Wine for the Masses

I Do...

My cousin got married this weekend. Yay. At the reception, they had 4 different (but similar) wines from Olivery Winery (yes, I was quite happy).

• Camelot Mead (one of my personal favorites)
• Soft White
• Soft Rosé
• Soft Red

The semi-sweet wines were an average-to-good choice for a diverse crowd. There was predictably no dry or semi-dry wines available thought it would have been nice to see a Reisling. The semi-sweets that they offered were well accepted and appeared to be enjoyed by most of the attendees. Unfortunately it was obvious that many people didn't know much about the different types other than the colors.

I started with Camelot Mead, a very interesting wine. Mead is traditionally a drink made of amixturee of honey, water and yeast, also known as "honey wine." Camelot Mead follows this form of beverage with a wine made from fermented honey (no grapes here) and ends up with a rare commercial product that has a light, clean taste with a hint of honey and orange. There is a slightly tart finish to the wine that leaves thepalettee feeling fairly refreshed. I also found this to be particularly fitting given that it is generallybelievedd that mead is part of the origins of the term "honeymoon."

Next, I tried the Soft White. It was a bit sweeter than I prefer, but it still had some good points. This wine has a very well developed bouquet (aroma) that has bits of fruit and grape evident. It isn't overpowering like a strong red, but still gets noticed when close by. The Soft White is made from Niagara grapes which are not generally classified as a great grape for wine. Overall, the wine had an average taste with a full,fruity finish. It left a bit of a diesel-aroma but not largely so.

The Soft Rosé was my next choice and left me feeling about the same as the Soft White. I remind you, loyal reader, that these are not my favorite wines as a class so I may be overly harsh on them. It had a very good color that matched the nearby fall decorations at the wedding and it had a good aroma that seemed to hint at a flashy wine. The flavor was good with a lot of fruit and bang for a semi-sweet wine. However, the finish was not up to what the initial taste seemed to hint and it left me feeling like I had missed something. The Catawba grapes are a fairly good grape that have a purplish-red color that was probably a portion of the color that seemed to shine for this wine.

Finally I tested the Soft Red. This was my second favorite wine of the evening because of its similarity to the semi-dry wines I am more happy with. The Concord grapes leave a bit of their color to the darker red wine but most of their influence is in the flavor of this wine. The Soft Red gives hints to a rich, smooth wine in the first breathe of a complex aroma. The wine imparts a stronger start than other semi-sweets but doesn't go very far. The flavor seems to stop on your tongue and slide around like a heavy, silk fabric that just coats your tastebuds with a teasing finish that finally ends up being whisked away at the perfect time. This is a great wine for a cool day, some crackers and a mild to moderate cheese. The Soft Red would also complement a nice picnic lunch at the beginning of fall and its cool days.

Posted by Ben at 10/12/2005 10:37:00 PM