Apothic Inferno, 2014 California

So, I’ve seen the Apothic label in various wine departments over the years, but never purchased the wine.  The label is unmistakeable, a great bit of branding.  But having spent my early 20’s drinking Australian wines with groovy animal labels, I was shy to repeat the mistake.

Then a review sample from Apothic arrived at my doorstep.   I didn’t immediately open it.  Instead I let it sit on the counter for a week, brooding.  Finally, I popped the cork.

To review I chilled the wine to 55F.  Then I decanted and allowed the wine to warm up to 75F over the course of 3 hours, while sampling along the way.

The first thing I noticed is the aroma.  As I passed by my decanter and glass of wine, the powerful aroma of high alcohol wine hit my nostrils, stopped me in my tracks.  The wine is an alcoholic monster at 15.9% no doubt.  The searing heat of the alcohol is predominant, along with the telltale sweetness.   The fruit is ripe and the not terribly complex.  I know what you’re thinking “wow this wine sounds terrible”.  It’s not.  You just have to put it in the context it will thrive in.

And here’s that context.  You need a big bold fruit forward wine that people who generally say they like wine will enjoy at a party. You also don’t want to spend more than $20 a bottle.  Inferno retails for about $12-$15 a bottle.  For wine snobs, this would not be such an enjoyable wine, but then again, wine snobs might not be enjoyable guests…haha right??

Wine is meant to be enjoyed, with friends, with food.  The overall picture is what matters.  This is a good general purpose wine, that doesn’t break the bank.

 

WeeklyWineJournal rating: 88 points