This is another of the wines I ordered online with the Groupon. It’s a deep red color, almost purple. It has a nice aroma of blackberry and spice. The flavor isn’t up to par though. Some off flavors and tannins hit you almost immediately, simultaneously with the fruit really. There’s a little fruit at first but it’s an unbalanced wine, with harsh, tannic flavors dominating all the way through the finish. Not recommended.

This is the third red wine I’ve tasted from this label and I’ve liked them all. This is the first one I’ve found time to review though. It has a nice deep color and a potent aroma of wood, spice and fruit. The flavor is dry, fruity and tannic. A bit more tannic than I generally like but the overall experience is pleasant. I’ve tried the Merlot and the Syrah as well, I recommend all the Cupcake reds.

This is another bottle I got from the Groupon deal. It’s a dense, deep color almost like motor oil. The aroma is earthy with leather and plum scents. For a wine that promises to be so big, it’s very smooth and round. It’s also not very complex which isn’t what I expected. It’s sort of a crowd-pleasing, easy to like Syrah. I get why they would choose that for a wine club but it’s not what I look for in a Syrah.

I like Italian wines, they are generally decent quality and easy to appreciate. This one has a classy looking bottle, especially at such a low price. It has a subdued aroma with blueberry and blackberry scents. The flavor leaves a bit to be desired though. It’s just a little too boring. There are some berry flavors with some tartness on the short finish. It’s smooth but rather thin, with a lightweight mouth feel for Sangiovese and Cabernet.

This bottle has one of those fat bottles that is hard to fit in my wine cooler, minor complaint. It often happens with Shiraz for some reason but not too much with Pinot Noir. It’s a nice looking bottle though. It has a sweet aroma, perhaps of black cherry, very nice. The mouth feel is a bit thin, something I often find with low priced Pinot Noir. Otherwise it’s berries and tannins. More tannins than I expected. It’s not a well-balanced wine and not a great example of Pinot Noir but I find it generally enjoyable anyway. Maybe I’m drinking too many low end wines these days…

There is much to like about this everyday red. Let’s start with the environment. This box wine comes in an octagonal cardboard container (which they call the Octavin Home Wine Bar, I love marketers) which they claim reduces packaging waste by 92 percent and carbon emissions by 55 percent vs. traditional bottles. So we’re off to a good start already. As box wine goes, it’s a nice looking package too. The octagonal shape is also less awkward and has a smaller footprint on the counter than most. My only complaint is the spout, it’s more difficult to use than others I’ve seen.

The wine itself is a combination of 14 different grapes, everything but the kitchen sink basically. It has a nice purplish hue and a strong aroma of fruit and subtle spice. The flavor is smooth, round and inoffensive in any way. It even matures on the palate and shows some tannins before the medium finish. All in all it’s the best box wine I’ve ever had by a decent margin. Recommended.

I got this bottle of wine along with half a dozen others from a site called Wine Insiders. I got a special deal on Groupon for this site so the prices were better than usual but I’m listing the normal price. Every time I’ve tried a wine club (about 3 times now) I’ve been fairly unimpressed with the quality of the wines. I happened to order 2 bottles of this wine because I like Zin and the first bottle was an atrocity. I opened the second bottle to be sure and it’s normal so the first one was either corked or heat damaged. I was plotting my worst review ever and then learned this, which I’ll admit was kind of a let down.

This Zinfandel has a potent aroma of tart, dark fruit. It’s smooth, with a medium-weight mouth feel and flavors of berries, cherry and a bit of black pepper. There are subdued tannins on the short-ish finish. Overall it’s inoffensive and uni-dimensional. More or less what I expect from a wine club. It’s not bad it’s just not particularly interesting. That’s also what I expect from a Zinfandel in this price range but you can get plenty of wine like this without paying for shipping.

Smells like moldy old fruit and tastes about the same. Has some off flavors, maybe tastes a little old in general. Next.

Deep purple in color and I’d say the aroma is dominated by black pepper. The flavor is interesting with a solid punch of fruit punctuated with some moderate tannins. There’s almost a sweet aura to the flavor although it’s a dry wine. A few tiny off flavors but nothing to complain loudly about at $7 a bottle.

Type: Red

Grape: Malbec

Origin: Argentina

Year: 2006

Producer: Bodegas Escorihuela Gascon

Price: $9.99

Nice purple color with soft berry aromas, blackberry, blueberry maybe even a little cherry. It has a medium weight mouth feel with mild tannins and medium length finish that is quite tart. All in all not bad but not my favorite Malbec and I’m a big fan of Malbec. I vastly prefer the Catena line of Malbecs.