Review for Tuesday - 12/27/2005 by John

"If there is champagne drinking going on right now, this is my favorite of all the champagnes I've had, that I can remember, which I've probably had a lot that I can not remember. Actually this is probably the only one I can remember." -Bill. This sparkling wine was a hit considering most of us dislike champagne/sparkling wines. We found it sweet and fruity, yet not too dry even though it is a brut. This wine was our first of the night which means that we were all sober at the time, so it must have been decent to get good reviews. The audio not only reveals Bill's expert opinion on champagne, but Steve agreed with me that it was easy drinking, even though I never mentioned that.

Coming in at around 17 dollars, this novelty wine was found to be drinkable and non-offensive, but definately not worth the price tag. It had an upfront berry/fruit taste, but was lacking in the finish department. If you want to waste 17 dollars on a novelty wine then this wine is good since you may not have go as far as pouring it down the toilet. The question I have is that Ed stated that he would only drink it if it was poured to be polite, but he bought the wine so why then did he keep drinking it?

"Whats a Wonton?". Whether it's General Gao, General Tso, or General Tsau, we all agree that MSG injected chinese food and wine may not mix well. Even still, we all agreed that the Red Truck was very drinkable at the 9 dollar price tag. It was hard to pick out the particular tastes because of the food we had, but the consensus was that it had a nice scent, a lot of fruit flavors, and a peppery zing to it. Ed wished to point out that we were not driving home because we are responsible drinkers and added "I will have to drive you because I'm the only ssslumber, er sober bastard."

After our public service announcement about drinking and driving last review, Ed pulls out a bottle of Stoli Elit and tried to get us all drunk...This "ultra premium russian vodka" was definately very smooth, but still had some of the same downsides as most vodka. If you are into the hobby of huffing paint thinner (which we do not condone), then this is right up your alley in terms of smell. For those of us who like vodka, this was found to be very good for sipping and shooting, but not really worth the high price tag of 50-60 large. Steve decided to share a story about his first time (drinking it straight) in the back of his jeep when things got hot (his vodka). Listen to the audio for more steamy details.

"If you don't like it, drink more". This wine was pretty deceiving between the way it smelled and tasted. There were reports of smelling both black pepper and fruit, but not tasting either. Could the vodka have destroyed our taste buds? It was found to be easy drinking and non-offensive, but didn't have much of a flavor. If we only knew what eucalyptis tasted like, we might have sensed it as the bottle (and Bill) claimed. For the 13 dollar price tag it didn't get many buys, but it was drinkable if poured for you. If Real World Winers still exists in 5 years, Ssezi wishes to revisit this wine. After 3 bottles of wine and some vodka shots, try to say contra costa county real fast, "it's not gunna work".

This wine had mixed reviews between us, but the overall consensus was not so favorable. I thought it smelled like sweat, but others detected musty and funky odors. The finish was not very desirable overall and was described as harsh and vinegary. I couldn't get over the scent and the saltyness of it personally, but Ssezi seemed to desire the salty, sweaty, tattooed Spanish wine and said he'd buy and drink it for the 9 dollars it asked. The rest of us thought there were much better options for Spanish wines in the 9 dollar range.

Well, we finally got our first review that earned a toilet bowl recommendation, and I was the one who brought this bottle. The overall view was that this wine smelled like dirty, sweaty, grass stained soccer socks. The honest description was that it tasted awful, terrible, and like dirt. It was also described more nicely as being complex and earthy with hints of mushroom. I have had a bottle of this before and liked it then, and liked it now. I was on my own, but Ssezi would drink it if I was crazy enough to bring another bottle. "If you are going to a dinner party with people you don't like, then you should bring this wine".