White Zinfandel is crap. That’s my opinion. I’ve never had a white zin that I liked in any way. This one is no different and I think it will be my last. If you think you know of one, cheap or not, that isn’t crap let me know and I’ll try it. Otherwise I’m done. This rose crap smells like rotten cherries and tastes like kool-aid spiked with cheap vodka. Yuck.

This “wine” made of apples, pears and a little elderberry just for color is Nashoba Valley’s non-grape answer to White Zinfandel. The best thing I can say about it is that it doesn’t suck as bad as most actual White Zinfandel’s suck. The color is a typical White Zin pink and the aroma smells like what I’d imagine fermented apples smell like. The flavor is sweet, slightly tart and resembles apple cider. Now, I hate White Zinfandels but if that’s all you drink this might be worth a try. Hell, it might be the best wine you’ve ever had…

I made my annual trip to Nashoba Valley to pick apples and sample all of the fruity goodness that is the Nashoba Valley Winery. This year I picked up some different bottles than last year and one of them was this one made from New York state cherries. Since the wine isn’t even made of grapes but rather of cherries, it’s a bit hard to compare it with other wines. The smell is somewhere between Robitussin and that filling in a chocolate covered cherry. That’s a fairly accurate description of the flavor as well. Slightly sweet, slightly syrupy and very cherry. It gets a little more tart as the flavor wears on and the finish is negligible, think of the “finish” on a glass of fruit juice and you’re in the ballpark. It’s a novelty and a fun autumn treat, but I wouldn’t drink it all the time.

Very pink in color and it smells and tastes like strawberries. These Beringer wines tend to taste like cheap wine, more so than other wines that are in the same price range. I’m not a big fan. It’s fairly tasty and I can see why a lot of people would like it though.

Interesting label and a handy dandy screw top are the starting features of this white Merlot from Italy. I’m not a big fan of rose in a general sense so I’m not expecting a ton here. The aroma is a little like rotting fruit. It doesn’t taste like a whole lot while it’s in your mouth, but you get a jolt of acidity on the finish. It’s sort of strange, the acidity makes it not quite friendly enough for non-wine drinkers yet there isn’t much in the way of flavor for a wine drinker.

This one is half Pinot Grigio and half Chardonnay, which is an unusual mix. It has a mildly musty fruit aroma, uninteresting flavors and a short finish. It’s a basic, cheap white wine, nothing of real interest.

Umm, yeah. This is what I expect when I drink a White Zinfandel and that’s a bad thing. I read an article about how you shouldn’t be a snob and there are good White Zinfandels out there. While I’m sure that’s true if you pay enough, I’m cheap so I’ve never had a good one. This one is a light red color and has a light, fruity taste. It’s like the McDonald’s of wine, wine for those who don’t really appreciate wine. And this from a guy who rarely drinks a bottle north of ten bucks. It reminds me of drinking Boone’s Farm wine in college and that’s a real bad thing.

Supposedly, they let goats roam around this vineyard in South Africa and the goats select the tastiest grapes so the owners know where they are. Then they make the wines from those grapes. This is a pretty good story except that I’m sure they use all the grapes in the vineyard for economic reasons and goats will pretty much eat anything. We had a goat when I was growing up and it ate fiberglass, a refined palate to be sure. It doesn’t smell like much and the flavor is substantially like water until the finish. The finish is short but it has a lot going on in terms of spice and acidity. Overall, pretty lackluster though it has a clever name if you’re familiar with French wines. They should let the sheep choose the grapes next time…