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. 

Tasting - "Rex-Goliath"

Name: Rex-Goliath Sauvignon Blanc

Variety: Sauvignon Blanc

Region: Australia 

Country: Australia

Year: 2020

Price: $2.99

Review: 

Since this wine is so cheap and not super well known, I had a hard time finding a review of it.  This being said, on citymarket.com, the product details of this wine states that it tastes like "honeydew, nectarine, and pear".  

https://www.citymarket.com/p/rex-goliath-sauvignon-blanc-white-wine/0008143403148

Wine Folly:

This is the first Australian wine that I have tried.  When reading Wine Folly, I learned that the Australian wine industry constantly ups their technology (pg 202).  There is a ton of variety in Australian wine, but a lot of their wine can be bottled in other places, such as this one which was bottled in California. 

My Review:

Honestly, I did not enjoy this wine, but I enjoyed the experience since I got to drink wine with my boyfriend for the first time.  We just started dating so enjoying wine together was a very fun experience.  This particular wine was really bad though.  Potentially because it was very cheap, but it got the job done.  It was also very strong with a 12.0% alcohol percentage!!!

 

Tasting - "19 Crimes Cali Rosé"

Name: 19 Crimes Snoop Cali Rosé

Variety: Rosé

Region: California

Country: United States

Year: 2020

Price: $12.99

Review: 

This wine comes in a "frosted bottle" and the color from the outside is pretty muted, but the actual color is light and kind of salmony.  This is supposed to have a soft spice to it and is apparently a good wine for Mother's Day. It is affordable as well,

https://www.cheapwinefinder.com/35722/19-crimes-snoop-cali-rose-2020/

Wine Folly:

When I looked up watermelon flavor in Wine Folly (pg. 123), I found that this falls near the other categories such as orange blossom and cherries.  This is common in Lambrusco, so it is interesting that this rosé tastes like those flavors.  

My Review:

This wine is from Kroger and it caught my eye because it is Snoop Dog's wine.  I have tried another one of his wines before, but I really wanted to try a rosé. I thought it was super interesting that this rosé was also 10.5% alcohol because that is kind of low.  It definitely tasted watermelon-y and a lighter taster than some other dry rosés I have had, but honestly, I did not think it was anything too special!

DTN

 

For my DTN blog, I decided to follow Lesson 9: The Lighter Whites.  This lesson suggested that I drink Chenin Blanc, Pinot Grigio, and Semillon.  I found the first two wines, but I had a hard time finding Semillon in Kroger.  A worker suggested that I get a Sauvignon Blanc instead!  I got a flipflop wines California Pinot Grigio, MAN Family Wines Chenin Blanc, and a Free Reign Sauvignon Blanc.  I drank and completed this lesson with my roommate Eirenn.  

The first thing I did was try all three wines before they were chilled.  All three of them have similar colors, but the Sauvignon Blanc was definitely the lightest color.  All three of them were fruity, but the sweetest one was definitely the Chenin Blanc.  I found this to be interesting since the Sauvignon Blanc was the lightest color, but I thought it was the least light wine.  

Once the wines were chilled, the Sauvignon Blanc felt lighter and airier, but I still did not enjoy the taste as much as the others.  The flip flop wine surprised me since the packaging looks cheap and I never tried that brand before, but it was honestly sweet and tasted kind of like apples.  

I tried all three of these wines with the frozen salmon that I cooked from Costco.  I thought they all went amazing with the salmon and brown rice, but probably because it is a fish and white wines tend to go well with fish.  

Wine and Cheese Pairing #2

Okay SO, this wine and cheese pairing was a lot different than my last one.  Since this weekend there are a lot of blogs due, I had a hard time buying a lot of wine and cheese since everything is so expensive.  I bought three cheeses that I knew I would like and they were vegan mozzarella, cheddar cubes, and feta with Mediterranean seasoning.  The three wines I bought were Snoop Dog's Rosé,  Muscadine Sweet Wine, and a Sangria!! I did the pairing with my roommate, Julia, and our friend Katherine again. 

Of all the wines, I loved the Sangria the most.  Honestly, the Sangria was so sweet and it went super well with the cheddar cheese and Triscuits.  I thought that it was the sweetest wine of them all.  I have had red Sangria before, but it was really fun trying a white Sangria.  This drink did clash with the vegan mozzarella, but to be fair, so did the other two wines.

The Snoop Dog rosé was pretty good.  I like how it tasted by itself, but I was not the biggest fan of it with cheese.  I thought that it might have been the best with the feta cheese and crackers.  I even made a chicken salad with this and I thought it tasted pretty good.  Of the three wines, this was the least sweet which is not normally what happens with rosés.  

Last but not least, the sweet white wine was the BEST in terms of pairing with cheese.  It worked well with the feta and the cheddar cheese, but once again, not the vegan.  This wine was so fruity and tasted almost like apples.  I think the sangria was better since it was sweeter, but this one was a close second. 

Tasting - "Winking Owl Moscato"

 

Name: Winking Owl 

Variety: Moscato

Region: California

Country: United States

Year: 2021

Price: $2.99

Review: 

This wine is from Aldi and there was a review on their website for this wine!  It describes this wine as "light and airy" and it goes well with spicy food.  I could not figure out what year this wine was made, but it seems like it is from 2020.  

https://www.aldi.us/en/products/alcohol/white-wine/detail/ps/p/winking-owl-moscato/

Wine Folly:

Moscato has a very low alcohol level and this one did (pg 139).  This was the cheapest wine I have bought so far so that is a potential reason that this wine was not too strong.  I thought this wine had a tropical fruit more so than dried fruit or light fruity. 

My Review:

I did not enjoy this wine.  In comparison to my other wines, I did not think this one was so enjoyable.  It was fruity and not too dry, but in terms of quality I did not think this one was that great.  

Tasting - "Barefoot Fruitscato"

 

Name: Barefoot Fruitscato 

Variety: Muscat/Moscato

Region: California

Country: United States

Year: 2021

Price: $5.99

Review: 

On vivino.com this wine is rated a 4.1/5 stars.  It is classified as a dessert wine and there a many taste profiles such as peach, apple, pear or strawberry, watermelon.  A lot of the reviews also share that is is super light and is great for warm weather. 

https://www.vivino.com/US/en/barefoot-fruitscato-peach/w/7094807

Wine Folly:

Moscatos tend to have lower alcohol percentages and this "fruitscato" only had 7.5% (pg. 139).  This is a moscato, but it is made with rosé wines and has natural flavors.  I find it interesting that there is Spanish all over the bottle.  I think it is because it is made in California.  

My Review:

Loved.  This wine is so delicious and just as the bottle says it is "dulce and delicioso".   I love that the wine is a pink and orangey color.  It indeed taste very fresh after I chilled it for around an hour.  I think from all the barefoot wines I have tried, this is definitely my favorite.  It just reminds me of summer and it smells so much like fruit.  I also tried this one with my family along with the sparkling wine, and I think we all preferred this one.  

 

Tasting - "Côte Orelia"

Name: Côte Orelia California Sparkling Wine

Variety: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

Region: California

Country: United States

Year: 2022

Price: $6.99

Review: 

This wine was super hard to find a review of-- I am assuming it is a new wine from Lidl.  I am not even sure if this wine is from 2022 because there is not a year on the bottle.  From what I did find on vinio.com from the same champagne, but different year, is that this wine has "decent sparkling" and a "longer finish".  This is a brut sparkling wine.

https://www.vivino.com/BR/en/cote-orelia-blanc-de-noirs/w/6070715

Wine Folly:

Brut sparkling wines tend to be on the dryer side since brut is french for dry (pg. 99).  This wine was definitely a lot lighter than normal, but this was my first sparkling wine!  This is because the carbonation decreases the body of the wine (pg. 14).  

My Review:

So, I got a job!  And over spring break, my family has been hanging a lot and we really wanted to try this sparkling wine!  This being said, I did not enjoy it very much and I think that it was because it is a brut wine.  I like how there are some subtle hints of sweetness, but it is not enough in my opinion for a celebratory/dessert type wine.  Overall, I would probably try a sparkling wine in the future!  Maybe graduation.... ;)