Wine Club 27: Blue Fin Viognier, Panilonco Carmenère Reserve

Date: October 31st, 2012
Host: Christine
Served: Beemster cheese, easy meatless manicotti, pear cranberry crisp


Blue Fin Viognier 2011 (CA, USA) 12.5% alcohol, $7 at Trader Joe's

Christine says (17): Pale honey with slate edges. Smelled of apricot, floral, honey, light must, lemon and honeydew: a light and clean smell. Pear taste with a honey finish. Medium body, not as bright-tasting as expected.

Andrea says (17): This wine was a pale, golden color. The smell was great, I gave it full points for aroma and bouquet. I had a long list of scents for this Viognier: pear, honeydew, bubble gum, honey, apricot, pineapple, and lemon. My first taste was of alcohol, then lemon and pear. This had a light, bright floral taste. Good buy for $7.00!

Kim says (18): Wow... great bouquet on this one! I picked up dust, citrusy melon, honeydew, roses, fresh-cut grass and if possible, it actually smelled rich and smooth. The taste was surprising... contrary to what it smelled like, this Viognier tasted of minerals and lemon, bright and clean.


Panilonco Carmenère Reserve 2011 (Colchagua Valley, Chile) 13.5% alcohol, $7 at Trader Joe's

Christine says (18): Very dark intense red; a lot of legs. Bouquet was of vanilla, raspberries and cherries. Tobacco and berry flavor, smooth, with a long finish from the alcohol. Slightly tart and bitter mid-palate, like plum skins. Super for the price.

Andrea says (18.5): I really loved this wine! I thought it went great with Christine's manicotti. Yum! A nice ruby, cherry color that was rich and thick. The smell was musty and smokey, but then smelled like spices, blackberry, raspberry, vanilla and grape. The taste was fruity and jammy, blackberry flavor. Delicious! I would get this again to have with tomato based Italian food, very good together.

Kim says (12): Hmm... well, my comments were kind of all over the place on this one. Apparently, the overriding aroma was berries (I wrote "cranberry-raspberry-cherry-blueberry some berry that's juicy with a skin that says POP")! Also smelled a bit of must and overall, felt this wine was a bit anti-climactic and tame.

I used fresh spinach and regular reduced-fat cheese in the manicotti. I used dried cranberries in the crisp. Otherwise, no changes!