Region: McLaren Vale, Australia

Price: $16.99 at Total Wine

ABV: 14.5%

Sight: opaque black, ruby rim

Smell: red plum, burning firewood, dark chocolate, crème de menthe

Taste: plush, black cherry, black raspberry, red velvet, soft spice

Overall:  I could tell from the start of the pour that this wine was going to be villainously dark.  It pours a deep, almost murky black—impossible to see through—with a fresh blood-red rim.  It’s stunning, really.  Immediately the aromatics waft in, even from a distance, with both a smoky and a dessert-like air.  The warmth of the alcohol carries up a baked red plum, smoked cedar planks, and dark mint-chocolate truffle.  As the wine opens up, the tannins maintain a reassuring tension; then the plum-skin acidity tones down and sinewy dark fruit flavors swirl through layers of muted black pepper and red velvet cake.  The finish is decidedly cherry and unexpectedly long—what you thought was going to be a hug ends up as a cuddle.  And there’s no harm in that.

For those of you who don’t know, I’m currently training to be a Wine Manager at one of the Total Wine locations in Charlotte, NC.  Training is happening in Tampa, FL, and I’m there for a total of four weeks with three other trainees.  One night after work, we decided to each bring a bottle of wine that we were curious about, and we opened them up, ordered a pizza, and tasted through our themeless flight.

Here’s a collection of my tweet-length reviews from that night:

2007 Edgewood Cabernet Sauvignon - $18
blackberry, cassis, sweet cigar smoke, touch of earth

2005 Accordini Amarone Classico - $50
baguette crust, black peppercorns, dried cherry

2009 Château Arnauton Fronsac - $25
strawberry Twizzlers, silt, cherry brandy

2008 Hugh Hamilton Jekyll & Hyde Shiraz/Viognier - $40
blueberry central, dense velvet, grape Blowpop 

The Amarone & the Shiraz were probably my favorites, but every single one of those bottles was super tasty.

—a

Region: McLaren Vale, Australia

Price: $19.99 at Total Wine

Sight: Deep, dark fuchsia with an almost hot pink rim (I’m not kidding!)

Smell: Chocolate, coffee, raspberry, blackberry

Taste: Coffee, black cherry, sour cherry, cigar smoke

Overall:  This wine was pretty thrilling from start to finish.  Its deep, fuchsia color coats the glass, and seriously—the rim is bright pink.  There’s coffee and chocolate on the nose, sort of like a Swiss Miss hot cocoa or mocha note, and there’s definite raspberry with blackberry coming through.  On the palate, the wine was just velvety.  I’d compare the tannins to a good handshake—not the crush-your-skeleton handshake, and not the limp-dead-fish handshake, but rather the best handshake ever: the person has a firm grip, but they’re not trying to break your fingers, and they let go before it gets awkward.  That’s how these tannins were.  They had a nice grip, like “Hi, nice to meet you,” and then they moved on—very polite.  The mocha aroma from the nose evolved into a black coffee flavor on the palate, with sour cherry and dark berries, and a distinct cigar-smokiness on the finish.  The alcohol was at 14.5%, and I make a note of it because this wine felt really hot—the heat combined with the sour cherry started to evoke something Port-like for me.  It’s a very full-bodied wine—it would pair well with black-pepper steak.

I bought this wine a while ago and have been meaning to try it—it’s one of those bottles where the first thing I noticed was the label design.  However, unlike a lot of disappointing wines that rely too heavily on their artwork, this wine tasted just as powerful and just as mean as his mean ol’ mug…

Region:South Australia

Price: $14.99 at winestore.

Sight: Deep, dark, shadowy purple

Smell: Dark fruit, cedar, floral

Taste: Big, ripe dark berries, ginger, mocha, chocolate, oak

Overall:  This wine is an intense experience—on the attack, giant blueberry and black cherry flavors kick the door in and they’re like, “WE’RE HERE.  DEAL WITH IT.”  There’s a backdrop of coffee, and a little ginger-spice component (not the pop star), and that’s really the only subtle thing about this wine.  Once the wine moves towards the mid-palate, it’s all chocolate.  It reminds me of a raspberry dark chocolate that I had once—the fruit is still there, but it becomes secondary.  Towards the finish, the oak emerges, and it’s very pronounced.  This is actually the most noticeably oaky wine I’ve tasted so far for this blog, but it doesn’t bother me in the least—because it’s covered in chocolate.  I’ll just about eat chocolate-covered anything.  Chocolate-covered wood chips?  No problem.  This wine is big and boisterous—it would go well with a sweet, fruit-heavy dessert pastry (Charlotte people, go to Amélie’s and pick up a berry tart for this!), but for some unknown reason it also makes me want Arby’s…?  Strange cravings aside, keep your eyes peeled for this wine.  I’ve seen this guy at World Market, as well as at winestore, and if you like fruit and chocolate, this could definitely become a regular for you—especially at only $15!

I would like to dedicate this post to my friend Hannah.  She is crazy, and I love her, and we laugh a lot and have great fun together.  This post would not have happened without her—we were having a girls’ night last week & she suggested we crack open a bottle of organic wine, and of course I couldn’t refuse.  It is a 2008 Greener Planet Shiraz-Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon from the south of France, and the label boasts a complete lack of pesticides, industrial fertilizers and herbicides.  Even the bottle and label are made from recycled materials.  Let’s see how fresh and natural it tastes!

Region: Vin de pays de l’Hérault

Price: $15.99

Breakdown: 40% Shiraz, 40% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon

Sight: Vibrant purple

Smell: Earth, vegetal, black cherry, blueberry

Taste: Cherry, forest floor, firm tannins, black pepper, medium-bodied

Overall: This wine was incredibly fun to taste!  I can’t say I could “taste” the organic, but as far as this blend is concerned, this wine contains the best of all worlds.  This young wine is robust and could benefit from being decanted if you prefer calmer tannins, but it was exciting to taste right after opening.  More vegetal than fruity (although cherry is clearly present), the greenness of the flavor plays straight into the teeth-coating tannins, which add a fullness to the mouthfeel without making it too heavy. And for all its concern for saving the planet, this wine tastes like the earth itself—I got a lot of dirt, forest floor, and herbaceousness, and a little bit of black pepper to spice things up towards the finish.  I would definitely drink this wine again, and maybe even pair it with a hearty beef soup.