Strekov's Fred wine blends from Slovakia consist of Alibernet and Dunaj grapes. But what is interesting in this one is that the series consists of several bottles in numeric sequence (e.g. Fred #2, Fred #3, etc.) where, as far as we can tell at least, the only discernable difference is the blend percentage of the two grapes (what they are, well, we can't tell).
From there, the wines are produced with minimal intervention at all and the result is an incredibly juicy, fruit-forward wine.
The Gerogian grape Saperavi is quickly becoming a favorite of producers in the Finger Lakes. One of the first plantings of this grape came at Standing Stone vineyard and they have been excelling at this particular varietal for a while now.
One variant the winery offers is a rose made from this grape, and with a crisp acidity and strong red fruit flavors, we have to say it was a pretty delicious rose!
Tintilla de Rota is found in the Jerez region of Spain, and El Triangulo's bottle checks a lot of boxes for us- a nice medium intensity, well-balanced flavor profile, and more.
An easy drinker all around!
It is always a good day when you can crack open a port, and it is an exceptionally good day when that port is worth every penny you paid for it.
Warre's LBV 2002 was just that.
This one is a blend of many grapes including Tinta Cao, Tinta Francisca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), and Tinta Barroca and offered a delightful balance of fruit and tertiary flavors all at a rather respectable price point considering its age.
Chateau Musar is one of those wineries that we have to buy a bottle of every time we find them in a liquor store- especially the aged bottles which the winery does not release until they are ready to drink (making them somewhat hard to come by).
Our first experience with this winery was enjoying a lovely '98 at Wine Bar George at Disney Springs, and ever since then we've been on the hunt for bottles. We found a great Chateau Musar 2006 at a store locally and struck gold when visiting family in Ohio where we found half case of Chateau Musar 2010 and the Pere et Fils 2012 as well.
We bought one of each, went back to my mom's house, cracked open the 2012, and knew we had to go back to the store the next day to buy more- this Carignan, Grenach, Cinsaut, and Cabernet Sauvignon blend offered everything we love about the winery in an attractive price point as well!
A few months back we were fortunate enough to try Wines of Illyria Vranac and really enjoyed this red varietal from Bosnia.
While we received that particular bottle as a gift, we were pretty pleased to find a full spread of wine from Wines of Illyria at a local liquor store with many new varietals to us (a great win for our quest). Naturally, I picked up a bottle of the Wines of Illyria Stone Cuvee as it was made with 90% Zilavka and 10% Bena- two new grapes for us.
While this one was not as pleasurable as the Vranac, we have to admit it had some nice stone and tropical fruits all the same with a strong, lingering minerality on the finish.
If you like high acid, low tannin reds that have some delicious red fruit notes that open up to darker fruit (especially with meat-based dishes), you definitely should give the Els Vineryons Saltamarti a try.
This Tempranillo and Garnacha blend will have what you seek in an easy-drinking format.
Vadiaperti's Fiano di Avellino is a crisp white wine from Italy that had a bit of a complex aroma going on with a more straight-forward flavor profile.
If an easy-drinking white is on your radar, this one may be for you. But for us, we were hoping for a bit more.
Saperavi is a Georgian grape that has made its way to the USA where it is being grown (quite successfully) in the Finger Lakes.
We were quite fortunate to try this one at many Finger Lakes vineyards during our last visit, and bought several bottles both to enjoy now and to age. McGregor Vineyard's Saperavi was one such bottle, and we couldn't wait long to crack open this one- although we probably should have waited.
Although Pinot Gris/Grigio tends to make relatively straight-forward and easy-drinking wines, we appreciate that international winemakers tend to label their wines according to the style they're mimicking- specifically Pinot Gris if it is like those from France (Alsace) and Pinot Grigio from Italy.
For Anthony Road's Pinot Gris, we think it hits the mark on the French style for sure.
