Tasting - Yellow Tail Shiraz Cabernet

 

Tasting  - Yellow Tail Shiraz Cabernet

  

Name: Yellow Tail

Variety: Shiraz and Cabernet blend

Region: South Eastern

Country: Australia

Year: 2021

Price: $7

Wine Review: "the Shiraz-Cabernet Blend wasn't that much different from the straight Shiraz. With a little more ripe blueberry sweetness balanced by savory dill flavors, this bottle was our favorite of the blended options. If you like the Shiraz on its own, this would be a good alternative, especially served with a tomato-and-meat-sauced pasta dish." (Seema Gunda).

Wine Folly: Pg.172, as described in the wine fully this shiraz was very rich and powerful. Of the common flavor descriptors for Shiraz, I could taste the green peppercorn the most. I was not able to pick up on any flavors of Tabaco or chocolate.

My Review: Overall, I thought this wine was decent. Not my favorite but also not the worst one I have tried. I did enjoy the full body of this shiraz, however, it was slightly tannic for my liking. I also found it interesting how much spice I could taste in the wine. I had this wine without any food, however, after tasting it I think I might enjoy it better when paired with a meal.

Tasting - Giambellino Peach Bellini

 

Tasting  - Giambellino Peach Bellini

  

Name: Giambellino

Variety: Blend

Region: N/A

Country: Germany

Year: N/A

Price: $6

Winery Review: "Cloudy apricot color. Aromas of peach custard and sorbet with a sweet full body and a long candied lime and honeyed peaches finish. A superb peach Bellini that delights and satisfies with its rich natural flavor." (Tastings.com)

Wine Folly: There is information on this particular wine in the wine folly. However, on pg. 54 the book describes how sparking wines can be more acidic and I was able to pick up on this and thought that the peach Bellini was somewhat more acidic than previous wines I have tasted.

My Review: I enjoyed this wine as it was really refreshing as well as sweet. The slight carbonation was enjoyable and the peach flavor really came through. I felt like it was very full-bodied and had a very rich flavor. I would definitely have this wine again. I didn't have this wine with any food. 

Wine and Cheese Pairing

 Wine and Cheese Pairing

For this Cheese tasting, we picked up Brie, Smoked Cheddar, and Pepper Jack Havarti to try. We chose these three kinds of cheese because it seemed to bring a good diversity in taste and texture.

The three wines that we bought for the tasting were Shiraz, Moscato, and chardonnay. The 

Here is all of the info on the wine that we tried that night:

Wine 1: Winking Owl

Variety: Shiraz

Region: California   

Country: USA

Year: N/A

Price: $4

Wine 1: Winking Owl

Variety: Moscato

Region: California   

Country: USA

Year: N/A

Price: $4

Wine 1: The Exquisite Collection

Variety: Chardonnay

Region: California

Country: USA

Year: 2020

Price: $9

To start of the tasting I tried Moscato wine with Brie cheese, and it was a great pairing. The Moscato was sweet and bubbly. It had a honey taste that went really well with the nutty taste and creamy texture of the Brie. The pairing balanced each other really well and made for a great pairing. However, Moscato was a bit too sweet when paired with the Smoked Cheddar and the Pepper Jack Havarti. Overall, I would really like to try the Moscato and Brie pairing again.

Next, I had Pinot Grigio with Smoked Cheddar, and it was also a good match. The Smoked Cheddar had a sharp and smoky taste, and the Pinot Grigio was much lighter and refreshing, while also being slightly acidic complementing the rich flavor of the cheese. The pairing was refreshing, but it was not quite as good as the pairing of the Moscato and Brie. Pinot Grigio was not as successful when paired with Brie and Pepper Jack Havarti, as it was too light to balance out the creaminess of Brie as well as the spiciness of Pepper Jack Havarti.

Finally, I tried Chardonnay with Pepper Jack Havarti, and the pairing was okay. The cheese had a buttery and decently spicy taste that went well with the smooth Chardonnay . However, the flavors didn't really complement each other as well as they did in the Moscato and Brie still. Chardonnay was too heavy and had a very full-bodied, making it a tough pair with the light Brie cheese. However, it worked well with the Smoked Cheddar as it helped balance its Smokey flavor.

Overall, Moscato and Brie was the best pairing, followed by Pinot Grigio and Smoked Cheddar. Chardonnay was decent with Pepper Jack Havarti, but definitely didn't go together as well the complimenting other two pairings.

Wine Dinner

 Dinner - Cajun Shrimp and Pasta

For this dinner, me and my girlfriend, made a home-cooked meal, consisting of buttery Cajun Shrimp and pasta. In the above photo are the Appetizer (Sesame seasoning salad) and Entrée that was made for diners. The Table was only set for me and my girlfriend, just a very casual dinner setup. The food all looked great and we both had to get a photo of it. The food smelled amazing and I was ready to dig in and experiment with the new wines.

The Three bottles of wine that we chose were pinot grigio, Chardonnay and a sweet red wine from the chocolate cellar. The order that they are shown in above was the order that we paired them with our food. 

Here is all of the info on the wine that we tried that night:

Wine 1: Elementalist

Variety: Pinot Grigio

Region: California   

Country: USA

Year: 2021

Price: $8

Wine 1: Barefoot

Variety: Chardonnay

Region: California   

Country: USA

Year: N/A

Price: $7

Wine 1: The Chocolate Cellar

Variety: Blend

Country: USA

Year: N/A

Price: $5

The first Wine food match was the salad and Pinot Grigio. Overall, I thought that the pairing was not amazing. The sesame salad dressing seemed to conflict with the light flavors of the Pinot Grigio. The pair did taste better for the portions of the salad with less dressing. The wine on its own was very light and floral. I was also able to pick up on some peach notes. The Chardonnay with salad was a similar result, I found it to be clashing flavors and don't think I will try it again. The Chocolate cellar red wine was surprisingly my favorite pairing with the salad. The flavors seemed to complement each other well and matched the amount of flavor they provided.

The second wine and food pair up of the night was the Chardonnay and Cajun shrimp pasta. This pairing worked well for me and I really ended up enjoying them together. The Chardonnay on its own was very buttery and smooth. I think this is what made it pair well with the rest of the dish. The Pinot Grigio also paired well with the entrée but not as well as the Chardonnay. The light flavor was a little underwhelming compared to the Cajun seasoning. Lastly, the Chocolate cellar wine did not pair very well the cherry flavor and sweetness did not pair great with the Cajun spicy seasoning in my opinion. 

Finally, it was time to try the last pairing for dessert.  This pairing consisted of a lava cake and The Chocolate Cellar wine. This was by far my favorite pairing of the night. I really enjoyed the wine on its own and was amazed by the amount of chocolate that I could taste. Adding it with lava cake was really good and brought out the cherry flavors in the wine. The Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio were both an average pairing with the lava cake and I was not very surprised the sweet lava cake overpowered both of the wines for me.

Tasting - Morgan Creek Regal Red

 

Tasting - Morgan Creek Regal Red

  

Name: Morgan Creek Regal Red

Variety: Muscadine

Region: Harpersville, Alabama

Country: USA

Year: N/A

Price: $12

Winery Review: A sweet muscadine wine with an aromatic cherry nose and candied fruits. Round with fruitcake, spice notes, and a touch of floral roses. (vinoshipper.com)

Wine Folly: There is no information on Muscadine in the wine folly.

My Review: This wine was also a good one for me. I thought that it wasn't too tannic and had a nice cherry flavor. To me, it felt like it had a very full body. I drank this wine slightly chilled and was able to taste some floral notes as well. I had this wine without any food.

Tasting - Cline Old Vine Zinfandel

 

Tasting - Cline Old Vine Zinfandel

  

Name: Cline Old Vine Zinfandel

Variety: Moscato

Region: Lodi, California

Country: USA

Year: 2020

Price: $12

Winery Review: " Tasting this wine revealed flavors of cherry and ripe red raspberry.  Quite lovely. Though jammy, this wine’s flavors were “warm on the palate” to me, versus a heavy dark blend which would be much more soft. While not overly complex in taste, Cline Old Vine Zinfandel gives you a nice clean focused flavor reminiscent of Oregon Pinot Noir." (John Rodgers)

Wine Folly: Pg. 189 I was definitely able to taste the jammy flavors as described in Wine Folly and was able to pick up on the spice notes of the wine. While it's mentioned there can be Smokey flavors I wasn't able to pick up on those flavors. For being listed as a higher alcohol content wine, it was well balanced. I didn't decant the wine as specified, however, may try it in the future.

My Review: I found this wine to be very interesting. I was not expecting the spice notes to be there and I enjoyed that aspect of the wine, I found that it was very dry and tannic but had full body. I had this wine on its own without food, but would definitely like to try it with Asian barbeque.

Tasting Stella Rosa Moscato D'asti

 

Tasting - Stella Rosa Moscato D'asti

     

Name: Stella Rosa

Variety: Moscato

Region: Piedmont, Italy

Country: Italy

Year: 2021

Price: $10

Winery Review: "This is a sweet and luscious bottle of Moscato that for roughly ~$13 offers good value for your money. Pear, peach, apricot, and honey flavors will complement many dishes from veggie, salami, spicy dishes, fish, cheese, and dessert. Try it with goat cheese ravioli, Thai cuisine, clams, fondue, or panettone and it’ll be a delight. At least it was for me!" (Handy Guide Wine)

Wine Folly: Pg. 139 I could really tell that this wine was much more aromatic than many of the other wines I have tried as described. The Sweetness of the wine and low alcohol content was very prominent to me. From the common tasting notes I really got a large orange citrus note.

My Review: Overall, I enjoyed this wine. I found it to be very sweet though. In the beginning, the sweetness was enjoyable but after a second glass, the sweetness almost became overpowering. I really liked the refreshing taste and light body of the wine. I could really pick out the peach flavor as well as the apple.

Chateau Morrissette Holiday White

 

 Tasting - Chateau Morrissette Holiday White

  

Name: Chateau Morrisette

Variety: Riesling-Traminette blend

Region: Floyd, Virginia

   Country: USA

   Year: N/A

   Price: $14

Winery Review: This wine did not have any wine reviews. here is the thedogs.com description: This popular white wine is a semi-sweet Riesling-Traminette blend, using Vidal Blanc for added depth. Aromas of melons, citrus fruits, apricots, and delicate flowers highlight the soft finish of this soothing wine.

Wine Folly: Pg. 158, the text describes Riesling as an aromatic white wine that can come in large varieties. It said that the wine goes well with spicy Indian and Asian cuisine and is something that I am very interested in trying.

My Review: I really enjoyed this wine and thought that it was very fruity and flavorful. It was light and refreshing while also being well-balanced.  I drank wine on its own without food. I would like to try this wine again with food and see if it improves the overall experience.

Black Box Merlot

 Tasting - Black Box Merlot

Name: Black Box Premium Wines

Variety: Merlot

Region: California

Country: USA

Year: 2020

Price: $20

Winery Review: Low-key red- and black-fruit flavors give this dry, medium-bodied wine a modest profile. Light tannins add a bit of grip in the texture. JIM GORDON

Wine Folly: Pg. 131 Merlot is talked about for its boisterous black cherry flavors, supple tannins, and Smokey or chocolaty finish. Out of all of these general flavors, the only one that I could taste was a hint of the black cherry. The text also discusses having Merlot alongside roasted foods, something that I didn't do, but will try in the future.

My Review: I enjoyed this wine however it was not my favorite. While I could taste the fruity and berry the wine seemed to be more tannic than what I am used to. I enjoyed the smell of the wine more than the taste and at some points, I thought the alcohol flavor was somewhat prominent. I drank wine on its own without food.