Wine Reviews You can Use

  Clear dark red with aromas of cherry, savory spices. Palate--Watery texture, bright flavors with mouth watering acidity, cherry fruit, slight vegetal edge, fleeting finish. It's been a good while since I have had a Ripasso and this is a very mediocre one.  But then again, I paid maybe $10 for it and a good one should be closer to $20. Ripasso is a method of vinification using grapes which have already been use for the glorious "Amarone" wines of Italy which will cost you around $30 at least. The grapes are dried and then vinified giving a deep concentrated wine with wondrous pruny flavors, and a texture that can imitate the velvet of a well aged port.   On another taste there is slight "wet cardboard" impression meaning the wine is tainted. So I will drink this with my grilled salmon but do NOT base your experience on this with the very nice Ripasso's that abound. 

Very nice dark pigmented black purple hue with aromas of cola above the rim, somewhat subdued fruit, with lovely big savory spice with a hint of blueberry underneath and tar.  Palate--Big, mouth filling flavors on a bed of luxuriant tannins, tons of plush dark berry flavors that keep on giving in the end. Nice!           This Trader Joe's Cab I grabbed because they didn't have the Corvelia Zinfandel which is extraordinary for the $9 price point. So I figured I would give their Cab a try.  Whoa!  It hails from Paso Robles and is really nice, well made and enjoyable right now and will keep on giving for the next 5 years probably more. My BBQ'd chicken is heading to the grill and it will pair superbly with this wine so raise a glass!