Wine Tasting
Cycles Gladiator Dry Rosé
Winery: Cycles Gladiator
Brand/Type: Dry Rosé
Vintage: 2005
Country: USA
Region: California
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Closure: Synthetic
Appearance: Pale cherry
Aroma/Bouquet: Cherry, cranberry, pomegranate
Cycles Gladiator adorns their label with some very pretty art by French painter G. Massias.
Bait and switch warning!
The label (with pretty art) claims this wine to be dry. The truth is that it is sweet. Not Boones Farm or Arbor Mist sweet, but in no way, shape, or form, can this be considered dry. It is certainly not off-dry either.
This is a fruity sweet wine. It does have a reasonable aroma that is reminiscent of cherries, cranberry, and pomegranate. It tastes strongly of cranberry and strawberries and has a poor and slightly bitter finish
This is a fairly inexpensive wine and performs as such. Did we mention that they have pretty art on their labels?
Wine Tasting
Pentamere Rosé Table Wine
Winery: Pentamere
Brand/Type: Rosé Table Wine
Vintage: N/A
Country: USA
Region: Michigan
Alcohol content: 12%
Closure: Natural cork
Appearance: Cerise
Aroma/Bouquet: Hay and strawberries.
Pentamere is a unique winery; they have no vines. Located in Tecumseh, Michigan, only an hour from Detroit, this is probably one of the last places you would expect to find a winery. Tecumseh is better known for its architecture and antiques. Their website even makes light of their location.
Pentamere instead buys grapes from various vineyards throughout Michigan and produces their own wine. Now this isn’t a new idea or a radical concept, plenty of the huge wine labels do this. Pentamere isn’t huge. Instead they choose to make fine wine in a quaint little town off the beaten track and concentrate their energy on making wine versus growing grapes and making wine. Seems like more fun to me!
This wine is bears a resemblance to a Cabernet Sauvignon “lite”. It has a good body to it for a Rosé. Much more complex than most but not a full bodied red either. Full of fruit flavors and a slight hint of oak, this has soft tannins and a nice clean finish. This is a Rose` for the red wine drinker who doesn’t like Rosé. It’s also a good wine for those white wine drinkers who want to step up to reds.
Pentamere has many good and interesting wines. They’re worthy of a look. Like many Michigan wines, distribution outside of the state is scant. Pentamere does offer online sales however.
Wine Tasting
Ca’ De’ Medici White Lambrusco
Winery: Ca’ De’ Medici
Brand/Type: White Lambrusco
Vintage: n/a
Country: Italy
Region: Reggio Emilia
Alcohol content: 7%
Closure: Natural cork
Appearance: Very pale straw
Aroma/Bouquet: Musty grapes and strawberries.
Lambrusco. The name alone for many over the age of 40, conjures up memories of discos full of sweat and polyester – Wide lapel wearing lounge lizards hitting on free love disco dollies. Lambrusco was indeed a popular drink of that era. A sweet red wine that seemed to give the drinker a (false) sense of sophistication and still get their date drunk. Hindsight is 20-20 and Lambrusco has not been seen in a good light for many years.
So it was with special intrigue that this writer felt awkwardly embarrassed to purchase this wine. Luckily the clerk was far too young to make any association with my purchase.
Our review is of Ca’ De’ Medici’s White Lambrusco. A semi-sweet sparkling white Lambrusco. Yes, that is correct. A sparkling, white, Lambrusco. This is an uncommon find.
Ca’ De’ Medici is a small producer especially when compared to better known Riunite. Ca’ De’ Medici wines are crafted, not mass produced. Their production is 3 million liters compared to 132 million. Our bottle was proof of that. The wine tasted of sweet ripe berries but not overwhelmingly sweet as you might expect. Instead it showed good structure and a tart finish. Of course the carbonation takes the sweet edge off.
Perfect for desert or the patio; celebrate something special! Go ahead and drink this without shame, the past is forgotten.
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