Review for week 26 - by Rich

We began our evening on a sour note. How do I explain this first wine, an Argentinian white, of the evening? Nasty, nasty, nasty! This wine began ok with some floral scents and citrus notes but collapsed on the finish with a particularly abhorrent soapy aftertaste. Bitter, sour and rancid were a few of the comments on this wine. Unless you enjoy the taste of Lemon Joy, or similar detergents, you will want to avoid this wine. Even at $10, this is a wine to avoid.

We moved on with some trepidation to our first box wine as only two of the Winers had ever tried a box wine before. We note that the wine came in a compact, one liter box, providing 250 milliliters (almost two glasses) more than a standard wine bottle. So, at $10, this is an inexpensive wine. This wine did surprise many with its nice fruit aroma, low tannins and decent taste. Though a couple complained about some bitterness, they also conceded their palates might have been tainted by the cheeses, dips and chorizo we were snacking on. Especially as the wine seemed to get better the more they drank. Ed was the main critic of this wine, comparing it to 'alligator sweat' though we will later learn why Ed's palate seems askew. There was general agreement that this was a good value wine, though most would not buy a box wine unless taking it to some outdoor pursuit such as the beach or camping. They would not feel comfortable serving it to guests. A bit of wine snobbery? Weren't we supposed to be above that?

Our friends to the north appear to have made a very drinkable wine here using a native varietal, the Marechal Foch. It was fruity with a bit of sweetness and made for a very pleasant drink. This was the first real crowd pleaser of the evening. The truth also came out about Ed! No, it has nothing to do with a closet. Ed finally mentioned that he was 'drinking impaired' this evening due to a cold so that we should take his comments with a grain of salt. So readers beware!

At $63, this Spanish wine was the priciest of the night. It is 100% Tempranillo and has a lot of dark berry, smoke and spice with a long finish. Many also felt it had a smell and taste of black olive, which some liked and others did not. This would probably be an excellent wine with a big, juicy tenderloin. Though its tasting was generally pleasing, the price scared off most of the Winers. And more truth was revealed about Ed! Now, he confessed to have been taking eucalyptus cough drops, further tainting his palate. Shame on him!

We followed up with another expensive wine, about $50, which was not as pleasing as the previous Alion. Though strangely enough, Ed really liked this wine. It had a funky aroma and tasted like an average cabernet blend, offering nothing exceptional or unique. So, for the price, it does not offer a good value. Bill suggested buying 5 $10 bottles instead. Plus, five bottles of wine will make you far drunker than just one bottle.

The Ass wine! This is the original wine, though of a different vintage, which spawned the comment from a Winer that it 'tasted like ass.' Fill in your own jokes here about how that Winer knows the taste of ass. This vintage did not do so well, but no one detected 'ass' in this wine. On the nose, some did though detect a bit of a foul odor, a bit of 'trash.' This wine also spurred on a discussion on how our tastes have likely changed over the past six months. Does this mean we enjoy the taste of ass now?

For the final wine of the evening, a $15 dessert wine, we had some pastries and other desserts. This ice wine was a very smooth and sweet wine, though definitely should accompany some type of dessert or otherwise it might be too sweet. And at only $15, this is an extreme value for an ice wine, most of which run $40 and more. Despite this fact, Steve still dissented on being willing to buy this wine. Should that surprise any of us?