Tasting- La Sera Red Malvasia (Week 8)

http://www.winemadeeasy.com/la-sera-red-malvasia-2010-750-ml-31978.html

Name: La Sera Red Malvasia

Variety: Malvasia


Region: Piedmont

Country: Italy


Year: NV

Price: $13.95

Vintage Cellar Review:
"A specialty of Italy's Piedmont region, Red Malvasia di Casorzo is fragrant and fruity, moderately sweet wine.  It has strawberry and fresh grape flavors, with a zesty frizzante (fizz).  It is low in alcohol (5.5%) and best served slightly chilled.  Enjoy as an aperitif, matched with spicey barbeque or Oriental dishes.  It is also excellent with rich chocolate cake or a fruity sorbet."


My Review:
This is a very light brownish red color.  There are not really legs.  I noticed a few bubbles, but it didn't seem particular fizzy or bubbly.  It has a very floral scent.  The taste is extremely sweet and kind of syrupy.  It has some very floral flavors.  I never thought I'd say this about a wine, but it was almost sickeningly sweet.  Normally, I love sweet wines, like Rieslings and Moscatos, but this has a very full sweetness without any zest or tingliness or crispness to break up of the sweetness.  I wouldn't have to recommend it simply because it's the only wine that I've ever tried that I thought was really too sweet, it was even a challenge to handle the couple small sips of the tasting. 



Pairings: I didn't try this with food, but I think it would be best with a dessert.  Maybe something creamy because the cream may help mask some of the sweetness.  So I would think maybe cream puffs or eclairs would be a good match. 

Tasting - La Sera Red Ambrosia (Week 8)

Name: La Sera Red Ambrosia

http://www.snooth.com/wine/la-sera-red-ambrosia/

Variety: Malvasia

Region: Piedmont

Country: Italy

Year: NV

Price: $11.95

City Wine Merchant Review:
"A specialty of Italy's Piedmont region, this is an absolutely delicious and versatile sweet red. Made entirely from Malvasia grapes, this is slightly sparkling, or 'frizzante', with scents of rose petals and the flavors of crushed strawberry and raspberry. This is ideal as a dessert wine, but also great by itself, and a good match for intensely flavored foods such as Oriental cuisine."


My Review:
This is a sparkling wine with a purply pink color.  It has a raspberry cider scent with some floral, garden aspects that kind of make it smell like a perfume.  It's very tingly with some sweet raspberry flavors.  It's kind of a softer kind of sweet, not very sharp or tangy.  There are raspberry and cranberry flavors with maybe even a hint of strawberry.  I like it a lot, but only for small doses.  Most sparkling wines I've had are white, so it's interesting to have a very sweet and sparkling red wine.  It's very different from the stereotypical red wine.  I would definitely recommend this!


Pairings: I didn't try this with food, but I think it would be good with some kind of rich dessert.  Maybe a berry pie, or a raspberry cheesecake, or maybe just something chocolaty. 

Tasting- Four Bears Cabernet Sauvignon (Week 8)

http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1289572

Name: Four Bears Cabernet Sauvignon

Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: California

Country: United States

Year: 2010

Price: $14.95

Vintage Cellar Review:
"Ruby in color and displays aromas of lavender, cedar and raspberry fruit.  Flavors of blackberries and raspberries combined with hints of savory spices coat the palate.  The soft tannins and sweet oak balance lead to a long and lingering finish."


My Review:
This wine has a dark purplish maroon/burgundy color.  There are little to no legs.  There's a tangy scent with the slightest hint of oak.  It's fairly smooth, and as soon as you swallow, the oak flavor hits you.  It's a bit tannic and the flavors have some red fruits like maybe cherries and cranberries.  This wine is also a little acidic.  I didn't love this wine, but I didn't hate it either.  It was difficult to distinguish most of the flavors besides the oak which I really don't care for in wine.  So I wouldn't have to recommend it, but it wasn't awful.


Pairings: I didn't try this with food, but I think it would be good with some sort of steak. 

Tasting- Pietra Santa Sangiovese (Week 8)

http://www.winemonthclub.com/pietra-santa-cienega-valley-estate-sangiovese-2006.htm

Name: Pietra Santa Sangiovese

Variety: Sangiovese

Region: Cienega Valley, California

Country: United States

Year: 2008

Price: $15.95

Vintage Cellar Review:
"Produced exclusively from grapes grown on the estate and showcases winemaker Alessio Carli's talent with the grape.  Growing up in Tuscany, Alessio watched his father make Chianti and later honed his skills at the renowned Badia a Coltibuono.  Our Estate Sangiovese tastes of cranberry and intense Bing cherry with undertones of anise and a lingering finish.  The depth and complexity of this wine has made it an annual best seller and the ultimate companion to great Italian cuisine.  Typical of this varietal, our Sangiovese vines have matured and we have been rewarded by increasingly rich fruit." 


My Review:
This wine has a vibrant, light, strawberry red color; it's a really pretty red.  There are almost no legs.  There's a little bit of an oak scent and a hint of light berries.  There's a little tang and a little oak in the taste.  It's slightly tannic, and very light and sweet... made up of light red berry flavors.  Nothing about this wine is very bold/strong or stands out.  The most influential quality of the wine is the sweet tang, but even that is nothing too noticeable.  It has a fairly short finish.


Pairings: I didn't try this with food, but I think it would be good with chicken parmesan or chicken marsala. 

Tasting- Pietra Santa Sacred Stone Red (Week 8)

http://www.cheapwinefinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/SacrStn_csk4_bottle.jpg

Name: Pietra Santa Sacred Stone Red

Variety: Red Blend

Region: Cienega Valley, California

Country: United States

Year: NV

Price: $9.95

Vintage Cellar Review:
"Proprietor's Red Blend.  This wine is ripe and juicy with expressive flavors of cherries and plums.  It is dark and aromatic with crisp acidity, nice structure and a lush finish.  Made to pair with a wide variety of foods, this red wine is a must for everyday enjoyment or teaming with your favorite grilled and outdoor cuisine." 


My Review:
This wine has a brownish cranberry hue with very little legs.  It was very oaky, spicy, smokey, and meaty on the nose.  As for taste, it was very sweet initially, then transitioning to a bit of spice.  The initial taste is filled with cranberry, cherry, and other red berry flavors.  The midtaste to aftertaste were a little tannic.  This wine was decent, but I'm not a fan of the spicy, earthier flavors, so it wasn't my favorite. 


Pairings: I didn't try this with food, but I think it would be good with roast beef and mashed potatoes.

Tasting- Estrella Merlot (Week 7)

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/estrella+river+propriet+rsrv+merlot+california+usa

Name: Estrella Merlot

Variety: Merlot

Region: Napa, California

Country: United States

Year: 2009

Price: $5.95

Vintage Cellar Review:
"This ruby colored Merlot has raspberry jam aromas with a subtle hint of spice.  Layers of vanilla, plum, and fig are revealed that linger ever so slightly on the palate." 


My Review:
This wine had a light, pinkish cranberry color with a hint of brown.  It had some legs.  The scent was floral, vanilla, and had a slight berry aroma.  It was really fruity at the very beginning but then more of the vanilla flavors came out.  The vanilla flavors also had just a general warm flavor of baking ingredients, kind of like what you use to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch.  There was also a little floral taste.  The aftertaste had a little oak.  This wine was slightly tannic.  I liked this wine, it wasn't amazing, but I did enjoy it.  I think this is good progress for me because I usually just like fruity wines. 


Pairings: I didn't try this with food, but I think it would be good with a creamy pasta dish, or maybe even a vanilla bean cheesecake to brink out the vanilla flavors of the wine.  

Tasting- Doural Red Tinto/Domaine Des Nuges Beaujolais-Villages (Week 7)

I actually tried the Doural Red Tinto at a Saturday tasting in January.  The Vintage Cellar had it again at a tasting this Thursday, so this brought about the issue of a repeated tasting.  I've decided to re-review it because it was actually kind of interesting to see how it tasted different to me this time as my palate has expanded a little.  But because we're supposed to review 5 new wines each week, I'm also including a review of a wine that I bought when I went to the tasting.

Name: Doural Red Tinto

Variety: Red Blend- Tinto Cao, Touriga Francesca, Touriga Nacional
(according to http://www.ctwineauthority.com/sku16489.html)   

Country: Portugal

Year: 2009

Price: $8.95

Vintage Cellar Review:
“This Portuguese tinto (red) blend exhibits a deep red color with violet hues.  The nose is vibrant and fruity.  The palate offers notes of spice, cherry, and dark berry supported by good structure.  Pairs well with red or game meat, cheeses and fish.”

My Review:
This wine had a nice cranberry color and medium thick legs.  It smelled hot with scents of vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  It initially had a light berry flavor, maybe raspberry and cherry, and a little bit of oak.  There wasn't much of a mid-palate, and the aftertaste featured even more oak.  It was a light wine, but very tannic.  I think I liked this a lot more the second time I tried it because I'm starting to like red wines a little more now that I've tried a lot more of them.


Pairings: I didn't try this with food, but would probably put it with something like a roast beef.  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://wineenabler.com/new-house-favorite-beaujolais-villages-domaine-des-nugues/

Name: Domaine Des Nugues Beaujolais-Villages

Variety: Gamay

Region: Burgundy

Country: France

Year: 2008

Price: $13.95

Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar Review:
"Vibrant purple. Intensely floral bouquet displays scents of spicy dark berries, violet, wisteria and white pepper. Juicy raspberry and cherry flavors are sharply focused and very fresh, with good acid snap providing lift. Leaves spicy redcurrant and cherry pit notes behind on the persistent finish." (http://www.wineaccess.com/wine/product/11151281/2008-Domaine-de-Nugues-Beaujolais-Villages)


My Review:
This wine was light red with little legs.  It had cranberry, raspberry, cherry, and apple scents.  It has a very light/watery texture and a very fruity taste with cranberry and raspberry flavors.  They're lighter fruits, not very big or bold flavors.  It's extremely drinkable and not very tannic.  It also does not have a very strong aftertaste.  I really like this wine.  I'm a big fan of Beaujolais wines.  My favorite red I've ever tasted is the 2011 Beaujolais Nouveau, so I guess I must really like the Gamay flavor.  I would definitely recommend this one!


Pairings: I had this with cheese ravioli and pesto sauce.  It paired pretty well with this because I felt like the lighter qualities of the red wine made it better suited for something like pasta instead of a heavier dish with red meat.  The ravioli brought out the fruity flavors of the wine.