Valentine Special - Torres San Valentin Garnacha

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
One of my friends gave me chocolate,
So I wrote a wine review!

One day A was shopping with a friend, M. They stopped at Shopper's Drugmart, and A spotted the most amazing chocolate box, which combined her love of glitter and wine. She mentioned to M that she couldn't wait until February 15th, when she would go back and buy this box of chocolate half price. M and A parted ways while A went to buy lip gloss. Serious Business. After checking out, M gifted A with this wonderful box of chocolates, meaning she could enjoy it RIGHT AWAY! Score! To show her appreciation, A decided to enjoy this gift with a wine from the Valentine's Day section of  the LCBO, Torres San Valentin Garnacha. It is $12.90, but is only around for a limited time!

Torres is a big Spanish wine conglomerate. Their usual Garnacha, Torres Sangre De Toro Garnacha, Catalunya, is available year round. This Garnacha is different. Instead of a bull on the bottle, it has a cupid. There is also a very small difference in sugar content (the Sangre De Toro has 6 grams of sugar per litre, and the San Valentin has 2 grams of sugar per litre). This accounts for a VERY slight taste difference, but both are certainly not sweet sweet wines. For comparison, Cupcake's Red Velvet wine has 19 grams.

 

To enhance the flavour of this wine, I served it in a wine glass with a heart at the top of the stem. Because, you know, theme is very important. 

 

  

This is all well and good, but what does it taste like? 

A - This wine is surprisingly fruity for something that should be dry and is very pleasant to drink, without being too sweet. There is a touch of less sweet fruit flavours, like raspberries and cranberries, with none of the puckering tartness that could be associated with these flavours in a wine that tastes less good. This wine was definitely not a juicy wine, but was pleasantly flavourful and fruity, and I didn't get any of the puckering taste that can sometimes come with dry wines. I really enjoyed this wine on its own. Eating the milk chocolate in my chocolate box brought out the fruitiness of this wine and made it seem sweeter. (Editor's note: for those wondering, the box contains traditional milk chocolate hearts) When drank with an Italian meal of spaghetti and meatballs, this wine got a bit overwhelmed. It did bring out some oakiness though, which was not a bad thing. Overall, this wine is a tasty wine to drink on its own for people who like a drier red. It isn't too sweet, but it also isn't so dry it leaves your mouth feeling dry. If your sweetheart likes dry wines, search this one out (or the other Torres Garnacha, which is similar). If your sweetheart hates dry wines, AVOID! I would drink this on its own, with a fruity pork dish, or dessert.

P - This wine smells very mild. However, I found it to be very, very dry and I don't like dry wines (Editor's note: her face immediately indicated her dislike). I couldn't taste anything because I found it to be so overwhelmingly dry. This definitely did not improve with chocolate, and that is a rare statement for me. This wine is not for me.

W - There is a little bit of oakiness to this wine that is quite pleasant for a wine in this price range. It is a very mild red. It has good body, and there were legs. It was a very pleasant sipping wine. The light flavour lets you taste the chocolate. It would be good for desserts or drinking on its own. I found it was overpowered by dinner.

As a hilarious aside, the white ribbon on the wine turned pink over the course of pouring. 

Enjoy your Valentine's wine, whatever it may be!

 

Ridge Road Winery - 2010 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay

To celebrate Father's Day today, we in the M household are enjoying a man's man's wine. Normally a beer guy, we found this Chardonnay while taste testing at Ridge Road Winery on Easter weekend this year, and J had to buy a bottle. I never say no to adding a nice vintage to the wine rack but I have to say this isn't my usual fare.

J: Perfect. It tastes like wood, in a good way, and a bit fruity. Not too dry, not too sweet. It went well with shrimp and steak.

M: This wine has a honey smell and manages to be light but full-flavoured at the same time. Almost the white equivalent to the 2010 Apothic Red we reviewed a while back, this Chardonnay is the thing of leather club chairs and cigars. That being said it might not be for everyone. It wasn't my first choice at our wine tasting back in April and only two of our party of four picked up a bottle of it. However, on second tasting I find I really dig the complex, slightly unusual flavours. Definitely a sipping wine and not what you might consider a general crowd pleaser, at $16.95 it's worth a taste. Or even a second chance.

Back on the barrel--Winexpert Australian Shiraz

Since having bebe O I have to admit wine just isn't the same. Until tonight that is. Tonight I'm sipping an Australian Shiraz that I bottled in one of those make your own wine places. I know what you're thinking, aren't those places for diy weddings and the ultra cheap? Well my dear reader, I am the ultra cheap in case you forgot and I swear the Winexpert Australian Shiraz is actually good. So good that after a long day of Mommy-ing I cracked a bottle open and rekindled my love for that sweet red nectar. I won't lie, I've been saving my 2012 Ridge Road Pinot Noir and a very fancy Argentinian red I got from a work supervisor until I got my vino groove back. Well consider it back, and that's all thanks to a Shiraz that came out to under $5 a bottle. A pretty full-bodied red, it isn't overwhelming or too alcohol-y which you might expect for a kit. It's on the dry side and good for sipping on its own or with popcorn - my favourite pairing.

Here's the link for this particular kit and look forward to more posts on the pros and cons of home and in-store wine making in the near future.

http://www.winexpert.com/products/premium/selection-international-series

Ironstone Obsession Symphony

I like to hear about wines that other people who claim not to be wine people like. These adventures often reveal that they are probably more "wine people" than they realize but may be turned off by flavours that are common in certain common varietals (I'm looking at you Chardonnay, Merlot, oaked wines, etc.). People start to think that all wines have to be dry, heavy, powerful, etc. and that is not the case at all! I believe there is a varietal for everyone, you just have to find out what they like. K's friend L was just such a person, but this is his favourite wine. He claims not to like most wines, but I think judging by this one, he just probably would prefer sweeter ones over dry, heavy, oaky wines. L's favourite wine is Ironstone Obession's Symphony wine. The winery is from California  and the bottle rings in at around $15.15. I would reccomend it for people who like their wines sweet and cold, like P. Enjoy!

L -  This is my favourite wine. I really like how sweet it is. It has a very strong flavour to it. It leaves a nice, sweet aftertaste in your mouth. There is a certain zing to it as well. I enjoy this kind of sweetness and can see how it smells like flowers. It would be very hard to match with foods but I would drink it on its own or with a fruity salad, like a spinach salad with fruits, nuts, and a cheese.

K - This wine is very sweet and syrupy with a bit of a fizzy taste.

A - This wine smells like a very sweet flowery syrup, maybe like elderberry syrup. It is sweet like the previously reviewed Black Tower but not as syrupy or peachy. It is a little bit tingly and more like a mango-type tropical fruit flavour. I really like this wine. It is a good wine for socializing. It is quite a sweet wine, so I worry that if one is not careful, it may lead to hangovers!

Cattail Creek Estates Winery, Gamay Noir, 2011, VQA

Winter is an annoying time. A is not in the mood for fun or summery wines because they make her bitter about this prolonged winter. But she also cannot survive on heavy reds alone. Enter the Cattail Creek Gamay Noir. This wine is atypical, in that it is ok to chill it. It is a lighter wine, both in colour and taste, and also is the right wine in taste and weight for light wine winter drinking. Not tropical enough to send A into a state of rage, but not heavy enough to emphasize the fact that winter is still here. At $15.95 it is on the edge of the "everyday" drinking budget, but is worth it for a unique taste. What did A think? Check it out!

A - As you can see in the picture, this is an incredibly light coloured red wine. When I was pouring it, it looked more like a rosé in colour. It has a light rose-coloured tint. It smells smoky and fruity, like raspberries, and has a bit of a vanilla-esque sweetness. It is also a very soft tasting wine. It tastes a bit like plums and rose petals (dusty, floral, and dry). It is definitely not an aggressive tasting wine, but it does have a bit of an alcohol aftertaste. I drank it with my turkey-for-two from the local butcher (a bacon-wrapped stuffed turkey breast from the local butcher). The meaty smokey-ness brought out the jammy sweetness of cherries and plums in this wine, and it cut the alcohol finish. I quite liked this wine with dinner. It is light but not delicate, so pairs well with heartier foods. It is also a bit woody, like a sweet cherry wood that is not overwhleming. While I liked this wine, it has a very distinct flavour that may not make it a crowd pleaser. The dry, slightly floral taste may be a turn off for those who like fruitier reds, but also those who like more chocolate-y or woody reds. The gamay is not always a popular grape, so serve this with a dinner, where its flavours would be better balanced and it would come across as more fruity, but not at a party where you are trying to please a lot of people. This was also good for sipping, both chilled and unchilled, and would make a good sangria base for all people.

Dreaming Tree, Everyday (white blend), California

It was another night in in Kingston, and though it isn't spring, it was time for a chilled white, dammit! B was baking lemon cupcakes with a bumbleberry filling and French chocolate icing, which is an impressive feat for somebody while drinking. B and C have a new kitchen, so we drank this blend called Everyday, from Dreaming Tree, a California winery. I had picked it up in a gift set at Christmas for 23.90$. Alas, the giftset is sold out, but I will review Dreaming Tree's red, which is still available, later on. A collaboration with Dave Matthews, the cork had cute song lyrics on it

Today was also a chance to try out B and C's housewarming gift from K, a fancy electronic wine opener. You put it on the cork, press the button (while holding the bottle) and it takes the cork out.

It worked pretty well. It took us three button presses to get the cork fully out. This wine tool would be handy for people with hand issues, like arthritis, who may find traditional corks hard to grip. It is quite fancy and may make a good gift for the wine lover in your life. But now on to the wine!

A - This wine is a very fruity smelling blend, like lemons and light coloured fruits. It is a very light tasting wine as well, that would be excellent with the dessert we are preparing tonight, or on its own. It is fruity, and tastes like lychees, pears, and white grape juice. It has no aftertaste or alcoholic flavour. Overall, this is a very pleasant wine. I would drink it again. It tastes like sunshine. It is also very light coloured in the glass and isn't thick or syrupy. A great blend!

B - This wine tastes cidery, and like white grapes as well. I would also drink this wine again, readily and in great quantity. I would drink it with grilled salmon or other similar grilled seafood

C- I don't know what to think, it is a bit dry but very light, without a lot of aftertaste. It was hard to pin down the flavour (maybe a bit of apple?) but it is definitely fruity. I would definitely drink it again, because it tastes good and not strong, but it is also a good price.

Konzelmann, Heritage 2010 (VQA)

The LCBO has closed one of their wine warehouses, and as a result, many of their vintages stores are having clearance sales. This wine came from one of those sales, reduced from $20.25 to $15.25, making it more within reach of the average grad student.  This is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Shiraz. As the bottle says, “Together they generate a unique myriad of flavours which are masterfully woven together to become more than the sum of their parts. Cabernet Sauvignon provides a structuring density, and heartiness. A charge of espresso and black pepper from the Shiraz is balanced seamlessly with the red berry fruit flavours of the Merlot.” My mom said that it was nice and drinkable, making it a good mix between a real red drinkers wine and a non-red wine drinkers one.

Dad- I can’t get over the legs on this wine, it’s been a long time since I have had a wine with as many legs as this one. Dry, full-bodied, and it has that smokiness to it. It tastes like cherries and I can’t taste what it is heavier on. It is heavier on the Shiraz I think and you don’t get much of a Merlot taste. It is very peppery, which is why I think it is more of a Shiraz blend. I really like the wine, but it is not a wine you would want to drink more than one or two glasses of because it is very full-bodied, though it would go well with a meal, like a good steak or a roast, like the one A’s Mom makes.

A – This wine smells like a coffee liquer. But it tastes, as my sister would say, like wine. This is a good thing. It is a very strong wine, with a cranberry raspberry start. It is quite dry, which you really get on the finish and its peppery after taste. Like imagine licking black pepper, and it leaving your tongue dry, but balanced with fruits. It is a pretty spicy wine, but is well-rounded. It is a very dark wine. It is a very strong wine, that would be best served with a good meal, or on a rainy night.