Apollo Creek Riesling and Pino Noir

Numbers 2 and 3 of our $6 wines, these are grouped together because I don't have much to say about either one.

The Riesling didn't taste a whole lot like Riesling to me. It didn't have the scent of citrus or honey, the bright fruity flavor that I look for in a Riesling. On the other hand, at least it wasn't sweet. I can forgive a lot in a $6 Riesling if it isn't sweet. This one just tasted like a nondescript semi-dry white, a little acidic without much else going on. I used about a cup of it in some homemade lobster and crab ravioli, and those came out fantastic, so I guess I don't have much to complain about here.
The Pino Noir reminded me why I only sometimes like this varietal. I can handle a mediocre Cabernet or Carmenere, but a so-so Pino is pretty undrinkable for me. My overwhelming impression of this wine was dry dry dry. Duh, it's a Pino Noir, it's supposed to be dry, but it didn't seem to have anything else to it. A little research at http://www.wineanorak.com/tannins.htm confirmed my hunch: this wine was, for me, too heavy on the tannins without other flavors to balance it out. I wouldn't go for this one again, probably not even for $6… maybe for $5 tho…

Vinho Verde

Let me start by saying that this is the first of 3 wines Eric got at Pino's $6 wine sale, so the bar is a little lower when the bottle costs less than a Tastee-sub. My first interest in this wine was linguistic—it says white wine, but its name translates to "green wine"…very confusing. It may have been that power of suggestion, but the first and strongest flavor I got was green apple. Coming from me, this means it's pretty powerful, because I NEVER taste the fruit / chocolate / earth that I'm supposed to taste in a wine. It's not exactly "Pucker," but the flavor is unmistakable, which made it really interesting. Other than the apple, it has a fresh, crisp, not too sweet taste. It went beautifully with the jarlsberg (or maybe gruyere?), olives and bread we had with it. I don't know if this is a wine I'd reach for all the time, or to go with a wide range of foods, but with something that goes well with the apple flavor, it's a tasty wine and a nice change of pace.



EDIT: Had a little bit of this again last night at a party. It tasted WAY sweeter than I remembered it being last time. I'm not sure what causes differences like that: temperature probably plays into it (the wine last night wasn't as cold as when we had it at home) but it's gotta be something more. For now I'll just chalk it up to my highly uneducated palate. From the way it tasted last night, though, I wouldn't necessarily go for it again. Way too sweet.