(15-19) What happens when your pourer is good

Got a different pourer this time, and it made a difference; portions were big enough that you could get a good feel for the wine's...well...feel, and small enough that I could drive home like a responsible adult. There's a reason people use spitbuckets for this.




Le Jade Sauvignon Blanc 2013

The official review by The Beverage Testing Institute describes this below:

"Lively aromas and flavors of pineapple, yellow apple, melon, and Meyer lemon with a silky, bright, dry-yet-fruity medium body and a tingling, complex, medium-long finish with notes of lemongrass, pear, and lemon with no tannins and no oak." 

Give that one your best Mr. Burns voice.

Smell: apricot and orange is all I got. But fruits seem to be the overriding smell in most whites.

Taste: Really light body, meaning it goes easy on the taste, feeling really smooth on the way in. I got the pear.

Verdict: 3.5/5



Petrucco Ribolla Gialla


Ribolla Gialla is a grape grown in the most northeastern region of Italy, or IT-LEE, as my grandma would say.

Smell: The subtle fruit smell is great here, how it hides. Kind of like an aftersmell, it that's a thing.

Taste: Sour to me, but not too overwhelming, which saves it. Pair it with something spicy Asian food, and you're set.

Verdict: 3/5









Riebeek Cellars Shiraz 2013

The Riebeek Valley in South Africa is often called "Shiraz Country." Keep in mind that shiraz and syrah are interchangeable when referring to grapes.

Smell: Very strong. I've learned that what I used to call the overwhelming "alcohol evaporating" smell is what the sommelier snobs call "smokiness."

Taste: Heavy, like its smell. Fruity too, with spice.

Verdict: 3.5/5 

Cortenova Primativo 2012

100% Zinfandel grapes here. Sounds Spanish, but it's Italian.

Smell: Very intense, like smelling a fresh bouquet of flowers. "It stings the nostrils."

Taste: Wow. This one goes down very smoothly, with a silent middle of the palate that reds usually reach. Raspberry and blackberry. This could go great just by itself, and is the first one I would call a "dessert wine".

Verdict: 4/5

Opera Prima Pink Moscato

Not again. This beats Mike's Hard Lemonade on the list of "things I ask my mom to buy." If this one was actually good, that is.

Smell: Like opening a box of mints.

Taste: What do you want me to say? The strawberry sparkling flavor changed my life? Since drinking it I've seen the Virgin Mary in my toast three times? The carbonation gave me the inspiration to solve world hunger? Don't be silly.


Verdict: 1.75/2