Wine Tasting - Saint-Émilion Grand Cru

Wine Lab Tasting on 2/3/23

This is the Château Haut Pezat Saint-Émilion Grand Cru. This is a Bordeaux style red blend which is usually made up between a variety of grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and to a lesser extent Carmenère and Malbec. This particular blend consists of 75% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine comes out of the French region Saint-Émilion Grand Cru.  The vintage for this wine is 2018 and usually runs in bewteen $30-$40. 

I forgot to grab the wine shops review but there is a critic online who reviewed this wine saying that it is "From a vineyard on the plain beneath the hill of Saint-Emilion, this wine is perfumed from wood aging and rich in dense tannins. Freshness from the black-currant fruit acidity comes through as the wine opens up. Drink from 2022. Roger Voss" - 90/100, Wine Enthusiast. 

 

This was a much more earthy wine with tones of minerals (p. 28). I picked up on red current flavor or perhaps a dark berry as well (p. 30). It also tasted somewhat like cigar smoke (p. 31) 

In my opinion this was a medium bodied smooth 

wine that was subtle on the tannins front and had a nice finish. However, this would not be my first choice of wine, I would prefer something a bit more sweet, still warming up to the red wines! I had this meal with grilled cheese and soup and it complimented the meal nicely. 

Wine Tasting - Three Blocks

 Zeppoli's Tasting on 2/1/23

    This is the Three Blocks red wine that is available as one of the current winter wine specials at the Zeppoli's Restaurant in Blacksburg,  VA. Unfortunately, I cannot find the particular grape that made up this Blend on any corner of the internet. It originated from the state of California in the US with a vintage of 2017. It retails for somewhere between $35-40. 

     A website called Drizly reviewed this wine and stated that it was "A heady black raspberry aroma and sweet fruit entry set a beautiful scene for this complex and well-balanced wine. Fresh, red berry fruit abound, enhanced by dark chocolate, vanilla, and coffee flavors. Lush with a sweet entry and distinguished tannins frame this wine."

    This was a full bodied wine with a purple hue indicating a lower acidity, higher tannin, and a younger age. (p. 25 Wine Folly). It had underlining smells of dry raspberries and vanilla (like the one you bake with almost). It smelled more like American oak than European (p. 28). 

    Overall I really enjoyed this sweet full wine. It had more fruity undertones and very sweet aromas. It wasn't too sweet which made me enjoy this wine much more. I had it with this pasta picture below which complemented the wine. 

    

    

Live shots of the sniff and swirl taking place and a selfie for fun!