Posts Tagged ‘rough finish’
Varietal: Chardonnay
Region: South Australia
Cost: $11
An unwooded Chardonnay, offering crisp flavors of apple and citrus. Pairs with chicken, pork, seafood, or light appetizers.
Recommendations: My wife is not a fan of oaked Chardonnay, so when we saw this in the store, we thought we’d give it a try. The initial flavors of the wine are crisp with plenty of citrus and granny smith apple both on the nose and on the palate, which was perfect for the grilled chicken dinner we paired it with.
However, I found the finish of this wine to be a bit rough. It’s certainly not as rough as the Mirassou Chardonnay that I’ve already reviewed on here. That being said, the finish eventually began to bother me, especially after we had finished our food and were just sipping on the wine. Maybe with a juicy piece of pork it wouldn’t be as noticeable, but with the chicken (that I’ll admit I overcooked), it just wasn’t as enjoyable as I would have hoped.
If you liked the Mirassou Chardonnay you’ll like this, but if you’re looking for a crisp finish to your unoaked Chardonnay you’ll want to pass on this one.
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Varietal: Syrah (78%), Petite Sirah (9%), Alaconte Bouchet (7%), Zinfandel (6%)
Region: California – USA
Cost: $21
A deep purple blended wine with rich fruit flavors that follows aromas of black fruit, berries, and plum. Pairs with pizza, pasta, roasted meats, and wild game.
Recommendations: If you haven’t figured it out by now, the first part of this blog is what the vineyard says, and this part is what I say. Here, the vineyard and I disagree. While I did get a bit of fruit on the nose, it was pretty much buried by the heavy aroma of alcohol that I got from this wine, which is probably because it has nearly 15% alcohol by volume.
The wine itself is a bit more enjoyable…until you swallow. While Borra claims their Fusion Red has soft tannins, I must disagree, or at least say that the alcohol makes the finish much more rough than they would lead you to believe, which is fine if that’s what you prefer, but I was expecting something smoother having read the description of the wine (as I always do) before opening the bottle.
Usually a fan of blended Syrah/Shiraz and Zinfandel, I had really high hopes for this wine that it did not, unfortunately, live up to. Perhaps if I had paired this wine with a juicy steak or a pasta dish instead of pizza it would have been smoother, but I suspect the food wouldn’t have changed much of the finish on this wine. If you prefer a rough finish to your wine and a heavy aroma of alcohol, then this is for you, but if you’re like me and prefer something a bit smoother, especially when that’s what you’re lead to believe you’ll be having, then you should probably pass on this wine.
Special thanks go out to the International Wine of the Month Club.
Mirassou Chardonnay
Varietal: Chardonnay
Region: California
Cost: $8.99 – $9.99
Mirassou Chardonnay offers a crisp first sip, thanks to being aged in stainless steel. Hints of oak add a bit of robustness to this wine, and it finishes rather roughly. Pair this wine with chicken or light pasta.
Recommendation: The rough finish of this wine will be a turn off for most. While the price is appealing, there are better steel chardonnays for a comparable cost that finish cleaner and won’t nearly give you a bitter-beer face. Pass on this offering from Mirassou.
