Tasting - Annalisa

Name: Annalisa
Variety: Malvasia di Castelnuovo Don Bosco Malvasia
Region: Asti
Country: Italy
Year: 2016
Price: $17
Winery review: The perlage is fine and persistent. The color is pale pink, almost cherry. The aromatic scent is intense and reminiscent of wild berries, blueberries and wild strawberries. The flavor is sweet, slightly sparkling and full of berries. Since this is a sweet and aromatic wine is a classic to combine with fruit tarts and pastry. An ideal companion in moments of celebration, Malvasia is also a nice refreshing drink at any time of the day.
My review: Wow this is a fun wine. It smelled smelled like a sweet day spent with your favorite person. For those who haven't done that before, it is sweet but not so sweet that it is overpowering. The taste was the same, not so sweet that I would hate it, but sweet enough to make me f&#*ing love it. It was like a cherry pie but this time I actually loved it. I would have bought this bottle for myself but all of my friends already bought bottles of it so I just got a different bottle that was good too. Overall dang this was tasty, something that would really make me want to go "mmmmmmmmmm fermented grape"

I did not have this with food.

Tasting - CK Mondavi

Name: CK Mondavi
Variety: Red Blend: 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 13% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 1% Malbec MAGNUM
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: 2015
Price: $20
Winery review: Red Blend is their winemaker’s signature cuvee, an expression of five red varieties capturing the best of each vintage. It has the backbone of Cabernet Sauvignon, the finesse of Merlot, the structure of Petit Verdot, the floral essence of Cabernet Franc and the boldness of Malbec. This full-bodied wine offers flavors of black cherries and plums and ends in a soft, balanced finish
My review: Finally, a red wine that I really enjoy. Another great thing about the wine is that it was cheap when on sale and gave you 1.5 liters for your money with being a good alcohol percentage (college students rejoice). When smelling it I didn't get much other than it seemed earthy and smelled as if there was no sugar left in it. The taste was sweet and had berry flavors mixed in there. The aftertaste was a little sour but it disappeared instantly after leaving this to not have too much of an aftertaste. I loved this wine and ended up using some of the little money my college wallet had on grabbing a bottle.

I did not have this with food.

Tasting - Vigna Lenuzza

Name: Vigna Lenuzza
Variety: Refosco
Region: Friuli Colli Orientali
Country: Italy
Year: 2011
Price: $15
Winery review: Classic varietal notes of wild herbs, roasted coffee beans, leather and spices deep ruby hues while on the palate sweet spiced notes of cinnamon and cardamom, held together with lively acidity and graceful tannins.
My review: This fine wine starts off with a scent that made it seem deep, dark, earthy, and hints of chocolate. Apon tasting the wine I got a dry chocolate taste with hints of some kind of earthy things mixed in. This was a pretty enjoyable wine so I thought about getting this especially because it was pretty cheap with the sale.

I did not have this with food.

Tasting - William Fevre La Mision

Name: William Fevre La Mision
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: Maipo Valley
Country: Chile
Year: 2016
Price: $22
Winery review: This La Misión Chardonnay is very fruity and highlights notes of pear, white peach, and a hint of smoke which is very characteristic of some vines from the Maipo Valley. It is very fresh and round in the mouth and has developed aromas of toasted bread and butter.
My review: Smelling this wine was not the most pleasant. To me I smelled pee. When tasting it, it was like a mixture of apples water and pee. The pee taste wasn't the worst thing in the world and when looking past the taste it was a decent wine. I just personally found it hard to get past the pee taste so I wouldn't drink this one again.

I did not have this with food.

Tasting - Mont Pellier

Name: Mont Pellier
Variety: Viognier
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: 2015
Price: $15
Winery review: With abundant aromas of honey-suckle, stone fruit, apricot and tropical fruit, our Viognier finishes crisp and clean with hints of vanilla and fruit that is pleasantly balanced.

My review: This wine starts out smelling floral. I couldn't place what flower it was but it was there. The taste was like sweet floral water. There were some hints of apple and oak in the taste but it was hard to really place. Overall not a bad wine but not worth picking up.

I did not have this with food.

Tasting - Rivata Moscato D'Asti

Name: Rivata Moscato D'Asti
Variety: Moscato
Region: Ovada
Country: Italy
Year: 2017
Price: $12
Winery review: Softly sparkling bubbly loaded with peach, mango, and honey flavors. Estate bottled from carefully selected grapes, this sweet wine is perfect alone, as an aperitif or with dessert. Great with spicy pork appetizers
My review: The first thing I noteiced about the wine was the fizz. It most definitely was sparkling wine. I smelled it and it smelled of gingerale but less gingery. The taste was sweet but not overbearing so it was very enjoyable. The main part of the taste was pears and a bit of apple. Overall a good sparkling wine and I would pick it up if I was looking for a wine of this type.


I did not have this with food.

Tasting - Heinz Eifel Shine

Name: Heinz Eifel Shine
Variety: Qualitaswein
Region: Germany (unspecified)
Country: Germany
Year: 2017
Price: $10
Winery review: Heinz Eifel Shine Riesling is made from grapes harvested on the sloping hillsides of Germany's prime wine growing regions. The inding rivers running alongside these vineyards reflect sunlight, which help to ripen the Riesling througout the long cool growing season. Shine Riesling is slightly sweet, with bright, crip flavors of green apple, pear, and peach. It is best served chilled, and can be enjoyed before a meal or with spicier Asian cuisine.
My review: Before I tried this wine, my friend who also bought a bottle of this told me that he hated it. I was scarred of the wine before I got to taste it. However it was pretty enjoyable. The smell was of generic white wine. I could not pull out anything else out of the smell. I then tasted it without food and it was kinda dry and generic to me. However when I started to eat some spicy mexican food that I made for date night it really "shine"d (ba dum chhhhhh...I swear I'm funny). Berry flavors along with green apple. I really enjoyed this wine and if I were trying to get a wine to pair with spicy food I would look to this. Great time, college wallet would let me buy it again.

This was tried with homemade spicy mexicanesk food.

Tasteing - Double Dog Dare

Name: Double Dog Dare
Variety: Moscato
Region: Livermore & Ripon, California
Country: United States
Year: Not listed
Price: $4
Winery review: A delicious blend of exotic fruit flavors and sweetness served up in a pleasing light style. Well-balanced with a crisp and clean finish. Perfect with brunch, desserts or lighter fare.
My review: I thought it might be fun to review the first wine I've ever had that I didn't hate. The smell of this wine was of grapes...Yea its just grape juice for the smell. The taste...you guessed it, alcoholic grape juice. This doesn't taste like wine to me, its not dry at all, its sweet, pretty smooth and consistent flavor. It is cheap af so its expected to be just grape juice. So if you want to drink alcoholic grape juice, go for a glass of this.

This was tried by itself with no food.

Tasting - Blanc de Bleu

Name: Blanc de Bleu
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: 2017
Price: $17.95
Winery review: This wine has a beautiful hue that can only be described as electric aquamarine. These flavors are no less charged and feature a lovely tropical fruit basket of pineapple, coconut and lychee flavors and a crisp finish.
My review: This wine looked interesting before I tried it because it is the first blue-green looking wine I've ever seen. When sniffing the wine I smelled blueberry and something like blue Gatorade mixed with wine. The taste was pretty similar, it was kind of sour to me and it was very fizzy. I tried to get more out of the taste but I couldn't really get much more. I think it was worth it to try it because its blue, but its not worth it to try if you aren't into saying you've had blue wine before.

This was tried by itself with no food.

Tasting - Fratelli

Name: Fratelli
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon/Pinot Noir
Region: Ukraine
Country: Ukraine
Year: Not listed
Price: $15
Winery review: Sweet blackberry and blueberry notes are deeply concentrated on the nose and palate of this Ukranian semisweet red sparkler. Softly petillant, it’s unabashedly fun and fruity, and an enjoyable choice for casual entertaining.
My review: Sad that this week ended without tasting a wine I would really want. The smell of this wine was sweet as <insert curse word here>. Blew my socks off with the amount of sweetness I smelled here along with a small amount of fruit and some kind of vegetation. The taste was overwhelming in how sweet it was. After the sweetness was gone I had a tart aftertaste. If you love sweetness then sure this would be good but it was just too much for me to handle.

This was tried by itself with no food.

Tasting - Eikeboom

Name: Eikeboom
Variety: Pinotage
Region: Western Cape
Country: South Africa
Year: 2015
Price: $17
Winery review: This dark-colored 2015 possesses cranberry and cherry richness intermixed with some spice box, earth and herbs. It is fresh, medium-bodied and could be served chilled if readers desire, given its Beaujolais-like weight and texture.
My review: Well this was an interesting experience. I will try to be as fair as possible at first then I'll end on how I want to talk about this. The smell was of some kind of berry and like the pot a potted plant would go in (without anything else...just the pot). The taste was kinda hard to pull much out of, I got a little bit of a sour taste but I do not know what to compare it to. The aftertaste was dirt. Overall this wine, in my opinion is just dirt. If you like the taste of dirt, then by all means, enjoy it, but it actually tasted like dirt and that's not me trying to insult the wine at all. It actually only really reminded me of dirt and I could not separate the sod that you put plants in from the taste of this wine. I do not enjoy dirt so I did not enjoy this wine.

This was tried by itself with no food.

Tasting - Jekel

Name: Jekel
Variety: Monterey Pinot Noir
Region: Monterey, California
Country: United States
Year: 2015
Price: $30
Winery review: This medium weight Pinot Noir is rich with layers of bing cherries, rosehips, and lavender herbs. Its opulent richness will exceed your expectations--lingering just a bit until an inevitable smile appears.
My review: This was an interesting wine, the best way to describe the smell that I found was deep or complex. When tasting I got a bitter taste with what I believe was the taste of cloves. It was kinda chocolaty and caramel, not the taste, but what the smell of the two are with all the sugar taken out. Overall not great for me however I could get how someone else might appreciate this wine.

This was tried by itself with no food.

Tasting - Ch des Arnauds

Name: Ch des Arnauds
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot
Region: Les Caprices d’Anaïs Bodeaux
Country: France
Year: 2017
Price: $13
Winery review: "Medium pink salmon. Reticent nose of minerals, flowers, and a hint of red berries. Savory, serious, and spicy in the mouth with minerals and red currants showing. A 50/50 blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon from 30+ year old vines. This is a serious, food wine with a good backbone."
My review: This wine gave off a fruit or flowery smell which is the first wine to give me much scent off of it other than the wine smell. At first it tasted of honey dew and was a light wine that I could possibly drink. I then tried sucking in air over the wine and it pulled out far more flavor. There was some kind of floral taste there and it became far more dry. This was the first dry wine that I can say that I enjoyed. I didn't end up buying it but it was pleasant for wine.

This was tried by itself with no food.

Tasting - Cantina Villafranca

Name: Cantina Villafranca
Variety: Blended: Malvasia di Candia, Trebbiano Toscano, Malvasia del Lazio, Grechetto
Region: Lazio
Country: Italy
Year: 2016
Price: $10
Winery review: A blend of 45% Malvasia di Candia, 15% Trebbiano Toscano, 25% Malvasia del Lazio and 15% Grechetto. This luminous, golden wine shows fragrant aromas of honeysuckle, white melon, peach blossom and almond.
My review: This white wine honestly just smelled like white wine. I tried to get more out of smelling it with all the right techniques but I got the "wine" smell. It was a dry wine that had a little fruity aftertaste but not really much to it. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. I'd only recommend this to people who want to know what the generic white wine tastes like.

This was tried by itself with no food.

Tasting - Crane Lake

Name: Crane Lake
Variety: Gewurztraminer
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: 2016
Price: $9
Winery review: Medium amber in color, this wine offers a bouquet of peach and orange blossom. Typical flavors of lychee with measured peach, honey, almond blossom and vanilla flavors
My review: After the last wine I had, this was a nice refreshing taste. This light white wine was a fruity and sweet delight. It has a feel to it where you can taste the unique flavor in it but it not being too overpowering. I think this is my favorite wine I have had as of today. When leaving the tasting, my poor college wallet let me grab a bottle. The Californians did something right because this wine comes highly recommended from a person who might still hate wine.

This was tried by itself with no food.

Tasting - Nuna

Name: Nuna
Variety: Bonarda Reserve
Region: Mendoza
Country: Argentina
Year: 2015
Price: $17
Winery review: 89- Wine Enthusiast
Purple-colored Bonarda offers a fruity, fresh nose featuring plums, mulberries and violets. Fruity, forward and easy-going
My review: Just when I thought that I may not actually hate wine, I had this...wine. It embodies everything I hate about wine. I took my first sip and I hated it the entire time, I even hated it for a while after drinking it. The first feeling was of hard bitter taste followed by a sharp sour aftertaste. The taste lingered on my tongue and my mind for minutes after. Unless the specific bottle I had had something wrong with it, I will never drink this wine ever again without being forced to or a large portion of my taste buds change.

This was tried by itself with no food.

Tasting - Fattoria La Torre

Name: Fattoria La Torre
Variety: A blend of 80% Sangiovese, 10% Canaiolo and 10% Malvasia Nera.
Region: Chianti Colli Senesi
Country: Italy
Year: 2015
Price: $13
Winery review: A blend of 80% Sangiovese, 10% Canaiolo and 10% Malvasia Nera. La Torre is one of the original estates in San Gimignano and has 350 hectares in the hills of San Gimignano. Intense vinous bouquet with a beguiling blackberry and violet notes.
On the palate, round and robust with hints of wild berries, dark cherry and spice. This Chianti has an excellent acidity and a long and satisfying finish
My review: I begin to doubt that I dislike wine with this wine. Nothing bad about it however it seems kind of...bland. It is the first red that I don't hate, but thats really all that seems special to it. Not really that much flavor (at least to me) except that it had a bitter aftertaste. I would pick up this wine to look like I know what wine is and to look like I enjoy reds but I wouldn't buy it for only myself.

This was tried by itself with no food.

Tasting - Domaine De Mus

Name: Domaine De Mus
Variety: Roussanne/Vermentino
Region: Languedoc
Country: France
Year: 2017
Price: $13
Winery review: 88-Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
The blend is 85%-15% in favor of Roussanne, so it's no surprise that that variety's pear and pineapple fruit dominates the 2017 Pays d'Oc Roussanne Vermentino. It's medium-bodied and honeyed without being heavy, rich or cloying, and it represents a terrific value
My review: To start, I like this wine. I think this is the first real wine I've had that I have enjoyed. The taste is sweet throughout the life-cycle of the drink (from putting in my mouth to swallowing it). The aftertaste was I guess the word for it is tarty? An interesting wine all around, nearly bought a bottle for myself on the way out, but my poor college wallet said no.

This was tried by itself with no food.

Tasting - Terra Minei

Name: Terra Minei
Variety: Treixadura
Region: Ribeiro
Country: Spain
Year: 2015
Price: $17
Winery review: Firm and focused, this white supports the core of apple and pear flavors with flinty, steely and briny notes, accented with fresh herb and smoky details. Juicy acidity keeps this fresh and racy through the mineral finish
My review: This white wine didn't have too much for me to smell (cause I'm not well versed in it yet) other than smelling like wine. It had a sweet first taste to it followed by a very dry aftertaste. Throughout the drinking of it, it had a smooth feel. Overall not bad for this wine non-enthusiast, but I wouldn't pick this up for myself.

This was tried by itself with no food.

My First Blog Post

Hello there TA's and random people from the internet! This is my wine blog. You may not know me so let me introduce myself. As the page says, I am Drew Bond (yes I know, somebody you've never heard of). I haven't been much of a wine drinker for my life for a few reasons. All of said reasons are because I hate wine and there are other things to drink/do. You may say "But Drew, why would you take a course on wine then? Couldn't you use your tuition for something that you at least enjoy???" Yes, I could, but I try to keep an open mind so I will push my way through this course.

As the great and mighty Boyer commanded, I have added a picture of myself in today's posting. I am the interesting looking fellow on the left (the younger looking one on the right is my older brother). I know this is from 2 years ago but as you will find out over the course of my postings, I don't usually take pictures of myself (cause I'm bad at it) so I reuse old ones when I can. (only thing different is my beard is fuller and I wear glasses most of the time). BUT back to wine, you might want to know why it is that I "hate" wine. It probably comes to how I haven't had any real wines that I've liked yet.
I have given wine a few tries over my lifetime. As of the beginning of this semester (before I started tastings and such), I have had the displeasure of having the grapy liquid touch my tongue about 4 times. The first time was with some friends and it was Franzia wine (so you can guess how good that was). It was pretty bad, I then tried a couple sips here and there and all of them seemed to be the same. I once however went to a tasting with my good friend once and there was a "wine" I had that didn't make me want to spit it out. It was double dog dare wine, and it tasted like regular alcoholic grape juice. It didn't taste at all like wine which is why I liked it.
So for you who found my nice blog and want to see what it takes to possibly make this wine hater to like wine over the course of the semester, stay tuned and we shall see if I remain bitter as I am now, or if I grow into hopefully a wine connoisseur.