Tasting- "Kriek Lambic"

Name: Timmermans- Kriek


Variety: Lambic


Region: Belgium

Country: Germany

Year: None

Price: $6.00

Review: "Its flavor is entirely dedicated to the cherry, which is already felt from it very powerful nose. Its acidity is neutralized by its agreeably sweet and fruity bouquet. Its taste advances profoundly in the mouth and lingers long, gently and also elegantly tinted with summer cherries."  -http://www.marinamarket.com/istar.asp?a=6&id=12090

My Review: Let me start with this: it may try and trick you by saying it is a "Lambic" and putting a pretty cherry label on it, but in the end this is still beer. Now, would I prefer to drink this than Natural Light? Well, yes, of course.  But in the end it was just cherry beer, I could still taste the tasty beer leering at me from the background.  Basically if you took Natural Light and put in a packet of Cherry Kool-aid, I think you would get about the same result.

I did not have this beer with food.

Tasting- "Obvio- 2010"

Name: Obvio

Variety: Malbec

Region: Mendoza

Country: Argentina

Year: 2010

Price: $9.99

Review:  I could not find a review for this particular vintage.

My Review:  So I tried Obvio once before on my wine blog and I said it was quite possibly one of my favorite wines of all time.  I decided to do a little experiment (like in "Drink This Now") about vintages.  I found that there really is a difference in vintages.  The 2010 vintage was a lot less 'buttery', and a lot less fruity.  I liked it a little more the day after, and it was much improved when I had food with it.

I did have this wine with food.  I made a red pasta sauce with this wine.  I browned some shallots and garlic and then used the wine to de-glaze the pan.  It was delicious, the wine with the food sort of rounded off the whole wine and made it very tasty and less extreme.

Tasting; "Finca Sophenia Reserve"

Name: Finca Sophenia  Reserve

Variety: Malbec

Region: Mendoza

Country: Argentina

Year: 2009

Price: $12.99

Review:  Intense deep red colour with violet hues. Complex aromas of plums and ripe cherries and violets. It is enhanced by the presence of dry fruits and mint hints. A wine of great concentration and complexity showing sweet and voluminous tannins. - http://www.winehound.co.uk 

My Review: First impression: smells sort of salty almost, bacon perhaps?  The smell was far away from anything fruity.  I would also use the word earthy to describe the smell.  I think now I understand much better when people describe a dry wine, it really was not sweet at all.  The finish was also a little bitter for my liking.  I would be curious to try this with some sort of red meat, I think that it would change my opinion greatly.



I did not have this wine with food.

Wine Tasting- "Trivento Reserve"

Name: Trivento Reserve

Variety: Malbec

Region: Mendoza

Country: Argentina

Year: 2010

Price: $8.99

Review:  "The red wines begin with the dark ruby-colored Select Malbec, which spent six months in seasoned French oak. The aromatics reveal blueberry and black cherry followed by a forward, easygoing wine with plenty of flavor and no hard edges. It is an excellent value and a pleasant introduction to the virtues of Malbec." - http://www.empirewine.com

My Review:  When I tasted this wine I tasted sort of a deep blueberry or black currant taste.  It was definitely a dry wine, but those undertones were still present.  The wine sort of coated my tongue a little while I drank it (but not to the point that it was over powering).  Another word I would use to describe it is a molasses, because it had little bitterness too it. It also has a very smooth finish.  I know I need to try more than just Malbecs, but I just enjoy them so much!

I did not have this wine with food.