Tasting - Chateau Morrisette Sweet Mountain Apple

 Name: Chateau Morrisette Sweet Mountain Apple

Variety: Virginia Apples

Region: Virginia

Country: USA

Year: 2022

Price: $13.99

Wine Review: Our Apple Wine is made from crisp and juicy Virginia apples. Bursting with the vibrant fruitiness of just-picked apples, this wine is sweet and smooth, light bodied, with a clean crisp finish.

Wine Folly: There is nothing about apple wine or fruit wine in wine folly. It is a sweet wine.  It smells like a fully-bodied wine.  It has a hint of spice, possibly licorice.

My review: It tastes like apple cider.  It was absolutely disgusting to be honest.  There is a bit of apple in the aftertaste.  Overall, I would not recommend this wine to anyone.  

Tasting - Andre Brut "Champagne"

 Name: Andre Brut, Sparkling Wine

Variety: Rare white blend
Region: California

Country: USA

Year: 2022

Price: $7.47

Wine Review: Green pale straw color with fine tiny bubbles appearing for a long time in a glass. Sweet citrus, pear and sweet ruby grapefruit with bitterness like zest.

Wine Folly: It is supposed to have hints of citrus, yellow apple, cream, almond, and toast.  I smelled a more fruity, citrus side of the wine.  I would say probably lemon, this is definitely from the acidity it has.

My review: On first taste I can taste a little bit of that more acid citrus, but as you swirl it around the mouth it gets a little bit warmer and nutter, so I believe that is a hint of the almond there. Overall I really enjoyed this. I think it is a great, cheap sparkling wine. My only qualm with this wine is that it calls itself a Champagne, when it is from California.

Tasting - Dark Horse Pinot Grigio

 Name: Dark Horse

Variety: 76.95% Pinot Grigio, 7.05% Chardonnay, 6% Viognier, 6.12% Gewurtztraminer

Country of Origin: Modesto, C.A., U.S.A.

Year: 2021

Price: $7.99 from Ghetto Kroger

Critic Review: Delicate aromas of Anjou pear and lemon blossom lead to juicy, crisp and vivid green-apple and lemon-lime flavors in this well-balanced and refreshing wine (WE-90).

Wine Folly: Pinot Grigio is supposed to have flavors of white peach, lemon zest, cantaloupe, raw almond, crushed gravel (pg. 331) When swirling and smelling the wine, I smelled the lemon zest.  

Review: When tasting the wine, I taste the lemon zest the most and slight cantaloupe or peach from sweetness. I believe I can taste the gravel in the dryness and how crisp it is.  I did not really taste the other elements.  I really enjoyed this wine.  It is not super overpowering on the taste buds or sickly sweet.  I think this is a very nice table wine that can casually be drank at dinner with friends and family.

Disclaimer: This is one of my first reviews.  I hope to get better at tasting different flavors.

Tasting - Beringer Main & Vine Pink Moscato

 Name: Beringer Main & Vine

Variety: Blend of Muscat of Alexandria and Pink Muscat

Country of Origin: Sonoma, California, 

Year: no year

Price: $5.98 from Walmart

Critic Review: The Beringer Pink Moscato is not only a beautiful rosy-pink hue, but it is also extravagantly perfumed with luxurious aromas of creamy white peaches, caramel and honeysuckle. The luscious passion fruit and honeydew melon flavors are sweet, creamy and balanced with nice acidity. A hint of vanilla leads to an opulent finish.

Wine Folly: Muscat of Alexandria tastes like mandarin orange, honey, lychee, peach skin, white flowers (pg. 313).  I smell the flower upon first sniff.  I also believe I smell the lychee when smelling the wine because there is that note of sweet.

Review: I like this wine, but it is a little sweet for my normal preferences.  I believe I can taste the honey and lychee in sweetness.  I really do not pick up any inklings of the mandarin orange.  This wine feels more like a wine to drink before dinner with a fruit charcuterie board or else as a dessert wine.  I would not pair it with any heavy dinner or hor d'oeuvres.  Overall an okay wine, but not my favorite.

 

My Personal Experience with Wine

     Hi, my name is Hannah Brown.  I like to believe that compared to other college students I have a good amount of knowledge on wine.  Now, I may be incorrect about this assumption, but I have been to several monthly wine tastings and have essentially tried every wine Cooper's Hawk has to offer.  This is a chain restaurant and wine tasting place around the United States.  My family also loves to drink wine and they have done so all my life.

    Besides the wine tastings I have done in the U.S., I also traveled abroad and tasted a lot of different wines and other alcoholic drinks around Europe.  In the past I always ask what is recommended to drink at every place I visit.  I would also say I am always open to trying everything at least once.  My first experience with trying to swirl, sniff, and sip wine was during a quarantine period in Switzerland. 

    My favorite wine is a more dry white wine, such as chardonnay or sauvignon blanc.  Thus far in the wines I have tasted I have never enjoyed any red wine.  I am hoping in this class I grow my appreciation in all wine, but hopefully start to enjoy red wine more.  Wine is my favorite drink of choice and I want to really learn what type of wine pairs with what type of food.  I am looking forward to doing this much more as the semester progresses.