Tasting - "Powers Carbernet Sauvignon"

Powers Carbernet Sauvignon

Carbernet Sauvignon

Columbia Valley

Washington

2010

$8.99 a bottle

Richard DiGiacomo Review

Powers Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, Washington, 2010 pours a deep purple color into the glass. The nose is full with violets along with raspberries and blueberries with graphite. The palate starts fruit forward with raspberries and strawberries, and tart cherries. Graphite and minerals mix with smooth tannins, which lead to a medium finish.
Jose Mendoza the winemaker likes to blend grapes from different vineyard, he puts in Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from four different vineyards, some of which are aged in French oak. He then adds 5% Malbec and 2% Merlot to round out the wine.
This is a very food friendly Cabernet Sauvignon, try it with any pork dish and even a rich chicken or steak dish as well.

My Review

• This wine is a very dark red/purple color in the glass.
• The wine smelled very earthy and a very bitter cherry.
• The wine tasted very earthy, with strong bitter cherry and cranberry coming through.
• The wine is very hot going down with a slightly less strong initial feel.

Overall I did not really like the taste of this wine. It was very strong, potent, and bitter. 

I did not have this wine with food which is why I think it did not taste good. A good pairing could potentially bring out a much better flavor with less bitterness.

Tasting - "Rex Goliath Sauvignon Blanc"

Rex Goliath Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc

California

United States

2011

$7.49 a bottle

Rex Goliath Review

Our Sauvignon Blanc shows Rex's sassy side with its lively citrus and green apple flavors. Highly versatile, nearly any dish seasoned with fresh herbs can be paired with it. That's because Sauvignon Blanc has an herbal quality, making it easier to align the flavor of the food closer to that of the wine. Just like the 47 lb Rooster, you'll never forget this bright, crisp and refreshing white. With bright lively citrus and summer fruit flavors - like honeydew melon, nectarine, and pair - our Sauvignon Blanc is perfect for picnics, entertaining on the patio, or rewarding yourself after a long day.

My Review

• This wine is a white wine with a very pale tan color.
• The wine smelled very light and floral with fruity flavors like grape and citrus bursting through.
• The wine tasted incredibly fruity, mainly of apples, citrus, and grapes.
• Very light in the mouth and an incredibly smooth finish.

Overall this has been my favorite wine I have tasted. The flavor is great, it's very smooth with very little acidic finish. I never thought a wine name "Rex Goliath" with a big ass rooster on the front would taste this good.

I did not have this with food but I think the wine would be great with or without food.

Tasting - "Edna Valley Chardonnay"

Edna Valley Chardonnay

Chardonnay

California

United States

2011

$12.99 a bottle

Edna Valley Review

For three decades, we’ve crafted flavorful Chardonnay grapes from the Edna Valley into award-winning wine. Our Edna Valley Vineyard 2011 Chardonnay displays an attractive bouquet of quince, pear, ripe apple, apricot and light pineapple, with underlying brown spice notes of cinnamon and clove. A fresh mouth feel, hints of vanilla and a bright acidity combine to form a long, pleasing finish in this medium-bodied wine.

My Review

• This wine was pale green color, almost a tan.
• The wine smelled very light and floral, with fruity hints of grape and apple.
• The wine tasted incredibly fruity, mainly of apples, pears, and grapes.
• Very smooth and creamy with a smooth finish, almost no hotness on the way down.

This wine is very easy to drink in large quantities. A very simple taste that you could almost say is just alcoholic juice. Not my favorite but I would definitely drink it again.

I did not have food with this wine, which I don't think made a difference since the flavor was pretty straightforward. 

Tasting - "Concannon Pinot Noir"

Concannon Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir

California

United States

2011

$7.95 a bottle

Concannon Review

The 2011 Pinot Noir, Selected Vineyards is rich in both color and fragrance. With aromas of raspberry and ripe strawberry, this medium-bodied wine is very food-friendly. Balanced by warm spice accents of cloves and cinnamon, the bright red fruit flavors finish round and smooth.

My Review

• This wine is a very dark red/burgundy color.
• The wine smells very oakey and earthy with a bitter cherry coming though near the end.
• The wine tastes very earthy and bitter with a strong cherry finish
• Moderately bitter at first taste and is pretty hot going down

Overall I enjoyed this wine, it was my first taste of a wine where you couldn't simply down it in 3 gulps. It was very complex and made me think about what I was actually tasting.

I did not have this wine with food, which I think may have caused it to taste a little more bitter than if I had tasted it with cheese or pasta.

Tasting - "Beringer White Zinfandel"

Beringer White Zinfandel

Zinfandel

California

United States

2012

$8.00 a bottle

Jon Rogers Review

This wine is light rose in color, almost approaching pink.  In the glass, this wine is not heavy by any means.  No legs here, just a sheeting action on the sides of the glass that quickly dissipates.  Interestingly, after the wine was consumed, you could see a layer of residue on the bottom of the glass.

The aroma of the wine was light and bright.  It was also very lofty, though more so noticed upon the initial pour.  Less so after a moment or two.  The nose was of fresh fruits and perhaps a hint of candy apple.

The wine’s taste was very sweet, as expected.  Given the light appearance of the wine, you may be surprised that the taste is a bit “darker” then might be expected.  This is primarily due to the sweetness of the wine.

The finish of the Beringer White Zinfandel was long and noticeable all over the mouth.  A very slight bitter taste was noticed at the long end of the finish.

Overall, this wine makes for a good summer sipper.  It definitely needs to be serve chilled and you’ll find that recommendation on the bottle.  The relatively lower alcohol content also makes it a better sipper.  Pair this with a cookout on the grill and beach volleyball!  A good starter wine for a younger legal aged wine consumer.

My Review

The wine is a dark pink at first glance but could be a lighter pink in different lighting (I was at Boudreaux's). 

The wine smelled very light with lots of fruity flavors coming out, specifically raspberry and cherry.

The  wine tasted incredibly fruity with a lot of strawberry and cherry coming out. Very smooth at first, but slightly acidic on the way down.

Overall I thought this wine was very good for the price, easy to drink and good flavor.

This wine was tasted after a meal as sort of a dessert wine, which could make it have tasted sweeter than it normally would have.

My Personal Experience With Wine

My name is Mitchell Smith and I am a Senior in Civil Engineering. My past experiences with wine are few and far between because I simply am not a fan of the taste. I am a more favorably a beer and bourbon drinker, but i hope this class will help broaden my horizon so I can appreciate alcohol in all of its forms.

Now, for my experiences with wine, I will preface this part by saying I am affiliated with a fraternity so the quality of wine I have had in the past is not the best. I have had Franzia, Barefoot, and a number of other "under $10" wines. They mostly tasted like syrup, grape juice, or shit. All of which were intended to be chugged in order to get as intoxicated as possible. Obviously this is not a good representation of the art that is wine.

My hope is that this class will teach me to appreciate wine as an art, and not just as another source of alcohol. Learning to pair wine with food will probably be the most valuable thing I acquire from this class just because it's something that we do everyday, eat and drink. Other than that I'm just excited to find out things I've never known about wine and to have fun with it.