Wine Reviews

Stekar Rebulla 2018 Review – A Wild Apple Cider of a Wine

Our journey to first trying Rebulla (commonly known as Ribolla Gialla) was an interesting one.

It started when one of our favorite restaurants in Pittsburgh, the Eastern European vegan joint Apteka (a must-try if you ever visit), expanded their wine to-go menu as the result of 2020's global pandemic. As part of this, they brought in many natural wines from Eastern Europe and the Caucasus which gave us a field day in buying obscure varietals to try.

One of them was Stekar's Rebulla from Slovenia, which we immediately opened to enjoy with a feast from the restaurant. This one was funky and, to be honest, didn't really taste like wine at all!

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Bodega Uvairenda 1750 Torrontes 2018 Review – A Mellow Torrontes

We absolutely adore the varietal Torrontes as grown in South America, and when we found a winery producing it in Bolivia of all places, Bodega Uvairenda, we knew we had to pick up a bottle.

The 1750 Torrontes here is grown at a relatively high altitude (above 5,000 feet) and is blended with about 15% of other grapes including Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pedro Gimenez. Together, this wine ends up being a bit more mellow than what you'd typically expect for this otherwise potent varietal.

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Ataraxia Chardonnay 2016 Review – A Truly Fabulous Chardonnay

Every so often we have a wine that we fall in love with at first sip. The South African-based Ataraxia (in Hemel-in-Aarde) offers a Chardonnay that, for us at least, won us over right away.

If an intensely acidic and fruity Chardonnay is what you see, Ataraxia's entry will certainly deliver.

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Terra dei Re Claris 2015 Review – Intensely Peppery Table Red

We had received a bottle of the Terra dei Re Claris Rosso from a friend and didn't think much of it as we assumed it'd be a fairly straight forward table red from Italy.

What we did not realize when we opened it, however, was that table wine in Italy can vary dramatically by region. In this particular case, our bottle featured a table grape from southern Italy, Aglianico (a new variety for us), and had a vastly different flavor profile from what we expected.

It certainly made for an interesting food pairing.

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Mathilde Chapoutier Grand Ferrage 2018 Review – A Lovely French Rose

Our first rose from Provence was the Mathilde Chapoutier Grand Ferrage 2018 which was a blend of many grapes including Grenache, Cinsaut, Syrah, and Vermentino (listed as Rolle).

While this one had a relatively light flavor profile, we enjoyed the bottle of this all the same- especially with a heaping plate of homemade paella!

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Planeta Frappato 2018 Review – A Fruity Sicilian Red

Any time we try a new grape for The Grape Pursuit project is a day worth celebrating, and cracking open the Planeta Frappato 2018 marked one such day.

This Sicilian red is known for being fairly light in body and packing full of delightful red fruit. In this case, we got a wealth of strawberry!

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Gratavinum 2Ï€r 2016 from Priorat, Spain Review – Herby and Earthy

If you are a fan of wine with intense herb and spice notes, Gratavinum's 2Ï€r from Priorat, Spain is for you. This one is a blend of Grenache, Carignan, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah and is taglined “the well rounded wine” to play off of its name.

While we thought the 2016 vintage could do with more aging beyond the 4-year age we enjoyed it at, this one was simply intriguing.

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Chateau de Montfort Vouvray 2018 Review – A Lovely Semi-Sweet Wine

If we were told to randomly pick a favorite French white, odds are good it would be Vouvray. This wine (comprised of Chenin Blanc grape) is often loaded with intense flavors that run the gamut from dry and acidic to sweet and mellow.

One bottle we absolutely fell in love with was the Chateau de Montfort Vouvray. We had first had a 2017 vintage of this one and immediately rushed out to purchase the 2018 vintage to enjoy shortly thereafter. In this review, we're going to be speaking on the 2018 vintage which we paired with a seafood feast.

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