Tasting-Tres Ojos Garnacha

Name: Tres Ojos Garnacha

Variety: 100% Grenache 

Region: Calatayud

Country: Spain

Price: $6.95

Year: 2011

Winery Review: This wine has a brick red color with a bouquet of red raspberries, spice and white pepper. The palate is incredibly concentrated and rich. The modern styles of Garnacha in Spain are continuously being perceived worldwide as wines of extraordinarily good quality. This wine is fruity, juicy and shows a great depth, ripe tannins, length but yet with wonderful elegance and lightness. Enjoy with sausages, roasted meats, aged cheeses etc. 

My review: The first smell is definite raspberry but then the spice kicks in after and has a really strong smell to it. It has a fruity taste to it but with a major spice to it (mainly pepper). It's fruity toward the beginning of the taste, but then the pepper rushes in and hits you. I wasn't a big fan of the pepper taste to the wine and would be okay if I didn't have it again.

I did not try this wine with food.

Tasting-Montebuena

Name: Montebuena

Variety: 100% Tempranillo

Region: Rioja

Country: Spain

Price: $8.95

Year: 2010

Winery review: Ripe cherry and blackcurrant on the nose and in the mouth. Pliant and seamless in texture, with good heft and back-end energy. Finishes smooth and sweet, with fine-grained tannins providing shape and grip. still on the young side but this wine drinks very well with an hour or so of decanting; it's an excellent value for Rioja.

My review: There is a definite and strong cherry smell to the wine. It is a pretty smooth wine to drink. The wine has a cherry taste to it but a definite smokiness to the wine. I think the cherry is harder to detect because the smokiness overpowers the cherry. I like that this is a red wine that doesn't have much of a spice to it. I thought this wine wasn't bad.

I did not try this wine with food.

Tasting-Sainte Victoire Cotes de Provence

Name: Sainte Victoire Cotes de Provence

Variety: 50% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 20% Cinsault

Region: Provence

Country: France

Price: $8.95

Year: 2011

Winery review: Bright salmon pink; typical of the fresh but warm Provence style. Refined and complex on the nose, with summer fruit and floral notes. Dry and crisp, with a delicate flavor and full texture.

My review: A nice and clear smell. The smell kind of makes me think of the spring with a slight floral smell to it. It is a pretty dry and crisp wine. It has a slight herb taste to it. I can definitely taste the alcohol in it, which I'm not a big fan of. This wine is okay

I did not try this wine with food.

Tasting-Canyon Road Chardonnay

Name: Canyon Road Chardonnay

Variety: 100% Chardonnay

Region: California

Country: United States

Price: $6.95

Year: 2011

Winery review: Medium-bodied wine with notes of crisp apple and ripe citrus fruit with a hint of cinnamon spice. Delicious complement to grilled chicken, lighter pasta dishes or mild cheeses.

My review: I thought this wine had a citrus smell to it and I could very faintly pick up a smell of apple to it as well. I thought there was a pear taste to the wine with some slight apple as well. I thought it was interesting that there was no citrus flavor considering the scent was strong. It is not acidic at all, but a slight oak taste at the end. I really enjoyed this wine.

I did not try this wine with food.

Tasting-Potluck Sweet Malbec

Name: Potluck Sweet Malbec

Variety: Malbec

Region: Mendoza

Country: Argentina

Price: $7.95

Year: 2010

Winery review: Deep red brilliant with violet hints. Complex, fruity, and predominant red fruits. Easy to drink, round with persistent sweetness, very well balanced with sweet tannins.

My review: This wine had a nice sweet and fruit smell to it. I think one of the fruits was a slight smell of raspberry in the wine. When tasting this wine, I thought it was fairly light for a red wine and pretty easy to drink. This wine had some definite sweetness to it, which makes me understand why it is paired with dessert. Even with the sweetness to the wine, it was slightly dry at the end, which I think shows that this is still a red wine. This wine was pretty good.

I did not try this wine with food.

Tasting-Domaine de Grange de Payan

Name: Domaine de Grange de Payan

Variety: Grenache

Region: Cotes du Rhone

Country: France

Price: $8.95

Year: 2011

Winery review: Intensely spicy and precise, with lively red berry flavors and a hint of black pepper. The Grenache, which makes up the majority of the wine, is deeper and more powerful, offering cherry and black raspberry qualities lifted by zesty minerality.

My review: I didn't think this wine had a super strong smell that was easy to pick up with my cold. But I was able to detect a slight raspberry smell to the wine. When I would inhale strongly, I could pick up the smell of pepper to it. When tasting the wine, I detected the flavor of cherry to it. I think it also had a slight pepper or zesty flavor to it as well. Being the same grape as the wine before, I thought this one was not as spicy as the one from Spain. I liked the Spain one better because it didn't have the pepperiness to it.

I did not try this wine with food.

Tasting-Tinto Figaro

Name: Tinto Figaro

Variety: 100% Garnacha

Region: Calatayud

Country: Spain

Price: $6.95

Year: 2009

Winery review: Figaro is 100% Garnacha, made from a selection of the best grapes grown in the oldest vineyards. While not truly an "oaked wine,"a short stay in oak barrels provides a nice spicy flavor boost. Bright violet. Dark berry and cherry aromas show a jammy aspect. Supple and gently sweet, with good lift to its black raspberry and boysenberry flavors. Smooth and broad on the finish, leaving behind a hint of spiciness. Extremely easy to drink and an excellent value.

My review: This wine had a very berry smell to it with cherry really standing out to me in the smell. Once I tasted the wine I realized it was not as fruity as it smells. The taste definitely highlighted a black raspberry flavor in it. The after taste had a spiciness to it, with also a slight smoke taste to it.

I did not try this wine with any food.