Thursday, April 13, 2017

Tilia Bonarda '15

Argentina, Mendoza
Bonarda
$10ish

Poundability: 3/5
Value: 3.5/5
Overall: 2.5/5

Purple color thinning at rim with a jammy raspberry nose.  Medium/light body.

Black raspberrys, spices, slightly jammy with hints of light green vegetables, not in a cheap pinotage way. Strong oak influence with a lot of vanilla, luckily not overpowering.  Near the end, my drankin' patna' and I both got hints of raisins, not very desirable.

Mild to light tannins.  Similar to Malbec, but more body, tannin and structure.  Not overly jammy fruit bomb that many Argentinian wines are becoming.  Would definitely recommend to anyone wanting an easy drinking, light bodied wine that still posses some nice complexity, especially for the price point.  With that being said it also has that shitty/harsh alcohol burn at the finish, like many $10 bottles.  Which naturally brings down poundability and overall enjoyment.  One of those good value wines but not going to win over anyone.

Picture pending.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Vega Demara Tempranillo '15

Spain
Tempranillo
$8ish

Poundability: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5

Deep dark purple color with a little bramble and floral notes.  Medium bodied.

Stony/earthy quality with dried red fruits mixed in.  Leather.  Slight candied cherries with a strong oak/vanilla influence.  Some glycerol characteristics as well.  Overall juicy with a little bit of potting soil at the back end.

Good tannins with strong acidity.  Has that big alcohol finish you get from a lot of "hot" wine regions, but for $8 a bottle I'm not complaining.  Zero complexity, but again $8 bottle.  Taste ends abruptly with a fast finish.

One of those wines that tastes like it was made in a lab, no character.  Just designed to be easy drinking and unoffensive.  Which it succeeds at.  By no means is this wine shitty or overly harsh like many wines at this price point, it's not going to win any snobs over either.  But good riddance to them anyway.

Picture pending.
Alain de la Trelle Cabernet Franc '15

France
Cabernet Franc
$10ish

Poundability: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5

Bright purple color, medium bodied.

Diced strawberry and blueberry's with a slight jammy-ness.  Spicy finish.

Strong acidic finish with mouth coating tannins.  Very smooth and easy drinking.

Almost a more American style of cab franc, which while not bad tasting by any means brings down overall rating.  Great French wine has depth, complexity and character while this just tastes a little to......crowd pleasing.  All in all for $10 a bottle I can easily get over that slight gripe and would definitely recommend.  For this price.

Picture pending.