didn't love this one but she disliked it more than the red blend we tasted prior. She said it smelled better than it tasted because it left an aftertaste of vinegar in her mouth. She noted that even though the first sip tasted like vinegar, after each sip it got a little bit better. My babushka rated this wine a 5/10 as well. In my opinion, this wine was not terrible. I wasn't getting the dryness the online review noted. However, I could definitely taste the lemon because it was pretty sour. I wasn't able to taste any of the other fruity flavors because the sour lemon flavor was pretty overpowering. I would rate this wine a 6.5/10. We did not have any food paired with this wine. Also, I added ice to my wine because I forgot to cool it in the fridge before tasting it. My babushak didn't want ice in hers.

This is me with the bottle before
tasting.

Textbook:

*Unfortunately, my Wine Folley subscription ended and since we only have two weeks left in class I can't buy it again. However, I do have the Zraly textbook which I will be using to include references.*

As noted in the textbook, Pinot Grigio wines from Italy are some of the most popular white wines available. They are considered everyday wines because they are easy to drink and inexpensive (Zraly, 226). I would agree that the wine we tasted was easy to drink but my mom and babushka disagree with this statement. Pinot Grigio has been one of the fastest-selling Italian wines over the last 20 years. In the last 10 years, planting has increased by 50% for these grapes. This is partly because of the wine's light, unoaked simplicity (Zraly 94). I would agree that the wine we tried was light, so I can see why it is liked by many.

Since this white wine has not been aged in an oak barrel, it is able to keep its fruity flavors that would usually get lost in barrels. 

Tasting - Journey & Discovery Red Blend

This is me with the wine bottle

Name: Journey & Discovery Red Blend

Variety: Red Blend (Touriga Nacional, Castelao, and Aragones)

Region: Portugal (does not specify where exactly)

Country: Portugal

Year: N/A (wasn't on the bottle and I couldn't find it online)

Price: $3.99 for a half bottle

Online Review: This wine features three grapes with big personalities. Touriga Nacional is known for its dark berry flavors, while Aragones- also known as Tempranillo in Spain- lends a strong backbone of structure to the blend. Castalao, named after the parakeet, gives the wine a deep color and loud, fruity flavors. These three grapes are blended to create a bouquet bursting with blackberry, blueberry, plum, cocoa, and a touch of nutmeg.

This is my babushka and I with our
wine. P.S. I did have wine in my glass
but I drank most of it by the time we
took this picture.

My Review: This wine was decent, it didn't have a strong alcohol flavor which I enjoyed. It was more acidic than sweet and was not dry in my opinion. Some flavors I could taste were fruity flavors such as orange or berries. I would rate this wine a 7/10, it wasn't the worst red wine I've had but definitely not the best. My mom and babushka (which means grandma in Russian) joined me for this wine tasting. We did not pair it with any food. My mom was not a fan of this wine at all, she said it was very sour and dry. She even also said it tasted like straight vinegar and it is "the kind of wine I drink after two glasses of a very good wine". My mom rated it a 5/10. My babushka enjoyed this wine a little more. She said she could also taste a fruity or berry flavor, specifically the black currant berries she would eat in Russia. She mentioned that she's not a wine drinker so she can taste when it's high in tannins because she doesn't like dry wines. She said the aftertaste was nice and made her want to keep on drinking it. My babushka rated it an 8/10.

Textbook:

*Unfortunately, my Wine Folley subscription ended and since we only have two weeks left in class I can't buy it again. However, I do have the Zraly textbook which I will be using to include references.*

This is my mom and I during the tasting

The textbook mentioned that over the last ten years, Portugal has shifted to concentrate on dry reds and whites (Zraly, 300). On the contrary, the wine we tried was not very dry. Because of American law, at least 75% of the grapes that were used must be from the variety that's on the label (Zraly, 63). Since three different grapes are used to make this wine, it has to legally be labeled as a "red blend".

My family and I with our wine.

Our setup with our glasses of wine.