Tasting - Menage a Trois

Name: Menage a Trois California Red Blend

Variety: Zinfandel, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: California

Country: United States

Year: 2021

Price: $9.50

Online Review: This wine exposes the fresh, ripe, jam-like fruit that is the calling card of California wine. Add pink to your cheeks with bold blackberry, ripe raspberry flavors, and firm tannins. A blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. To add complexity and retain character, each variety was fermented separately and then blended together before bottling.

My Review: This was the first blended wine I've had and it was better than expected. I liked that it wasn't too sweet, but also not too dry. As far as my first impression, I got hints of strawberry and blackberry. This wine had a lighter body and a silky finish. This was definitely one of the better red wines I've had. I didn't have food with this wine. Overall, I would rate this red blend an 8/10.

Wine Folly: I couldn't find a red blend in the textbook, so I read about the region this wine is from. California is famous for its bodacious, fruit-forward wine that focuses on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir (page 399). This wine was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (also Zinfandel), and I could taste the fruity flavor. A lot of Californian Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel wines have notes of blackberry, which this wine had (page 402). In terms of wine, California is known for bold Cabernet Sauvignon and sweet Zinfandel.

Tasting - Merlot by Josh Cellars

 Name: Josh Cellars Merlot

Variety: Merlot

Region: California

Country: United States

Year: 2021

Price: $14.39

Online Review: Our Merlot is soft and inviting with balanced flavors of blueberry, raspberry, and milk chocolate and scents of fragrant violets and vanilla.

My Review: I mentioned in my initial blog post that I'm not a huge fan of red wine, so this one didn't taste that great to me. Before tasting, I smelt raspberry and chocolate. This wine was more tannic than sweet and it had a long finish. I didn't have food with this wine. I would rate this Merlot a 7/10.

Wine Folly: As stated in the Wine Folly textbook, I could taste the chocolaty finish and I could feel the tannins (page 192). The book recommended that you drink Merlot in an oversized glass at room temp. Unfortunately, I didn't have an oversized glass but I did drink it at room temp., and I cupped the glass so that my body heat could heat up the wine a bit. I spent under $15 which is what the book recommended, however, I didn't attempt to decant the wine for 30 minutes before tasting it. 

Introduction - First Wine Post

 

Me, drinking a Moscato at 622 North

Hi! I'm Alexandra and I'm a junior here at VT. I don’t have that much experience with drinking wine because I am picky regarding the taste. I’ve found a couple of Moscato’s and Zinfandel’s that I like but other than that I haven’t had a lot. I’ve never tasted a red that I liked because most of the ones I’ve had were very bitter. However, I know there are sweet reds, and I would love to taste some of those.

Regarding taste, I like sweet wines and have enjoyed trying wines with different infused fruits like pineapple and blueberries. Since I don’t have much experience with wine, I will only drink it about 2-3 times a month. These times include date nights and wine nights with my friends. So, during dinner or when my friends and I have a specified “wine night”. I’ve also had wine at family gatherings, but my family members bring the wine for those events, so I don’t remember what types I’ve had there.

I would love to learn about everything, to be honest. Just a few weeks before this semester started, I went on a brewery tour, and it was one of the coolest things I’ve experienced. I loved learning about every step of the process, from brewing beer to packaging it, so I would love to learn the same about wine. I also want to learn how to properly taste wine and the verbiage that comes with it. I’m excited to find new wines to enjoy while taking this course because as I stated previously, I am kind of particular about the taste of wine.