Posts Tagged ‘medium bodied wine’
Varietal: 100% Cabernet Franc
Region: Charlottesville – Virginia – USA
Cost: $30
Winemaker’s Notes: Deep purple color with aromas of dark blackberry and currants. Soft flavors of concentrated berries with hints of vanilla and oak. Pairs well with steaks, chops, or hamburgers.
My Review: I’ve been sitting on this review for a few days because I was thinking of the best way to approach it. Given that the wine I was drinking was in a box, I clearly wasn’t drinking it in a single sitting (I’m not that irresponsible), so I couldn’t do my usual bit on what I liked or didn’t like about the wine and how it went with what I was eating. So I’ve decided to take a more…general view of it.
I picked up the 2009 Virginia Wineworks Bag in the Box Cab Franc at the Virginia Wine Expo last month. While walking around the Expo I saw their booth and immediately knew I was going to visit them as I had heard they were offering a boxed wine, something I’d never heard of a Virginia vineyard doing before. Read the rest of this entry »
Varietal: Garnacha
Region: Spain
Cost: $10
Garnet colored with aromas and flavors of blackberry and cherry and pepper on the finish. Pairs well with pork tenderloin, rib-eye, and roast chicken.
Recommendations: My wife picked this up at the store as we’re both fans of Spanish wines. Very dark in color, just barely what I would call garnet really, I picked up good aromas and flavors of cherry. Paired with a meal of manwhich (or sloppy joe’s if you prefer), the pepper finish was very welcome. Read the rest of this entry »
Varietal: Tempranillo (55%); Garnacha (45%)
Region: Spain
Cost: $12
Dark purple wine with flavors of blackberry and fresh crushed fruit. Medium bodied wine that pairs well with chicken, pork, red meat, or by itself.
Recommendations: Still drinking while entertaining my brother-in-law and his wife, we opened up this blended Spanish red. Dark purple in the glass with a bit of smoke on the nose, the flavors of black berry and crushed fruit were enjoyable for a wine that we were enjoying by itself.
If you’re like me and enjoy both Tempranillo and Garnacha, this is definitely one worth picking up, especially for the price. With food or by itself, it’s a good wine to keep on hand for friends, family, or by yourself.
Varietal: Bordeaux (60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc)
Region: France
Cost: $20.50
Ruby red in color with soft aromas with flavors to match. Crushed berries and cedar on the nose are a lead into a smooth, slightly fruity medium-bodied red. Pairs well with chicken, pork, and veal.
Recommendations: My first impression of this wine was that it wasn’t what I was expecting. When I first got the bottle, I was excited about a bit, bold Bordeaux to pair with a steak or some pasta (which is what I did pair it with). That is not the wine I drank.
Smooth and subtle is probably the best way to describe this wine, and whereas I had thought I was going to get large, full-bodied wine, instead I got a medium-bodied wine that wasn’t disappointing in and of itself, but certainly was a let-down compared to what I thought I would be drinking.
Now, that being said, this is still a very good wine. However, if you’re expecting a full-bodied wine, you may want to look elsewhere, as this certainly isn’t it.
Special thanks to the International Wine of the Month Club for supplying the wine for this review.
Varietal: Chianti/Sangiovese
Region: Italy
Cost: $29
Ruby red in color with aromas of red berries. Smooth on the palate with a medium body, and great tannins on the end. Flavors of cherry and a bit of spice.
Recommendations: My wife, parents, and some extended family went to lunch in San Francisco at Tony’s Pizzeria Napoletana, and it soon fell to me to select wine for our meal. Wanting something a bit more dry to pair with the brick oven pizza, I quickly moved to the Sangiovese section of the wine menu.
I was a bit hesitant about selecting a wine from a TV show, but given that it’s an estate wine from Tuscany, I was hopeful that it would deliver. It did.
At $29 in the restaurant (about $15 in stores), it’s a great value for a chianti, especially one that will pair so well with pasta or pizza. Nice ruby coloring with aromas of red berries and flavors of cherry and spice with a great tannic finish make this a great wine to keep on hand.
If you’ve seen this and have been hesitant about picking it up because of the Iron Chef affiliation, go ahead and grab it. It’s worth it.
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Region: California – USA
Cost: $10
Deep garnet coloring with a slight floral aroma. Smooth on the palate with flavors of ripe fruit. Pair with pasta, steak, or well seasoned salmon.
Recommondations: I picked this up because it’s from California and my wife and I are going to California on vacation in just a few days. I’ve had Smoking Loon wines before, but had yet to try their Pinot Noir. The color on it was very nice – not too dark, but certainly not light. The aromas were mostly alcohol, but I did get a bit of a floral scent coming through. The flavors were smooth, with fruit flavors being the most prominent, though certainly not overwhelming in the way that some California reds can be, and lead into alcohol finish. Read the rest of this entry »
