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. 

Ari's Tasting- Kendall Jackson Chardonnay

 

This wine is a Kendall-Jackson Vinter's Reserve Chardonnay; grape variety is Chardonnay. The country of Origin is United States, and the regions vary. Empirewine.com states that Kendall-Jackson has different places they source their Chardonnay as they have four separate places for their products. A wine expert on Wine.com stated, the regions Kendall-Jackson sources their Chardonnay from is the North Coast, Central Coast and the Central Valley. The vintage year is 2021. The price of the wine was $12.99 from Harris Teeter. There was no description of the wine at Harris Teeter, however the Kendall-Jackson website states, "medium-bodied, barrel-fermented wine offers light, toasted oak aromas, attractive baked apple flavors and accents of butter and vanilla. Good balance keeps it going sip after sip after sip, revealing spice and almond nuances." 

Personally, when I swirled and sniffed the wine, I immediately smelled butter and a somewhat sweet aroma almost like maple syrup. When I tasted it, I was getting the buttery taste, but I didn't care for it too much because it reminded me of like a warmed-up cheese like brie, which I wouldn't prefer to drink. I did drink the wine chilled, so not sure where the warmness came from. I tasted oak and some sweetness to it which I thought was fruit, but from reading the description from the website I can see how that sweetness might have been vanilla instead. However, I was getting citrus fruit flavors like a lemon which seems to be on track in regard to the Wine Folly text.

According to Wine Folly page seventy-two, the tastes are "yellow star, starfruit, pineapple, butter and chalk." It's a very fruit forward wine, the body is full, not too dry, and somewhat high acidity.

I think the more I try different wines, the better I am getting at identifying aromas, but tastes I am struggling with a bit. I didn't get hints of almond, spice or vanilla as Kendall-Jackson's website explained it. I will be eager to try this again and see if I can identify vanilla with this wine next time.

Kendall-Jackson Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay 2021 | Wine.com

Kendall Jackson 'Vintners' Reserve Chardonnay 2021 375ml :: Chardonnay (empirewine.com)

Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay (kj.com)

Ari's Tasting- Santa Margarita Pinot Grigio

 

Santa Margarita; the grape variety is Pinot Grigio, country of origin is Italy. This wine is from the Trentino-Alto Adige region which is in Northern Italy. The vintage year was 2021. It was $25.99 at Rite-Aid. There was no description of this wine at Rite-Aid. However, I found this from Wine.com "dry white wine with the delightful aroma of Golden Delicious apples."  Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio 2021 | Wine.com

The taste I was getting from this wine was a grapefruit and lemon taste. When I sniffed and swirled, I smelled very fruity aromas it reminded me of a fruit roll up. The smell was very different than the actual taste. This wine was incredibly dry and light. So, when smelling something so sweet, I was surprised to see that it was not as sweet as the smell. While tasting it grapefruit and lemon were at the forefront of the taste. It was bitter and tart. 

Wine Folly states on page sixty-two. There are flavors of "lemon, yellow apple, melon, nectarine, and peach." With a high acidity and light body. I definitely tasted the high acidity and noticed the lightness of the body. I didn't get any hints of peach, nectarine or yellow apple. However, the melon taste was there as it seemed to be a mellow neutral flavor that was within this wine. I tried to see if I could identify any other flavors when I breathed in the wine to get my olfactory senses working, but to no avail. I think my palate needs more time to adjust and I need to try more wines to learn what it is I am tasting and in which grape variety. I assume with more practice I will be better at identifying more tastes in wines. 

Overall, I enjoyed this wine, and it wasn't bad, but not my absolute favorite. I would drink it again if it was offered to me. 

Ari's Wine and Dinner

 

Freixenet this is a blended wine using Macabeu, Xarel-Lo, and Parallada. The country of origin is Spain. There is no vintage year labeled. The price was $4.79 at Total Wine. Unfortunately, there was no description at Total Wine for this wine. Page forty-seven of Wine Folly mentions that Macabeu adds "floral, apricot and berry flavors." Page 47 also mentions that Xarel-Lo adds acidity. There is no mentioning of Parallada in Wine Folly. What I got from this wine was firey smell when I swirled and sniffed. When I tasted it there was a bit of a spice to me, I'm not sure if this was the Xarel-Lo and its acidity that I was tasting or not, but I having a hard time distinguishing any floral or berry flavors as mentioned in Wine Folly. 

The next wine for the dinner was Saint- Reine Blanc de Blancs Brut. The grape variety is Chardonnay. This wine is from France from Cremant de Bourgogne. There is no vintage year on this bottle. The price was $4.99 at Total Wine. The descriptions at Total Wine for this blend included: green apple, nutty, creamy and fruity. Wine Folly's descriptors of Chardonnay include: "Yellow Apple, Starfruit, Pineapple, Butter, and Chalk" on page seventy-two. My descriptors for this wine were buttered toast and fruity dessert.

The next wine I had for this dinner was La Vostra Prosecco Rose. The grape variety is Prosecco and Rose, this is a blended sparkling wine. Country of origin is Italy the region is Veneto. There was no vintage year on this bottle. The price of this wine was $4.99 at Total Wine. The descriptors at Total Wine were zesty, ripe peach, and cherry. Descriptors for Prosecco include "green apple, honeydew, pear, honeysuckle, and cream" on page fifty-two of Wine Folly. Rose descriptors include, "strawberry. honeydew, rose petal, celery, and orange peel" on page ninety-four of Wine Folly. When I drank this wine, the flavors I noticed were licorice, I think this could be related to the cherry descriptions at Total Wine and the strawberry descriptions of Rose from Wine Folly.

What I had for dinner as an appetizer was a mozzarella, vegetable, and pesto spread on a ciabatta roll. For dinner I had steak and stout with quinoa and vegetables, and for dessert a pumpkin Bundt cake. 

La Vostra with the appetizer did not go well with the appetizer, I don't think the sweetness along with the sparkling of the wine was a good match with this food. I think a lighter white wine that did not sparkle would pair better. Since I was getting licorice aromas with this, I don't think it paired well with anything on the ciabatta roll. Saint-Rene with the appetizer was very light bodied and it was a white wine, so this definitely paired better than the La Vostra, but still something not sparkling would have been much better, I'm not sure that a hefty bread should be with a sparkling beverage in my opinion. The Freixenet was the best pairing with the appetizer because the spice I was tasting with the wine was a great pairing with the freshness of the tomato, pesto and mozzarella. I think this would have been an unmatched pairing if this was not a sparkling wine. 

With the main dish of the steak and stout, this overall, would have been interesting to try with a red wine, as it was a very rich flavor similar to a beef stew. The La Vostra was a bit too sweet with this portion of dinner. The steak flavor was very savory, so the intense sweetness clashed with this quite a bit. There's a red wine I mentioned in a previous blog that I would be intrigued to try this with; a semi-sweet Merlot I found at Trader Joes that I really liked. But moving onto the next wine. The Saint-Rene with this went really well because because it had a similar taste to the pastry part of this steak and stout. The creaminess from the pastry and the "buttery" flavor of the wine went perfectly together. Again, I think this would be another unmatched pairing if this wasn't a sparkling wine. The Freixenet with the steak and stout had no clashing flavors at all the two paired well enough with each other, but it was nothing too exciting. The were a good enough balance but nothing really intriguing popped out about any of them. 

Lastly. the dessert portion of this meal, the La Vostra paired really well with the pumpkin Bundt cake. The spices like cinnamon and pumpkin really stood out well with the sweet nature of this wine. The Saint-Rene wine had a sort of nutty and creamy flavor almost like an egg nogg paired with this dessert. The Freixenet was the worst pair of all three with the dessert because the actual spice similar to black pepper or red pepper in the wine did not pair well with the cinnamon and pumpkin aromatics of the dessert. It also did not help that it was a sparkling wine. 

This overall was a great experience that I can now take with me in the future about knowing more about wine and how to pair it best with meals.

Ari's Wine and Cheese Pairing

Angeline Pinot Noir California 2020; grape variety is Pinot Noir. Country of origin United States in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County. Vintage year is 2020. The price was $8.99 from Total Wine. It is a split bottle.  The descriptors from total wine included, "berries, cola, tea and spice." Descriptors from Wine Folly on page one hundred, include "cranberry, cherry, raspberry, clove and mushroom." What I took away from this wine was, that it was very dry, and it reminded me of soy sauce when I did the chewing method. I'm not necessarily sure where soy sauce came from, but I was having a hard time getting any type of flavoring other than rubbing alcohol, so when I did the chewing method, I noticed that.

Mbali Chenin Blanc/ Viognier 2022; a blended wine, the grape varieties are Chenin Blanc/Viognier. This blend is from South Africa and the Western Cape region. The vintage year is 2022. The price was $7.99 from Trader Joes. Trader Joes did not have any descriptors available. However, I did ask if there were any sweeter wines that they could recommend to me. According to Wine Folly, on page eighty-two, Chenin Blanc has "Lemon, Yellow Apple, Pear, Honey, Chamomile" flavors. Wine Folly gives Viognier wines a flavor of "Tangerine, Peach, Mango, Honeysuckle, Rose" on page seventy-eight. This was one of the sweeter wines of the three with the cheese pairing. My descriptors were of a sweet peach and since it is blended with a Chenin Blanc, I can see how some of my descriptors were something along the lines of "tart fruit" or a literal "dessert tart."

 Cook's California Champagne Brut; variety of grape is Champagne, the country of origin is the United States, there is no vintage year on the bottle. The price was $2.29 at Total Wine. There were no descriptors of the wine at Total Wine. On page forty-eight of Wine Folly, the descriptors of Champagne include, "Citrus, Peach, White Cherry, Almond, and toast." The descriptors I had for this wine included, were buttery and citrus. It reminded me of having a piece of buttered toast with something like strawberry or raspberry jam. I found it to be very enjoyable.

When it came to trying these wines with the cheeses, I bought it was a great way for me to see what I can enhance and correct the next time I make a charcuterie board. I had one cherry goat cheese, a fine herbs goat cheese and a brie cheese. 

When drinking the Champagne, with the cherry goat cheese, I overall did not think the two were a very good match, which I found surprising since I tasted a buttery flavor in the champagne. I thought it could've tasted like a really good pasty. Instead, they contrasted, and I tasted a certain blue cheese type flavor, which I was not expecting. With the herbs and goat cheese this sparkling wine was amazing with it. The cheese has a great dill flavor to me that was truly enhanced with this sparkling wine. It tasted like a fresh sprig of dill to me when I paired them together. The cheese and wine went well together even though the cheese is on the savory side. This surprised me. This wine with the brie cheese was nothing too special. Nothing really special stood out to me, it was almost flavorless, but this is because I was comparing it to having it with the herb goat cheese. 

The Mbali with the cherry goat cheese was a great balance of sweetness for me. No one overpowered the other. It was a great pairing. I think the slight tartness of the wine was a good way to counteract the sweet creaminess of the cherry goat cheese. The Mbali and the herb goat cheese was surprisingly good, as no one overpowered the other with these two as well. It was interesting to see how a sweeter wine did well against a savory cheese. The peachy flavor I had with it did well with the aromatics of the herbs on the cheese. The brie cheese was good, although it did tone down the sweetness of the wine. I suppose this could be a good fit for someone who doesn't like sweeter wines and it is looking to calm it down. 

The Pinot Noir was my least favorite wine altogether out of the three, however it paired with the wines quite okay for the most part. With the cherry goat cheese, this wine was toned down in regard to the dryness, which I enjoyed. With the herb cheese it was great as well, the dryness with this cheese complimented each other well. I think the dill aromas helped with any flavors of the Pinot Noir that I wasn't necessarily fond of. Lastly, the brie cheese with this wine, didn't have a big change for me. This brie cheese that was a part of this pairing was not a sweet brie. It was very middle of the road, so the taste of the wine really did not change for me much when I was pairing these two together, which I was not too happy about because I'm not a fan of dry red wines. 

This cheese and wine pairing was a great opportunity for me and I'm glad I was able to do it. I will take everything I wrote down and noted along with me the next time I do this. 

Ari's Tasting- Cava Rondel Gold

Cava Rondel Gold; grape variety is Cava, country of origin is Spain, in the Bahia region. There is no vintage year on the bottle. The price was $4.99 from Total Wine. Unfortunately, Total Wine did not have a description for this split bottle of wine. 

According to Wine Folly on page, Cava wines have a "Quince, Lime, Yellow Apple, Pear, Almond" flavor, stated on page forty-six. 

The descriptions I had in mind when I was drinking it that I wrote down were fruity, peach, nutty, floral. Sometimes peaches can be on the tart side depending on its ripeness so I think this can match up well with the pear or apple taste that is described in Wine Folly. 

 When I smelled it, I smelled a woody flavor along a floral scent. I identified the floral scent pretty quickly as it reminded me of the smell of a bouquet of flowers. One thing I distinguished very quickly, was that it was a very dry sparkling wine. Personally, I do not like dry wines at all. I have not been able to palate them well. Perhaps, if I ate it with food I might have felt differently. 

I'm not very sure if I would buy this again. I might try to it if someone else has it to see if my palate has changed since the time, I tried it. 

Ari's Tasting- Borrasca Prosecco DOCG

Borrasca Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG; the grape variety is Prosecco; country of origin is Italy from the Glera Region. There is no vintage year. The price of the wine was $5.49 since I got split bottle.

 I bought it from Total Wine. The review from Total Wine mentioned that it had tastes of floral, pears, and almonds. I drank this small glass with some chips and guacamole. When I tasted the wine on its own it was similar to a Greek olive to me. Which I found interesting since the descriptions at Total Wine were completely different. I smelled the wine and smelled a green apple, which when tasting how sour or tart a green apple and Greek olive are, I suppose, I wasn't too far off. I did the chewing method because I was perplexed why my first thought was a Greek olive. When I did that, I noticed a tartness like a blackberry. 

What I was tasting became a little clearer to me when I read the Wine Folly text, it describes Proseccos to have a "Quince, Ripe Pear, Green Apple, and Apricot" taste on page fifty-two. The ripe pear makes sense because they are more tart. 

Overall, this was a pretty good wine, and it was palatable for me to drink, typically, I'm very picky with what I drink when it comes to wine. It was very light feeling in my mouth, and I think since I'm fairly new to wine this was something I was able to drink with very little issues of actually wanting to finish the wine. In regard to having it with guacamole, I'm not sure a sparkling wine is the best combination with guacamole, or any wine at all (even though I've never tried any other wines with guacamole before). I'm very fond of Tequila and any Hispanic foods so perhaps I'm a bit biased. When I tried this Prosecco with the guacamole the sour Greek olive taste became a bit more overpowering, so I didn't continue to mix them together after the fact.

If this wine is ever in my presence again, I would definitely drink some more.