Tasting - "Bay Bridge Peach Moscato"

 
Name: Bay Bridge Vineyards Peach Moscato 

Variety: Moscato

Region: California    

Country: United States

Year: 2022

Price: $6.99

Review: 

For some reason, it was hard finding a review for the peach moscato, not just a regular moscato, but I found this one review and it gave the Bay Bridge a 5/5 stars.  This wine is smooth tasting and sweet and tastes like peaches. 

https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/bay+bridge+peach+muscat+california+usa/1/usa-va-y

Wine Folly:

There are a lot of different types of moscatos, but wine folly does not have a specific section for peach moscato.  On page 138, there is a wheel that has five different categories, body, alcohol, sweetness, tannin, and acidity.  Moscatos seem to have a lot of sweetness versus the other categories.  It would taste great with "cake and cheese" (pg. 138).

My Review:

Amazing!  Super sweet and tasted just like peaches lol.  I drank this wine alone and it was great, and my roommate even made cupcakes and it tasted good with this wine as well.  I really enjoyed it and I am a little sad to say bye to the wine reviews. 

Tasting - "Zaccagnini Montepulciano D'Abruzzo"

Name: Zaccagnini Montepulciano D'Abruzzo

Variety: Montepulciano

Region: Abruzzo

Country: Italy

Year: 2021

Price: $15.99

Review: 

On totalwine.com, this wine was ranked a 4.7/5 stars.  This wine is from Italy and has a "violet color".  Should taste like a "mouthful of ripe berries, leather, and black pepper".  This is a super smooth wine that pairs well with cheese and dinner.

https://www.totalwine.com/wine/red-wine/montepulciano/zaccagnini-montepulciano-dabruzzo/p/8029750

Wine Folly:

This region of Italy, Abruzzo "offers some of the finest expressions of Italy's second-most planted red wine variety" (pg. 250).  Montepulciano need to be aged for 4 or more years and will have a taste of sweet plums.

My Review:

I liked this wine, but I feel like I drank it wrong.  Or honestly maybe I have just drank a lot of wine this week since it was such a busy homework week and busy week at Tech, BUT it was still good.  I wish I had a decanter or something because that would have definitely helped the taste, but it did resemble fruit flavors like berries.  

Winery Visitation: Creek's Edge Winery

My dad and I trying Sangria!!

Wine Flights

Charcuterie Board

Walking out of the winery!! 

 

My family and I went to Creek's Edge Winery to celebrate my birthday and it was a lot of fun because I had never been to a winery with my parents or little sister.  This winery is located near my hometown, Ashburn, VA in Taylorstown, VA.  We tried all different types of wines and got a charcuterie board, which felt super fancy and is very different from what my family is used to doing when we hangout.

Firstly, we got a charcuterie board that had waffles, cheeses, meats, vegetables, etc. and it was delicious!  We were nervous that it was not going to be enough for all of us to feel full, but the combination of the board and the wine were fantastic. 

We got two wine flights to share and try different wines together, plus two glasses of sangria for my dad and I.  For the red flight, we tried 2018 Creek Red Redd, 2017 Foothills Red, 2017 Petit Verdot Reserve, and a Bourbon Barrel Blend.  The white flight was a 2018 Vidal Blanc, 2017 Chardonnay, 2017 Water's Edge, and 2018 Rose.  I noticed that the glasses for a wine flight are different than beer flights.  These glasses were kind of shaped like baby flower vases.  I also did not enjoy the red wines too much.  They tasted good with the cheeses, but they were all kind of dry and brut tasting.  The white wines were also not amazing since I love a sweet white wine like moscato, but the chardonnay was definitely my favorite on its own.

For the Sangria, I cannot remember the exact name because I forgot to take a photo, but I know that it was a light pink color.  I have tried deep red colored sangrias, but this one was a white, light sangria.  It was really sweet and I enjoyed it the most out of any drink I tried.  

I had an amazing experience at this winery and I loved that it is owned by the Durden family.  I think its super cool that he and his family put a lot of work in to make the winery such a beautiful place with outdoor games like horseshoe, wine tasting rooms, and a huge outdoor patio.  It was so beautiful and I feel grateful to have gone!!

Wine and Cheese Pairing #3

 This was the best wine and cheese pairing yet and I actually went out and bought three amazing cheeses from Kroger and three amazing wines.  For the cheese, we bought a cheese we never tried before called Cotswold, Pepperjack, and Brie (because brie is a must!) and for the wine, we bought Barefoot Red Moscato, Bay Bridge Strawberry Moscato, and Confidential Reserva Tinto which was a deep red wine. 

Before we tried the cheese, we tasted the wines first.  I think my favorite wine by itself was the Bay Bridge Strawberry Moscato.  I have never had a strawberry flavored moscato, and I have tried a lot of regular moscatos before, and this was super sweet, fresh, and definitely tasted like strawberries.  My second favorite of the wines was the Confidential Reserva, which was from Portugal.  Red wines have really grown on me and this was very viscous and tasted amazing with or without cheese.  Lastly, I enjoyed the Barefoot Red Moscato and normally I lean towards a Barefoot because of my budget, but compared to the other two wines I did not enjoy this very much.  It was sweet and thin, but not as bold as something that has Red in its name should be in my opinion.

In terms of the cheese, I loved them all so much.  Separately, I actually loved the Cotswold since there were chives in it.  I liked the Pepperjack since it was super spicy and it is normally one of my favorite cheeses.  And brie is always amazing on its own or with wine so I enjoyed trying this fresh brie from Kroger.  With the wines, the Pepperjack I thought was best.  It went well with all three, especially the deep red since it is spicy cheese.  The Cotswold did taste well with the wines, but it lost its spice and flavor with the wines which I was not expecting.  I love brie, but I thought the brie only tasted well with the red.  With the other two moscatos, I had issues even tasting the brie and when I did, it tasted oddly sour lol.  

Overall, this was super successful and I am glad I bought a lot of fancy cheese and got to enjoy this with my boyfriend. 

Tasting- "Armilar Porto"

 

Variety: Blended 

Region: Porto

Country: Portugal

Year: 2021 

Price: $12.99

Review: 

I am unsure if this wine is the 2021-22 edition, but I could not find a review of it online.  I was able to find another review of the last edition of the wine on vivino.com and it gave the wine a 3.5/5 stars.  It has "plum and black cherry" aroma with a cloudy appearance once poured in the glass.  Should taste good with beef and matured cheese. 

https://www.vivino.com/US/en/c-silva-armilar-ruby-port/w/1181973

Wine Folly:

Porto is the "most fortified wine of Portugal" (pg. 154) and each one has its own style and taste.  Portos range from white, rosé, ruby, tawny, etc. and they flavors range from black plum, dried cherry, chocolate, raisin, and cinnamon (pg. 154). 

My Review:

When I say I hated this wine..... I mean it.  It was so gross because it was so sweet, but bitter at the same time.  I did not want to drink it by itself since it was so strong, so I tried pairing it with some savory items and this still did not help.  But, there was an evident taste and smell of plums.  

Tasting - "Barefoot Sangria"

Name: Barefoot Sangria

Variety: Sangria

Region: California

Country: United States

Year: 2017

Price: $6.99

Review: 

This review, written by Christopher Null, mentions how people are hesitant to drink bottled sangria.  This Barefoot Sangria is "perfectly drinkable" and has hints of pineapple, mango, and other tropical fruits.  This review mentions that this bottle is only $9.00, but I was able to get it at a cheaper price.

https://www.drinkhacker.com/2017/08/06/review-barefoot-sangria/

Wine Folly:

The Wine Folly textbook does not seem to mention sangria, but it does mention how sulfur compounds can create a positive aroma such as tropical fruit.  This sangria smells and tastes a lot like tropical fruit so it is safe to assume that there is a lower level of sulfur in this wine (pg. 303). 

My Review:

I was shocked with this sangria!  I have tried bottled sangria before and do not mind the bottle, but Barefoot always shocks me.  This was super sweet and easy to drink on its own.  My boyfriend and I started a new T.V. series while enjoying this wine. 

Tasting - "Bay Bridge White Zinfandel"

 

Name: Bay Bridge White Zinfandel

Variety: White Zinfandel

Region: California

Country: United States

Year: 2020

Price: $2.89

Review: 

I bought this wine the same day as my other wine review for this week, and I purposely bought some cheap wine since I am currently a broke college kid.  This being said, I could not find a wine review of this wine either, but I found the bottle on the Kroger website.  It says that this wine is "full of flavor, refreshing, and fruit-forward".

https://www.kroger.com/p/bay-bridge-white-zinfandel-rose-wine/0008312000046

Wine Folly:

The wine folly book also uses the term "fruit-forward" (pg. 189) when referring to zinfandels.  Zinfandels are ideal with Turkish or Middle Eastern cuisine.  There are a lot of zinfandels in California (pg. 190) which makes sense because that is where this wine is from.  

My Review:

I liked this wine better than the other one my boyfriend and I tried together.  It was fruity and tasted kind of like watermelon/tangerine.  I could not place my finger on it, but I agree with the internet that it was indeed refreshing.  My boyfriend and I also made pad thai, and I thought it paired well with this wine.