Wine Tasting #4 Bogle Vineyards Old Vine Zinfandel

Bogle Vineyards Old Vine Zinfandel 2018

California, United States

Price: $11.00

"A wine with nice bouquet with black fruit red fruit and oaky notes. Medium finish and body. Went well with cheese and charkuteries."

- Lisa Kennevik on Vivino.com

Wine folly: smells for Zinfandel: blackberry, strawberry, peach preserves, cinnamon, sweet tobacco,smoky sweet

Wine folly: Taste for Zinfandel: raspberry jam, peach preserves, blackberry bramble, star anise,

Color: Ruby medium

Medium alcohol content at 14%

My Review:

Aroma: Very strong flavor, Smoky or tobacco, almost like campfire but not quite. I believe it has a cherry scent, possibly sour or black cherry. 

Taste: It tasted like one of those historical places. Kind of like when one goes to Williamsburg and you go into one of those houses with the dirt floor or native American tepees. I think it might smell like leather or animal hides of sort. It also has a cherry flavor in the back of the mouth. I also tried this wine with two different cheeses, in the hopes that the pairing would make the wine better. I tried it with Brie and a sweet desert cheese, Blueberry Vanilla Goat Cheese that I got at Aldi.

With the Brie:

The brie lightens up and opens the flavors up more. The heavier notes such as the heavy smoke flavor is not as strong, so the other fruity flavors can be tasted. 

With Blueberry Vanilla Goat Cheese: 

This cheese brings out the darker notes and smokey flavor more. It makes the wine more bitter and heavy. When drinking this before eating the cheese, it eliminates the over sweetness of the goat cheese, which I find is nice since before the goat cheese was almost sickly sweet. 

Wine Tasting #3 Winking Owl White Zinfandel

 Winking Owl California White Zinfandel 2015

California, United States

Price: $3.49

"I was pleasantly surprised by how refreshing and easy to drink this wine is. It has a very nice fruity and tangy flavour and would be excellent as a brunch drink in lieu of a mimosa. It is super smooth and tastes like a non-alcoholic Washington apple. I love the hints of pineapple, strawberries, and how well-balanced/not overly sweet it is. This wine is a great value for the price." 

-  Hannah Morelli in Masterchefs on nichmarket.co.za

"Can NOT beat the price. Perfect for those just starting to get into wine. Not a dessert wine. Just slight bit of tart to it. Nice pair with cheese"

- Dylan Thomas on Vivino.com

Wine folly: smells for Zinfandel: blackberry, strawberry, peach preserves, cinnamon, sweet tobacco,smoky sweet

Wine folly: Taste for Zinfandel : raspberry jam, peach preserves, blackberry bramble, star anise,

Color: Deep Salmon

Low alcohol content at 8.5%

My Review:

Aroma: fruity, blueberry, raspberry

Taste: bitter after taste like a blackberry, kind of tastes like the stomach acid you'd taste when you have acid reflux.

I am not a huge fan of this wine at all. The smell is inviting with light, fruity flavors. However, the flavor is very off putting and tastes like vomit at the back of my throat, which is not a great image for me to visualize while trying to drink this wine. I also tried this wine with two different cheeses, in the hopes that the pairing would make the wine better. I tried it with Brie and a sweet desert cheese, Blueberry Vanilla Goat Cheese that I got at Aldi.

With the Brie:

I found the bitterness dissipates with the flavor of the brie and it takes away some of the acidity that was causing the bad flavor. I definitely enjoyed this wine more with the brie pairing and found I would not mind it as much when it is paired correctly with the correct cheese/food. 

With blueberry vanilla goat cheese:

This cheese makes that bitterness flavor/bile flavor more pronounced, and it does not mesh well at all. It tastes like I'm tasting all the wrong flavors in all the wrong proportions. I would give it at 0/10 with this cheese pairing. This cheese is just too sweet for this wine and it does the opposite of what the brie does for it in the worst possible way.

Wine Tasting #2 - 19 Crimes Snoop Dogg Cali Red Blend

 19 Crimes Snoop Dogg Cali Red Blend 2019

65% Petit Sirah, 30% Zinfadel, 5% Merlot
Lodi, California United States

Price: $11.99

Specific flavors, aromas, and grape varietal characteristics from Wine Folly:
   Primary flavors: Black Cherry, Blackberry, Blueberry, Smoke

   Color: Deep Purple

   Medium in alcohol content at 14.1%

   Should be consumed at 68°F or room temperature

My Review:

After tasting this wine I first felt like I was smelling a lot of dark fruit such as Black Cherry and Blueberry. I also thought it smelled like cooked down strawberries because there was some sweetness at the end of the scent, but that might have been the blueberry. After taking a sip and smelling the after scent, I can kind of make out a musky scent and flavor, which might come from an oak family scent. I also smelled a sourdough aroma coming through or a bready smell. The taste was a little sweeter than I thought it would be, considering I have always thought red wines to be very bitter. This wine leaves a drier feel in the mouth from tannins, which is a contrast to the previous white wine I reviewed. However, I can see myself drinking this again surprisingly, because I do like the flavor of the darker fruits.

Wine Tasting #1 - Prophecy Sauvignon Blanc

Prophecy Sauvignon Blanc 2020

Marlborough, New Zealand

Price: $8.99

"This is great for me. It’s light and citrus forward. Grapefruit and a bit thick. What would make this perfect is a thinner, lighter body (less pulpy) and sweet." - Jeremy Kelleher on Vivino

Specific flavors, aromas, and grape varietal characteristics from Wine Folly:
   Primary flavors: grapefruit, gooseberry, honeydew, white peach, and passionfruit

   Color: Medium Yellow

   High in acidity and medium in alcohol content at 12%

   Should be consumed at 45-55°F

My Review:

This wine had a fresh and citrusy flavor and aroma to it. I was only really able to pick out the scent of grapefruit and grass and it had a pronounced lemon flavor. It was not that sweet, and had more of a sour flavor in my opinion. It has a flavor similar to when one bites into a lemon and the tartness makes my mouth water. 

I tried this wine with pepperoni pizza as well, and the pizza changed the flavor to a more darker flavor and a bit more bitter. I personally don't think they pair well with one another. I can see eating a lighter meal such as a salad or chicken would go better with a wine like this. 

Introduction and My Experiences with Wine

 Hello everyone! My name is Emily and this is my first post on my wine blog for the class Geography of Wine, taught by Prof. Boyer. I would consider myself an amateur wine drinker, as I've only really started exploring wine in the past year and a half. 

I tend to gravitate towards sweeter wines such as Moscato or Rosé.  My favorite wines so far have been Oliver's Blueberry Moscato and Pacific Fruit Vineyard's Sweet Mango. I have also enjoyed sweet mead, specifically Blacksnake Sweet Virginia. I really enjoy fruity and honey flavors. I have not yet gone wine tasting anywhere, but I am excited to partake in such activities this semester! For the most part I have been exploring wine from the comfort of my own home with close friends, which has been fun. I try new wines fairly frequently, possibly a few times a month I would say.

I have also found that I am not a fan of dry wines or many red wines. I don't like earthy or mocha flavors as I have found out, which tends to be what many of the red wines I have tried taste like. I tend to stay away from any wine that has Pinot in the beginning of it's name as well haha. I have not had great experiences with those. 

I look forward to learning more about different flavors of wine as well as how they are made. Specifically I would like to know what makes a Moscato a Moscato or a Riesling a Riesling. I took the beer brewing course last semester, and most beer companies are named after where the water they use comes from. I am curious to know if this applies to wine as well, or if there is a different naming mechanic. I also want to learn about the history of wine, how it started, and why it has become such a prominent piece of many different cultures around the world.