Tasting - Crane Lake Riesling 2013

Name: Crane Lake
Variety: Riesling
Region: California
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Price: $5.95

Winery review: The trademark German red grape varietal Dornfelder has a lovely purity of soft red berry fruit. Integrated soft tannins combined with forward fruit flavors make for a perfectly balanced everyday sipping wine.
Great with grilled red meat, sausage and chicken. Best served slightly chilled.

My review: This wine smelled of a hard candy. The smell matched the taste as the wine went down like a dessert wine, tasting like hard candy. This wine should not be drank in great amounts as it leaves a very sugary taste in the finish.

This was tasted without food

Tasting - Crane Lake Shiraz 2013

Name: Crane Lake
Variety: Shiraz
Region: California
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Price: $5.95

Winery review: Beautiful ruby appearance, with blackberry and pepper notes. Tannins and fruit marry well for a soft finish. This wine pairs well with sharp cheddar cheese and hazelnuts. Also try it along with roast lamb at Easter time, veal marsala, or grilled salmon.

My review: Dark red wines usually offer a more bitter smell, but this offered the sweet smell of vanilla as well. It also had an over ripened pomegranate smell to go along with it. The taste was full and peppery, but the finish was full of vanilla. Multidimensional, would drink again.

This was tasted without food

Tasting - Georges Duboeuf Nouveau 2015

Name: Georges Duboeuf
Variety: Nouveau
Region: Beaujolais
Country: France
Year: 2015
Price: $12

Winery review: George Duboeuf is THE king of Beaujolais.  His wines are full of pop, charm and great flavor and his Beaujolais Nouveau is no exception.  A cornucopia of expressive fruit wrapped in an almost-bubblegum-like frame; it is the flagship Nouveau.

My review: The nose on this wine was poor. It smelled rotten, as if the grapes had gone bad before fermentation. With that though, the taste of the wine was surprising. It tasted like a sweet red currant at the beginning but finished with a very dry and acidic taste. The finish was weak but the wine offered enough variety to be enjoyable.

This was tasted without food

Tasting - Maipe Torrontes 2014

Name: Maipe
Variety: Torrontes
Region: Mendoza
Country: Argentina
Year: 2014
Price: $14

Winery review: The wine has a spring-like nose of fresh white peaches, pears, green apple, green melon and hints of jasmine and rose petals. On the palate, it has a beautiful structure and acidity along with fruit flavors and plenty of body. Well-balanced, this wine displays a pleasant freshness with citrus notes and a long finish.

My review: Maipe Torrontes had the smell of a strong ipa. Grapefruit and alcohol. The taste attacked the back of the mouth and was way too powerful to enjoy. The wine was very one dimensional and didn't really have a unique taste too it besides fermented grape juice.

This was tasted without food

Tasting - Tonnino Pinot Grigio 2014

Name: Tonnino
Variety: Pinot Grigio
Region: Sicily
Country: Italy
Year: 2014
Price: $14

Winery review: Tonnino’s exotic example of Pinot Grigio has a straw to pale gold color. It is fresh and clean on the nose with fruity notes of pear, green apple and white peaches. The palate is true to the nose with a fresh acidity, coriander and lime notes followed by a crisp finish. This wine pairs well with youthful aperitifs, clams or mussels, pastas and risotto dishes.

My review: This wine smells like pears and apples. The wine has a very immediate tartness of a sour apple which overpowers the whole wine aspect. The finish is tart and undesirable.

This was tasted without food

Tasting - Peter Mertes Sweet Red Dornfelder 2014

Name: Peter Mertes
Variety: Sweet Red Dornfelder
Region: Mosel
Country: Germany
Year: 2014
Price: $12

Winery review: The trademark German red grape varietal Dornfelder has a lovely purity of soft red berry fruit. Integrated soft tannins combined with forward fruit flavors make for a perfectly balanced everyday sipping wine.
Great with grilled red meat, sausage and chicken. Best served slightly chilled.

My review: Sugar. That's what this wine smelled of with maybe a little bit of honey or vanilla. The taste was sweet, with little taste of alcohol. It wasn't too sweet though like most desert wines. The finish was strong but tasted of berries and left me wanting more.

This was tasted without food

Tasting - Castello Sonnino Chianti Montespertoli 2010

Name: Castello Sonnino
Variety: Chianti Montespertoli
Region: Chianti
Country: Italy
Year: 2010
Price: $15

Winery review: A blend of Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Trebbiano and Malvasia del Chianti. Rich and modern, with a dark, saturated color and aromas of graham cracker and lemon rind. A juicy palate packed with plum and raspberry is carried by a creamy texture that’s rather toasty in terms of flavor. The finish is round, full and chocolaty.

My review: The only nose I got off this wine was pepper. A lot of pepper. The taste was very dry and instantly dried out my tongue. Way too dry for me. You could taste the tanic structure all the way through but no real flavor or finish.

This was tasted without food