Tasting - CK Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon

Name: CK Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon 

Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon 

Region: California 

Country: USA

Year: 2019

Price: $5.49

Winery Review: "Black ruby color. Aromas of compressed watermelon, pickling spices, and black tea with a satiny, vibrant, fruity medium body and a smooth, interesting, medium-lengthy berry compote on vanilla gelato and tobacco finish with heavy oak flavor. A rock solid fruity and oaky Cabernet for anytime". Wine critic 2019. 

Wine Folly: "The world's most popular wine is a natural cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc that originated in Bordeaux. Wines are concentrated and age-worthy. The rich flavor and high tannin content in Cabernet Sauvignon make it a perfect partner to rich grilled meats, peppery sauces, and dishes with high flavor" (pg. 189 online book).

Personal Review: This wine was actually quite tasteful. The fruity sweet taste was delightful, and it was a smooth finish. The unique aroma caught my attention, and the taste did not disappoint. The smooth finish did come with an oaky aftertaste, but it was not over the top in my opinion. Overall 7/10. 

 

Tasting - Pinetti

Name: Pinetti Notte Primitivo Puglia IGT 

Variety: Zinfandel  

Region: Puglia   

Country: Italy 

Year: 2020

Price: $4.99

Winery Review: "Enjoyable drier red wine with some mild spice. Not amazing, but certainly one worth buying again, especially for the price. Fruit forward nose, red fruit (and potentially raisins) to tastes with an earthy finish, some hints of pepper or some spice. Drier, medium bodied, with mild tartness". From wine critic 2020.   

Wine Folly: "A fruit-forward yet bold red that's loved for its jammy fruit and Smokey, exotic spice notes. Originally from Croatia, Zinfandel is related to Croatia's #1 red, Plavic Mali. Zinfandel is ideal with Turkish, Moroccan, and Arabic cuisine, which bring out the grape's cinnamon-like spices. Try it with Asian barbecue". (pg. 396 Online book).

Personal Review: This wine was too bold and dry for my liking. It was hard for me to finish the glass that I started. The peppery aftertaste made me cringe, and I don't think I will be buying anymore of this even though the price was amazing. I am more of a sweet, smooth wine type of person, but I thought to expand my horizon. Overall 2/10. 

 

Tasting - COCOBON

 

Name: Cocobon Red Blend 

Variety: Merlot, Zinfandel, and Petite Sirah grapes 

Region: Central coast, California 

Country: United States

Year: 2015

Price: $9.99

Winery Review: "A very deep red color catches the attention. Next, strong, wild aromas like smoke and black rubber lead to a rather fruity but still firm tannic texture. The flavors are more like blackberries and blueberries, but the overall effect is slightly viscous" Tasted 2015 from wine enthusiast.  

Wine Folly: "Merlot is loved for it's boisterous black cherry flavors, supple tannins, and smoky or chocolaty finish. It's often found in a Bordeaux blend with Cabernet Franc. Merlot tastes great alongside roasted foods like pork shoulder, roasted mushrooms, or braised short ribs. Try complementing the fruit notes with chimichurri sauce" (pg. 278 online book). 

"A fruit-forward yet bold red that's loved for its jammy fruit and smoky, exotic spice notes. Originally from Croatia, Zinfandel is related to Croatia's #1 red, Plavic Mali. Zinfandel is ideal with Turkish, Moroccan, and Arabic cuisine which bring out the grape's cinnamon-like spices. Try it with Asian barbecue." (pg. 396 online book).

"Petite Sirah is loved for its deeply colored wines with rich black fruit flavors and bold tannins. The grape is related to Syrah and the rare French-Apls grape, Peloursin. Given Petit Sirah's sometimes aggressive tannin profile, it pairs best with fat and umami driven dishes - be it steaks from the grill or a plate of beef stroganoff". (pg. 310 online book)

Personal Review: This wine was anything but sweet. It had a deep taste that followed with an aggressive aftertaste. I paired this wine with swiss and American cheese and crackers with roasted almonds. This red blend had a bold character with a dry smoky finish. Overall 5/10.

Tasting - Mirabello Prosecco

Name: Mirabello Prosecco, Champagne and Sparkling Wine

Variety: The Glera grapes grown in Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Origin: Produced in a large area spanning nine provinces in the Vento and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions, named after the village of Prosecco which is in the province of Trieste

Country: Northern Italy 

Year: 2005

Price: $12.99

Winery Review: "Aromas of nut and yellow apple skin follow over to the lean palate along with brisk acidity. It's Vigorous with steely bubbles. 84/100". Tasted 2017 from the Wine enthusiasts magazine and website. 

Wine Folly: "Italy's most popular sparkling wine is created with Glera grapes grown in Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The best Prosecco wine comes from Valdobiaddene. The traditional Italian pairings include antipasto, cured meats, and almonds but if you really want to step up your game, try it with spicy Asian food.(pg. 327 online book)". 

Personal Review: This wine was bursting with sweet apple flavor and a strong, but not too bad, of an aftertaste. Bubbly and a pretty white wine color. The best way to describe this wine is a gentle fruity fizz with a slight kick of an aftertaste. I did not pair this wine with any food or snacks. Overall 7/10.

Personal Wine Experience

 To start off this awesome blog page, I get to describe my little experience and knowledge of wine. When I decide that I want to end the long day by grabbing a drink and watching Greys Anatomy, I have never thought about grabbing wine. While I don't have much experience with wine, I have had some glasses in my drinking career. From those few experiences, I have come to terms that my tastes buds are not mature enough to enjoy the unique taste. I will soon get to tell a funny story about the time I shared a glass of wine with a coworker, and it turned into a long night. The only time I can really say that I have experienced wine is when I am around older adults usually in a more professional setting. I can say that between red wine and white wine, I will always choose white over red because when red wine hits my tongue it makes my face squint and sends bad chills down my spine. Part of that could be that I tend to buy the cheap alcohol since Virginia Tech takes all of my money at this stage in my life. 

To begin this story, I would like to start off by saying I should not have agreed to take the glass of wine because I knew it was red, but it was free alcohol. So I am a veterinary technician in hopes to be a vet one day, but our hospital decided to do a dinner and a show for our Christmas party this year, and of course everyone was drinking. My coworker bought a bottle of wine (I don't remember the name) and asked if I wanted to share it with her because she did not want to be completely drunk in front of our bosses, so of course I agreed. As I am eating dinner I decide to take a sip and the taste of that wine made my whole body go numb because of how bad it tasted. Now I am not the person to offend anybody, so of course I had to slowly finish the glass of wine, and it took everything in me to not throw up every time I took a sip; however, I finished and as soon as I was taking the last sip I could feel it coming back up. I excused myself quickly and had to go throw up in the bathroom, and all of my coworkers knew about it, and that story gets brought up to this very day. 

In this class I would love to learn the importance of wine and how to speak the "wine language" because most of my coworkers go out wine tasting, and I would love to expand my horizon with wine. I would like to be able to tell a difference in the taste of wine because my inexperience makes me believe that all wine tastes and smells the same, when I know for a fact they do not. I want to be able to taste a wine and be able to describe the texture and flavor in detail mainly to sound mature in front of the doctors when we go wine tasting.