Price: $12
Type: Pinot Noir
Cork: unornamented natural
Rating: 6
Purchased: World Market
The first time I tried this wine, I really disliked it. Due to circumstances beyond my control, the opened bottle sat untouched for a couple of days. To my surprise, this wine actually improved with a couple days to breathe.
The label is adorable. I really, really wanted to love this wine. Instead, I found it disappointingly bitter, way too tannic, and with an odd aftertaste. After some time to breathe, the bitterness lost its edge and the odd aftertaste seems to be gone, but it's still too tannic for a pinot noir.
Like I said, I wanted to like this wine, but in the final analysis I find it drinkable, but not terribly impressive. I probably won't buy this one again.
Forest Glen White Merlot
Price: $8
Type: White Merlot
Cork: plain jane natural
Rating: 3
Purchased: Meijers
This is not a good wine.
Now, this isn't a surprise, since Forest Glen is a cheap grocery store brand, but c'mon folks, you could at least TRY. There are a lot of surprisingly good wines in this price range.
This White Merlot is a sticky-sweet cloying wine with the sharp, unfinished aftertaste common to much cheap wine. I'd give it a 2 (it really is almost vinegar) except, well, there was a tiny hint of something interesting which makes me want to see what a Big Boy Vineyard could do with a White Merlot.
So I'm more than willing to try the type again, if I can find a bottle, but I'll stay far, far away from anything by Forest Glen. I don't know what fit of optimism brought this into my house.
2 Quick Reviews
Rather than finish my glass, I poured
Bridgeview's Blue Moon Oregon Riesling down the drain. This is the second awful bottle I've purchased from this brand (both at Liquor Barn). I won't buy any Bridgeview wines again. I'd give their Riesling a 3, only because it wasn't vinegar straight out of the bottle. This is the kind of wine that gives Riesling a bad reputation.
Instead, I poured myself a glass of
The Little Penguin's Shiraz. I bought both these $7 bottles from Meijers in a fit of optimism. Unlike Bridgeview, The Little Penguin's Shiraz is a very drinkable red. I'd give it a 7 - which isn't bad for a $7 bottle. I'm in a rush, or I'd write more.
