wine review

Wine Review | Apothic Inferno 2014

Apothic inferno label

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

 

Review | Yaso 2012 Toro
wine bottle label

Yaso 2012 Toro

Yaso 2012 Toro

Blend: 100% Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo)

Aging: 6 months, French oak

Alcohol: 13.5%

Price point: $15-$20.  I bought this bottle at Costco for just under $10

In my most recent article I mentioned that I have been exploring a lot of Spanish wines lately.  I am still extremely fond of Napa, but my budget is really liking my frugal side, and actually my palate has been really pleasantly surprised.

This wine is no exception.  This is a really nice big bold, well-rounded wine.  I decanted for an hour and sampled the wine over a 4 hour period and then again after 24 hours decanting.  The wine opened up nicely after an hour.  The nose is predominantly blackberry with a hint of cherry pie.  The palate is big, robust and drier than I expected – a good thing.  This would be a Cabernet lovers Tempranillo.  A little spice, a little chocolate a little licorice a little ripeness.  Not too much of each, and some very nice texture on the back end that reminds me of “Rutherford dust”  a texture like fine dust or chalk that gives the wine a nice weighty mouth-feel. The 13.5% alcohol is really a nice change from a lot of the new world wines which are loaded up with a generally pretty crappy cheap port like sweetness from too much alcohol.  This wine rocks.  Especially for only $10.  This would be a decent bargain at $20.

Weekly Wine Journal rating: 94 points, awesome.

The back of this wine bottle has a little map and some interesting information about the climate and vineyard.

The vines are at about 2,200-2,400 feet in clay and limestone soil.  The average April to October temperature is 61.3F, which to me is pleasant because in Phoenix where I live the average temperature during that time is about 85F.  Annual rainfall in the Toro region is only about 16 inches, which makes it quite a bit drier than Napa Valley

 

 

Altovinum 2012 Evodia Garnacha Old Vines

photo(151)I  picked up this wine at Costco for about $7.  Doing a little online research I came up empty handed.  There is almost no information on the winery or vineyard.  Except that it is high elevation Garnacha (Grenache) and aged in steel tanks.I generally like the concentrated flavors and tartness of high elevation wines, and this wine is no exception.

The only thing I have to go off of is the wine experience, with no context.  I usually like a little context some back story when enjoying wine. Oh well.

I was actually blown away by this wine, especially on the second day.  This is a big bold, fruit forward wine with kick ass tannins and a nice supple mouth feel.  After decanting for 24 hours the wine showed no signs of weakening and actually the mid palate opened up to reveal more complexity,  a nice mineral component.

This is a straight forward, well made wine.  Not terribly complex but for less than $10 this is a ridiculous deal.

Weekly Wine Journal Rating: 93 points