I had the fortune to go to a commercial winery over spring break and try over twenty very different wines. Out of those, I decided to dissect five in particular that caught my interest. Bacchus Winery had a lot to offer, but these five, I feel, appealed to each of my senses.
Name: Viognier
Variety: Viognier
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: NV
Price: $16.00
Shop review: The intense fruitiness of this beguiling wine suggests rich sweetness, but it shows a surprisingly dry and aromatic finish. A delicate yellow colour, tinged with the variety's typical 'green-gold' hue, it bursts out of the glass with apricot, peach and spice aromas.
My Review: I always enjoyed my dad's viognier, so I thought I would start with something a little familiar. This wine has a citrusy, grassy taste, and a light gold, straw yellow color. At first taste it was sweet and lemony, with a mid palate of grassy, crisp, and clean balanced flavor. In the end, it had a rather bitter, but warm and fulfilling taste. I wouldn't say this was my favorite white wine of the winery visit, but I really enjoyed seeing a familiar face among his many different styles of wine.
Name: French Rose
Variety: Grenache
Region: Chablis
Country: France
Year: NV
Price: $16.00
Shop review: Winexpert's F-pack makes a stunning contribution to this light, refreshing and delicious sipping wine with flavors of strawberries and raspberries and just a touch of sweetness. Finishes slightly drier than our White Zinfandel.
My Review: This light amber-pink colored wine had a light strawberry, lemony nose. It started out a little dry, and puckers on the mid tongue, with a dry, warm flavor. I detected lemon rind and zest, as opposed to lemon juice like I'm used to. There was a subtle strawberry flavor throughout the palate, but I was very interested in the lemon rind flavor.
Name: Stag's Leap District Merlot
Variety: Merlot
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: NV
Price: $18.00
Shop review: Harvested from the highly regarded Stag's Leap District on the valley's east bench, this Merlot is dry and medium-bodied with a soft, supple, fruity palate of plums and red berries. Its characteristic spicy aroma, accented with light oak, leads a rich, smooth and mouth-filling flavor experience.
My Review: This wine was almost opaque red color, with a charred, tomatoey nose. I tasted some cherries and black raspberry, but mainly a black pepper taste throughout. It almost tasted like I dipped some cherries in black pepper and took a huge mouthful of that. Overall, a great merlot, and really had me thinking of the wine beyond your average store bought merlot. I was very impressed by the taste.
Name: Italian Super Tuscan
Variety: Sangiovese blend
Region: Tuscany
Country: Italy
Year: NV
Price: $20.00
Shop review: Created in 1971, the Super Tuscan style blends the fine, dusty tannins and tart cherry of Chianti with the bold, forward fruit and deeper grip of Bordeaux. Full-bodied and dry, with farm fresh raspberries, bright red cherry and blackberry fruit, licorice, and spice complemented by zesty acidity, and a long, generous finish, rounded out with black pepper, vanilla and sweet oak.
My Review: I really liked the Chianti I had a while back, and I thought a more subtle wine with the same characteristics would be great to drink by itself. This wine was reddish, but lighter than the merlot. It had a sweet, fruity nose with slight hints of pepper. At first taste, it was sweet and tasted like cherries, and then the licorice and black pepper showed up in the mid tongue. In the end, it felt very warm and buttery, like vanilla. I could definitely see myself drinking this with a nice marinara pasta or cheesy, meaty pizza.
Name: Chocolate Salted Caramel Dessert Wine
Variety: Unknown
Region: Unknown
Country: Unknown
Year: NV
Price: $17.00
Shop review: Once again, Winexpert is pleased to announce that for a limited time, you can make and enjoy a wonderfully delicious dessert wine. New this year, this perfectly indulgent dessert wine is both sweet and luxurious. The velvety decadence of chocolate blends beautifully with rich, salted caramel and is sure to become a new favorite. Shared with family and friends, it will warm the hearts and the palates of all of your guests. Excellent within three months, this wine will age gorgeously if you can keep any that long!
My Review: This dessert wine was in between the two colors of the last two reds, and had a chocolatey nose with a very caramelly smell. I am reminded of a Ghiradelli chocolate caramel bar. At first, I'm greeted with a sweet and slightly salty taste. In the mid, the fruitiness of the wine comes through a dry barrier, and brings all of the tastes in balance. It was very alcoholic, very sweet, acidic, like a very well balanced port. I loved this wine, and I'm sad to see that it was in limited stock. This almost made me want to learn how to make my own wine.
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