International wine-venture: United Stars, Alazanis Valley Semi-Sweet Red, Koncho Winery, City of Kvareli, Georgia

I've wanted to try wine from Georgia (the country) for a while. This is probably because for a long time, it had never occured to me that Georgia made wine. But it does! In fact, some claim it has been making wine since 7000 BC, which is a very long time indeed. It used to be the wine cellar of the Soviet Union, but then that ended, and between trade restrictions and war Russia stopped buying their wine (they had previously made up 80% of their export markett). This is of course quite obviously bad news for Georgia and their wine makers, but on the very-slightly good news side, it's forced them to up their quality and become competitive in a broader market (including Canada, which stocks up to 12 different Georgian wines). Their wine markets' profits have supposedly almost recovered,and the quality has apparently markedly improved.

And so, I decided to go on a wine-venture into untrod territories. It was hard to even find other reviews to suggest what I should expect. But when you wine-venture, you should never travel alone, and so I brought G and E along for the ride (with the promise that if they didn't like it, I would bring a well-reviewed Rose as well!). For a wine-venture, this turned out to be successful! Using my new rating system, even E drank it willingly. At $13.95 a bottle, it is a little pricier than some wines we've tried, but it was unique and very drinkable. It won over our non-red wine drinkers even! So next time you are feeling adventerous, keep Georgia on your mind!

A - This wine smells like a nice red wine (fruity and rich, not floral or alcohol-y). It tastes like a slightly less robust red, it is not forceful or grapey. It is fruity, like raspberries and strawberries, but isn't particularily woody or oaky. It is a quite sweet but very drinkable wine. It is also a very dark purple colour, but light-tasting for its colour. I would drink it again, though it is a lighter red. I was inclined to think it was more of a summer wine, but it stood up well to dinner (beef stew with biscuits), so it can act as a sipper or stand up to a meaty dinner (I guess this makes sense in hindsight).

E - This wine has no bite, like I have come to expect from red wines. I taste it more at the back of my tongue than the front of it. It is sweet and I would drink it.

G - This is a pleasant wine, it is nice and I am not ususally a huge fan of reds, but this one is nice. It has kind of a metallic aftertaste. It matched well with the stew as well, so was a good choice for dinner.

Hardy's Stamps of Australia, 2013 Riesling Gewurtztraminer

Winter is not a great time for budgets. It probably isn’t the best time of year to be spending lots of money on wine. That being said, A finished another big step in her really long project and wanted to celebrate, but this time on a budget. Hardy’s Stamps of Australia Riesling Gewürztraminer fits the bill. A generally likes the sweetness of them, and at $9.95, it is hard to be too disappointing. A always tells people that a grape you like at one price, will probably be just fine at a lower price, which was the case for this wine. A even convinced E to give it a try! What did we think? Find out now!

A- This wine smells very strongly like alcohol. Like grain or rubbing alcohol, not like fun fruity alcohol. But it doesn’t taste like alcohol, so that is a plus. Instead it tastes like not much at all in fact. It tastes a bit like apple juice, lychee juice, and water. It has a bit of a peach aftertaste. It is very, very light. This is the wine of a minute, with hardly any aftertaste at all. It isn’t unpleasant, and I may use it in the summer for a spritzer. For $9.95 this is a good wine for summer drinking on your porch. I would not pair it with food, since even pistachios overwhelmed this poor wine. Is this my favourite wine ever? No. Is it even my favourite Riesling Gewürztraminer? Also no. But is it a good, light fruity wine for the summer that isn’t too sharp or acidy? Yes. And that has to count for something! I would take this to a BBQ or a Baby Shower. It is light sipping wine, that would pair well with light finger foods, but is not thanksgiving dinner wine, or a wine you want to give to wine snobs.

E – It smells like champagne, really strongly of champagne. I think it tastes like apples. It is sweet, and I like sweeter white wines anyways. It has a little bit of a carbonated taste, though no bubbles, but it tingles going down. I would drink it if served it, it wasn’t bad tasting.

Rosehall Run Riesling

While the cat is away the mice will play, and so while I was out of town, P and B were kind enough to write a review for me. I wish I had been there because this wine sounds great and came from a local Prince Edward County winery. Overall, they found this wine to have a bit of a sparkle to it. They described it as “like biting in to a bright, fresh, green apple.” They also noted that it has nice balance for a Riesling, to the point it was almost a non-descript wine. While that may seem damning, they really liked it and both wrote they would drink it again.

P - This is a nice sweet wine that is great for sipping. It had a very fruity bouquet and an easy finish. It was great as a casual sipping wine.

B – This wine is really good, which is saying something because I really like ciders usually and am not such a big wine drinker. It is a crisp, light, and easy drinker that I would definitely take again!