Tasting - “Settlers’ Spiced Wine”

 Name: Jamestown Cellars Settlers’ Spiced Wine 

Type of Grapes: Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon 

Country and region of origin: The wine was made in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States.

Year: 2015

Price: $6.99 (I bought it on sale at Kroger - I believe it is normally around $11-19) 

Shop/wine critic/winery review of the wine: Overall, the wine scored an average of 88/100 points by wine critics. Of the wine critics who rated it, many mentioned that they tried it warm and that it was very spiced. One person mentioned that they tried it cold. Many of the critics mentioned that it was very spiced (https://www.cellartracker.com/notes.asp?iWine=266782).

Reference to Wine Folly Book: The Wine Folly book did not have a specific section on this specific wine, since it is a specific type of wine. However, the spiced wine is a Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon blend with spices added, so I looked at Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon wines. The Wine Folly book says that Merlot wine has the flavors of raspberry, black cherry, sugar plum, and chocolate on page 116. It also mentions that Merlot’s flavor can vary depending on where it is grown, with cooler regions tasting more like red currants and warmer regions tasting more like berry jam (page 117). The book also mentions that Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are often mistaken for one another because they taste similar (page 117). The Wine Folly book mentions that Cabernet Sauvignon tastes like black cherry, black currant, red bell pepper, and baking spices on page 136. It also mentions on page 137 that when made in the warmer climates it tastes more like fruit and typically has a higher alcohol content than the colder climates (this is an older edition of Wine folly book because mine is still being shipped but Barnes and Nobles had an older edition that I looked at for this so the page numbers might be off). 

I smelled this wine before I tried it, and my first thought was how spiced it smelled. I first tried it cold, and thought it tasted like an odd apple cider and wine mix. It was very spiced. I then decided to try heating it up, as the bottle said to try it warm or cold, and I liked it even less. I thought that heating up made the spices taste more odd and that the wine taste disappeared. I overall did not like this wine and thought that it was way too spiced for me. 

I did not drink this with food.