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Death Metal Red Vol. 6 2015 seems to be a $9.99 Whole Foods exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Castilla-La Mancha region of Spain. This Red is designated a Vino de la Tierra wine which is Spain's version of Vin de Pays from France or IGT from Italy.Cheapwinefinder reviewed the 2016 Death Metal Red Vol 1 back in February of 2018, it sold for $8.99 then. Which is somewhat confusing for sub ten dollar wine. The 2018 vintage is a 2016 and the 2020 version is a 2015 vintage? I could not any information on the blend of grapes featured with the Death Metal Red. It is produced by Lauren Rosillo, who is a well-regarded winemaker and expert in Spain, for WX Brands. WX Brands also owns Chronic Cellars which I also found at Whole Foods. Their brands are found at all sorts of wine outlets, not just Whole Foods.There is Death Metal Red Vol. 6 2015, along with Vol 1, 2,3, 4, and 5, but I am not sure if they are six different blends or one blend and 6 labels. There is at least a 2015 and a 2016 vintage, but beyond that, it is all a mystery.If this were a California Red wine I would be a little hesitant to drink a five-year-old $10 Red Blend. Value-priced wines from the West Coast are produced with methods to allow the wine to come together and reach its balance in a relatively short period of time.That method produces bright, fruit-forward wines that are extremely popular, but it does not lend itself to wine aging. In Spain, things are a little different. There are wines in Spain that are Mae along the lines of the value California wines.Not all Spanish wine regions produce grapes with soft tannins and gentle acidity, some indigenous Spanish grapes are going to need time to blend and balance. I would that the local version of Tempranillo is a component in this blend and that is a grape that ages well.Most American value-priced wine drinkers may not be used to drinking Red wine with some decent bottle age that may have more than the typical amount of tannins and acidity. On the plus side, the wine flavors and textures should be nicely melded together. Just do not expect usual California $9.99 red Blend. The alcohol content is 13%.Death Metal Red Vol. 6 2015 Tasting NotesThe color is clear, dark garnet red with some serious black highlights. The nose is dark and intense, there is blackberry, licorice, spice, light herbs, and some cold mocha coffee. This is a smooth sleek Red blend, easy to drink.It starts with extracted blackberry, bitter dark chocolate, mild spice, and black pepper. The mid-palate brings slightly sweet raspberry, orange zest, and a touch of cream. The tannins are smooth and the acidity is balanced, I guess the five years of age did their job.Death Metal Red Vol. 6 2015 SummaryAs I recall, I like Vol. 6 better than I did Vol. 1, it has been almost 2 years between sampling the two wines. But I recall that Vol. 1 was on the rough side. That is not a problem with Vol.6.If you shop Whole Foods you may well buy this Red for the label, but it is a wine well worth drinking. You do not get a Red with five years of age for $9.99 very often.

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The Chronic Cellars Pink Pedals 2018 is the last of our Halloween wines 2020 series. we feature a red blend, a Chardonnay, and now a Rosé. The Pink Pedals is sourced from contracted vineyards in the Paso Robles AVA and is a blend of 88% Grenache and 12% Syrah.The Chronic Cellars Pink Pedals 2018 label features a female skeleton bike rider on a pink bike with a skeleton dog in the front basket. Not spooky, scary it is actually pretty happy for a label featuring human bones. But, overall the label will fit in very well with the whole Halloween aesthetic.Chronic Cellars was started in 2008 by Jake and Josh Beckett who were part of the family behind Peachy Canyon wines. The brand became so popular they could not keep up with demand. As often happens with wine brands that go viral the founders have a hard time expanding the company.The problem seems to be that when a brand is hot and selling fast there are companies that want to buy for large sums of money. The original winery has to choose between borrowing money and going into debt to grow the brand or sell for some serious cash.There is a whole slew of popular wine brands that are owned by someone other than the originators. The Beckett brothers had roles at Chronic Cellars for several years and have recently returned to Peachy Canyon wines to run the family business.The Pink Pedals Rosé is a wine featuring Rhone Valley (southern France) grapes, for 2018 Grenache and Syrah, the 2019 vintage is 100% Grenache. It is fermented and aged in stainless steel vats.To oversimplify things, Rose' is Red wine made in White wine style. Red wine has a great deal of grape skin contact with the pressed wine juice. That is the reason for the dark red color along with other consequences.White wines much less grape skin contact and Rose' wine only has enough skin contact to get that pink color. Grape skin contains tannins and since the skins do not play a major role in White and Rose' wine, the tannins are greatly reduced. The alcohol content is 13.3%.Chronic Cellars Pink Pedals 2018 Tasting NotesThe color is an apricot pink with a hint of orange. The nose is subtle, clean, and crisp, there is strawberries in cream, black cherry, faint candy spice, and melon.The Chronic Cellars has a firm mouthfeel and sleek flavors, this is a dry wine, it is not light and fluffy like some value-priced Rose'. It tastes of Bosc pear, dried pineapple bits, green apple (core and all). The mid-palate brings a little cream, peach, and lemon.The acidity is the way I like it, enough to let the flavors unfold and get him reaching for another sip, but not enough to bite.The SummaryThe Chronic Cellars Pink Pedals 2018 proves my theory that you can reliably by wine by the label.When looking for a wine to feature for Halloween I figured out that I write-up so many skull and skeleton label wines that I did not leave too many for Halloween.If you are looking for a bold and juicy, but adult wine look for skeleton labels, it works.The Pink Pedals charms grow on you with every sip.This tasty Paso Robles Rose' will look good at your Halloween party.

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The Crestwood Barrel Riesling 2019 is a $5.99 ALDI exclusive sourced from vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington State. And that is about as much as I know about the production details for this wine.For these store brands, I usually can go to the national trademark registry website to find out which wine company owns the brand name. But found that ALDI often owns the brand trademark themselves, that way they can change suppliers if they need to and keep the same brand.The back label does not say much. It mentions artisan winemaking and the best vineyards, which is nice but does not narrow things down much. Though Columbia Valley AVA is a great place for value-priced Riesling.The Mosel region of Germany is basically found zero for the Riesling grape and maybe the finest Riesling in the world originates from there. The vineyards are steep river valley hillsides that are strewn with pieces of slate. The minerals derived from the slate are an integral part of the flavor profile.There is not a great deal of slate in the Columbia Valley, but they do grow very flavorful Riesling grapes. Their Riesling wines often have a real farm fruit stand at harvest vibe about them.Riesling wines are often on the sweet side and even "dry" Riesling can be neutral sweet as opposed to sugar sweet. The Crestwood Barrel Riesling 2019 does not specify a level of sweetness. I would guess from reading the back label that it is off-dry.If a wine, and especially a White wine, has enough acidity it can balance out the sugar level in the wine. Sometimes figuring out if a Riesling is dry or is sweet is not so cut and dried.This is a 2019 vintage indicating that this is a young wine, without much aging ability. No need to buy it before you are ready to drink it. The alcohol content is 13.0%.Crestwood Barrel Riesling 2019 Tasting NotesThe color is very pale butter yellow. The nose is honey, green apple, tangerine, lemon hard candy, melon, and candy spice. I put a good chill on this Riesling and that added to the mouth-feel. This is a wine that is on the sweet side, but the acidity does level that out.It tastes of apple, orange blossom honey, lime, and Meyer lemon. The mid-palate offers tart grapefruit mixed with orange. The acidity is nicely balanced.The SummaryThe Crestwood Barrel Riesling 2019 is a solid value-priced Riesling.It is slightly on the sweet side but not too much.It has plenty of pleasing flavors and a nice balance.It sells for only $5.99, but it is a well-made, very drinkable Riesling.

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denny-muller-BdsYLQKk71w-unsplash.jpgThe More Halloween Wines 2020 Part 2 for today is the Freakshow Lodi Chardonnay 2018. Freakshow is one of the brands from Michael and David Winery (Lodi, California), there is this Chardonnay, a Red blend, a Cab, and a Zin.Michael and David Phillips are 5th generation grape growers and their family has farmed in Lodi for one hundred and fifty years. Having vineyards and wineries that go back generations is fairly common in Lodi.In California, where fifty percent of the wine brands are not affiliated with their own winery or vineyards, Lodi wine is a throw-back to the early days.Lodi is seventy to one hundred miles inland from the Pacific Ocean which would typically be too warm to grow wine grapes. But luckily for Lodi, the San Pablo Bay which is the northern portion of the San Francisco Bay is far enough inland to funnel cool breezes thru an assortment of river valleys to reach the Lodi vineyards.Lodi is east and south of Napa and is part of the Central Valley AVA. It is not a cool growing region, it can get warm. But it does have a large temperature difference between average daytime temps and nighttime temps that help wine grapes thrive.The Freakshow Lodi Chardonnay 2018 is a More Halloween Wines 2020 Part 2 wine mainly from its name. The label artwork is more of a reference to old-time carnival sideshows. The colorful label here features the Mermaid Lady. Maybe not too scary but it does fit the theme.The grapes for the Freakshow came from Michael and David vineyards and are certified sustainably farmed. They did not go overboard in describing the wines production methods, but what they did say is interesting.For the fermentation process, half of the wine was fermented in new oak barrels and the other half in stainless steel vats for seven months. The barrels were eighty percent new French oak and twenty percent new American oak.One hundred percent new oak barrels is rare in this price range, I found it for around $14. You typically see a range of new and used barrels. A good barrel can cost $1,000 and for popular brands, you need a whole bunch of barrels.Reusing an oak barrel keeps costs down and since every time a barrel is used it imparts less oak influence into wine, it helps to get just the exact amount of oak flavoring into wine. All new barrels (and Mainly the more expensive French oak) is a luxury in this price range as is oak barrel fermentation as opposed to just oak barrel aging.Fifty percent of this Chardonnay also underwent Malolactic Fermentation, the converting of the natural tart acids to softer more rounded acids. This process is used in Chardonnay to help the wine balance with the oak flavoring. The alcohol content is mild by today's standards 13.5%.More Halloween Wines 2020 Part 2 Tasting NotesThe color is reminiscent of a wheat beer. The nose is light and delicate, there are apple and lemon, vanilla, orange blossom honey, buttered toast (just a hint), and coconut.This is a Chardonnay with a firm mouth-feel, solid acidity, and loads of flavor. It starts with a stew of apricot, green apple, and grapefruit, followed by creamy vanilla almost creme brûlée.The mid-palate adds a salty sensation, lime, a little tropical fruit. The acidity is well-balanced, almost lip-smacking good but not quite. It allows the flavors to fully unfold.More Halloween Wines 2020 Part 2 SummaryThe Freakshow Lodi Chardonnay2018 is a delicious wine.I like the half stainless steel, half oak barrel way of producing Chardonnay. It gives the wines the best of both worlds feel.The label may not be as scary as the wine's name would suggest, but this Freakshow will do your Halloween party proud.

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The Poppy Monterey Pinot Noir 2017 is sourced from vineyards in the Arroyo Seco AVA inside of Monterey County in California's Central Coast AVA. Arroyo Seco translates to a dry riverbed and is located southeast of the Monterey Bay.This area is a deep valley close to the Pacific Ocean and has warm days cooled by afternoon winds off the ocean. It has a large differential between daytime temperature and nighttime temps that Pinot Noir grapes crave.The Poppy wine brand, the poppy is the California state flower, was founded in 2003 by the Silva Family who has 45 years of experience farming in Monterey. It the "house" brand for the Monterey Wine Company, founded in 2002.Half of the wine produced in California come from faux wine companies, meaning that they do not own their own vineyards or production facilities (a winery).The Monterey Wine Company provides a facility and services for these faux wineries. From crushing the grapes to bottling the finished wine they have you covered. If you ever feel the need to start your own wine brand give them a call.The Poppy Monterey Pinot Noir 2017 was fermented and aged with some lots of the Pinot Noir in stainless steel vats and others in French oak barrels. About halfway thru the fermentation and aging process, they rotate the wines. The oak fermented wine goes to stainless steel and the stainless steel gets transferred to oak barrels. The 2017 vintage is the current release and that tells you a bit about the production methods used to produce this Pinot. It is a young, drink-it-now wine, Poppy recommends drinking it with 4 years of release.If in 2020 a current release is a 2019 or 2018 vintage, that would indicate that the winemaker used techniques that would allow the wine to balance fairly quickly. A 2017 vintage in 2020 suggests more involved production methods that would need additional time for the wine to be ready for sale.It is not necessarily a difference of good or bad if a wine is made for faster release or has more extensive production. It is more of a stylistic difference, but I find I prefer Pinot Noir wines that need more time to balance.I am a fan of coastal California Pinot Noir and Monterey County has its share of excellent Pinot Noir producers. While they have many high0-end wineries, Monterey has a pretty good track record for making excellent affordable Pinot Noir. I found the Poppy Monterey Pinot Noir 2017 onside for $11.99. The alcohol content is 13.5%.Poppy Monterey Pinot Noir 2017 Tasting NotesThe color is a clear, see-thru garnet red. The nose is very promising, there is bright, ripe cherry, with herbs, mushroom, oak spice, crushed fall leaves, black pepper, a little vanilla, and strawberry. A good Pinot Noir has a very unique aroma.This Pinot Noir has a silky smooth mouthfeel and a good bit of complexity on the palate. It starts with slightly tart cherry, a touch of tea, exotic spice, a little creamy vanilla, and strawberry. The mid-palate offers a rougher brush of spice, a salty sensation, and cranberry.The tannins do not interfere with the flavor profile and the acidity is the kind I like. It gets you reaching for the next sip without consciously thinking about it.The SummaryThe Poppy Monterey Pinot Noir 2017 provides a very solid Pinot Noir drinking experience.This Pinot Noir reminded me of much more expensive Pinots.At $11.99, I expected a quality wine, but the Poppy gave me more than I was expecting. This is not good for the price Pinot Noir, this is a straight-up good Pinot Noir. It just happens to be rather affordable.

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For Halloween Wines 2020 Part 1 we are starting out with a budget-friendly Red blend, $7.99 at Trader Joe's. The Dearly Beloved I Thee Red 2018 sourced from vineyards in California's Central Coast AVA.Its claim to Halloween wine fame is an elaborate Day of the Dead skull on the front label. The bottle is tinted black glass the skull is painted on in red ink.I do not like wines that are made exclusively for a holiday. Except for a few specific wines, most wines will last in the bottle for a couple of years. So I am suspicious of a wine that is produced, with a holiday-specific label, that will reasonably only be on store shelves for a month at most.Is the wine made for you to drink or is it mainly a decoration? I figure if the wine in the bottle;e was any good they would sell it year-round and not try to cash in on an eye-catching holiday label.Luckily, for Halloween parties, there are a whole slew of wines with skull or skeleton themed labels along with other kinds of off-kilter labels. The Dearly Beloved wines, there are two Red blends ana a Chardonnay, all from the Central Coast AVA, all with variations of the Day of the Dead label.These wines are available on their website, see link in the first paragraph, for $12 for the Chardonnay and one Red blend and $14 for the other Red blend. Since TJ's sells this wine for $7.99 you can get a glimpse of the type of savings you can get from Trader Joe's.The I Thee Red 2018 is a blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Petite Sirah. It is sort of the greatest hits of California Red wine grapes. The grapes were fermented separately and then blended into the final blend.They do not mention what type of oak conditioning that they use for this blend, but the tasting notes mentioned chocolate and toasty vanilla. This suggests a blend of French and American oak were somehow used for this Red blend.The Dearly Beloved I Thee Red is included in our Halloween Wines 2020 Part 1 because it has been a reliably good wine. Cheapwinefinder has been reviewing Dearly Beloved wines since the 2009 vintage. So not only will this Red look the part at a Halloween party it will taste great, too. And since it is so inexpensive you can buy a few extra bottles.Halloween Wines 2020 Part 1 Tasting NotesThe color is a barely see-thru black cherry red. The nose is very fruit-forward with sweet ripe fruit aromas. There are ripe cherries, chocolate, spice, light herbs, raspberry, vanilla, with a hint of smoke.This is a medium-bodied red blend with smooth flavors balanced by tart spice and sour cranberry. It starts with a mix of blackberry and strawberry, then milk chocolate, toasted marshmallow (without the sugary sweetness), and spice.The mid-palate offers tart to sour cranberry, and a welcome bit of grip from the tannins. So many value-priced wines have had the tannins watered down. You do not want too aggressive tannins, that can disrupt your drinking pleasure. But slight tug from the tannins, just enough to let you know they are there are, I think, an essential component of Red wine.Halloween Wines 2020 Part 1 SummaryHow does the Dearly Beloved I Thee Red 2018 measure up as a Halloween Party wine? It might be the perfect party wine.The label is very well executed and fits the whole Halloween esthetic and the wine is well-priced and drinks well.This may be a $7.99 Red wine, but give it plenty of time to "open". The flavors evolved as I was drinking and writing, so give it time to be it's best.

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The Columbia Crest H3 Les Chevaux Red 2016 is a blend of Merlot, Syrah, and Malbec, (along with other Red varietals) sourced from vineyards in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA (also known as H3) inside the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington State.The Horse Heaven Hills AVA is located east of Vancouver and west of the Walla Walla AVA and situated along the northern banks of the Columbia River. Like the name suggests early settlers found herds of wild horses in the area.Columbia Crest is the second label for Chateau Ste. Michelle. I have read that the Chateau Ste. Michelle's family of wines accounts for 50% of the wines produced in Washington. The Columbia Crest label was started in the early 1980s.Do not let Columbia Crest's 2nd label designation fool you, their wines have been featured in many "Best Of' lists and in 2009 one of their reserve wines, a Cabernet Sauvignon, was Wine Spectators Wine of the Year. Their wines may not be expensive, but they have a history of quality.This review is for the 2016 vintage, the 2017 vintage is also available. They changed the label completely for 2017, it went from a dark label to mostly white.The name Les Chevaux translates to "the Horse" in French. Columbia Crest does not go into great detail on the making of the Columbia Crest H3 Les Chevaux Red 2016. But they do mention a couple of important things.One thing that stood out is this Red Blend was aged in French and American oak barrels for twenty-two months. That is an impressive amount of oak conditioning for a wine I found on sale for under twelve bucks and I think is even cheaper at Costco.Most Red wines in the general $10 range are intentionally made to come together quickly. That typically means less oak barrel aging or maybe no oak aging at all. The rule of thumb with oak barrel aging and there are variables, is that the wine needs to age one month in the bottle of each month of aging in the barrel. This is not a hard, fast rule, but it gives you an idea of much aging a wine had, by how soon after harvest it was released for sale.Wines that can be released sooner are often less expensive than wines that need more time to develop. So a wine that has extensive (for the price point) oak aging is an excellent surprise.Winemakers have learned to do a commendable job of adding oak flavoring to wines that do not have a great deal of oak contact. But the one thing that they can not replicate is what happens to the wine it has been in barrel for almost two years. The melding of flavors can only come with time.The 2nd production detail that caught my eye is they only could name tree of the grapes in the blend, they simply said "along with other grape varietals", how do they not know what grapes they used? You would figure they would know something like that. It actually occurs fairly often in Red blends. There must be a reason for the uncertainty, some legalese, some state labeling requirements, who knows? The alcohol content is 14.5%.Columbia Crest H3 Les Chevaux Red 2016 Tasting NotesThe color is barelt see-thru black cherry red. The nose is rich, intense blackberry, black pepper, spice, black cherry, dark chocolate, a hint of vanilla, and raspberry. This is a rich, mostly smooth Red blend that has a rich spice counter-point to the smooth ripe flavors. It starts with blackberry, tea, exotic spice, licorice, and a touch of cream. The mid-palate shows tart cranberry, black pepper, a nutty, salty sensation, and dried strawberry bits.The tannins are smooth and the acidity allows the flavors to unfold.The SummaryThe Columbia Crest H3 Les Chevaux Red 2016 is a solid red blend, full of flavor and detail that sells for a bargain price.The 2017 vintage is available now and I am sure it is ready to go and drinks great, but if 2016 is also available alongside 2017 I think I might grab 2016.When you have an affordable wine with a nice bit of oak barrel aging an extra year in the bottle wi..

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The Cupcake Vineyards Chardonnay 2019 is sourced from vineyards in Monterey County south of the San Fransico Bay inside the Central Coast AVA of California. Cupcake Vineyards is one of The Wine Groups' sixty-plus labels of wine.Check out the link above, their wines are available everywhere and I figure your local supermarket sells at least 10 of their brands. They say that over-all the quality of wine has never been better. The expensive wines have always been pretty good, it is the more affordable end of wines that have shown great improvement.Cupcake Vineyards is a "taste of the world" wine brand. The Pinot Grigio is from Italy, the Sauvignon Blanc is from New Zealand, and the Malbec is sourced from Argentina. The Prosecco is from Italy, the Cava is from Spain, and the Cupcake Vineyards Chardonnay 2019 is from California's Central Coast.Monterey County is an interesting wine destination. The water off the Pacific Coast is some of the coldest in the whole ocean. The vineyards can be found in coastal areas, high altitude Mountain regions, valleys, plateau's, foothills, flat ground, and rolling hills, they have a little of everything.As a brand wine, that means the wines are not tied to a single winery or vineyard, there is not much information available about the making of this Chardonnay. They did offer a couple of pertinent details, first, this Chardonnay is oak barrel fermented. That is a production technique seldom seen in ten dollar Chardonnay. They actually do not mention any oak barrel aging.As a 2019 vintage wine, it could not have had too much aging of any kind. The second detail is the wine underwent malolactic fermentation. That is a process that changes the naturally occurring tart flavored acids in the wine to rounded, softer tasting acid. Almost all Red wines use malolactic fermentation and Chardonnay is one of the rare White wines to benefit from the process.It is typically used with wines that have some sort of oak conditioning. Central Coast, Monterey County grapes, barrel fermentation, and malolactic should make the Cupcake Vineyards Chardonnay 2019 a solid example of California Chardonnay. The alcohol content is 14.1%.Cupcake Vineyards Chardonnay 2019 Tasting NotesThe color is a clean, clear wheat yellow. You can often tell how much oak conditioning a Chardonnay had by the color, the deeper the yellow the more time in the barrel. It is hard to tell anything about the oak program with wine this young, 2019 vintage selling in 2020.The nose is apple, peaches, and pears, with butterscotch, a hint of butter, and lemon chiffon pie. This is a tasty little Chardonnay, creamy, and lightly buttery.It tastes of butter, apples, lemons, lime, soft spice, and tart grapefruit. I sometimes find the butter in certain Chardonnay to be a bit too much, but here it flows with all the flavors. The mid-palate brings a slice of Key West lime pie and apricot. The acidity is fine, it allows the flavors to get where they need to good and does not bite.The SummaryThe Cupcake Vineyards Chardonnay 2019 is a well-made, tasty wine and a bargain. I found it for $8.99 and it is a solid Chardonnay.The Cupcake website that they have a female winemaker, Jessica Tomei. I am always kind of surprised when they make a big deal about the winemaker's gender. Why wouldn't the winemaker be female? It is not like the job requires massive upper-body strength. I can not think of one reason why a man could do the job better than a female or why a woman would be preferable to a man. Winemaking is about dedication and talent and those are not gender-specific traits.Anyway, Jessica did a really nice job with this Chardonnay.

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The Mumm Napa Brut Prestige is a non-vintage blend of 45% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir, and 10% Pinot Meunier and Pinot Gris. Those are the 4 main grapes approved for use in Champagne, France. There are actually a couple of other approved grapes but they are seldom used.Mumm has been in Napa since the 1970s and in Champagne, France since 1827. Since it is produced in Napa Valley it has to be called Sparkling wine and not Champagne. Only Sparkling wine produced in Champagne is entitled to be called Champagne, but Mumm Napa is made with legitimate Champagne know-how.To go off-topic for a moment, I want to talk about the three varieties of the Pinot grape that are included in the Mumm Napa Brut Prestige. Pinot is French for pinecone way back when the original vintners thought the grape cluster reminded them of pinecones. Pinot Noir means black pinecone, Pinot Gris (also known as Grigio in Italy) means grey pinecone. Pinot Meunier is a little more complicated.Meunier is the wheat dust left over when grinding wheat into flour. The grape leaves have white markings that the farmers thought looked like Meunier of wheat dust. There is also a Pinot Blanc grape that is not approved for use in Champagne and that translates to a white pinecone. I know, not all that exciting, it sounds better in French.The grapes for the Mumm Napa Brut Prestige came from forty-five growers throughout Napa. With fancy still wines fewer vineyards are seen as being better but that is not how it works with Champagne and Champagne-style wine. I know of a leading Champagne that uses up to one hundred different growers from different parts of Champagne.In fact, mosy Champagne Houses do not have much in the way of vineyard holdings. If they do own a vineyard those grapes go into their most upscale Bubbly. Many longterm contracted vineyards in the norm.This is a Brut Sparkling wine which means it is dry and not sweet. Sparkling wines are fermented twice and the Mumm Napa Brut Prestige was fermented in both stainless steel vats and French oak barrels. The wine aged in stainless and wine aged in oak take on different characteristics, So the Mumm Napa well feature a blend of both.The second fermentation, which occurs in each and every bottle, lasts an average of 18 months. That is also the minimum aging requirement in Champagne, France. After the dead yeast is removed from each bottle and the dosage is added to achieve the desired sugar level and acidity, the wine is aged an additional three months before release.This is a Napa Valley Sparkling wine that is very much made in the Champagne tradition. A leading wine magazine gave this Bubbly 91 points and Wine Spectator named #54 in the top wines of 2014, it is a non-vintage so it should be essentially the same wine in 2020. The alcohol content is 12.5%.Mumm Napa Brut Prestige Tasting NotesThe color is a mix of platinum and gold, with plenty of tiny energetic bubbles. The nose is crisp apple, lemon, yeasty bread, light Christmas spice, a whiff of vanilla, peach, and pear, along with dried pineapple bits.This is a delicious Bubbly with bright, but balanced acidity. The flavors are nicely mingled together, on first sip nothing stands out just this tasty stew of flavors.Then on the next sip, there is crisp, but slightly sour cherry, green apple, lemon, pink grapefruit, that salty on lees thing, and a little stone fruit. The mid-palate adds a touch of cream, hard-edged strawberry, and lime.The acidity adds a crispness to this Bubbly, but it does not bite. It will also get you reaching for the next sip.The SummaryThe Mumm Napa Brut Prestige is about half the price of "entry-level" (a weird term for Champagne) Champagne from France, and I think you may be hard-pressed to tell the difference.Expensive Champagne is sublime with extended aging that can last years not months and exotic production techniques. They are a category unto themselves. But,

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The LÉGENDE Bordeaux Blanc 2019 is 85% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Sémillon sourced from a vineyard in the Entre-deux-Mers region of Bordeaux in southewest France. 90% of the wines produced in Bordeaux are Red but Entre-duex-Mers accounts for 90% of the White wine.The LÉGENDE is a brand owned by Domaines Barons De Rothschild (LAFITE) which is part of Taub Family Selections. Ninety-Five percent of the LÉGENDE wines ( they have a full line of Bordeaux wines from various regions inside Bordeaux) are exported out of France.All but one of the LÉGENDE wines use grapes sourced from contracted vineyards and not Lafite estate vineyards. This allows these wines if a significant pedigree to be affordable. The Blanc lists for $19, but a check of the web showed prices from $12 to $18.Bordeaux calls their White wine simple "Blanc" which translates to is French for White. They do not show Sauvignon Blanc on the label, though they do show the grapes and the percentages on the back label.Sauvignon Blanc is an extremely popular White wine and the Bordeaux version is extremely attractive. But I find that the average American wine drinker does not know Border Blanc means Sauvignon Blanc.One major difference between Bordeaux Blanc and other Sauvignon Blanc is Bordeaux's addition of the Sémillon to the mix. Sémillon rounds out the Sauvignon Blanc and mutes some of Sauv Blancs "spikey" flavors. While adding delicious complimentary flavors.The LÉGENDE Bordeaux Blanc 2019 may have a fancy name, but it is a young drink-it-now wine meant to be consumed now rather than later. It was fermented and aged," on lees", in stainless steel tanks, no oak barrels. Not unlike make Sauvignon Blanc in this price range, but you will find this Sauv Blanc to have a different character from the typical value-priced Sauvignon Blanc."On lees" is important in White wine, it means that the dead, spent yeast and grape residue are left in the tanks while aging. The lees are stirred on a schedule based on what effect the winemaker desires and often gives the wine a nutty, salty sensation. The alcohol content is 12%, many Sauv Blancs from other growing areas will show 13.5% or more. It is a very French style to have lower alcohol and not always easy to achieve with global warming issues.LÉGENDE Bordeaux Blanc 2019 Tasting NotesThe color is pale lemon yellow. The nose is very pleasing, it made me smile. There are notes of peach, pear, pineapple, lemon, lime, and grapefruit, with ripe apple, citrus spice, and papaya.This is a Sauvignon Blanc with excellent acidity and rich varied flavors. It tastes of grapefruit, unsweetened pineapple, green apple, lime, and slightly sour peach. The mid-palate adds tropical fruit salad, that salty on lees thing, and a slight creamy sensation. The acidity will have you reaching for the next sip before you know it.The SummaryThe LÉGENDE Bordeaux Blanc 2019 is a classy Sauvignon Blanc.It will have you wondering why more winemakers do not add in Sémillon. These two grapes do work well together.

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