Tasting- Feb 9, 2012

 This Thursday at the Vintage Cellar, Rachel and I tried another five wines. The wines were Coastal Vines Brut, Lazzaro Chardonnay, Tres Ojos Garnacha Tempranillo Rose, Into Zin, and Legaris Crianza.
The first wine, the Coast Vines Brut, smelled very grapey and sparkly, almost like the sparkly grape juice you get for kids on New Year's. This wine is a sparkling wine from California, but unfortunately I was unable to find a vintage or the variety. The Vintage Cellar describes this wine as "light colored wine with aromas of apple and citrus. On the palate there are flavors of melon and pear"
This wine tasted spritzy and tart, dry, fresh and crisp. It was very good and I would love to try it again, especially since it only costs $6.95!

The second wine of the night was the Lazzaro Chardonnay from Mendoza, Argetina. This wine is made from Chardonnay grapes picked in 2010. This is another inexpensive wine at $6.95 per bottle. The Vintage Cellar describes this wine as "mellow peach and melon aromas and some oak. The

palate is round, creamy and full. Tastes of spiced, dried apple with
a stalky, pithy accent."
This wine smelled very citrusy and dry. I could not detect any sweetness in the aromas.  The taste was pretty interesting. It was dry, but I could taste oranges. And it felt almost frothy and tasted like lemon meringue pie.

The Third wine I tried was the Tres Ojos Garnacha Tempranillo Rosé 2010 from Calatayud, Spain. This wine is a blend with equal part of Garnacha and Tempranillo grapes picked in 2010. This wine is another cheap option for college students and will only run at $5.95 a bottle from the Vintage Cellar. The Vintage Cellar describes this wine as "medium rose colored rosado boasts a spicy red cherry/plum nose with a soft lush attack of red berry fruit flavors and a crisp dry finish. Simple and refreshing and a natural for tapas."

This wine smelled like meat to me, which was pretty off putting at first, but once I tasted the wine, it was really pleasant! It was peppery and sweet and tasted kind of like those redhots candies. I would definitely drink this wine again, especially if I had a steak to go with it.



The fourth wine I tried on Thursday night was called Into Zin. This wine is a Zinfandel from Lodi, California and the vintage is 2008. This wine only costs $7.95 and the Vintage Cellar described it as "Spicy , jammy, ripe round plum with juicy soft finish." I thought this wine smelled like home depot. It smelled like wood and sawdust and a warehouse and pepper. It tasted really peppery and spicy, just like the Vintage Cellar described. I also tasted red berries, like strawberries. Even though this wine had a lot of bold flavors, like liquid itself felt a little too thin for how much flavor it contained. Overall, it was very delicious!

The Final wine of the night was the Legaris Crianza. This wine is from Ribera del Duero, Spain. The vintage is 2003.
The description the Vintage Cellar gave was "A silky texture carries plum, tobacco, coffee and mineral flavors over ripe tannins in this balanced red. Berry and vanilla notes linger on the finish." It also received 90 points from wine spectator, and for a wine that only costs $8.95 that's pretty notable. This wine smelled weird to me, like chemicals and plastic. It almost smelled industrial, like car exhaust. The taste was pretty good though. It was dry and fruity, and tasted  like berries in particular.
This wine was great!