2015 Dark Horse Rose Review

2015 Dark Horse Rosé Review

Price: $7.99 (Wine.com)

Alcohol: 12.5%

Body: Light

Sweetness: Semi-dry

Varietals: 48% Grenache, 16% Barbera, 13% Pinot Gris, 12% Tempranillo, 11% Other

Tasting Notes: Chilled ~30 mins in ice bath

This wine starts off on the wrong foot, appearing rather awkwardly in the glass. The color is almost salmon like, and a little too orange for my liking. The wine coats the glass, but struggles to find any consistency. Much to my surprise, however, this value rosé heads back in the right direction on the nose, presenting delicate floral aromas, green apple, peach, and slight orange peel notes. The floral and peach aromas carry through onto the front-palate, joined by subtle hints of apricot and honeydew. On the mid-palate, obvious red fruit is balanced by a pleasantly light acidity. Strawberry, cranberry, and pomegranate react nicely with an underlying rotten apple taste that reminds me of a white fruit punch. This wine has an incredibly smooth finish, with cranberry, cherry, green apple, and an extremely obvious watermelon gum essence coming through. Although the finish is tasty, it does feel a little watery, and fails to present an interesting mouth feel. While this wine is far from perfect, at eight dollars, I hardly feel bad about this big name value driven rosé.

Rating: ***x (3.5 stars)

Try/Buy/Pass: BUY (I don't know if you remember, but it's $8)

Everyday Wines Class 

Everyday Wines is located in the delightfully "hipster" Kerrytown district of Ann Arbor, where it can be found on the first floor of Kerrytown Market & Shops. Everyday Wines claims that its mission is simple, "To make wine an easy and affordable everyday pleasure," but their commitment to knowing the products that they sell, combined with an amazingly approachable store design, makes visiting an experience that is unlike many other stores.

Along with their dedication to excellent service and a fundamental understanding of their products, Everyday Wines is passionate about knowledge and community education. Spearheaded by the incredibly friendly and well informed owner, Mary Campbell, the store offers weekly tastings, and recently started a class series open to anyone interested in wine. Their first class was on "Exploring the Five Characteristics of Wine," and, for $15, is great value and reasonable for all walks of life.

As the title would suggest, the class covered the five basic characteristics of wine, laid out in an easy to follow handout as; fruit, (which is broken down further as aroma, taste, and flavor) sweetness, acidity, tannins, and body. Throughout the class, the main focus of the discussion was on how expressions of micro elements play into human perception of the macro characteristics of wine. Campbell explores important micro characteristics like fermentation, residual sugar, terroir, and use of oak that greatly impact the final product that wineries put on the table, while pouring various examples to accentuate the differences discussed in the class.

While the information provided in the class is slightly geared towards people who may be beginning their wine journey, this class series serves as a great outlet for all levels of knowledge to engage with the Ann Arbor wine community. The setting is intimate and inviting, and everyone in attendance was marvelously sociable. At such an affordable price tag, these events pack tremendous value in not only education, but also in an opportunity to share an amazing hobby with the incredible community we call home.

Wines in order of tasting: (Try/Buy/Pass)

Wine #1: 2016 Domaine de la Pepiere La Pepie Muscadet-  Very green with slight citrus and melon notes. High acid, very refreshing. (BUY)

Wine #2: 2015 Araldica Albera Barbera d'Asti- Faint plum and red fruit profile, high acid, slight oak characteristics. (TRY)

Wine #3: 2015 Bacio Di Fiori Provincia di Pavia Moscato- Slight green apple and cherry shisha flavors, apparent lavender and floral notes, sweet. (PASS)

Wine #4: 2015 Ancient Peaks Renegade- Obvious red fruit, blueberry, leather and smoke, medium tannin structure. (BUY)

Wine #5: 2015 Chateau Laffitte-Teston Madiran- Very firm tannins, high acid, extremely tight nose. (PASS)

 
 Oberon Day 2018 Early Bird Video

 Follow the link below to check out my video review of this year's Oberon from Bell's Brewery.








 Oberon Day Review

2016 Lieu-dit Beauregard Bourgueil Review

Price: $13.99/bottle (Wine.com)

Alcohol: 12.5%

Body: Light-Medium

Sweetness: Dry

Varietals: 100% Cabernet Franc

Tasting Notes: Decanted ~55 mins

This wine is absolutely stunning in the glass. See through burgundy and fuchsia tones coat the glass beautifully, leaving behind eerie and thick legs. The way this wine sticks to the sides of the glass and sinisterly creeps down reminds me of a scene in an old horror movie. A young damsel in distress screams in terror as a menacing villain brandishes a hatchet, blood slowly filling the screen. On the nose, this wine explodes with spicy vegetable notes; black pepper, green pepper, and very prominent jalapeño excite the senses. A little bit of alcohol does come through slightly, but hardly enough to fault this amazingly vegetal nose. The praise must stop here, however, as tasting this wine led to nothing but a bitter mouth feel, and disappointment. On the front palate, fading blackberry and slight green pepper dissolve into nothingness. The mid palate, more of the same, with hardly any acidity or complexity coming through at all. A little bit of spiciness try to shine through, like the sun on a rainy day, but nothing worth crediting. Lastly, the finish presents a medium-firm tannic structure that manifests itself in a bitter mouth feel. This wine barely falls short of being labeled tannic water. Deceptively exciting in the glass, bitterly disappointing on the palate.

Rating: *(*/2) (1.5 Stars)

Try/Buy/Pass: PASS

2015 Willamette Valley Vineyards Estate Pinot Noir Review

Price: $26.99/bottle (Meijer)

Alcohol: 14.3%

Body: Medium-Full

Sweetness: Dry

Varietals: 100% Pinot Noir

Tasting Notes: Chilled ~ 13 mins, poured into decanter with filter before serving

The first thing one will notice on this wine is the scarlet, almost blood-like hues. This wine is

absolutely stunning in the glass, and on the swirl, left behind well-structured, almost perfectly symmetrical legs. Before I could even get the glass to my nose, earthy notes of dirt, pine, slight manure, and underlying floral scents explode into the room. Black currant and blueberry also join the party, as modest oak indicators round out this exceptional bouquet. Between the marvelous appearance and delectable nose, it feels almost blasphemous to consume this work of art. Being the mischievous person that I am, I dive into the front-palate of this wine, noticing faint strawberry and blueberry. Bright but unassuming fruit excite the taste buds while fungal forest flavors give the complexity that everyone desires. The mid-palate shows a generous acidity, balanced by slight oaky vanilla, tart strawberries and sour cherries. As the light floral and fruit notes fade away, unmissable forest notes become clear in an unbelievably long and silky smooth finish. Pine, mushroom, fungus, and wet leaves accentuate the pronounced menthol characteristic in this wonderful effort. This Pinot is everything you could ask for.

Rating: ***** (5 Stars)

Try/Buy/Pass: BUY

2015 Apostura Campo de Borja Review

Price: $20/bottle (Lot18.com)

Alcohol: 13.5%

Body: Medium-Full

Sweetness: Dry

Varietals: 50% Granacha, 50% Tempranillo

Tasting Notes: Open ~ 1 hour in bottle

In the glass, this ravishing Grenache blend displays an intense crimson color with wonderful amber undertones. On the nose, abundant fruit forward aromas of plum, red berries, and slight red currant coat themselves in a delicious tobacco smoke. I am instantly reminded of late night philosophy sessions on the porch, losing myself in repeating rounds of cherry wood pipe tobacco, $3 wine, and the occasional spliff. The front-palate stays true to its nose with delicious raspberry, cranberry, and pomegranate being extremely prominent. On the transition, this beautiful blend makes use of both varietals wonderfully with obvious citrus; orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit all make themselves evident, balanced by an acidity that left me smacking my lips, and a lingering smoke. Like, the stunning French girl you met at the bar once and never saw again, you're left yearning for one more kiss. While this wine does an immaculate job in almost all aspects, perfection is often unobtainable. Although delicious, the extremely fruity character of this wine is slightly overpowering, especially on the finish as this wine lacks an intriguing tannin structure. I felt myself losing the flavor of this wine quickly, and while the smoke battles to provide interesting counter-characteristics, the lack of tannin is too much to overlook completely. Absolutely delicious wine, but leaves you wanting just a little more.

Rating: **** (4 stars)

Try/Buy/Pass: TRY

2016 La Marquise Cotes du Rhone Blanc Review

Price: $18/bottle (Lot18.com)

Alcohol: 13%

Body: Medium

Sweetness: Dry

Varietals: 40% Grenache Blanc, 30% Viognier, 15% Roussane, 15% Clairette

Tasting Notes: Chilled ~ 20 mins in ice bath

At first appearance, this wine possesses a very deep straw-gold color, and has well-defined, slow moving legs. On the nose, it is simply impossible to ignore the bright notes of pear, peach, and green apple. As it opens up in the glass, subtle hints of asphalt and earth components come to mind, bringing me back to family orchard trips in the fall; even more emphasized by light scents of oak that round out the nose. Upon first sip, slight elements of peach, flowers, and wet pavement make themselves known. Unfortunately, the front palate of this wine can start to feel a little flat and almost water-like, leaving something to be desired. The acidity quickly rescues this wine in the mid-palate, however, as obvious pear and latent citrus compete with underlying tea-like spice. The finish of this wine is very well balanced, with the crisp acidity playing perfectly with the modest buttery oak.

Rating: **** (4 Stars)

Try/Buy/Pass: BUY

Tasting Room Unboxing

Head over to Youtube to check out my first ever unboxing video. Reviews on all the wines to follow!!

https://youtu.be/rIZQX5icKls