Tasting - Knotty Vines

 

Name:  Knotty Vines

Variety: Cabernet Savaugn

Region: Sonoma, California

Country: USA

Year: 2020

Price: 10.99

Wine Review: An indulgent Cabernet Sauvignon packed with mocha and black cherry flavors. This smooth, rich medium bodied wine finishes with playful silky tannins.

Wine Folly:  California’s most famous Cabernet wines come from the North Coast region, which includes Sonoma and Napa Valley. At their best, wines offer lush black fruit flavors that unravel into layers of cedar, dusty minerality, and tobacco-laced tannins (p. 288).

My Review: This wine was very good. I tasted dark fruits and a lot of spice. It was sweet and dry. After a day of leaving it out it went very bland. (3/5)

Tasting - Rusina Zinfandel Lodi

 

Name:  Rusina

Variety: Zinfandel 

Region: Lodi, California

Country: USA

Year: 2020

Price: 10.99

Wine Review: This regal old vine zinfandel is bursting with notes of freshly crushed cherry and berry that are balanced by its bright acidity and firm tannins. Wood smoke and savory undertones add complexity throughout this zin to make it an extraordinarily delicious complement to an array of bold-flavored foods like grilled meats, beef tacos and sausage pizza.  -Lidl

Wine Folly:  In 1994, Zinfandel was shown to share the same DNA as Italian Primitivo and Croatian Tribidrag. Zinfandel bursts with candied fruit and tobacco but is often surprisingly dry with minerally tannins and high alcohol. Sonoma and Lodi offer a fantastic comparison (p. 288). 

My Review: This wine was very good at first. I smelled very sweet raspberry, and some spice. It didn't taste how it smelled, it was dark cherries and dark fruits. Paired well with my pizza. The next day I corked it and tried it again and it was actually undrinkable. (3/5)

Tasting - Famiglia Castellani - Arbos Sangiovese

Name: Famiglia Castellani

Variety:  Sangiovese 

Region: Toscana

Country: Italy

Year: 2019

Price: 10.99

Wine Review: Famiglia Castellani 2019 Sangiovese is fragrant with ripe cherry, cedar spice and minty aromas; the wine is dry, medium-bodied and brilliant on the palate with ripe cherry, spiced plum, fine herbs and vanilla flavours with a toasty oak spice finish. Tannins are velvety. Enjoy this lovely Tuscan red with your favourite lasagne or chicken scarpariello dish. - Natalie MacLean

Wine Folly:  Sangiovese is Italy’s most planted grape and the key variety in Tuscany’s renowned Chianti. It’s sensitive, tasting quite different depending on where it grows (p. 162). 

My Review: This wine was enjoyable but the only thing I could taste was banana flavored Laffy Taffy. The flavor was so strange and it was all I could focus on. (3/5)

Tasting - Clos De Napa Valley Napa Valley Pinot Noir

Name: Clos De Napa Valley

Variety:  Pinot Noir

Region: Napa Valley

Country: USA

Year: 2018

Price: 16.99

Wine Review: This Pinot Noir has and aromas of raspberries, black cherries, red currants and a soft vanilla.

Wine Folly:  The world’s most popular light-bodied red is loved for its red fruit and spice flavors that are accentuated by a long, smooth, soft-tannin finish (p. 150).

My Review: This wine was enjoyable but would have been better around 4 years ago. It had lost its structure and was very hard to describe. I made pasta sauce with it and that pairing was excellent, I just wish the wine had more flavors. (2/5)

Tasting - Gnarly Head Limited Grateful Dead Edition Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

 

Name: Gnarly Head Limited Grateful Dead Edition

Variety:  Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: Lodi, California

Country: USA

Year: 2021

Price: 10.99

Wine Review: This Cabernet Sauvignon is a bold wine grown from some of the oldest vines in California. Gnarly Head’s untamed vines produce full-flavored grapes, dense with aromas of black cherry, juicy blackberry, peppercorn and charred oak. This dense and jammy wine boasts a bold tannin structure and a generous finish for those who like unique, big wines with a little eclectic edge.

Wine Folly: The rich flavor and high tannin content in Cabernet Sauvignon make it a perfect partner to rich grilled meats, peppery sauces, and dishes with high flavor (p. 88).

My Review: This wine was enjoyable. I thought it was very bold and rich. It had pink edges and I tasted spices like pepper. The fruity tastes of black cherry and pomegranates, and something else sweet. It was not very acidic nor tannic and it opened my nose. It also had great mouth feel. (3/5)

Tasting - VOGA Pinot Grigio 2022

Name: VOGA

Variety:  Pinot Grigio

Region: delle Venezie

Country: Italy

Year: 2022

Price: 10.99

Wine Review: Subtle, elegant pure aromas with a nose that exhibits peach pulp, yellow apples and a suggestion of white flowers. The palate is equally light and clean, and leads to a mineral, spring water like finish. 12% ABV

Wine Folly: In Northern Italy is where you’ll find Italy’s top examples of Pinot Grigio (aka Pinot Gris). Wines have subtle tart fruit characteristics supported by delightfully high, tingling acidity. The best regions include Alto Adige and Collio in Friuli-Venezia Giulia (p. 251).

My Review: This wine was surprisingly very good.  I bought it to go with my dinner of chicken breasts marinated in Italian dressing then grilled, with a side of petite potatoes and sweet corn.  I thought the bottle was very cool as well.  I was not expecting a great wine, but this was easily top 5 whites( just behind Larry Bird (jkjk).  The wine smelled like tree fruit and I tasted some spice like fennel.  It was not very floral in my opinion, which I liked and was a perfect balance of sweet and dry.  My friend who was tasting with me described it as earthy and I saw the vision. (4/5)

 

WINE DINNER BLOG REPORT pt. 2