Bottom of the Bottle:
What I constantly come back to with every sip...actually every gulp, is that this would make a great starter, or universally appeasing, red wine. You know, that type of red wine you pick up when you are not sure if the person or people you are picking it up to share with even like red wine or wine in general. Its quite low on the tannin side, moderate on the acids, nice sturdy alcohol content, sweet but not overly so, good berries with familiar chocolate and cola flavours. It's whole-heartedly gulpable; and while its character is not all that unique, while nothing about it stands out with a bang, everything about it comes together cohesively in a beautiful combination of flavours which speak to a familiar side, making it enjoyable, especially for those new to wine.
For more information on this wine, click "read more"
What I constantly come back to with every sip...actually every gulp, is that this would make a great starter, or universally appeasing, red wine. You know, that type of red wine you pick up when you are not sure if the person or people you are picking it up to share with even like red wine or wine in general. Its quite low on the tannin side, moderate on the acids, nice sturdy alcohol content, sweet but not overly so, good berries with familiar chocolate and cola flavours. It's whole-heartedly gulpable; and while its character is not all that unique, while nothing about it stands out with a bang, everything about it comes together cohesively in a beautiful combination of flavours which speak to a familiar side, making it enjoyable, especially for those new to wine.
For more information on this wine, click "read more"
Background:
I have a friend who is quite big into the Game of Thrones TV series (more correctly Song of Ice and Fire book series). Her favourite house (family) of the series is the Stark family, and for this reason, when she saw "Raving Stark" as a wine, she was rather excited to try it. Raving Stark Red specifically reminds her of the "red wedding," which is a pinnacle point for the Stark family in the series. When she alerted me to this wine, while I myself enjoy the book series, I personally could not feel so excited to try it by its name alone. That is, until I saw the dude on the front of the bottle and his super retro sweet glasses. I felt envious. I had always wanted a pair of old school glasses like those. For this reason I got excited enough to pick a bottle up to try.
Basics:
Stark Raving Red is a blend of 34% Tannat, 28% Zinfandel, 18% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Sirah, and my favourite, a completing amount of 6% other. It contains 12.5% alcohol by volume and can be found at the local BCL for about 14.99
Straight From the Creator:
The back of the bottle describes its red as "a playful and bold blend of plum and bright red fruit flavours."
The website describes this bottle as "Crazy good wine with big & bold flavor. Rich, jammy fruit like dark big cherries and ripe plums"
Reviewer's Rant:
From Jenniferreviews.com "The taste on this wine is very casual. I know … how can a wine be casual. It can. I think. and if it did, it would taste like this wine. There is a plum taste, black cherries and a light taste of cloves. Pretty good for a mixture of … a lot. I had this wine with pizza. Don’t judge, it went great!"
Food persuasions characterizes this wine as a nose with "Molasses, fruits, jammy, French vanilla." Followed by a palate of
"big and luscious, very fruit forward. Starting with a strong jammy flavor, cherry and blackberry, then tannins and plum and spices, from the merlot. Finally the earthiness from the zinfandel. Tannat gives the wine some structure."
The Amateur's Observance:
Appearance:
This blend is ruby red, slightly purple in some lighting, and does not contain much for legs indicating a light to medium body.
Nose:
The nose is more subtle than I had anticipated. I can pick up on the alcohol and spice first off. The predominant fruit is cherry with the slightest hint of what might be something raisiny. There is a cola-like aspect to this aroma, then there is a hint of bitter chocolate and a vanilla after-thought.
Palate:
This wine is definitely lighter of body and sweetly warming on the tongue. There is a lightness but a richness to the taste. The fruits aren't super overt. There is something of a mix between fresh ripe cherries and baked cherries. I taste dark bitter chocolate with these cherries which lingers on the after taste with the company of a cola-like taste. The Zinfandel's spicy charm also lingers on the after-taste. The tannins are definitely not strong as this red is quite gulpable, especially with its sweeter side. I would gather the tannins to settle somewhere in the lower mid-range. The acidity might sit a little higher than the tannins but not distractedly so.
Wine Food Pairing:
I had this one with with dessert. Dessert was some dark chocolate and roasted almonds bar. The two coexisted perfectly with those similar and complementing aromas and flavours.
This wine would also pair well with somewhat bolder, meaty foods such as a steak, burgers, beef ribs or pasta and tomato based dishes. This works especially well if the marinade, BBQ sauce, or tomato sauce is sweeter in style. It would also pair excellently with a moist piece of chocolate cake or pudding/mousse, some sharp cheeses or a platter of red-dark berry fruits.
Bottom of the Bottle:
What I constantly come back to with every sip...actually every gulp, is that this would make a great starter, or universally appeasing, red wine. You know, that type of red wine you pick up when you are not sure if the person or people you are picking it up to share with even like red wine or wine in general. Its quite low on the tannin side, moderate on the acids, nice sturdy alcohol content, sweet but not overly so, good berries with familiar chocolate and cola flavours. It's whole-heartedly gulpable; and while its character is not all that unique, while nothing about it stands out with a bang, everything about it comes together cohesively in a beautiful combination of flavours which speak to a familiar side, making it enjoyable, especially for those new to wine.
I have a friend who is quite big into the Game of Thrones TV series (more correctly Song of Ice and Fire book series). Her favourite house (family) of the series is the Stark family, and for this reason, when she saw "Raving Stark" as a wine, she was rather excited to try it. Raving Stark Red specifically reminds her of the "red wedding," which is a pinnacle point for the Stark family in the series. When she alerted me to this wine, while I myself enjoy the book series, I personally could not feel so excited to try it by its name alone. That is, until I saw the dude on the front of the bottle and his super retro sweet glasses. I felt envious. I had always wanted a pair of old school glasses like those. For this reason I got excited enough to pick a bottle up to try.
Basics:
Stark Raving Red is a blend of 34% Tannat, 28% Zinfandel, 18% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Petit Sirah, and my favourite, a completing amount of 6% other. It contains 12.5% alcohol by volume and can be found at the local BCL for about 14.99
Straight From the Creator:
The back of the bottle describes its red as "a playful and bold blend of plum and bright red fruit flavours."
The website describes this bottle as "Crazy good wine with big & bold flavor. Rich, jammy fruit like dark big cherries and ripe plums"
Reviewer's Rant:
From Jenniferreviews.com "The taste on this wine is very casual. I know … how can a wine be casual. It can. I think. and if it did, it would taste like this wine. There is a plum taste, black cherries and a light taste of cloves. Pretty good for a mixture of … a lot. I had this wine with pizza. Don’t judge, it went great!"
Food persuasions characterizes this wine as a nose with "Molasses, fruits, jammy, French vanilla." Followed by a palate of
"big and luscious, very fruit forward. Starting with a strong jammy flavor, cherry and blackberry, then tannins and plum and spices, from the merlot. Finally the earthiness from the zinfandel. Tannat gives the wine some structure."
The Amateur's Observance:
Appearance:
This blend is ruby red, slightly purple in some lighting, and does not contain much for legs indicating a light to medium body.
Nose:
The nose is more subtle than I had anticipated. I can pick up on the alcohol and spice first off. The predominant fruit is cherry with the slightest hint of what might be something raisiny. There is a cola-like aspect to this aroma, then there is a hint of bitter chocolate and a vanilla after-thought.
Palate:
This wine is definitely lighter of body and sweetly warming on the tongue. There is a lightness but a richness to the taste. The fruits aren't super overt. There is something of a mix between fresh ripe cherries and baked cherries. I taste dark bitter chocolate with these cherries which lingers on the after taste with the company of a cola-like taste. The Zinfandel's spicy charm also lingers on the after-taste. The tannins are definitely not strong as this red is quite gulpable, especially with its sweeter side. I would gather the tannins to settle somewhere in the lower mid-range. The acidity might sit a little higher than the tannins but not distractedly so.
Wine Food Pairing:
I had this one with with dessert. Dessert was some dark chocolate and roasted almonds bar. The two coexisted perfectly with those similar and complementing aromas and flavours.
This wine would also pair well with somewhat bolder, meaty foods such as a steak, burgers, beef ribs or pasta and tomato based dishes. This works especially well if the marinade, BBQ sauce, or tomato sauce is sweeter in style. It would also pair excellently with a moist piece of chocolate cake or pudding/mousse, some sharp cheeses or a platter of red-dark berry fruits.
Bottom of the Bottle:
What I constantly come back to with every sip...actually every gulp, is that this would make a great starter, or universally appeasing, red wine. You know, that type of red wine you pick up when you are not sure if the person or people you are picking it up to share with even like red wine or wine in general. Its quite low on the tannin side, moderate on the acids, nice sturdy alcohol content, sweet but not overly so, good berries with familiar chocolate and cola flavours. It's whole-heartedly gulpable; and while its character is not all that unique, while nothing about it stands out with a bang, everything about it comes together cohesively in a beautiful combination of flavours which speak to a familiar side, making it enjoyable, especially for those new to wine.
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