Tasting - Baci Dolci

Name: Baci Dolci "Sweet Kiss"

Variety: Marzemino, Merlot

Region: Colli Euganei

Country: Italy

Year: Non-Vintage

Price: Regular $15 Sale $9.95

Shop/wine critic/winery review: "A blend of 50% Marzemino 50% Merlot. A delicate, slightly frizzante wine with an intense ruby red color. Fresh strawberry & black cherry aromas with hints of roses. Cherry pie flavors, medium-full bodied with refreshing sparkle to balance the semi-sweet balance." Vintage Cellar

My review: This wine had aromas of sweet strawberries, mixed berries, and a sweet "teenager" perfume you might find at a preteen's favorite clothing store. This wine was sweet. Mega sweet. Sweetest wine I've ever tasted, more than moscato, more than those cherry juice wines. Whoa. It was like a torte with strawberry compote and sweet like candy with powdered sugar on top. How crazy! If you are a sweets person, this is the wine for you. Dessert is served.

This wine was tasted at the Vintage Cellar in Blacksburg, Virginia without food.

Tasting - Oasis del Cuyo Malbec

Name: Oasis del Cuyo
Variety: Malbec
Region: Mendoza
Country: Argentina
Year: 2012
Price: Regular $12 Sale $6.95

Shop/wine critic/winery review: "Deep ruby color. Appealing red fruit nose with hints of tobacco. Medium bodied with a smooth and lush mouth-feel. Finishes dry with lasting flavors. Excellent choice for a young and fruity everyday wine. Enjoy as an aperitif or with meats and pasta dishes." Vintage Cellar

My review: This was a really interesting smelling wine. It has a "wet basement" component to it along with what I actually thought was the slightest smell of bourbon, as if it had been aged in old bourbon barrels for a small amount of time. Maybe after hitting most of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail a few weeks ago I can just pick up that aroma much more easily. It's interesting that after smelling something specific like that time after time you can actually begin picking it up in other places, especially with wines! This wine tasted extremely dry and young, probably one of the more dry wines I've ever tried. It was peppery with blackberry and cedar box flavors. I was curious as to what tobacco even tasted like because I don't know, but there was an extra flavor in there that I was guessing was tobacco from just kind of guessing around. Very interesting wine-I'd like to try it with a meat dish, that's for sure. Too strong for just sipping for me!

This wine was tasted at the Vintage Cellar in Blacksburg, Virginia without food.

Tasting - Terranoble Cabernet Sauvignon

Name: Terranoble

Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: Central Valley

Country: Chile

Year: 2013

Price: $8.95

Shop/wine critic/winery review: "This Cabernet Sauvignon offers an intense and deep color and lovely aromas of red fruit, pepper, and tobacco. It has smooth tannins, freshness, and rich fruit, which gives the wine a good balance. Pair with barbecued beef ribs, grilled sea bass, or spaghetti alla Bolognese." Vintage Cellar

My review: This had that "butter, copper, dark mixed berry" smell to it like any good Cabernet Sauvignon to me,  guess. I feel like I ought to come up with a specific word for that so other people can relate to this smell with me. It's a mixture of aromas that comes up way to often for it not to have its own name! In addition it had a bit of a wet stone smell as well. It tasted dry and light and had flavors of plums, matches, and charcoal. I agree that this would be great with barbecued ribs or brisket or something and would really like to try it with that. I don't think sipping Cabs without food really does them any justice, but maybe that's just me.

This wine was tasted at the Vintage Cellar in Blacksburg, Virginia without food.

Tasting - Terranoble Chardonnay

Name: Terranoble
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: Central Valley
Country: Chile
Year: 2015
Price: $8.95

Shop/wine critic/winery review: "This Chardonnay offers a wine with an attractive color and lovely aromas, such as ripe pear and pineapple, mixed with butter and vanilla notes. It is a fresh style of white wine, with medium persistence in mouth. Ideal as an aperitif." Vintage Cellar

My review: I have a very specific bouquet description for this wine: raw chicken on a backyard deck. You know the smell of nice deck boards? Not quite "oakiness", but something else...but a very distinct  raw chicken smell in there as well. It had a straw/wheat component as well and held that into the wine's flavor profile as well. This was a medium-bodied wine that was slightly dry and acidic. A very interesting take on chardonnay that differs so much from the typical California Chardonnays! It was interesting and would have tasted great with food.

This wine was tasted at the Vintage Cellar in Blacksburg, VA without food.

Tasting - Santola Vinho Verde

Name: Santola

Variety: Loureiro and Pederna

Region: Vinho Verde

Country: Portugal

Year: Non-vintage/N/A

Price: $7.95

Shop/wine critic/winery review: "Soft and creamy, although with just the right Vinho Verde bite, this is a crisp and clean wine, boasting light pear and pink grapefruit flavors. Off dry and very fresh." Vintage Cellar

My review: This wine had aromas of tropical fruit, grapefruit, sour apple, and other subtle citrus notes like orange and lemon. This was a semi-sweet wine that was medium-bodied and very drinkable/sippable for a summer day. It had a sour tang, but it wasn't acidic enough to make that a huge problem at all, it was pretty nice! The greatest taste notes I got out of this wine were the tropical fruit notes as well as sour apple. I would definitely recommend this wine and would try it again!

This wine was tasted at Vintage Cellar in Blacksburg, Virginia without food.

Tasting - Lost Vineyards Spumante Italiano Moscato

Name: Lost Vineyards

Variety: Spumante

Region: Piedmont

Country: Italy

Year: Non-Vintage

Price: $6.95

Shop/wine critic/winery review: "Pale color. Confected, fruity aromas of yellow apple, honeysuckle, pear tartlet, and honeydew melon with a satiny, shy, spritzy, moderately sweet light-to-medium body and a sleek, fast yellow apple, candied pear, honeycomb, and sweet papaya finish with no tannins and no oak. Simple and approachable with sweet apple, melon, and candied pear on a framework of gentle, delightful bubbles." Vintage Cellar

My review: The color was so fun and pink! And it was bubbly! I was expecting something really fun and sweet and that was what I was in the mood for. This should be sweet right? Wow, no. That was...crappy department store dressing room. Yeah, I'm bringing up that aroma description again like I did with a past Riesling. It's so weirdly specific. Interesting. That and mushrooms. I seriously love the bubbles and the chill in this wine, but wow, it just didn't go together. I don't usually was "sparkling", sweet mushrooms. It was just odd to me. It was extremely vegetal in a sweet wine. Like a big old mixture of spinach and mushrooms that got a bit too much sugar put into it. Probably wouldn't recommend this one, but it didn't make me miserable or anything. The combination was just weird.

This wine was tasted at the Vintage Cellar in Blacksburg, Virginia without food.

Tasting - Jip Jip Rocks Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon

Name: Jip Jip Rocks
Variety: Shraz and Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Padthaway
Country: Australia
Year: 2013
Price: Regular $19 Sale $8.95

Shop/wine critic/winery review: "This red wine is a well above average effort with lots of flavor as well as Australia's so easily obtainable, lush fruit. The 2013 Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon (55% and 45% respectively) exhibits a dark ruby/purple hue along with a layered, peppery, berry fruit-scented nose revealing licorice and meaty notes. From a much lighter vintage, it is a supple, easygoing red to enjoy now and over the next several years. 87 points." Robert Parker

My review: First off, the name of this wine is awesome. Second off the color of this wine is mega dark and looks great! So...to the aroma. Animal farm. This was straight animal farm and was stenchy like wet goats. It was pretty weird and made me say "whoa!" out loud because I definitely didn't expect that! That same taste was coming through with the taste along with some oranges and petroleum thrown in there. I don't think I'm used to this as much as I thought...maybe this is somethingI will come to like but the animal stench was just so strong I'm not sure I could get past it. Unless of course you served this with some beef or lamb. Then it might be as awesome as the Jip Jip name!

This wine was tasted at the Vintage Cellar in Blacksburg, Virginia without food.