Bright Wine Reviews
These are my most recent Bright reviews. I drank each of these Bright wines and this is what I think about them. My opinions about each wine are my own.
Wine reviews by: Jessyca Frederick |
Fruity and bright, light white wine that tasted a little bit hot to me (the taste of alcohol). As with most Naked Wines whites, a great price for an easy drinking wine.
Tasting notes: apple, baked pear, bright, lemon
2021 Rick Boyer Unoaked Chardonnay
A beautiful expression of Central Coast Chardonnay which went easy on the winemaking to let the Chardonnay’s bright fruitiness shine on its own.
Tasting notes: creamy, fruity, bright
This Duoro Tinto is smooth, with subtle fruit and spice. A bright and food-friendly wine that while enjoyable was not necessarily unique.
Tasting notes: smooth tannin, red fruit, spice, bright
Great crowd-pleasing Bordeaux-style blend. Fruit-forward but balanced with smooth tannins, great acidity, and just a touch of vanilla from the oak.
Tasting notes: red fruit, vanilla, bright, smooth tannin
A food-friendly white wine (branco is white in Portuguese) was light and refreshing with flavors of stone fruit and minerality.
Tasting notes: bright, stone fruit, apricot, peach, minerality
A food-friendly white wine featuring typical Chenin Blanc floral and stone fruit flavors, but in a more subdued presentation (as compared with California).
Tasting notes: bright, apple, peach, floral, slightly sweet
A medium-bodied red wine that tastes a bit like Pinot Noir had a love child with Mourvèdre (red fruit forward, especially black cherry, mixed with violets and a little spice), and it tends to be brighter than either of those imaginary progenitors.
Tasting notes: red fruit, bright, black cherry, violets, spice
What an interesting wine! Initial impressions of stone fruit and floral notes on the nose. The honeyed character made me think of Viognier, but it was different... “waxiness.”
Tasting notes: stone fruit, floral, aromatic, citrus, bright
What I liked was that the Semillon added a bit of a honeyed, bitterish note to counteract the Sauv Blanc’s acidic fruitiness. It reminded me of a bright Viognier or a Viognier/Roussanne blend.
Tasting notes: honey, bitter, fruity, bright
2012 Esprit Couture Premier Cru Brut
We very much enjoyed this Champagne, but it didn’t leave us wanting more. I smelled lemon custard and baking spice, and tasted a bright, complex blend of toasted brioche and appreciable salinity.
Tasting notes: lemon, baking spice, bright, brioche, saline
This Chablis was on point with scents of apple, chalk, and a fresh energy that delivered subtle pear notes.
Tasting notes: apple, chalk, pear, bright
2019 Bernardus Winery Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands
A red-fruit forward Pinot Noir, well-balanced and bright but not overpowering acidity — all the things that make Pinot from Santa Lucia Highlands sought after.
Tasting notes: red fruit, bright
2020 Tabalí Talinay Chardonnay
A Chablis-style Chardonnay characterized by mineral-driven, saline, lemony citrus bursts, bracing acidity, and a light body from limestone soils near the coast in Chile.
Tasting notes: bright, lemon, minerality
2018 Roger et Didier Raimbault Vieilles Vignes Sancerre
This particular Sancerre is typical (in a good way) of what you’d expect for Sauvignon Blanc from this region — it’s fruity and bright, featuring a lemony essence on the palate with a touch of minerality.
Tasting notes: fruity, bright, lemon, minerality
This Sangiovese was slightly sweet and bright, had nice tannins, and savory notes. As $15 red wine goes, I gave this a thumbs up.
Tasting notes: bright, food friendly, lightly fruity, slightly sweet
A touch sweet, more so than I’m used to, for a Grenache Blanc, but it had excellent acidity to balance the sugar, making it very approachable and food friendly.
Tasting notes: slightly sweet, bright, food friendly
2020 Michi Lorenz Sauvignon Blanc Klassik
This particular Sauvignon Blanc was not super complex, but it was bright and food-friendly — a stated goal for Michi Lorenz, who wishes to make wine “not to be loud, and to fascinate people at the same time.”
Tasting notes: mineral, saline, bright
2020 Michi Lorenz Sausaler Klassik Zweigelt
This was not my first Zweigelt and I was excited to see it appear in this shipment. I love Pinot Noir and Zweigelt has similar characteristics, but is more acidic. It was as expected. The palate was “fruity with blackberry, cherry,” and a hint of vanilla from the oak.
Tasting notes: fruity, blackberry, cherry, vanilla, bright
2021 Camaraderie Cellars Pinot Gris Yakima Valley
This is an example of a wine that wasn’t especially distinctive, but was exactly as advertised, “Fresh, bright acidity matches aromatics of apple and pear.” Food-friendly, indeed.
Tasting notes: apple, pear, bright
Notice: I hold no formal wine credentials. I am a wine geek who has consumed 1000+ of bottles from 100+ different wine clubs and 1000s more bottles that didn’t come from those wine clubs. I do not accept payment for wine reviews, and I do not accept payments to influence my opinions. I happily accept free wine (and I buy wine).
Why read my wine reviews: Wine taste is subjective. What I like may not be what you like. I try to leave room for you to form your own opinions, so I don’t provide a score or a rating. I do point out wines that are an incredible value or truly not worth the money. I note flaws, wines that don’t have typicity (because this matters if you are buying wine without having tasted it yourself), when wines are out of balance, and when wines lack appropriate body.
I don’t like wasting money (or anything for that matter). I’m careful about where I spend my money and my mindset as a reviewer is to be careful about where you spend yours. I don’t believe a high price tag equals quality and I know for sure there are wines of very good quality that are also a great value.
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