Sandeman Founder's Reserve Ruby Porto

As I was getting ready for the Engineer's Ball yesterday, my friend came over with this: Sandeman Founder's Reserve Ruby Porto, already chilled. This port comes to us from Portugal, it has an alcohol content of 20% (wow!) and cost about $20 at Total Wine (or so they say).

Sandeman does not have much to say on the flavor of their Ruby Porto, except that it is "brilliant and clean" with rich red fruit flavor. Other reviews online claim that the oak aging of this wine gives it a spiciness. This particular variety had been aged for 5 years prior to bottling.

Upon opening, I noticed its high viscosity and deep purple color. Raising the glass to my nose, the full aroma of cherry, almonds, caramel, and plums took over me. The taste was even more complex and delicious: a full-bodied blend of cherry, prunes, sugar, and spice. The red fruit flavor was really front and center as they said. It was a great idea to have it chilled. The tannins in the wine did make it a bit astringent, but the sugar really mellowed this out. This bottle reminds me of a cherry almond liquor that I bought in Rome called Rattafia.

From page 154 of the Wine Folly text, they describe the flavors of Port as consisting of black plum, dried cherry, chocolate, raisin, and cinnamon. The Ruby Porto is much different in flavor profile than the Tawny Port I had a week ago. This one is much fruitier and redder, which makes sense because it was not aged as long. This wine would be absolutely divine with a hunk of strong cheese.

Robert Mondavi PS Rum Barrel Aged Merlot

I decided to start my drinking pretty early in the day this Saturday. I was getting ready for the Engineer's Ball with my friend, and we decided to open this lovely bottle of red wine from Robert Mondavi Private Selection. It was a rum barrel aged Merlot from California, the 2019 vintage. A Merlot is made from Merlot grapes, which are very commonly grown around the world.

The description I got of this bottle online suggests that it has rather dark fruit flavors, with some sugarcane, molasses, and chocolate from its time in the rum barrels. The bottle only cost $14 and had an alcohol content of 14.5% ABV. It was a deep purple and absolutely full bodied.

The aroma was very fragrant. After a quick aeration, I noticed the scent of ripe, dark tart fruits such as blackberry. I also detected some spice in addition to the obvious smell of the alcohol. The actual taste was very lush, fruity, and thick. I love a good jammy wine, and this was definitely that. I did notice the blueberry and raspberry taste, but what was unexpected was the subtle hints of chocolate and cinnamon. 

From page 131 of Wine Folly, typical tasting notes of this grape variety include cherry, plum, chocolate, dried herbs, and vanilla. It is surprising to me that although the wine was aged in rum barrels, that the vanilla flavor was not there. I would absolutely buy this bottle again; it would be delicious with something grilled like a steak.

Wine Dinner #1

I have been looking forward to having this dinner with my friends for the last few weeks. We had three courses: an appetizer, a main dish, and dessert. Since only three of us were available, we each brought our own food and wine, and I believe that each item we brought was a window into our individual personalities.

Course #1

My friend Jessica brought a lovely alfredo pizza with chicken, spinach, and a balsamic glaze. The pizza was fresh baked from Zeppoli's, which is where she works. The pizza was absolutely divine, with an extra sweet and fluffiness from the fresh baked bread. The glaze was subtle but added a lovely sweetness along with the bread, while the chicken and cheese balanced it back out toward the savory side.

She also acquired a bottle of Jermann Pinot Grigio 2021 from Zeppoli's. This wine was 13% ABV with a medium body and an aroma of pear, apples, honey, and crisp citrus. It tasted smooth and crisp, but it was not too bright and citrusy like some Pinot Grigios I have had that remind me of cider. It was mellow, not too acidic, and had a nice mouthfeel and swallow. The wine comes from the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy and tasting notes of Pinot Grigio grapes lean toward white peach, lemon zest, cantaloupe, and almonds. The wine was a little colder than room temperature, but not chilled, which may have contributed to its lack of acidity. According to the Internet, this wine is supposed to have tasting notes of crunchy pear, pink grapefruit zest, melon, and salty mineral along with high acidity. Most of these I did not get except for the pear and possibly the mineral.

This wine paired perfectly with the sweet and savory pizza. It was not too citrusy and acidic that it took over the flavor of the pizza. While the wine was a bit flabby when warm, I think it made the pairing more enjoyable. The balsamic glaze did bring out more acidity in the wine. The wine also made the cheese from the alfredo sauce taste so much richer and fattier, and between the bread and the creamy cheese, the mouthfeel of the wine was exquisite.

Course #2

My other friend Sophie decided to cook her dish at my house, where we hosted the dinner. She made a family recipe: linguine with a clam wine sauce. Her family recipe does not distinguish what type of wine to cook with, it just needs to be a white wine. So she decided to cook with a favorite of hers; a Vigonobles Lacheteau Vouvray 2021. The dish was a wonderful clinic in Italian home cooking. The pasta was garlicy, buttery, with some saltiness from the canned clams. There is a certain savory/meaty flavor that comes from clams that I am unable to succinctly describe.

We paired the same wine, the Vigonobles Lacheteau Vouvray 2021, with this dish. The wine comes out at 11.5% ABV with a light yellow color. After some research, we found that this wine was made predominantly from Chenin Blanc in the Vouvray region of France (hence the name). This varietal of wine usually contains high acidity with varying amounts of sweetness. The winery describes it as having acacia, pear, and almond aromas. We served this wine chilled and I have to say this was an amazing decision. On the nose we got hints of apple and citrus, and prepared ourselves for an acid punch. However, the wine was actually very light bodied and low in acid. It was a slightly sweet wine which I would describe as "honeyed" because it went down so smooth and warmed me up.

As for pairing with the pasta, it was a match made in heaven. The saltiness of the clams completely annihilated any acidity that might have been in the wine, leaving a cold, smooth, sweet nectar in its place. As I mentioned before, it went down like honey. It was a bit duller when paired with the food, but that was okay with us.

Course #3

I have a sweet tooth, and one of my favorite desserts is creme brulee. I was operating in a time crunch so I may not have had enough time to chill the creme brulees, so the result was a semi-set custard. However, the taste and most of the texture of the dish was still there. They had a very creamy, strong vanilla flavor which I enjoy. The cracked sugar on the top gave an additional shot of caramel sweetness.

I thought that a sweet dessert like creme brulee should be enjoyed with another sweet wine. I brought Maynard's 10-year-old Aged Tawny Port from Douro, Portugal. Bottled in 2022, this bottle had an alcohol content of 20% ABV. According to Vivino, this wine has tasting notes of dried fruit like raisin, prune and fig as well as notes of vanilla, caramel, chocolate, and almond. It was served at room temperature and aerated. I found it to be a lovely dessert wine, with an aroma of caramel, butterscotch, dried fruit (although I could not put my finger on which dried fruit), and hot alcohol. I found the wine to be thick, but not heavy. It tasted strongly of chocolate, caramel, and had the hotness and sweetness of vanilla extract. It coated my tongue in a good way, and I found it to be not too acidic.

However, I misjudged this pairing. The creme brulee was far too sweet to serve with the Port. The dessert sapped all of the sweetness away from the wine, leaving the harshness of the alcohol. I think this wine would be very good if it were served with something a bit more bitter, like dark chocolate cake or a cannoli. Next time, I would serve a more tannic red wine with the creme brulees to balance out the sweetness.

El Viejo del Valle

 I am not much of a Chardonnay drinker. My mother's drink of choice growing up was always dry, oaky, chilled Chardonnay and I never cared for it. So when I was tasked with finding a Chardonnay for my friends and I, I asked the clerk at Vintage Cellar for something that was not dry or oaky. They pointed me in the direction of El Viejo del Valle (The Old Man from the Valley). It was their 2019 vintage from Valle de Maule in Chile.

According to reviews from many wine drinkers, this wine has been known to have tasting notes of pear, apple, citrus, saline, minerals, and smoke. It had a 13% ABV and only cost me $7. It had a medium straw color in the glass.

Upon opening and smelling, my nose was dominated by the alcohol scent. It was the only aroma I could distinguish, it was just so strong. I did detect notes of pear on my first sip of the wine, but the acidity of it was so high that it took a few minutes to catch the subtle taste of honeysuckle and yellow apple. It was definitely not oaky, which in hindsight I wish it would have been. It was very light, crisp, and acidic and reminded me of the taste of those novelty jelly beans based off the Harry Potter books (in particular the vomit flavored jelly bean). Let's just say I was not a fan of this one. It was rather dry and had some light tannins.

According to page 96 of Wine Folly, Chardonnay grapes usually have tasting notes of yellow apple, starfruit, pineapple, vanilla, and butter. Since this style of Chardonnay was definitely not aged, it did not resemble anything like butter or vanilla. Yellow apple became more apparent throughout the wine tasting process, and perhaps I could see the presence of pineapple due to the acidity. We served this wine cold as advised to us by the book.

Big Red Monster Zinfandel

 I was in search of a fruity, jammy red wine and so the omniscient clerks at Vintage Cellar recommended the Big Red Monster Zinfandel from Paso Robles, a winery in San Lucas, California. The bottle cost $19, had a high alcohol content of 15% ABV, and had an extremely pretty label on the front. This Zinfandel actually contained three different grape varieties: Zinfandel, Tannat, and Sirah.

From an expert review I read here, I was given tasting notes of blueberry, plum, and blackberry cobbler with a smooth and juicy finish. It was a very dark red just like the description. The color I would use to describe it is medium purple.

Upon opening and decanting using an aerator, we detected the bold and lush aroma of the wine immediately. The scent of blackberry and other dark fruits was very enticing. There was a slight burn in the nose from the alcohol, but this makes sense since it has a very high percentage.

The taste was absolutely delicious and just what I was looking for. It was very jammy, with strong fruit flavors. I would say that the wine had a good level of sweetness for me, but it was by no means a sweet wine. I have learned from my friends that often what I am describing as "sweet" is just "fruity." It had a lovely medium-full body. It was mildly astringent due to the tannins, but not overly dry. The acid of the wine was very well in balance. I could see this wine pairing very well with a protein laden meal like steak.

From pages 189, 174, and 172 of Wine Folly, I have gathered tasting descriptions of the three grape varieties in this Zinfandel. Sirah (or as it is listed in the book, Syrah) has notes of blueberries, plums, milk chocolate, tobacco, and green peppercorn. Tannat has notes of plum, black currant, licorice, smoke, and cardamom. Zinfandel has notes of blackberry, strawberry, peach preserves, cinnamon, and sweet tobacco. All three grapes have medium to high levels of body and tannins. The tasting notes from these three grapes that I got the most were blueberries, blackberries, and a hint of licorice.

Wine and Cheese #1

For our very first wine and cheese night, my friends and I took a little trip to the Wine Lab in Blacksburg, VA. We decided to each get a flight of wine, which consisted of three 2 oz samples, and a platter of 3 cheese with accoutrements.

Old World Flight:

• Sauvion Muscadet '20
• Time Waits for No One Monastrell '17
• Dom. Fontbonau Cotes du Rhone Rouge '12

Cheese:

• Vermont Honey Truffle
• Fromager D'Affinois Herb
• El Trigal Manchego

Wine Review

The Sauvion Muscadet '20 was a white wine from France and cost $48/bottle. It had an aroma that was sweet and acidic that reminded me of apples. It was pale yellow in color, with an alcohol forward taste that evolved with time. Tasting notes of the wine include a tartness, like a citrusy apple. It had an ABV of 12% and is what I would describe as dry with medium body.

The Monastrell '17 was a red wine from Spain and cost $36/bottle. It had a sweet cherry and blueberry aroma. It had a light-to-medium body and was ruby red in color. The wine was smooth and a little sweet, with a slight bitterness/astringency which probably came from the tannins. It did not have many fruit notes, but was what I would describe as "earthy." The alcohol content was 14.5% ABV.

For the Rouge '12 from France, I got flowery and light red fruit notes such as strawberry on the nose. The color was a brownish-red with a medium body. This wine tasted sweet, but also was very astringent. It left my mouth very dry after drinking. It did not taste very fruity, but it did have some floral tasting notes to it. It cost $52/bottle and had an alcohol content of 15%.

Cheese Review

On their own, I really enjoyed the cheeses. The honey truffle was very sweet, creamy, and enjoyable. It had a certain earthiness and fruitiness to it that I did not expect. The Fromager was a little less creamy, with smoky notes such as bacon. It was buttery, salty, and delicious on a cracker. The Manchego was my least favorite of the three, at least on its own. I did not detect many dominating flavors; it just seemed hard and dull.

Wine and Cheese Pairing

Starting with the Muscadet, I found that this wine was made much tarter by the honey truffle. I believe the sweetness of the cheese made the subtle sweetness of the wine nonexistent. However, I found that this wine paired well with the Fromager; it made the taste and texture of the cheese smoother and more buttery. The Manchego cheese, while my least favorite of the three, paired excellently with the Manchego. The dull saltiness of the cheese accentuated the brightness of this white wine, making it taste crisper and sweeter.

Moving on to the Monastrell, this bitter red wine highlighted the sweetness inherent in the honey truffle. The earthiness of both were in a nice balance. As for the Fromager, the herbs of this cheese were brought forward in this pairing. I could have eaten a whole meal consisting of Monastrell and Fromager: the garlic, herbs, and smokiness of the cheese were front and center. The Manchego did not seem to bring anything special out of the wine. The cheese remained dull and the wine remained earthy. However, the flavors of both were complimentary.

Moving to the Rouge, I found the sweetness of the honey truffle was highly elevated by this astringent wine. My dry mouth was craving the creaminess of this goat cheese. I highly enjoyed this pairing. The herbiness of the Fromager was a bit too strong and annihilated any subtleties in the wine. However, the creaminess of the cheese with the wine had good mouth feel. Finally, the wine paired decently with the Manchego. It brought out a good saltiness from the cheese so it did not taste as dull. However, the pairing left my mouth drier than it would with the wine alone.

La Boncia Chianti 2021

We had a Chianti taste off a few weeks ago between the Castellani Chianti Classico Riserva 2017 and La Boncia Chianti 2021. Although I was the one to pick the Castellani Chianti, I must admit that I preferred this bottle. This wine is made from Sangiovese grapes and comes from the Bindi Sergardi winery in Tuscany, Italy.

According to the winery website, this ruby red wine has a red fruit and grapefruit aroma, with a smooth finish and gentle tannins. The 2021 vintage cost $30 for this bottle and it had an ABV of 13.5%.

I did find this Chianti to have a smoother, more gentle finish than the Castellani. It was medium purple in color to me, with aromatic notes of sweet red fruits. It was more fruit forward than the Castellani, with strong raspberry notes. It was sweet, had a surprisingly light body, and had subtle tasting notes of cherry and cocoa. It did dry my mouth a bit when swallowing.

According to page 162 of Wine Folly, Sangiovese are predominantly used in Chiantis and are grown mostly in Tuscany. The wines made with these grapes usually have notes of cherry, roasted tomatoes, sweet balsamic, oregano, and espresso. They also have high acidity, high tannins, medium alcohol and medium body. I have to say that I enjoyed this wine and would buy it again if only the price were more affordable.

Castello Del Poggio Prosecco DOC

On Saturday night, I decided to pick up a bottle of bubbly because I had something to celebrate. For over two weeks, I had tried to set up a complicated experiment in my research lab, but each time I made forward progress, some unforeseen obstacle would prohibit me from getting further. Saturday marked the day that I finally got the experiment underway, and it was a happy feeling indeed. To commemorate the moment, I decided to buy a bottle of Prosecco (because Champagne isn't really my thing) and head over to my friends' place for some games and drinks.

The wine only cost me $11 at Food Lion and had an alcohol content of 11% ABV. It was produced in Veneto, Italy and the review from Total Wine describes it as having sweet honey and golden apple notes. The bottle itself identifies as an extra dry sparkling wine with notes of Jasmine Flower. It is made of Glera grapes.

Upon pouring the contents into a novelty wine glass courtesy of my friend, I noticed a very tart aroma as the bubbles swirled and lifted to my nose. It was reminiscent of a cold cider, with notes of apple and pear. It appeared as a light yellow solution which could be described as straw colored (it was hard to tell because the glass was a horrible shade of blue).

The Prosecco was not nearly as dry as I expected it to be. It had a slight sweetness and is what I would describe as "off-dry." It was crisp and bright, with strong apple notes. It reminded me a lot of a Bold Rock cider. It was very light.

According to the Wine Folly text, referencing page 155 on Prosecco, the notation on this bottle "DOC" represents the lowest level of quality for Proseccos based on the areas it is allowed to grow. Proseccos are usually low to medium sweetness with a relatively high acidity. This correlates well with my experience. Common tasting notes include green apple, honeydew, pear, lager, and cream. The lager and apple flavors validate my tasting comments.