Wines We Drank in 2016
Raise your hand if you want drinkable dinner wines that don’t break the bank ?, I know we do! We’ve been in Florida for about 6 months now and finding those tasty, inexpensive, uncommon wines is always our task at hand. This being said, we have found quite a few around the area at Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Walgreens and a small specialty shop called West Palm Wines. Join us as we taste through about a dozen examples.
Landonnet Bordeaux Rosé 2015 France-Bordeaux
aromas: Lighter fruit aroma, tart, berry, some sweet berry too flavors: Dry yeasty fruit like a Brut champagne, spice and heat in flavor kind of like fireball, cherry finish, next day-watermelon!
Tasted with hamburger and mac n’ cheese, wine gets softer with food, Surprising it only costs $6, yum, let's buy it again! From Trader Joe's
Villa Cerrina Chardonnay Pinot Grigio 2015 Italy
aromas: Pear and apple flavors: pear, Chardonnay flavor, crisp
Really does remind me of both varietals. From Trader Joe's
William Wright Chardonnay 2012 California-Monterey
great balance of lemon and butter, lingering finish.
Surprised how good it was for $6 from Aldi
Rolling Mist Fumé Blanc 2014 California-Sonoma
aromas: hint of sweet, definitely crisp flavors: made my teeth feel squeaky, high acid? tasted like lime, reminded me of dry riesling, reminded Neil of honeysuckle, light wine, crisp
We both liked it! from Aldi
Chiaré Sparkling Blanc de Blancs 2014 California-Monterey
aromas: apple flavors: dry finish, after eating dinner- honey flavor from Aldi
Vintjs Pinot Noir Rosé 2015 California-Arroyo Seco
aromas: watermelon/strawberry candies flavors: tasted similar to aroma for me, still light, not as sweet as it smells
We had on first day and didn’t properly chill, made it smell like old man, tasted kind of fizzy and tangy, very light and not good The next day we paired it with hamburgers and it was way better! Tasty! From Trader Joe's
Trader Joe’s Reserve Barbera 2014 California-Mendocino
spicy and peppery, also noticed meat flavor
We paired it with tamales and queso and it was definitely influenced by the food. From Trader Joe's
La Granja garnacha Rosé 2015 Spain
aromas: candied fruits (strawberry and watermelon), watermelon jolly ranchers flavors: crisp, tart and soft, kind of dry, tingling from tart
We paired it with well-done hamburgers Tasty! From Trader Joe's
Pórtico Da Ría Albariño 2013 Spain
aromas: citrus, grapefruit, tangerine, petrol but we paired with Brussels sprouts for dinner flavors: grapefruit, very crisp, dry
Good! From Trader Joe's
Vignobles Lacheteau Vouvray 2015 France-Loire Valley
aromas: pears flavors: pears, texture is kind of thick/oily reminds me of chardonnay texture, seemed like there could have been some spice too but had it with spicy chick peas, next day-mineral, third day-hint of lime, still mineral and it became too sweet for Neil but only on the third day
We paired it with salmon, nice pairing, never thought of pears with salmon From Trader Joe's
Coastal Zinfandel 2013 California-Central Coast
aromas: Blackberry, black licorice flavors: black pepper, vanilla in finish First day, fruitier than Neil would like, but on the second day it mellowed and was ok Pretty good on first day for Maria but as time went on, not great, a few days later pretty bland
Good to Ok From Trader Joe's
Stormchaser Wild Ride Red red blend 2015 Washington
aromas: smelled grapey like merlot, flavors: tastes dry like cabernet sauvignon, then noticed black pepper later on, wasn't chilled enough. On day 2 it tasted like cab but then became pretty fruity. Maybe smelled some strawberries/blueberries. Seemed kind of sweet, and fruity
Only ok, not much character from Aldi
Zuccardi Bonarda 2014 Argentina-Mendoza
aromas: meat, earth and fruit flavors: Rich, dry, fruit, hint of sweet before dry, lingering spice not much fruit
Seemed very complex in the beginning but then flavor died out (tasted while I was sick) from West Palm Wines
MADD Virgin Brut Nonalcoholic sparkling wine
aromas: honey flavors: apples and honey, says it's brut but pretty sweet to us
Did seem like regular sparkling wine, couldn’t tell it was non-alcoholic! from Walgreen's