Manikay Pinot Noir Australia Mclaren Vale 2013

Ah.....Australia wine, that sounds like a winner. I have only tried California red wine and Italian red wine and it just seemed kind of interesting to veer into the Australia wine section.

The first thing I needed to know was what in the heck does Pinot Noir mean? Yes, I am showcasing my ignorance here...but I found out it is a type of grape grown all over the world in cooler environments.  Wikipedia....a site I was never allowed to use in graduate school...lol, states that this grape is challenging to cultivate and is considered the grapes of some of the finest wines.  Hmmm...well good, I am glad I bought this on a whim. I think I paid around $13 dollars for this wine.



What caught my attention with this wine was the bottle. I must admit I am a sucker for packaging. This bottle of wine looked sleek, thin and unusual, so it jumped out at me .

It had a twist off cap which is my cup of tea....yeah baby. I am not a fan of corks, too much work (even though I have an electronic one that my mom bought me for Christmas a few years back...I use a cork taker- off-er that I keep in a drawer for misfit utensils.).

This wine was a bit more hefty tasting to me. It was not sweet...but it was not dry either. If I had to rate the sweetness on a scale of 1 to 10 it would rate dead center at 5.

I liked this wine quite a bit. I found myself looking forward to my nightly 6 ounces of this stuff and was sad when it was gone.

I suppose that this wine tasted like pinot grapes...not like cherries, black berries, or blueberries...just this type of grape I guess. I am definitely interested in trying other pinot noir wines just to see if the pinot grape taste is similar.

The alcohol content of this wine was 13.5%...pretty up there for me. I could definitely feel the alcohol content as it made it's way down my esophagus. I liked it. I felt this wine was bold...not rich, just bold in a medium way.

I would rate this wine 4/5 and would def buy it again at this price or lower.

Stella Rosa

Stella, Stella, Stella....there is something about that name that just sounds classy, sexy and sophisticated. Pair it with another chic name and you got pizazz.

Stella Rosa Black. Look at that bottle!!!! It screams sexy!! I love the bottle and that is why I picked it up. The bottle is beautiful and would look good in a wine rack (which I don't own...but I do have a counter...hahaha).

Looks can be deceiving, so I was not expecting nothing overly great about this wine based on appearance alone. But listen people.... I was wrong. This wine exceeded my expectations in taste. It was exquisite!!!! 5 STARS!!!! 5/5. 

So....why did I like this wine soooo much, you may ask? Well first, the bottle is sexy looking and looks great next to my wine glass!!! This wine makes me want to re-do my lipstick and look sexy myself....ya know? 

Next....the taste...it is sweet, but not too sweet. It goes down very smoothly....no burn. The taste is rich, but not bold. It is crisp...but not too crisp. I can taste the alcohol and all the berries in the flavor. (One thing I try to do before reading the bottle or watching a review is to taste the wine and figure out what I taste). I could taste the blackberries and the blueberries in this wine...considering I am a newbie. 

It is just so good! I bought it at Krogers for about $13 bucks. Great price for the taste and good looks. Alcohol content is low at 5%.

I was so sucked into this wine, that I googled it and found that they have a Facebook page that I definitely 'liked'

Okay, so....because this wine was super-bad and bomb, I had to try another Stella Rosa. I was hangin out with the mom and she offered to buy me some wine. We went to The Andersons where we found Stella Rosa's older sister Stella Rosso.  I was excited to get it...especially since mummsie was buying. 

Her appearance paled in comparison to her prettier sister Della Rosa Black. I kinda felt sorry for her,  but again....don't judge a book by it's cover, right?

                                              

So, unlike Ms Black, I HAD VERY HIGH EXPECTATIONS FROM HER SINCE SHE WAS in the Stella Rosa fam.

 Like a kid in a candy shop, I could not wait to get home and chill her in the fridge for a few hours . 

Anticipation, anticipation is making me wait.....remember that song...lol?

Well... She tasted like she looked, ok... She tasted good, but in comparison to the black…meh. I would rate her 3/5 compared to her sister. But in comparison to the few other wines I have reviewed and rated,  I will give her a solid 4/5. I would buy this wine again if the Black was not around. 

This wine is pretty smooth, with average richness. My analogy is likened to class in our society. You have your middle class, upperclass, and snobs (just kidding)...wealthy class. This wine is just starting to reach upper class level.  It is working hard to compete, but it is not quite there, but is definitely on it's way. Ya know what I mean? It is lacking a little something that I can't quite put my finger on. I can taste the berries, but ummm it tasted like a collection wannabe grapes/berries. It was easy to drink....but almost too easy to drink. It is a tad bit too sweet and I liken it to the Della Robbia that I recently reviewed.  I consider Stella Rosso a picnic wine whereas Sella Rosa Black an entertainment wine. But who am I to judge...I am just a middle class wannabe too...hehehe....

Cameron Hughes Della Robbia

I was having some issues with chest pain last Monday and my hubby decided to help my blah feeling by bringing home a bottle of Cameron Hughes Della Robbia which was on sale at our local Krogers.

It was a nice gester, but when he told me he only paid a little over $5 dollars for it at Krogers I scoffed at it. He then went on to tell me it was discounted by $5 so that made me feel a bit better. Not that I am some high class wine connoisseur, but I ain't cheap either…lol. Well, second thought, maybe I am cheap because I look at some of the $50 and up wines at the store and scoff at those too. I will probably only drink that expensive of wine if someone treats me..haha.

So….Della Robbia. This a wonderful Italian wine. It claims to be semi-sweet, but for my taste buds it was definitely SWEET…almost too sweet. Now I give this wine a 4/5 because I liked the cherry flavor of this wine and it goes down very easy. I can drink this wine kinda fast, like I am used to doing. I need to learn to slow down and savor the taste…I am getting there. I don't taste the strawberry or plum flavors that are supposed to be in this wine…the cherry flavor definitely dominates which makes it a bit too sweet for my taste. This is why this wine did not get a 5/5 star.  I am not saying it is too sweet for my liking as evidenced by me heading back to Krogers the next day and buying 2 more bottles…hehehe. I like this wine and will definitely buy it again and again when it is on sale.

SHEBANG Sixth Cuvee

SHEBANG….what a name!!

Amongst all the bottles flanking it in the isle, this wine stood out to me because of that crazy name. I liked this wine and I give it a good score of 3 stars. This wine is less sweet than I desire but not dry at all. Shebang seemed somewhat stiff going down and I def needed to take my time drinking this wine. I enjoyed drinking it and if it were on sale, I would buy it again. No cork needed for this wine and it kept it's taste for the 4 days that I drank it.  Nice!

Introduction to Red Wine Catalog

I recently suffered a heart attack and after a little research I have decided to add a glass of red wine a night to my diet. I like wine, so why not. I have no clue about wine, but I know what I like. I am planning on using a 5 star rating system. With 5 being the best and 1 not so good. I will likely repurchase 4 and 5 star wines. 

I recently spent a week in Palm Springs California and had some wines there. So, I am going to start with California wines.  

I think I can keep up with a blog such as this as I will probably be going through a regular bottle of wine every 4-5 days.

Let's see how this goes😊❤️💋

Murphy-Good 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon

As I was looking at all the different wines in The Anderson's (a cool local store) this wine caught my eye. The bottle looked simple enough and the back description made me want to buy it. The words that drew me in were:

the King

The big red that put California wine country on the map

Dark and bold

Explosive cherry and black berry

"We take our wines seriously...ourselves, not so much" 😀

I liked this wine and indeed it had a bold flavor and I could taste the cherry and blackberry. It burned my chest going down, and that is ok. I agree with the bold taste. It was sweet but not overly sweet and it went down ok.

This wine had a cork...so perhaps this makes it good wine...lol. A friend of mine who knows wine explained that the cork helps prevent the wine from oxidizing Nd hold the flavor better.  He also recommended drinking this wine warm...which I did, and it was ok. I put the cork back in the bottle and refrigerated the remaining wine and drank it cold for the next 3-4 days. The taste remained good and I liked it cold better...I am such a newbie✌🏾☺️. 

I typically drink too fast...a very un-lady like feature, but with this wine it was too bold to just gulp down like punch. I had to sip this stuff like a lady. I don't know how I feel about that...lol. I did not feel it was smooth enough to gulp down. That is probably a good thing, Annette. 

I would give this wine 3 stars. I enjoyed it, but it was nothing special to me.