Wine Tasting- Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet

Name: Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet
Varietals: Cabernet and Shiraz blend
Region: South Australia
Country: Australia
Year: 2009
Price: $10.99


Wine Maker Review: "Sweet dark plum fruits, red berries and white fruit cake aromatics. There is a mocha/coffee and vanilla lift stemming from the balanced well integrated use of seasoned oak."


My Review: The initial taste of this wine is just alcohol, but it diminishes quickly beneath a nicely muted raspberry taste. Then you get a dry mouth feel followed by dull spice, tapering into a vanilla-y creamy finish. Very creamy finish. This was nice, not my favorite but it grew on me the more I drank it.

Wine Tasting- Alice White Shiraz

Name: Alice White Shiraz
Varietals: 100% Shiraz
Region: South Eastern Australia (again, all I got)
Country: Australia
Year: 2010
Price: $5.99


Wine Maker Review: "Our 2009 Alice White Shiraz invigorates the senses with blackcurrant fruit, ripe plum, spicy vanilla, and licorice aromas and flavors. Soft and round, this wine is well structured with supple tannins and subtle hints of chocolate, caramel, and warm toasty oak. The result is a long, savory finish that will leave you wanting more."


My Review: This was the fruit bomb I was looking for! This wine was balls cheap and actually pretty delicious! There was a huge plumby flavor that finished with an intense wash of peppery spice. Lots and lots of spice but in a good way. There was no cheap wine alcoholy taste which was very pleasing because you tend to get that with the cheaper wines. I will definitely buy this one again, especially with such a nice price. After reading the review I definitely understand the caramel tones, which were quite nice. Guess I never really thought of getting caramel out of a wine so I attributed that sweetness to the fruit. Whatever it was good.

Wine Tasting - Lindeman's Bin 50 Shiraz

Name: Lindeman's Bin 50 Shiraz
Varietals: 100% Shiraz
Region: South Eastern Australia (thats all I could find)
Country: Australia
Year: 2009
Price: $6.99


Wine Maker Review: "A medium to full bodied red with berry, plum and spice flavours following on the palate. Soft tannins on the finish create a very approachable wine."


My Review: This wine is very mild tasting. There are not a lot of strong flavors or fruit coming through which kind of surprised me for Australia (maybe that was way too generalized of thinking..) It is very tannic and dry on the tongue. There is definitely some dark fruit and spice flavor, but they are very light and mild compared to the tannins. I would not consider this full bodied, maybe medium body. The finish is also very tannic. Not too bad, but definitely not my favorite.

Wine Tasting- Bell'Agio Chianti

Name: Bell'Agio Chianti
Varietals: 90% Sangiovese, 10% Canaiolo Nero, Trebbiano and Malvasia
Region: Tuscany
Country: Italia
Year: 2010
Price: $12.99


Wine Maker Review: "Bell’Agio Chianti D.O.C.G., available in the traditional straw-covered bottle (known as a fiasco), is a vibrant, ruby-red wine with a full bouquet reminiscent of violets.  The taste is dry and smooth with zesty notes of cherry and berry fruit.  It is ideal with veal, Italian dishes and cheeses."


My Review: I adore this wine. For my best friend's 21st birthday we went to a nice Italian place and got  Chianti and it was amazing, so I have been trying out Chiantis every since. When you first smell this wine you get plums and a little bit of that alcohol smell. The alcohol smell worried me because sometimes cheaper wines taste mostly like alcohol and they just kinda suck. When you taste it however you do NOT get the alcohol taste but you get cherries, candy, raspberries, and more andy and this lovely zesty spice. I LOVE IT. I've gotten it approximately six more times because its just delightful. It has a lighter body and the fruit/candy and spice just make a perfect medley. I love red colored candy (because its usually cherry or strawberry or raspberry) and it tastes just like that. One night I drank a whole bottle before bed just because I loved the taste so much.

Wine Tasting- Potomac Point Vin de Paille

Name: Potomac Point Vin de Paille
Varietals: 65% Late harvest Vidal, 30% Late after Petit Manseng, 5% Muscat Raisin
Region: Crozet, Shanandoah, and Stafford regions of VA
Country: America (fuck yeah)
Year: 2010
Price: $26.99


Winery Review: "We made this wine with the southern Italian Passito style used in the little island of Pantelleria. Completely dry and hand destemed grapes macerated in a rich must coming from very ripe, late harvested Vidal and Petit Manseng. Unique for VA you will taste an high enology creation."


My Review: My first thought with this wine was that it was just too much. It was ridiculously sweet. It also had a creamy mouth feel and there was a little acid, but what you mostly got was just SWEET. Like not even sugar sweet, more like taking a few tablespoons of syrup and mixing in fifty splenda packets. I can't say I really enjoyed it, but maybe with a nice desert it would taste better. I just found it to be too overpowering.

Wine Tasting- Potomac Point Red Table Wine

Name: Potomac Point Red Table Wine
Varietals: 50% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Northern Neck, VA and Orange, VA
Country: Where Freedom Rings
Year: 2010
Price: $16.99


Winery Review: "It is a Bordeaux-style blend. Aged in French oak for 12 months. Lots of ripe red fruit especially raspberry. It has a smooth mouth feel with good acidity levels. Very easy and very drinkable."


My Review: This wine was very nice and easy going. I'm sure most people who like red will enjoy it because all of the aspects were nicely balanced with things everyone likes and there wasn't anything too overpowering. There was lots of red berry and plum flavor, a nice acidity, and nice tannins on the finish. It also had a medium body, not too like and not too heavy or dry. I feel as though it is very versatile and could pair with many dishes. Good, safe wine just not astonishing.

Wine Tasting- Potomac Point Rabelos Port

Name: Potomac Point Rabelos Port
Varietals: 50% Touriga Nacional, 30% Chambourcin, 20% Tinta Cao
Region: Orange, VA and Woodstock, VA
Country: Amurika
Year: 2010
Price: Big $39.99 and little $29.99


Winery Review: "These three varietals have been harvested and aged in bourbon barrels coming from our neighbor Bowman Distillery. Rabelos is rich in wonderful flavors of ripe raspberries, baked plums, and cherries with a strong and full body. Never heavy but sweet and powerful with a toasted oaky finish. It is a never ending wine and the perfect ending to any meal.


My Review: Wow. This tasted like a rich raspberry chocolate torte. It also had amazing hints of coconut which was rather shocking but a wonderful aspect too it. It was very rich and sweet, but it was well balanced so I found it quite enjoyable. The white dessert wine was just WAY too sweet, something I thought did not exist. I suppose desert wines should resemble the deserts they are paired with however, so they should be rich and sweet. I would love to get drunk off of this.

Wine Tasting- Potomac Point Heritage VA Red Wine

Name: Potomac Point Heritage VA Red Blend
Varietals: 42% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Franc, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot
Region: Charlottesville, VA and Orange, VA
Country: Who will win ALL of the Olympic gold medals
Year: 2009
Price: $26.99


Winery Review: "Our signature Bordeaux-style wine aromas of mocha, baked berries, and earth follow through on a round, supple entry to a dry-yet-fruity medium-to-full body with savory mulberry and tomato notes and a slate and peppercorn accented finish with powdery tannins. Well balanced with a nice acidity and a robust palate. We would pair this wine with roasted stewed beef with baked potatoes and rosemary."


My Review: Best wine I have ever tasted, hands down. It was like drinking sunshine from a unicorns ass. It was extremely soft and velvety and just beautifully blended. There were lots of tannins but they danced elegantly with dark fruits like a cherry cobbler. It was just, perfect. I think anyone would like this wine regardless if they did not enjoy reds because it was just that good. I got a glass of this for lunch afterwards at the winery and just sweet Jesus I could have drank twelve bottles into a stupor and would have been so happy. I need to return and get another bottle ASAP. I did not understand the tomato reference in the review...

Wine Tasting- Potomac Point Cabernet Franc

Name: Potomac Point Cabernet Franc
Varietals: 85% Cabernet Franc, 10% Tannat, 5% Merlot
Region: Northern Neck, VA
Country: The Greatest Nation in the World
Year: 2009
Price: $22.99


Winery Review: "A fruit-forward wine with flavors of blueberry, strawberry, and a peppery finish. It is smooth with a medium tannin feeling on the middle palate, It ends with a long, rich finish. The french barrels added hints of vanilla and wood accents."


My Review: I felt as though the review of this wine was pretty on point. I definitely got the blueberry and strawberry but also some dark cherry aspects. The finish was a nice balanced spice that seemed to linger on the tongue. After the first sip we ate a piece of dark chocolate and then had another taste. This was just AWESOME because the lingering chocolate in my mouth made it taste like these chocolate covered cherries I used to buy from a little store called Hyperion in Fredericksburg (my hometown). I need to buy a bottle and some chocolate and just go to town one night and watch some Game of Thrones.