OK. I have to start by saying that this wine makes me sad. I used to like it, but now it makes me sad.
I discovered this wine in a Middletown package store about 4 years ago. While I was a way cool single chick (some might have called me the maneater; I'm just sayin'), I used to spend a lot of time with my oldest friend Fab & her husband Geoff at their ranch house in Middletown. Geoff was an excellent chef & loved to throw parties. His favorite thing to do was have his friends over for dinner, and Fab used to invite me. The guests all drank beer, but Geoff & I liked wine, so he would send me off to the packey to pick up the wine while he made dinner. The night I discovered this wine, Fab & I made it to the shop about ten minutes before closing. This was the first white I picked up at the right price. Sold!
It ended up becoming Fab's favorite wine. I bought bottle after bottle of this wine to bring to their house on many occasions. It was always a big hit & it always went empty.
Fab & Geoff separated over a year ago, and their divorce was recently finalized. Geoff became a huge, sadistic jerk during the divorce proceedings, which made me incredibly sad b/c I used to like him so much. I couldn't even look at this wine. It hurt too much.
It's time to face the demons.
In the glass, this wine looks like pee. God, that sounds so bad, but it looks like someone peed in my glass. It's just this side of fluorescent yellow. But it smells good. Sweet, like honey and peaches and flowers. Interestingly enough, that's what the back of the bottle says, too. "...honeyed apricot and peach flavors, and...aromas of rose petals and honeysuckle." It leaves a ragged sheet down the side of the glass. I'm not expecting much from it. What can I expect from a wine with a 12% alcohol content?
Wow. It's sweet.
This wine feels very thick & viscous in my mouth, almost like a dessert wine. The fruit & flowers attack my palate from the start, transitioning into honey flavors at the mid-palate. The aftertaste is bitter & sharp, like straight-up rubbing alcohol that dissolves away into its base materials.
A sipping wine, it is not, but I could see it being amazing with spicy food. Or Asian fare. Ooh, pad thai. Yum.
All that being said, I will not be dumping this wine down the drain. Why not? This is the last bottle I'm opening before Lent. I am officially giving up alcohol for Lent. Starting Wednesday, March 9th, I will begin a completely sober Lenten season. So cheers to Fetzer, and know that when I return, I will pick right up where I left off, reviewing the best cheap wines I can find for under $10!
Cheers!
Kate
Monday, March 7, 2011
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