Tasting - Urban Ribera

Name - Urban Ribera

Variety -  Red Tempranillo

Country- Spain

Year - 2009

Price - $13.99

Shop/wine critic/winery review - None

My Review - This wine was recommended by one of the wine experts at Kroger.  I have had a white tempranillo in the past and it was good, so I figured I would try this one.  The color was a dark garnet.  The aroma was very fruity with a small amount of spice.  The palate was mildly tannic, full bodied and had a dark cherry flavor.  This wine was very good and had awesome garnet color that was very rich and complex.  Usually when the color looks that good, the taste follows.  Rating 8/10.

Food - none

Tasting - Borsao

Name - Borsao

Variety -  Garnacha

Country- Spain

Year - 2011

Price - $6.99

Shop/wine critic/winery review - None

My Review - This is a wine I picked up at Kroger and it was very highly rated.  It was extremely cheap compared to the others and I never had a garnacha before.  This wine's color was a dark ruby and purple.  Very similar to the malbec I tried right before it.  The aroma featured spices and  dark berries.  The palate was full bodied, softly tannic and had a rich fruit flavor. Overall this wine was very good, especially for the price, Rating 8.5/10.

Food - none

Tasting - Colle Morino

Name - Colle Morino

Variety -  Red blend

Country- Italy, Abruzzo

Year - 2011

Price - $13.99

Shop/wine critic/winery review - None

My Review - I really like authentic Italian wines so I picked this one up at Total Wine.  The color of this wine was dark purple.  The aroma was heavily spiced with a strong pepper flavor.  The palate was full bodied, overly dry and very tannic.  This wine was rough in my book.  The dryness kind of overpowered it and the strong tannin flavor was just too strong to be enjoyable.  I really didn't even taste much of a fruit component to it.  

Rating 5.5/10 - not the worst wine I ever had, but I was expecting it to be a lot better.




Food - none

Tasting - Gaetano De Aqino

Name - Gaetano De Aquino

Variety -  Trebbiano

Country- Italy, Orvieto

Year - 2011

Price - $9.99

Shop/wine critic/winery review - None

My Review - I've tried two other wines from the Orvieto winery and enjoyed them both, so I figured I'd give this one a shot.  It turns out this one was not nearly as good as the others.  The color of this was a pale yellow.  The aroma was lacking and I picked up a slight pear scent.  The palate was very thin and lacked flavor.  I was very disappointed in this wine, because I was expecting it to taste like the others I had, but it was not very good.  It almost tasted like I was drinking water, due to the lack of texture and flavor. Rating 4/10.




Food - none

Tasting - Tilia

Name - Tilia 

Variety -  Malbec

Country- Argentina

Year - 2011

Price - $8.99

Shop/wine critic/winery review - Tilia Malbec has a dark, blackish purple color. The nose offers ripe black fruits, black pepper spice and floral notes. The mouth-feel is full yet soft and supple, with black raspberry and currant flavors mingled with notes of sweet spice and a touch of leather. The finish is long and persistent with soft, sweet tannins.


My Review -  The color was a deep purple that reminded me of plums.  The aroma had a peppery scent and dark blackberries. The palate was full bodied, mildly tannic and a dark raspberry flavor.  This wine was very good, rating 7.5/10.

Food- None