Tasting - Mattaponi Pow Wow

Name: Mattaponi Pow Wow
Variety: 100% Strawberries
Region: Virginia
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Price: $25

Winery Review: Translation means "Dreaming."  Mattaponi Winery knows everyone will dream about our amazing Chocolate Cover Strawberry Wine.  Don't just dream.....come taste this perfect combination.  A  great way to tell someone, "I love you."   Made with our Award-Winning Strawberry Wine, Odeimin.

My Review: I was looking forward to tasting this wine after hearing what was in it and after tasting Odeimin. It was actually a bit of a disappointment. The strawberries were there on the nose and the taste, same with the chocolate but they just didn’t mingle well together. I’ve had chocolate fruit wine before that were great but this wasn’t. It was like the chocolate was sitting on the strawberries. It is a bit difficult to explain. The strawberries and the chocolate were separate entities in the same bottle of wine. It was just okay.

Tasting - Mattaponi Odeimin

Name: Mattaponi Odeimin
Variety: 100% Strawberries
Region: Virginia
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Price: $20

Winery Review: Translation means "Strawberry."  This wine is delightful on the taste buds.  Compliments strawberries everywhere!

My Review: This was the best wine that they had. Strawberries hit the nose and the palate and were present throughout. The taste was sweet but not overpowering. It had the right balance. This was very enjoyable. I would definitely get this again.

Tasting - Mattaponi Kizismin

Name: Mattaponi Kizismin
Variety: 100% Peaches
Region: Virginia
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Price: $20

Winery Review: Translation means "Sun Berry."  The refreshing Peach Wine has a pleasant flavor with a light finish

My Review: This was a tasty wine. I’ve never had a peach wine before so this was a treat. The smell was that of straight peaches while the tasted was sweet with an overwhelming peach flavor. I haven’t been able to taste my share of fruit wines but this was good. I would get this again.

Tasting - Mattaponi Miskwamin

Name: Mattaponi Miskwamin
Variety: 100% Concord Grapes
Region: Virginia
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Price: $15

Winery Review: Translation means "Red Berry."  Intense flavor of Blue Concord with full-bodied.  Best served with pasta, beef or lamb.

My Review: This was an interesting wine. I’d never had a wine from Concord grapes before. I was impressed with this one. It smelled and tasted a bit like grape juice. It went down smooth. I ended up buying this one. The alcohol taste to it is subtle and it works.

Tasting - Mattaponi Cabernet Sauvignon

Name: Mattaponi Cabernet Sauvignon
Variety: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Virginia
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Price: $15

Winery Review: Impressive structure.  Medium bodied, displaying rich and elegant flavors, with a rich finish. Hints of oak and plum. Wonderful with beef, pork or lamb.

My Review: I didn’t particularly care for this wine. I got hints of red fruit and some spice on the nose. The taste was similar with more red fruit on the palate with a certain spiciness that lasted through the finish. The spiciness didn’t mix well with the fruit that I tasted. I was expecting a big bold Cab Sav and that’s not what I got. It was actually kind of weak. 

Tasting - Gabbiano Chianti

Name: Gabbiano Chianti
Variety: 90% Sangiovese, 10% red berry vines
Region: Chianti
Country: Italy
Year: 2014
Price: $8

Winery Review: A very natural wine making process, in which the alcoholic fermentation is followed naturally by malolactic fermentation in steel casks.  The ageing period of the wine before the bottling is brief, without passage in wood: in this way, the wine maintains and displays all the organoleptic characteristics of the grape, along with great freshness. It is a young, enjoyable wine that does not require ageing, which should be drunk in the first two years of life.

My Review: This was my first venture into Tuscany and the Chianti region of winemaking. The wine was a ruby red color. The nose was fairly aromatic with red fruit, raspberries, and spice. The taste had notes of red and black fruit with a slight oakiness coming through (despite not touching oak in the winemaking process). Nothing about this wine really stood out. It had a medium body with a short finish. It was unoffending and slightly acidic. I paired this with Chicken Piccata. It was a nice pairing but a better wine would’ve been a better choice. Not a bad wine but not for me. 

Tasting - Peller Estates Ice Wine Vidal

Name: Peller Estates Ice Wine Vidal
Variety: 100% Vidal Blanc
Region: Niagara Peninsula
Country: Canada
Year: 2005
Price: $60 for 375 mL

Winery Review: An exceptionally well-balanced Icewine exhibiting sophistication and elegance. The clean fruit flavours of peach, pear juice, tangerine and a drizzle of honey excite the palate. Lemon drops, apricot and candied citrus peel linger through on the finish. Best enjoyed through 2018.   Serve chilled at 8 to 10°C in small white wine glasses, 1 to 2 oz per person. Enjoy before a meal, chilled with your favourite vodka and a couple of frozen grapes for an amazing Icewine Martini. During a meal with pâté or with foie gras for a mouth sensation. Also a wonderful companion to Indian curry dishes and spicy Asian cuisine. Serve with the cheese course which may include Saint Andre, 3 year old Canadian cheddar or creamy blue cheeses. After a meal with fruit based desserts of mango, pear, quince, sweet citrus and tropical fruits; crème caramel; crème brûlée; custards; and syllabubs.

My Review: This was a wonderfully splendid wine, one of the best I’ve ever had. I was able to try this because my aunt had forgotten she had it in her fridge and let me have it. It was an unopened 50 mL individual (half of a half) tasting but wow did it leave an impression. The wine had a goldish, possibly pinkish hue to it. The nose was very aromatic. It had a dominant peach or stone fruit smell. It seemed to me that this could be a fruit liqueur; it had that kind of nose to it. As for the taste, my palate detected peach, apricot, and honey. It was super silky smooth. I couldn’t taste any alcohol really. It finished short. Boy, was this a delight. I’ve grown to like Vidal Blanc as my white wine variety of choice (along with few select others) as I’ve haven’t had a bad one yet in my limited experience. This was my first Ice Wine though and I was impressed by it. While the product is certainly worth the price, this wine is out of my range. Bottom line, fantastic wine and would love to drink again.