Sonnenband Moscato Magnum

Name: Sonnenband Moscato Magnum

Variety: Moscato
Country: Spain

Year: Not Given
Price: Regular  $20 (Vintage Cellar)

Winery review:  This wine is intricate with the delicate perfumes of white flower blossoms, profound tropical fruit sweetness, and energized by citrus nectars.

My review: When I was watching the palate training video on Wine Library TV, I wasn’t sure why Gary V was try Skittles as a palate component food. No less than two days later, I found out. This wine tasted just like skittles and artificial candy. Moscatos are never my favorite wines but this was over-the-top candy. It smells floral with some very sweet candy sugar notes as well. I wouldn’t try this again.

I tasted this on its own with no food.

Neu Direction Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

Name: Neu Direction Cabernet Sauvignon

Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Mendoza
Country: Argentina

Year: 2010
Price: Regular $15 (Vintage Cellar)

Winery review: This Cabernet Sauvignon shows very good purity of fruit and skillful winemaking. This wine is full of blackfruit aromas, depth and style. The palate pushes ripe plum and berry fruit along with chocolate, and the finish is chewy and correct in terms of tannins and structure.

My review: Thickest wine I’ve ever had by far. It was like drinking a watery strawberry jam. I was blown away by just how thick this wine was. It had a lot of texture, very viscous and chewy mouthfeel. It smells like it tasted: straightforward red fruit jams. Strawberry, raspberry, and plum. It was also vaguely woody, more cedar than oak. This was a very different wine and I liked it a lot.

I tasted this on its own with no food.

Champteloup Pinot Noir 2011

Name: Champteloup Pinot Noir

Variety: Pinot Noir
Region: Loire
Country: France

Year: 2011
Price: $15 regular (Vintage Cellar)

Winery review:  In the heart of France’s Loire River Valley lies the Touraine wine region. Although it produces vast amounts of well-priced, fresh, mostly white wines, lovely reds like this are broadening Touraine’s appeal. This wine may seem familiar to you. It is a sibling of the Touraine Sauvignon Blanc we’ve offered for years. Serge de Bucy employs a light touch in his winemaking, using no wood and doing as little as possible to preserve freshness. Bright cherry and strawberry fruits are followed by a soft, smooth palate.

My review: This was a lovely Pinot Noir. It smelled like dark fruit, light cherry, and also very musty—in a good way. I like the dampness the smell conjured up. It was very light, smooth red and very drinkable. It wasn’t tannic or overty acidic. One of the people at the tasting said people were calling it oaky but I certainly didn’t get that. I would definitely try this again.

I tasted this on its own with no food.

Baumann Gentil Classiq 2012

Name: Baumann Gentil Classiq 2012
Variety: Blend, Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Muscat, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Gris
Region: Alsace
Country: France
Year: 2012
Price: Regular $17 (Vintage Cellar)

Winery review:  A delicious and fresh blend of Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Muscat, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Gris. Light aromas of fresh fruit and delicate white flowers start your journey, followed by crisp flavors of stone and citrus fruit. A well balanced acidity on the dry finish ends this French blend beautifully.

My review: Riesling. All Riesling. Why are we still talking about this? For a $17.00 regular priced wine, this isn’t much more exciting than any cheap Riesling you’d find. The nose was fruity and at first had some spice notes. I was hoping the spice would carry into the wine and make for an interesting wine (which I expected with the complex blend) but it didn’t really. It finished drier than most of the Rieslings I’ve had, but this didn’t really set it apart. Don’t get me wrong, I really like Rieslings and it’s often by go-to wine. This blend just wasn’t anything special to me because it just tasted unsurprising.

I tasted this on its own with no food.

Fattori Runcaris Soave 2010

Name: Fattori Runcaris Soave 2010
Variety: Soave Classico
Region: Soave
Country: Italy
Year: 2010
Price: Regularly $15 (Vintage Cellar)

Winery review: From the local Italian word for “to work the soil,” Runcaris represents an easy, fresh expression of Soave Classico with lingering aromas of citrus, yellow rose, honey, jasmine and dried herbs.

86 Points – Wine Enthusiast

My review: This was the first wine I tried today at the Vintage Cellar tasting. It’s 100% Garganega and apparently a good expression of the Soave area in Italy. Overall, I liked it. It wasn’t anything special but for the $7.95 sale price, I’d probably drink it again. It reminded me a lot of the Redwood Creek Sauvignon Blanc I reviewed last week. The nose was straightforward citrus with some floral mixed in, maybe rose. Tasting it was a big bomb of floral and citrus—the taste profiles were opposite of what the nose was: floral took over the citrus took over the back. It was an interesting wine but definitely not my favorite from today’s tasting.

I tasted this on its own with no food.