New York Week

Hello, everyone! This week we took on two wines from our very own New York!

Check out the video of our tasting, and keep reading below for the detailed evaluation!




Three Brothers Wineries and Estates, 4 Degrees of Riesling; Medium-Sweet Riesling, 2011

We started the night off with a medium sweet white wine, which I didn't have high hopes of liking for myself. But I was hoping our sweet-loving ladies would at least enjoy the vino.

The bouquet for this wine did not start out well for us. The first words we found for it were, dirty sponge, gasoline, mildew, and rubber. After digging deeper, some w(h)iners found a grape, and potentially a pear or apricot aroma. Needless to say, we were skeptically in taking our first sips.

And as we dove in, we didn't find much better in the taste. The initial taste was a very sweet, sugary water taste. The tastes were a bit more appealing, however, than the aromas, and we did find some grapefruit, pear, apple, and almond extract nuances within the wine. It ended, however, with a slightly tart after taste, that put off most of our w(h)iners.

With a cheap price and a fairly appealing label, this wine should draw in the customers. However, four out of five w(h)iners were not fans. One w(h)iner, who likes particularly sweet wines, did, however, truly enjoy this wine--so there is hope for it!

Bottom line: Would we recommend this wine? Only if you like very sugary whites. One out of five isn't very promising for recommendations, but there is a chance you could like it!



Chateau Frank, Methode Champenoise; Brut Sparkling Wine, 2006

 I set out initially to buy an actual French champagne. When I found the prices didn't quite mesh with my budget, I turned to finding a French sparkling wine (When it's not from the region of Champagne, it can't legally be called champagne.), and believed I had found it in this Chateau Frank...When I got it home and found it was from New York, it was time to change the game plan! So, I personally went into this tasting a little disappointed, but hopeful! (It was still made in the Champagne method, after all! And it was $28 a bottle--ouch!)

Starting out with our sense of smell, we found mostly pear, apple, honey, lemon, and maybe some vanilla or anise (black licorice). One w(h)iner smelled nail polish remover, as well.

Moving into the tasting, we found mostly an alcoholish, slightly lemony taste. One w(h)iner detected a pear flavor, as well, and a few agreed on an oddly-vodka-ish flavor. Another w(h)iner found a spiciness in the wine, while two others just called it a burn.

With an appealing label, and a $28 price tag, we expected a fairly good-quality wine, and we a little disappointed. The w(h)iners unanimously agreed it to be a "Meh" wine.

Bottom line: Would we recommend this brut? No. Spend your money on a better sparkler (like our favorite Prosecco from Ruffino). Overall, it was not a terrible flavor, but not altogether the most appealing of sparkling wines--not worth a large price tag, sadly.


Sadly, we didn't find any great wines to add to our W(h)iner's Circle this time around, so check back with us next week, and we'll see if we find something we like!

California Week!

Hello, stay-at-home W(h)iners! I hope you're ready to try out some "higher class" Californian wines this week!

We tasted two wines this week, and, though it was a tired day for us all, we still managed to have a great time and give you our best tasting of these wines! Keep reading after the video for a step-by-step breakdown of our tastings and to get our opinions on these wines!





Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve 2011 Merlot

This week, we started out with a dry, red wine I pretty much figured our majority (those sweet-wine-lovers that they are) would not enjoy. Sadly, I was right in my line of thinking.

At first smell, the Merlot has a dark, dirty scent. There is definitely an oaky aroma seeping through the wine, and possibly a nice, dark cherry. The theme of this wine is definitely the word "dark." We detected, then, a smoky aroma, with maybe a type of spiciness--though very subtle, almost as an afterthought. One w(h)iner swore she could smell a vanilla in there, as well, and another hinted at rubbing alcohol.

Once we got to sipping, we found the wine to be, as one w(h)iner put it, "light at the front," but ultimately very, again, dark and moody. Tannins abounded in this surprisingly smooth wine, which tasted mostly like a (dark, of course) oak. Warm in the throat and all the way down, this wine was velvety, through and through, and only hinted at the dark cherry we originally smelled. One w(h)iner called it, "perfect" (again and again).

Though we generally disagreed about the qualities of this wine, at least two w(h)iners each listed it with balance, harmony, complexity, and completeness--so I believe that leaves it with at least a hint of each. (And we did unanimously agree that it was a balanced wine.)

With a very nice, clean label design and a $24 bill, this dark Merlot received two w(h)iners' complete approval, claiming it to be the "Best Ever!" These, of course, were our dry-lovers, though. And the remaining w(h)iners proceeded to profusely say, "Yuck!"

Bottom Line: Would we recommend this wine? Absolutely! If you love dry wines--this wine is "perfect." But also, No Way, if you don't like dry wines. Trust me on this--if you like your wines sweet, don't go for this one.


Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve 2011 Chardonnay

After such harsh division with the Merlot, I was not very confident going into the Chardonnay, either. I knew it could tend to the drier side, and my fears were, again, rewarded upon tasting.

This Chardonnay brought a grapey aroma to the nose initially, leaving us reeling for the next descriptor, as happens often with white wines for us, we're learning. We found an oaky quality to the bouquet, and struggled through to a possible smoky aroma. One w(h)iner, not quite satisfied with the descriptor labeled it, "something dark." We never did find the best words for this wine, though one w(h)iner found a possible black currant scent, another walnut, while a few grappled with some sort of spice, and two more couldn't decide on a secondary fruit. One claimed a pineapple aroma, while the other found it to be apricot.

Upon tasting this wine, things did not clear up much, as we'd hoped. We could not find much fruit in the wine, besides maybe a white grape, or something with acidity. We did, however, agree on a woody spiciness in the wine--not too overpoweringly so, but very present (if that makes sense--and I can tell you, I'm still sort of confused by this wine). However, the Chardonnay did offer a smooth, tannic, cool experience in the mouth, warming the entire body on the way down. If you are still confused here, I do not blame you. It truly is a wine you need to taste again and again to understand, I believe.

The w(h)iners generally agreed on a balance and completeness to this wine, with harmony thrown in as well by a couple w(h)iners. With, again, an appealing wine label, and a $21 price tag, this wine drew lines in the sand between us again.

Three of our w(h)iners proclaimed this wine simply a "Meh," while the other two (the dry girls, of course), thought it to be "Yummy."

Bottom Line: Would we recommend this wine? Yes. Despite the oddly hard time we had describing this wine, our dry wine lovers very much enjoyed this wine. It has a mild sweetness to it, that could possibly attract those who don't love dry mouth, but it ultimately was not one our sweet wine lovers liked at all. So, also, No. As with the Merlot, if you don't like dry wines, the w(h)iners would not recommend this wine.


So there you have it, folks! Two dry wines that only Brandi and Nicole liked (again)! Like I said in the video, we're going to do our best to bring you some sweet wines for next week, and get hold of some different palates to play with. Keep checking back next week for those, and have a great week in between!

We hope to see you next week!

Germany Week!

Good morning, stay-at-home-w(h)iners!

I hope you've had a great week so far, and are looking forward to some German wine tasting with the W(h)ining Army Wives this week! We had a full house this weekend, with all of our w(h)iners together, at last, to try out two white, German wines!

It was a little extra silly this weekend, but we also got some great reviews for you. Check out the recap video below!




 And now that you've seen all our beautiful faces again, let's get down to the nitty-gritty.

Leonard Kreusch 2011 Auslese

We started the night off with a white wine--of Auslese quality--with a nice $13 price tag.

As we started smelling the Auslese, we agreed it had a hay-like scent, that then brought out grapefruit and melon aromas. And a fairly strong clove scent topped off the bouquet.

When lips touched wine, the w(h)iners found a deceptively sweet wine hiding beneath the spicy aroma. It tasted, as one w(h)iner described it, like a pear puree (and also, sugar water)--very sweet, and watery. A very slight hint of a tart apple could be detected near the middle of the sip, and the entire experience was finished with, again, a slight spice with clove.

Across the board, we could not agree on balance, harmony, complexity, and completeness with this wine--with each w(h)iner having a different opinion on which the Auslese had. However, we unanimously agreed the label was ugly, and that it was a pretty good wine.

Five out of six w(h)iners classified it as a "Yum," with only one dubbing it a "Meh"--not too shabby for a $13 wine. The sweet-loving w(h)iners went on to finish the bottle, once dinner was dished out, as well.

Bottom line: Would we recommend this 2011 Auslese? Yes. 
***Especially if you are someone who likes fruity drinks, and maybe not so much wine--definitely give this one a try. It would be perfect in the summer, and maybe even in a sangria.


Clean Slate 2012 Riesling

Moving on to our second white, German wine, we went in expecting another sweet drink our majority would love.

Initial sniffing revealed an apples and pear bouquet, enhanced a little with honey and even a floral perfume aroma. It all rounded itself out with a slight peppery scent, but the overwhelming guess was sweet.

Until we tasted it. We were immediately greeted with an oddly bubbly sensation in our mouths--one that might be attributed to tannins (the dry feeling in your mouth), though we couldn't say for sure. The first real taste we could name was spice--namely pepper. As one w(h)iner so perfectly put it--"I feel like this wine smelled sweeter than the other one, but the other one tasted sweeter." There was even an oddly sour taste--one that we originally thought could be green apple, but then found that lime was the best descriptor for it.

Once we got past the sour taste on our tongues, we pretty completely agreed this wine did have a harmony, and an odd complexity to it. The label was appealing, though nothing exciting, and the cost--at $12--nice and low. This wine received mixed reviews from our w(h)iners, getting two "Yums," two "Mehs," and two who thought it was somewhere in between.

Bottom line: Would we recommend this 2012 Riesling? Maybe.
***If you're looking for a sweet riesling, divert your eyes, my friend. This is a pretty yummy--but very sour wine, that we think could go well with a light-tasting or Mexican dish. Sweet, summery wine, it is not. (The Auslese above would be perfect for that, though.)


Well, my friends, that is all we have for Germany Week. We hope you enjoyed learning about some different wines, and our surprise with these two! Have a great week, and we hope to see you next time for some w(h)ining!