Rosemount Estate

Name: Rosemount Estate

Variety: Moscato

Origin: Australia

Price: $12 ($3.95 Sale)

VC Review: "Clear, medium-lemon yellow in appearance; lovely citrus and honeysuckle aromas with lemon, honeysuckle, apple, and ripe yellow plum flavours. Serve chilled with angel food cake or fresh fruit and mild cheeses."

My Review: Smells of apples and pears. Tasted like them too. Cheesecake texture. Average wine overall but nothing special. It was extremely easy to drink at only about 8%. alcohol content so I guess that's a bonus or negative depending on how you look at it. 

Garnacha de Fuego

Name: Garnacha de Fuego

Variety: Old Vine Grenache

Origin: Aragon, Spain

Price: $8.95

VC Review: "The 2011 Garnacha de Fuego, a 100% Grenache cuvee, was aged in both stainless steel and neutral French oak. There are 10,000 cases for the United States. This amazing wine boasts a dark ruby/purple color along with a sweet kiss of jammy black cherries intertwined with crushed rock notes that give the wine an undeniable minerality. As it hits the palate, a full-bodied, voluptuous texture takes hold and the flavor profile moves towards blacker fruits (ripe raspberries and black currants) intermixed with camphor and forest floor. This full-bodied, rich, glycerin-filled effort should drink well for 4-5 years, perhaps longer."

My Review: Smooth velvet cake smell. Definitely understand why this is a dessert wine. It tasted strongly of cherries, blackberries, and the drink Malta Goya. It was definitely dryer than I expected which kind of threw off the initial appeal. I'd prefer a dessert wine to be less dry. 

Librandi Ciro

Name: Librandi Ciro

Variety: Rosso Classico

Origin: Italy

Price: $14 ($7.95 Sale)

VC Review: "Don’t let the pale garnet color fool you:  this is a substantial wine.  Aromas of red fruits and spice complement undertones of cranberries, wild berries, and plums.  On the palate, ripe tannins and good body make for an incredibly rich, yet easygoing red wine.Pair this wine with sausage, spicy curry sauces, hot soppressata, and tandoori chicken."

My Review: Sharp on the nose - ginger and spice hits your nostrils. It tasted of Macintosh apples, plums, and cranberry sauce. Somewhat sour tasting wine, which surprised me because of ow plush and sweet the smell was. This wine was also a tad bit bitter, but in more of a cough syrup way - as the texture was syrupy itself. Not my style of wine necessarily. 

Angove

Name: Angove

Variety: Viognier

Origin: Australia

Price: $15 ($5.95 Sale)

VC Review: "Bright light straw in colour with some green hues, this wine has a lush ripe tropical fruit aroma. This is a fuller bodied white which fills the mouth with heady flavours of apricot, peach and citrus.

Angove Nine Vines Viognier is perfect for today's relaxed life-style and is the ideal accompaniment to grilled prawns with chilli and garlic or roast pork."

My Review: Compared to the previous wine, the nose was a lot more overbearing - strong citrus and nectarine scent. The wine was also fuller-bodied than the last one and I'd describe the taste as refreshingly bitter. It was bitter in a kola nut sort of way. Could also taste peach/nectarine/lemon definitely. I ended up buying this bottle, as I felt it was the best value of the day. Very solid wine.

Yealands

Name: Yealands Estate 

Variety: Sauvignon Blanc

Origin: New Zealand

Price: $21 ($7.95 Sale)

VC Review: “This aromatic wine shows lifted flavours of blackcurrant with underlying notes of wet stone and thyme. The palate is elegant yet full with sufficient weight and texture, balanced by a flinty minerality. This wine is a fantastic match with foods such as cheese salad, poultry dishes and a wide range of seafood dishes including freshly shucked natural oysters, prawns, green lip mussels and creamy scallops.” 

My Review: This wine had a very noticeable, pleasant peach scent. More so fresh peach than that of a Snapple iced tea, for example. Taste-wise, it was a medium-toned and citrus filled. There was a cat-pee feeling/finish that came about once I swallowed -- I could taste the aroma of it. I did not consume with food, just at the Cellar. Overall decent wine (7.5/10)

Heinz Eifel Shine

Name: Heinz Eifel Shine

Variety: Reisling

Origin: Germany

Price:  $9.95

VC Review: “This drier-styled Riesling is bright, fruity and floral with crisp acidity and clean flavors of apple, pear and peach that compliment its stony minerality and earthy complexity. It serves well as an aperitif and matches a wide variety of foods, like lighter salad dishes, shellfish, cream sauces and also anything with a touch of spice.”

My Review: Nice nose, smelled of peaches and sprite. There weren't overwhelming flavors, but did taste white grapes and pear. There have been better reislings at the wine tastings.

Atlas Cumbres

Name: Atlas Cumbres

Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon

Origin: Argentina

Price: $15

VC Review: "Intense red color with violet highlights, with clean, fresh and complex aromas of berries, plums, figs and pepper. Strong personality is in perfect balance with a medium body and pleasant tannins. Ideal for: red meats, cheeses and strong sauces"

My Review: This was probably the strongest wine of the day. Deep ruby color, and had a strong nose as hoped. I could smell ginger once again along with grape and plums. The finish was impressive, and that's what stood out most. While it was strong, it wasn't overwhelming. Good balance.

Georges DuBoeuf

Name: Georges DuBoeuf

Variety: Beaujolais Nouveau

Origin: France

Price: $14 ($3.95 Sale)

VC Review: “Balanced and lightly creamy, offering pretty flavors of plum sauce and raspberry coulis threaded with hints of ground spice. Elegant, with a floral finish. Drink now”

My Review: Very interesting bottle. The nose was very pleasant – a tad spicy (smelled like a wine-ginger air spray). When whisking the wine around my mouth I also picked up on the ginger/spiciness, and even tasted a bit like spiced pumpkin-products. There were also more obvious raspberry and cherry flavors I picked up on.

Bricco dei Tati Rose

Name: Bricco dei Tati

Variety: Rose

Origin: Italy

Price: $7.95

VC Review: "Fresh with aromas of strawberries, cherries and rose petals. This is ideal with shellfish, salads, chicken, and with appetizers."

My Review: This wine smelled like a mixture of hard candy and wet dirt. Right from the initial sip, I could make out raspberry, strawberry and unripe cherries. The finish wasn't long lasting, but it was smooth. This is a wine you could drink on your own and not notice yourself getting drunker. I feel like it'd go well with chicken and/or alfredo pasta dishes.

Frascati Volpetti

Name: Frascati 

Variety: Volpetti

Origin: Italy

Price: $7.95

VC Review: “Straw yellow in color with a soft, delicate perfume, fruitful flavor, dry and harmonious taste. Perfect with appetizers, soups, fish.”

My Review: First impression was the wine was pale in color. It had a fresh nose, smelled of cucumber and fresh fruit. Fairly ordinary in taste. There were your normal grape, sour-citrus type flavors but nothing too dramatic. 

Toso

Name: Toso

Variety: Moscato

Origin: Italy

Price: $9.95

VC Review: “This Moscato is reminiscent of honeysuckle and rose petal. The quality is equivalent to a top level Asti Spumante DOCG. Sweet sparkling wine obtained from a careful selection of the Moscato grapes. It has a pale straw yellow color with fine foam and bubbles. Tropical fruit flavors, refreshing. Excellent to match desserts, fruit and dried pastries”

My Review: This was almost too good-tasting. The alcohol was barely present, and it brought to mind ginger ale and Sprite in both smell and taste, though paler than the former. The color I’d say was somewhere in between. I could drink this wine with any meal really and probably not get drunk. It was essentially a spiked soda but I didn’t mind. It was crafted well.

El Sierro

Name: El Sierro

Variety: Tempranillo/Cabernet

Origin: Spain

Price: $7.95

VC Review: “Dark ruby in color with rich aromas of red fruit and light spices. It is a real knock-out with delicious flavors of dark cherries, blackberries and vanilla all perfectly integrated. The Tempranillo provides wonderful spice and fruit, while the Cabernet Sauvignon gives structure and depth with the beautiful use of oak.”

My Review: The wine was indeed a deep ruby color with a fresh cherry, raspberry and vanilla nose. I was able to pickup on blackberries when I tasted the wine, which I couldn’t sense just by smelling. It was also spicy on the palate, like a Listerine wine.

Omo Ze Bel

Name: Omo Ze Bel

Variety: Merlot

Origin: Scicilia

Price: $6.95

VC Review: “This bright, soft Merlot comes from a hilly vineyard on the Alcesti family estate in beautiful Sicily. It has hints of red cherries and freshly cut hay.  Exceptional value.”

My Review: Another wine which was dissapointingly weak. I expect stronger oak elements in Merlots but this was pretty safe as far as the nose and flavor. The nose was slight but I did smell raspberries. Low tannic structure and a weak-ish finish. 

Atlas Cumbres

Name: Atlas Cumbres

Variety: Torrontes

Origin: $5.95

Price: Argentina

VC Review: "Yellow colour with greenish nuances. Very intense aroma of fresh grapes, flower perfume and mature peaches. Fresh in the mouth. Light and easy to drink. Ideal with seafood, Thai, and Chinese food." 

My Review: At first glance, I couldn’t help but notice how very pale the wine was so I wasn’t expecting much flavor – the nose was light as well. I could make out basic grape flavors and maybe nectarine accents. The finish didn't last more than 3 or 4 seconds. This was one of the weaker wines I’ve tried at these tastings.

Avery Quinn

Name: Avery Quinn

Variety: Chardonnay

Origin: Napa (California)

Price: $6.95

VC Review:

“The 2011 vintage marks a return to form for this great value Chardonnay.  The aromas feature creamy, mellow, golden apple, pineapple, fresh butter and a touch of vanilla.  Then rich, ripe, flavors of yellow pear, pineapple, fresh apple, cream and buttered toast swell up and fill your mouth before a juicy, apple and caramel inflected finish makes your mouth water (and smile!).”

My Review:

I could smell pear and Pine-sol upon first whiff. While I wouldn’t say the oak MONSTER was apparent, it was definitely somewhat oaky. There was a butterscotch/vanilla taste with a light pineapple component. The pineapple was most evident in the clean, refreshingly biting finish. It felt like actually eating post-meal pineapple, which is healthy for you. Healthy alcohol (or at least the thought of it) is always nice.

Sonnenband Riesling

Name: Sonnenband

Variety: Riesling

Origin: Germany

Price: $10

My Review: The nose was crisp - guava and passionfruit accents. A very drinkable wine, tasting of green fruits like pear and Granny Smith apples. Despite the huge bottle, a person could drink a bottle of this and not be overtly drunk. It had a lingering tart aftertaste but I didn't mind. 

Pennywise Pinot

Name: Pennywise

Variety: Pinot Noir (2010)

Origin: California

Price: $10.99

My Review: I ran across this wine when I stopped in Atlanta over spring break. What drew me to the Pennywise initially was the bottle's minimalist design. I actually meant to grab the Pennywise chardonnay, which was right next to it in the display. 

The flavors weren't very bold or complex. Oddly enough, I suspected the taste of mushrooms in addition to more common culprits like vanilla and raspberry. The nose wasn't too strong, with an ordinary red-berry aroma. I consumed this wine with artichoke and shrimp pizza. It was an unusual pairing but the wine was easy enough on the palette to balance out the boldness of the artichoke hearts. 

March 6 Tasting - Maipe Malbec

Name: Maipe

Variety: Malbec

Origin: Mendoza, Argentina 

Price: $8.95

VC Review: "Deep purple color with violent tints, complex plum, fig, strawberry, spices and floral aromas; rounded and velvety tannins, excellent length with a distingushed character."

My Review: This wine was definitely rougher on the tongue than I expected. The Maipe gave off a pleasantly fruit aroma - definite fig and red-juiced berry smells so I expected a sweet, perhaps lighter bodied red? Instead, I got a heavier feeling in my mouth but it rounded out well with many fruit flavors arising. This wine is one probably better when paired with food - the first thing I thought about was how it'd go well with a medium-rare steak. 

March 6 Tasting - Arnold Palmer

Name: Arnold Palmer

Variety: Chardonnay

Origin: California

Price: $7.95 (originally $20)

VC Review: "A vibrant Chardonnay from vineyards in cooler climates of California. Chardonnay is well known for its characteristic fresh apple fruit aromas and rounded, rich flavors. Weather during the 2011 harvest provided ideal growing conditions for lush, yet perfectly balanced fruit."

My Review: The oak monster was very evident here. I would describe this wine as very very "dank" smelling - a tad bit like marijuana. There was an enthralling apple aroma, and I definitely smelled and tasted pear also. The wine went down smooth despite my initial expectations. I assumed it the would be a bit more bitter or strong because the rich smells had thrown me off so much. 

March 6 Tasting - El Sierro

Name: El Sierro

Variety: Macabeo/Chardonnay

Origin: Spain

Price: $6.95

VC Review: "In the glass, there is a bright and shiny white wine with an incredibly welcoming, fresh appetizing aroma reminiscent of ripe tropical fruits. The flavor is rich, balanced and extremely comfortable. The near-perfect all-purpose white wine. As an additional benefit, and good evidence that El Sierro reflect the new Spain, the bottle is sealed with the technical viewed perfect screw cap that at once eliminates any risk of cork flavor and keeps the fruit and the wine fresher for longer time."

My Review: The first thing I noticed about this wine was the subtle urine smell it had. I expected fresher, sweeter smells but it turns out it was a bit more sour. The actual taste was not all that memorable, with tiny fruit flavors - nothing bold or distinct. I would say that despite it's lack of flavor, the balance of the wine was fine. It didn't feel bad at all in the mouth or anything, but you can tell it is a $7 wine. 

March 6 Tasting - Loredona Reisling

Name: Loredona

Variety: Reisling

Origin: Monterrey, California

Price: $7.95

VC Review: "If you like your Reislings on the sweet side, this pretty wine is for you. It's brisk in Central Coast acidity, with citrus, peach, honeysuckle and spice flavors that finish clean and long."  

My Review: This wine was very refreshing and citrus-y, something I expect from California wines. It tasted a lot like a lemon-honey Hall and in doing so, was true to the fruit aromas I initially smelled (honey, citrus). The finish was pleasantly strong with a spicy bite to it. The finish was like a concentrated shot of spiced rum, lemonade, and Sprite.

March 6 Wine Tasting - Villa d' Rosso Toscano

Name: Villa d' 

Variety: Rosso Toscano

Origin: Montepulciano, Italy

Price: $6.95

VC Review: "100% sangiovese grapes and is a wonderful rendition of a velvety Tuscan red."

My Review: There was a slight mildew smell to this wine. The finish wasn't strong, but at least it was smooth... which was surprising as the wine was more acidic tasting than normal too. I need to try more Tuscan wines. Nice balance. 

Name: R Wines Eco. Love

Variety: Riesling

Origin: South Island, N.Z.

Price: $18 (purchased on sale for $7.95)

VC Review: "Our South Island Reisling has a range and combination of flavors unlike any other. These flavors span citrus, root ginger, white peach, spices and florals. eco.love Riesling is made in balance to an off-dry style. Food Pairing: Asian Fusion, Seafood, Curry, and anything spicy"

My Review: This was probably my favorite white wine of the day, it smelled like a freshly-squeezed citrus drink – one specifically that I can’t remember the name of, which is irritating. I want to say it smells a tad bit like lemon-lime Powerade also. This wine was not too sweet-tasting, and just somewhat sour. The most comparable fruit would be a nectarine. I bought a bottle so I could continue smelling it (still haven’t figured out that exact drink), and had it that night with “Wild” flavored hot wings from Buffalo Wild Wings as the “anything spicy” suggests. They complemented each other well, making the wings taste tangier (a plus). It was a very informal pairing but I can see how savory foods go well with this wine. 

Name: Toschi

Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon

Origin: California

Price: $8.95

VC Review: "Well-balanced flavors of dark berries and plums. Spicy fruit finish."

My Review: There was an extremely distinct nose to this wine - spicy & gingery aromas which intrigued a lot more than it offended. The Toschi was in my top two for the day as the smell and taste were both pleasant surprises. It tasted more like a flat cider drink consisting of plum and blackcurrants than it did a wine, if that makes sense. It felt nice on the tongue, despite a somewhat disappointingly short finish. 

Name: Canyon Road

Variety: Pinot Noir

Origin: California

Price: $6.95

VC Review: "Rich, fruit forward cherry flavors, soft tannins, a medium body and a smooth velvety finish. Pairs well with creamy soups, salmon, and savory pork dishes."

My Review: Strong raspberry and cranberry aromas – somewhat “jammy”. I noted on the sheet that this wine was “not very bitter at all” (the "soft"-er tannins VC suggests). It’s not that the finish was weak necessarily, but rather it was cleaner expected because of the strong nose. It was the most popular bottle of the day (sold out while I was there), and although it wasn't my favorite I can see why. The Canyon Road had a "clean ash” taste which appeals to a lot of people. 

Name: Wine Men of Gotham

                                     Variety: Chardonnay Semillon (80%/20%)                                     

Origin: Australia

Price: $7.95

VC Review: "Chardonnay Semillon is a blend of 80% Chardonnay and 20% Semillon. It gives a moderate intensity of melon, guava, apricot and butterscotch aromas. The medium bodied palate provides attractive acidity along with plenty of tropical fruit flavors and a medium-long finish."

My Review: This wine was very attractive. I thought it smelled like a bottle of Pine-Sol, but in a good way. There were very fresh tasting with melon flavors to start, but then a smooth, almost avocado-like taste to finish. That definitely brought out a buttery aspect you could sense on your palate. 

Name: Indwe

Variety: Sauvignon Blanc  

Origin: South Africa

Price: $7.95

VC Review: "Grapes are meticulously sourced from our grape produces along the coastal region of the Western Cape ensuring complexity and freshness in the wine. Indwe Sauvignon Blance is full of layers, balance and persistence. The wine is imbued with tropical and citrus notes, with hints of melon and gooseberry flavors."

My Review: The first thing I noticed about the Indwe was its heaviness in comparison to most whites. The texture of the wine kind of sprawls out and hangs on your tongue. This was probably my least favorite of the wines the Vintage Cellar offered that day because it was disappointingly plain. There were no grandiose flavors, but I did catch hints of melon and guava.