Wine Club Gift Guide

Fruity Wine Reviews

I drank these 6 wines and tasted bitter, blackberry, bright, creamy, fruity, honey, juicy, lemon, minerality, smooth tannin. The wines are my favorites, natural, old vine, organic, organically farmed, small production, sur lies, unoaked and came from a variety of sources, including wine clubs, wineries, and wine stores.

Wine reviews by: Jessyca Frederick

Westmount Pinot Noir

2019 Westmount Wine Company Westmount Pinot Noir

A round, juicy, red fruit Pinot with smooth tannins and a long finish. Also an impressive value at $25. These are things I don’t find enough of in most of Willamette’s Pinot Noir, and rarely find in a Pinot that costs less than $45.

Tasting notes: fruity, juicy, smooth tannin

Rick Boyer Unoaked Chardonnay

2021 Naked Wines 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

“Special Club” White Wine Blend

2021 Martelloto Wines “Special Club” White Wine Blend

The drier, lemony flavors of the Sauvignon Blanc sort of pushed and pulled on the fruitier, more aromatic Riesling and Chenin Blanc. Lacked expected brightness.

Tasting notes: lemon, fruity

Chaleur Blanc

2020 DeLille Cellars Chaleur Blanc

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

Vieilles Vignes Sancerre

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

Sausaler Klassik Zweigelt

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

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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