Masseria Li Veli Susumaniello 2021 Review – Aromatic Intensity

Italy is one of those countries we go back to again and again in our quest to try new grapes, and the red grape, Susumaniello, from Puglia was high on our list.

Masseria Li Veli's Susumaniello was an interesting and complex red on the aromas that, admittedly, was a bit less complex on the palate than we would prefer. That said, if you are a fan of Cabernet, this one will be right up your alley!

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Yalumba Antique Muscat Review – Flavorful Dessert Wine

Whenever we have dessert Muscats, they're often quite young, fresh, and vibrant.

Yalumba in Australia makes one that is a bit different as it comes with a great deal of age on it (at least 10 years, per the label). While this bottle itself is non-vintage such that we do not know its exact age, what it does come with is an impressive complexity of flavors that age provides.

Paired with a robust dessert, like miso cheesecake, and we enjoyed the bottle even more.

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Zorah Voski 2018 Review – A Complex White From Armenia

As our quest here at The Grape Pursuit is to try every grape varietal in the world, whenever we find a bottle with a new-to-us grape, we pick it up immediately.

This was the case of Zorah Voski from Armenia with an equal blend of two new grapes to us- Voskeat and Garandmak.

After opening this bottle, we appreciated just how complex the blend was, with aromas and flavors that reminded us a lot like a Champagne (minus bubbles). This one was a real treat we hope to try again in the future!

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Noughty NA Sparkling Chardonnay Review – Like a Cider

During our dry January, we decided to try some non-alcoholic wines to see what they were like.

We quickly realized that sparkling NA wine was among our favorite, as the characteristics of the bubbles and, often, added sugar to offset the lack of alcohol, works nicely for the style. To put it bluntly, sparkling wine is sometimes sweet, so added sugar works.

Noughty makes an interesting sparkling Chardonnay that, while well made, reminded us a bit more like a sparkling cider than it did a sparkling wine.

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Arista Vonarburg Vineyard Riesling 2021 Review – Tropical

When we think of producers of high-quality Rieslings, our minds often go to cool climates like the Mosel in Germany or the Finger Lakes in Upstate New York.

But just because some cooler climate regions are famous for their Riesling doesn't mean this grape can't grow in warmer spots. On the contrary, it thrives all over! California-based Arista, known for some stellar Pinot Noir, has one Riesling from the Anderson Valley that we were hesitant about but fell in love with after the first sip.

If you prefer your Riesling ripe and with a robust intensity, this one is for you.

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Baia’s Wine Tsolikouri 2021 – Light on Skin Contact Notes

When it comes to skin-contact Georgian white wines (often referred to as orange wine outside of the country), we'll be the first to admit that some can be quite intense.

For those looking to try this style of wine for the first time, the notes of prolonged skin contact can be a bit surprising as it is unlike most notes you find in traditional white wine. For some, this can be overwhelming.

Baia's Wine Tsolikouri is an excellent introduction to skin-contact Georgian wine because this element of winemaking was limited- only 30% of the wine touched skins and with nominal time in qvevri, too. Some of the best flavors of skin-contact without an overwhelming intensity? Sign us up!

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Noughty NA Syrah Review – Just Add Bitters

As part of our quest to try dealcoholized wine during our dry-ish January, we stumbled upon Noughty nonalcoholic Syrah at a local bottle shop that came highly recommended.

Although this wine was not ideal for our tastes, we were given a trick to add bitters into this one to add more barrel-like notes that are often lost in NA wine, and we have to admit that it helped this bottle significantly.

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Fre Sparkling Brut Non-Alcohol Wine Review – Approachable NA Wine

Every January, we try and participate in what we call a dry-ish January. We don't fully cut out alcohol, but use the month to give ourselves a period of reset.

But during this time, we decided to take a look at more dealcoholized wine and other NA products to see if any are of the quality we expect from their alcohol-forward counterparts.

Naturally, this interest led us to a bottle of Fre Sparkling Brut, a faux bubbly that has been dealcoholized and sweetened to increase the body that the alcohol has removed.

So, was this one worth it? In a sea of disappointing NA wines, we have to admit, this may have been the best one we tried all month.

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Pecchenino Bricco Botti Dogliani Superiore 2019 Review

As far as Italian red wines are concerned, Dolcetto is typically not the first bottle we reach for. Most entry-level bottles of this grape are made to be easy drinking, fruity wines which, while tasty, have not been for us.

It wasn't until we traveled to some excellent wineries in Piedmont, particularly in the Dogliani region known for world-class Dolcetto, that we became converts.

This is where we stumbled upon Pecchenino and their stellar lineup of ageable Dogliani. We brought several bottles home with us, and their Bricco Botti Dogliani Superiore 2019 was the first bottle we opened.

This is the kind of bottle we're glad to have bought extras of to age!

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Doniene Gorrondona Beltza Txakolina Tinto 2019 Review

Hondarrabi Beltza is a rare red grape from northern Spain that we do not see all too often. So when we had the chance to pick up a bottle from Doniene Gorrondona, we knew we had to give it a try.

As it turns out, this red wine was quite intense and reminded us a lot of a Cabernet Franc!

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