Daniel Wine Blog

 Tasting #4 - Red blend For my fourth wine tasting, I got this wine which I honestly picked sort of randomly, which is a red blend from France. To my surprise, this wine is very difficult to find information on, however it was about $7 at Trader Joe's. I eventually found that this wine is a Trader Joe's wine in honor of the Notre Dame cathedral. I cannot indicate where exactly this wine is from however most signs point towards Southern France like Rhone Valley. Likewise, the grape varieties is a mystery and I cannot locate it anywhere I try. Most likely either a mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, or Cabernet Franc. This is an old world wine. I couldn't find anything about this wine besides Vivino, so here is the link to that page: https://www.vivino.com/search/wines?q=red+blend+NDP My personal thoughts on this wine is that it is okay, however not my first choice. I was taken back by how little information there seems to be about this specific wine - including the grape vari...

 Wine Tasting #3 - Rose For my third wine tasting, I decided to try a rose wine from France called Les Florets Luberon. I purchased this wine at Trader Joe's for about $5, and it is a blended rose wine with both Syrah and Grenache as the two grape varieties. It is a vintage 2021 from the French southern Rhone Valley - so it is an old world wine.  I could only find community reviews on Vivino for this wine, however it got a 3.3/5 and had relatively positive reviews: https://www.vivino.com/US/en/florets-luberon-rose-sec/w/1723749 As this wine was a blend of Syrah and Grenache, it displayed characteristics of both varieties. The first flavor profile that I associated this wine with was strawberry - which on page 117 of wine folly is listed as a primary flavor profile. In addition, I also picked up on a deeper fruit flavor like that of blackberry or blueberry. It was a quite light Rose wine for me, which is good for beginners. Blueberry was also listed as a main flavor profile of ...

 Wine Tasting #2 - Dry Riesling For my second wine tasting this week, I decided to try a white wine - specifically Emma Reichart Dry reisling. I also purchased this at Trader Joe's for only $4.99, and it is a varietal grape so it is made 100% from the riesling grape. It is from the Rheinhessen wine region in Germany, so it is an old world wine, and it is vintage 2021. The article I picked was from Cheap Wine Finder, and they also explain how it is a bang-for-your-buck: https://cheapwinefinder.com/38364/emma-reichart-dry-riesling-2021/ My personal thoughts on the wines flavors and aromas were reminiscent of the textbook, however my Riesling was very dry so I got more light hints of green apple. Very aromatic, and acidic however light. This is mentioned on page 159 in Wine Folly, in the graph on the left. This wine gave me more tree fruit/melon category and citrus, however with very little sweetness. As indicated on page 158 of Wine Folly, this wine is a varietal: Riesling, and it is...

 Wine Tasting #1 - Bordeaux For my first wine tasting, I decided to try some Les Portes De Bordeaux blended red wine made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. I purchased this wine from Trader Joe's for about $7.50, and it was great. As the name suggests, it is an old world regional wine from Bordeaux, France; specifically from the Les Portes De Bordeaux winery. It is a vintage 2021.  The article review I picked was from reverse wine snob, and they explain how it's a $7 steal: https://www.reversewinesnob.com/les-portes-de-bordeaux-sauvignon-blanc  According to Wine Folly page 82, Bordeaux blends generally have deep body with prominent tannins which I certainly picked up on. I also got hint of blackberry/black cherry which is referenced on page 83 of Wine Folly. Considering it is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot, this wine uses very common grape varieties as is conveyed on page 84 of Wine Folly. It went down smooth even with the tan...

  Hopefully I am doing all the steps the correct way with the blog so far, but nonetheless, my experience with wine isn't nearly as expansive as I would like it to be. This is one of the main reasons I took this course as one of my last college electives. I've learned about world history through the lens of alcohol with the book "A history of the world in 6 glasses" and this certainly changed my perspective on all types of alcohol. Growing up wine was the adult drink and when I tried it it tasted terrible (compared to grape juice), and I was rather late to finally begin experimenting with alcohol. Even then, it took awhile for me to begin trying wine and realizing how complex it is. I knew that it was obviously closely tied to much of WESTERN history, which also is closely intertwined with most cultures' shared histories, however I am looking forward to exploring just how important wine is to our society.  As I mentioned, for me it took an initial period of experi...