Ari's Wine and Cheese Blog

Lamarca Prosecco; the grape variety is prosecco, country of origin is Italy, the region is Veneto there is no vintage year, the price was $5.49 at Food Lion. There was no description of the wine at Food Lion, but Total Wine has described it as having "peach and clementine flavors." According to Wine Folly, on page 52 the flavors are described as "green apple, honeydew, pear, honeysuckle, and pear." The aromas of this wine were similar to cheese and also fruit forward, the flavors of the wine were savory. It was a heavier sparkling wine, so fuller bodied. I would definitely drink this wine again. I paired it with three cheese, sharp cheddar, pepper jack, and Colby jack. The wine became more tart with the sharp cheddar, the wine became a bit sweeter when trying it with the pepper jack cheese. Lastly, the wine with it became more fruit forward. 

La Marca Prosecco | Total Wine & More

Moscato d'Asti; the grape variety is Moscato, the country of origin is Italy, and the region is Piedmont, there is no vintage year, the price of this wine was $5.00 at Food Lion. There was no description of this wine at Food Lion, on Total Wine it was described as "fruit, tangerines and honey." As described in Wine Folly, on page 86 "lemon, mandarin orange, pear, orange blossom and honeysuckle." This wine is very sweet, has flavors of honey and apple, it reminds me of mead. It is very light bodied wine. I struggled with noticing any different flavors with this wine with any of the cheese I paired because of how sweet this wine is. 

Risata Moscato d'Asti | Total Wine & More

Sauvignon Blanc; grape variety is Sauvignon Blanc, country of origin is United States, and the region is California, there is no vintage year and the price at Food Lion was $5.00. There was no description of this wine at Food Lion, but on Total Wine, the flavors of "honeydew, nectarine, followed by lime, with a soft smoky finish." On page 64 of Wine Folly, the descriptors of the wine include "gooseberry, green melon, grapefruit, white peach, and passion fruit." 

This wine is very fruit forward and buttery in the aromas. The flavors I was getting was green apple and peach. The wine is tart, and it is full bodied. The wine with the three cheeses were all very different. With the sharp cheddar it became tarter, with the pepper jack it mimicked the cheese and became spicy. With the Colby jack it became savory and more reminded me of olives. I don't believe I will drink this wine again. I do not care for the flavors and the tartness. 

 Barefoot Cellars Sauvignon Blanc | Total Wine & More

Ari's Tasting- Black Box Merlot

Black Box Merlot; grape variety is Merlot, country of origin is the United States, the region of origin is California, vintage year is 2021, the price was $4.99 at Food Lion. 

There was no description of this wine at Food Lion, however Total Wine has a description of it. They describe this wine as a "hearty plum, vanilla, with cinnamon aromas, with flavors of black cherry and red cherry." 

Black Box Merlot | Total Wine & More

According to Wine Folly, on page 116 Merlot grapes give wine flavors of "raspberry, black cherry, sugar plum, chocolate, and cedar." When I tried this wine, it had a very tart flavor, almost lip puckering, I assume this is where cherry flavors play a part. Besides this, the wines aromas are very buttery. There is a distinct flavor of some sort of spices, so I see the cinnamon aromas described by Total Wine. This is a fuller bodied wine and I actually do not mind it. I could see myself drinking this again. 

 

Ari's Tasting- Barefoot Sweet Red Blend

 

Barefoot Sweet Red Blend; according to Total Wine the blend includes Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Barbera, Grenache and Petite Sirah. country of Origin is the United States, and the region and vintage year are not available with this wine. The price was $4.99 at Food Lion. 

There was no description of the wine at Food Lion, however Total Wine explains it as "ripe, jammy, with flavors of raspberry, plum, cherry, with a smooth finish."

Barefoot Cellars Sweet Red Blend | Total Wine & More

When I did the sniff and swirl test for this wine, I smelled a sweet fruity smell similar to a hard candy. When I tasted this wine, I tasted berries, and it was similar to a jelly for me. I couldn't taste anything else at first, but then I breathed in the wine and chewed it and got a chocolate taste. It reminded me of a dessert with raspberry and chocolate. This is a very smooth wine, and I would definitely drink it again. I was a little worried it would be too sweet since it is a Barefoot Wine. 

Page 128 of Wine Folly states that Zinfandels have flavors of "blackberry, strawberry, peach preserves, 5 spice powder, and sweet tobacco." Page 100 states Pinot Noir has flavors of "cranberry, cherry, raspberry, clove, mushroom." Page 104 states Barbera has flavors of "sour cherry, licorice, blackberry, dried herbs and tar." Page 112 explains how Grenache has flavors of "dried strawberry, grilled plum, grapefruit, leather, licorice." Page 148 states that Petite Sirah has flavors of "sugar plum, blueberry, dark chocolate, black pepper, and black tea." These descriptions validated the flavors I was getting from it when I tried it myself.

Ari's Tasting- Slim Vine Sauvignon Blanc

 Slim Vine- Light- Monterey County Sauvignon Blanc 2021; the grape varietal is a Sauvignon Blanc, country of origin is the United States, region of origin is Monterey County of California. The vintage year is 2021. The price was $8.00 at Trader Joes. 

Trader Joes did not have a description of the wine, however, I found on cheapwinefinder.com that the description is "lemon, lime, pineapple, green apple, hint of cream and light grass."

When I did the sniff and swirl test, I smelled hints of honey dew and a buttery smell, so I know there is quite a bit of yeast in it. The aromas were very fresh and light. I found the wine flavors to be similar of melons like cantaloupe, honey dew and watermelon because of how light, fresh and watery it tastes. 

According to Wine Folly, on page 64 the dominant flavors include, "gooseberry, green melon, grapefruit, white peach, and passion fruit." This makes sense as to what I was tasting, I must be on track. 

Overall, this wine was not exactly my favorite, but I purchased it so its 85 calories. I guess if I'm concerned about my caloric intake for the day then I will try this again. Otherwise probably not. Slim Vine Light Sauvignon Blanc 2020 - Cheap Wine Finder

Ari's Tasting- Villa Alena Moscato D' Asti

 Villa Alena Moscato D'Asti; the grape varietal is Moscato, country of origin is Italy and region is Piemonte of Italy. There is no vintage year. The price was $8.00 at Trader Joes. 

There was no description of this wine at Trader Joes but based on Vivino.com the descriptions were "peach, apple, pear, honey, stone, citrus, lemon, mandarin." 

Villa Alena Moscato d'Asti | Vivino

According to Wine Folly, on page 86 there are flavors of "lemon, mandarin, pear, orange blossom, honeysuckle." in Moscato varietals. 

When I did the sniff and swirl test, I was getting floral like aromas. When I drank this wine, I was instantly tasting honey and peach. I thought it was very similar to mead. I thoroughly enjoyed this wine, and I would definitely love to explore this with some food at some point. I can see how this can become too much too quickly, because this wine in particular is very sweet. 

Ari's tasting- Joseph Handler, sweet red, Rheinhessen

 

This wine is Joseph Handler sweet red. The grape varietal is Dornfelder. The country of origin is Germany, and the region of origin is Rheinhessen. The vintage year is 2021. I got this wine from Trader Joes and the price was $6.99.

Trader Joes did not have a description of the wine, so I did some searching and on Vivino.com it had descriptions of having raspberry, cherry, strawberry, plum, blueberry, jam and cheese (yeasty) flavors. 2018 Joseph Händler Sweet Red | Vivino

When I did the swirl and sniff test I got aromas of tobacco, and earthy smells. However, when I tasted the wine, it was completely different from that. It is a very light bodied wine, somewhat acidic, not very tart, and it was very fruity. All of these qualities of this wine are great for someone with a less diverse palate. 

According to Wine Folly on page 196, dornfelder grapes are a "simple medium red wine with sweet red fruit flavors, an herbaceous green note, medium tannin, and spicy acidity."

I thoroughly enjoyed this wine, and I will buy more the next time I go to Trader Joes. The price was great, and I am happy with the qualities of the wine. 

Ari's Tasting- Horton Cabernet Franc

 

Horton Cabernet Franc; the varietal is Cabernet Franc. The country of origin is the United States, and the region is Orange County, Virginia. The vintage year is 2015. I did not buy this bottle; my cousin gave it to me because they did not want it. I see on winesearcher.com it was most likely $18 for the bottle. Where to buy 2015 Horton Vineyards Cabernet Franc, Orange County | prices & local stores in VA, USA (wine-searcher.com)

Since I did not buy this wine I didn't see any descriptors of what the store said about it. On Vivino.com people noted this wine to have hints of oak, vanilla, tobacco, earth, smoke, tar, cherry, raspberry and cranberry. 2015 Horton Cabernet Franc | Vivino

According to Wine Folly, on page 106 the dominant flavors of a Cabernet Franc are "strawberry, roasted pepper, red plum, crushed gravel and chili pepper." They are rich in tannins and has a lot of acidity according to the graph on page 106.

When I did the swirl and sniff test on this wine, I immediately got an aroma of raspberry. It reminded me of raspberry jam. The wine was very tart and acidic, a little too overpowering for the kind of palate I have as of right now. However, I was able to get over it somewhat when I breathed the wine in and started using my olfactory senses. At that point, I tasted a very sweet taste, and it reminded me of a fruity candy. So, I immediately noticed the fruity flavors of this wine. 

I honestly couldn't pick up any other flavors in this wine. It was a medium bodied wine and very acidic. This isn't something that I'm very excited to try again. However, since I will be drinking more wine throughout my life, I am interested to see if this might be something I'm interested in tasting at another point.