Drew's Wine Journey

  Name: 19 Crimes Variety: Shiraz Country of Origin :  Australia Region of Origin :  South Eastern Vintage Year :  2022 Price : $8.99 Critic/Winery Review "The flavours on the nose are there with the dark cherry and black pepper leading the charge. The leather turns into a bit of tobacco smoke which is nicely complemented by an undertone of dark chocolate. The finish is long and smoky. What makes 19 Crimes so successful is the way it manages its flavour. Sure they’re big and bold, but they’re balanced — and that’s the key." (Sublime Imbibing) References from  Wine Folly Shiraz often presents flavors of blueberry, plum, milk chocolate, tobacco, and green peppercorn ( Wine Folly , pg. 172). Specifically, Shiraz from South Australia is known for blackberry sauce, fruit cake, sassafras, camphor, and sweet tobacco ( Wine Folly , pg. 173). My Review This wine was fantastic—maybe my favorite red that I’ve had so far in this blog. I picked up strong chocolate on the ...

Name: Mil Historias Variety : Malbec Country of Origin : Spain Region of Origin : Manchuela, La Mancha Vintage Year : 2019 Price : $11.99 Critic/Winery Review " The palate is nicely concentrated and with fine tannins. The flavors of blueberry, plum and blackberry are big, with hints of bittersweet cocoa and a subtle stimulating flavor of mint and violet, dark cherry, blackberry, red plum, earth, espresso, tobacco, dark chocolate, black pepper, black tea, violet. Very complex."  (Shelved Wine) References from  Wine Folly Malbec typically presents notes of red plum, blackberry, vanilla, sweet tobacco, and cocoa ( Wine Folly , pg. 125). It is often known for its deep color, bold fruit flavors, and smooth finish, though it can have significant tannins and dryness. My Review The fruitiness on the front was very nice, with noticeable plum, blackberry, and some blueberry towards the end. However, there was a strong dryness that overwhelmed the fruitiness after the initial flavors fa...

Wine/Variety 1: 14 Hands Merlot Wine/Variety 2:  JaM Cellars Butter Chardonnay Wine/Variety 3:  Yellow Tail Jammy Red Roo (Blend of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and others) Cheese 1: Old Croc Grand Reserve Sharp Cheddar Cheese 2: Emmi Roth Fontina Cheese 3:  Roth Kase Havarti Joining this class, I was extremely excited about the idea of drinking wine and eating cheese for credit. And now, here I am, actually earning points for it. With one of my roommates also taking this class, we decided to take advantage of a snow day and put together a great selection of on-sale cheeses and wines. Our choices included a Merlot, a Chardonnay, and a red blend, which we hoped would provide a nice variety of red wine styles along with a balanced white. For the cheeses, we selected sharp cheddar, Havarti, and Fontina to get a good mix of sharpness and texture. 14 Hands Merlot The first wine we tried was the 14 Hands Merlot. I really enjoyed its deep, dark flavors—it was quite dry but still ...