Ménage à Trois Midnight 2012

What would WiNEZ be without a little adult humor?  It seems that every WiNEZ we find something ridiculous to giggle about, this month it is the Ménage à Trois  Midnight label bringing out stories of last Friday’s party (if you want the scoop you have to join us for WiNEZ).
All silliness aside this is a fantastic wine. Ménage à Trois Midnight is a limited release red blend (2012, 13.5%, CA) made in small batches- we tasted lot #369. The label calls it the dark side of Ménage à Trois. Unlike their top selling three wine red blend- Midnight is made from four wines (Merlot, Petite Sirah, Petite Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon).  Close your eyes and inhale the aroma and you will find yourself snuggled in front of a smoky oak winter fire with chocolate and cherries.  The flavor is full of plum and cherry sweetness, smoky oak and tobacco, chocolate and a hint of coffee.  It is so well balanced between fruity sweetness and dry finish it’s like velvet in your mouth.  Ménage à Trois  Midnight can be compared to Apothic Dark, Carinivor and Columbia Crest’s H3. This is a great wine to enjoy during our long dark winter nights here in the Northland.

Varietal:  Red blend 

Producer/Importer:  Ménage à Trois  Midnight

Region: California

Vintage: 2012 lot 369

Price:  $$11.99

Tasting notes:

 Sight (Color/Clarity): Deep purplish red

Smell (bouquet, aroma): Oak, smoke, chocolate, cherries

Taste (acidity, balance, body): Plum, tobacco, black cherry, cocoa, coffee

Label description: The time has come to explore your deepest, darkest desires with Ménage à Trois Midnight. A gorgeous garnet color in the glass, this luxurious blend wraps you up in a velvety embrace. Voluptuous blackberry and plush spiced plum flavors seduce your palate, while hints of mocha and exotic spice linger on your lips like a stolen kiss. Silky and smooth with a long, powerful finish, you’ll wish Midnight could last forever.

Winemaker’s notes: Our winemakers are definitely not afraid of the dark. For this special wine, they wanted to create a truly uninhibited blend— something deeper, darker, and bolder than ever before. In true Ménage à Trois style, they decided that ‘more is more,’ and crafted a blend of not three—but four—grapes! Merlot adds a plush, velvety texture, Cabernet Sauvignon offers elegance and power, Petite Sirah lends inky intensity and Petit Verdot imparts a deep violet color and concentrated fruit. To round out the flavors the wine is aged on French and American oak. The result is a wine that leaves an indelible impression. It’s mysterious and dark, soft and sensual—just like Midnight.

Comparisons: Apothic Dark, Carnivor, Columbia Crest-H3

Overall rating (1-10): 9.5

Date consumed: November 12, 2014

Comments: Jim’s new favorite!  13.65% ABV

Valentine treats: Spumante and Chocolate Shoppe

What better for Valentines Day than Champagne and chocolate, Mori Spumante and Chocolate Shoppe wine. Mori Spumante is a sweet bubbly that reminds me much of the Juicy Fruit gum I chewed as a kid. 

Chocolate Shoppe is a chocolate infused red wine.  Unlike Truffle Merlot, which we have tasted in the past, this is a red blend and a little sweeter.  It has bold flavors of chocolate syrup and cherries.  Reminds me a little of a cherry tootsie pop.  Both wines are certain to sweeten your Valentine.

Varietal:  Spumante

Producer/Importer:  Mori    

Region: Italy

Price: $8.99

Tasting notes:

 Sight (Color/Clarity): nearly colorless

 Smell (bouquet, aroma): Juicy fruit gum and strawberries

Taste (acidity, balance, body): Juicy fruit gum

Bottle presentation: blue bottle

Comparisons:

Overall rating (1-10): 8.5

Date consumed: April 11, 2012

Comments: Malt beverage

 

Varietal:  Chocolate infused red blend

Producer/Importer:  Chocolate Shoppe      

Price:

Tasting notes:

 Sight (Color/Clarity):

 Smell (bouquet, aroma): Chocolate syrup

Taste (acidity, balance, body): Dark chocolate and sour cherries, like a cherry tootsie pop

Bottle presentation:  Elegant bottle with black label and gold writing

Winemaker’s notes: Inviting aromas of black cherry and dark chocolate entwine and continue on the palate surrounded by hints of cocoa powder. Nuances of red wine and residual sugar linger on the smooth finish.

Sweetening the tongues for centuries, chocolate and red wine has been the most reliable pairing in history. Chocolate Shop takes this pairing to the next level, marrying chocolate flavor with red wine to create a sumptuous drink. We start with a proprietary red blend of the finest vinifera varietals, add a touch of oak and a kiss of sweetness to create the perfect fruit-driven foil for the rich dark chocolate which unfolds in silken layers across the palate.

Comparisons: Similar to Truffle Merlot, although sweeter.

Overall rating (1-10): 8.5

Date consumed: April 11, 2012

Big House Red 2008

If you had just escaped from the Big House this might be the best thing since-well before you were sent off to the big house.  In reality you just don’t remember what good wine tastes like.  Let me tell you, this is not it. The 2008 Big House Red is a blend of 14 varieties from all over California: 23% syrah, 14% petite sirah, 9% grenache, 9% montepulciano, 6% mourvedre, 6% sangiovese, 6% aglianico, 6% tannat, 5% nero d’avola, 4% sagrantino, 3% touriga, 3% barbera, 3% petite verdot and 12.5% Other Esoteric Reds.  Big House Red is barrel aged in mostly French and American neutral oak. True to many hyper blended wines, Big House Red violates the very essence of a good red blend-well balanced.  The aromas are a little cherry, berries, and leathery-earthy, maybe stale cigarettes (that’s what they get in the big house right?).  The palate has the tartness of cranberries, the metallic hint of steel, the spice of black pepper, and the sweetness of plums, cherry and mixed berries. Tannins and acidity are just mediocre. While this wine has complexity, it is only because every grape under the sun has been added.  Not what I would call an elegant marriage of flavors, but rather a slop bucket of mess hall leftovers.  I think you can send this wine to the "big house" to serve sentence for violating consumer’s rights to good wine.

Varietal:  Red table wine

Producer/Importer:  Big House Red  

Region: California      

Vintage: 2008

Price: $9.00

Tasting notes:

 Sight (Color/Clarity): garnet red to purple although on the light side

 Smell (bouquet, aroma): cherry, berries, leather-earth, stale cigarettes

Taste (acidity, balance, body): cranberries, steel, black pepper, plums, black and sour cherry, and mixed berries

Bottle presentation:  New Yorker like cartoon label.

Overall rating (1-10): 6.5

Date consumed: February 9, 2012

Comments: 13.5% abv