Tasting- Apothic Red

 

Name: Apothic Red

Variety: Blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, & Zinfandel

Region: California

Country: United States

Year: 2020

Price: $9.99

Winery Review:

"To start, the cork was soft but in good shape. Dark in the glass, Apothic Red demonstrated slow falling fat legs that looked like fingers.  This gave us our first indication of it’s richness. We both noticed a good hint of alcohol in the aroma, 13.1% according to the wine maker. The nose was of dark, jam like fruit with perhaps a hint of licorice. According to the winemaker’s web site, Apothic Red 'reveals intense fruit aromas and flavors of rhubarb and black cherry, complemented by hints of mocha, chocolate, brown spice and vanilla.'  We didn’t pick up on all those aromas but the nose was enjoyable nonetheless. In 2017 the site updated their tasting notes, saying you can now expect flavors of black cherry, vanilla and mocha.  Also, the blend hasn’t changed. Tasting revealed just how good Apothic Red is.  I sensed deep fruits, some butter and the tiniest hint of bitterness.

For Miss Jonelle, it was fruit and black cherry. The finish was long lasting and excellent. We described it as silk and satin.  As New Englanders we even gave it one of our highest seals of approval, calling it “wicked smooth!”

Overall, Apothic Red is highly recommended.A great cocktail party wine that is a smooth, fast sipper on it’s own.  Though, I could see it paired with a rich vanilla ice cream.  Yum! Apothic Red price $9.99.  Still a great tasting wine at a great price point."

- Jon Rogers from Honest Wine Reviews

Wine Folly:

Wine folly describes all these grapes to be fairly jammy, tannic, and packed full of darker fruits. Although the richness in the fruit selection is notable, I feel like the blend muddles a lot of the more complex notes found in these individual grapes. Zinfandel, for instance, is said to be, "loved for its jammy fruit and smoky, exotic spice notes" (page 189). Like I said before, this bottle is super jammy- I feel like I keep repeating myself there- but I was unable to detect a single ounce of smoke or spice in the bottle. You would think that there would be a slight spicy finish, especially with the added presence of syrah, another spicy grape (page 172), but I feel like it was the complete opposite of that. In fact, I would describe this bottle as more smooth, light, with an overall lack of tannic qualities.

My Review:

I feel like it's immensely difficult to write about things when you have no opinions whatsoever. I would almost prefer to drink something nasty. At least I would have a lot to talk about. This bottle might be the most bland thing I have ever tasted. I might as well have been drinking water. 

I guess having a more subtle, light presence on the palate is not necessarily a bad thing. I felt like the finish was smooth yet fleeting. Some of us in the room were able to pick up on the wide variety of fruit flavors. Not only was it packed full of dark, jammy berries, but there was the slightest hint of strawberry that immediately lights up on the tongue. All of this sounds great, but the flavor felt too subtle and the body felt too thin to fully express the complexity of these fruity notes. 

In fact, most of the people I was with were unable to pinpoint more specific descriptions of the wine. Although we could pinpoint some of the fruits, most of the other flavors the bottle boasts about were not apparent whatsoever. Granted, some of my peers filled their glasses to the very brim. Their inability to engage with the olfactory side of the wine had them say,

 "This just tastes like wine to me. Really good wine."

Really profound statements, I know...

Although we drank this bottle alone, I feel like it would be wise to pair this with food to extract those flavors I was desperately wanting to taste. Perhaps this is why I feel so neutral about this wine despite having decently positive descriptions of the flavor profile.