Gewurztraminer--Sutter Home

Sutter Home is one of those wines that the grocery store stacks 9 cases in some random spot and cuts the top boxes open and places bottles outside with a sign that reads $4.99.  Their website claims that they invented the white zin.  As far as cheap table wine I have not been turned off.  I think there are better moscatos at that price point and I rarely pick up any of SH products.  Until the other day.

It was the name, Gewurztraminer, that caught my eye.  Being the cheap wine wino that I am I did not recognize the meaning of the name.  I assumed in correctly that gewurztraminer was funky German word for tasty white wine.  Wrongo boyo.  It is the name of the grape originating in Alsace (France).  Education. Considered as a "love it or hate it" grape it with aromas of rose petals, lychee fruit, grapefruit, peaches, smoked meat and Allspice it deceived me into thinking it was a sweet wine.  Wrong again, it is almost a dry wine and is thought to best be served with fatty foods and pork or exotic North African, Indian and Far Eastern dishes.  I drank it without food and after Mary took a sip, alone.

Deceptive.  It smells sweet.  Fruity aroma.  Taste buds await in anticipation.  Nice light golden hue. I waited a day and had it chilled.  At first it rolled sweetly over my tongue and then a dryness set in.  Sutter Home rates it as a medium sweet leaning toward dry.  Then the backlash of the other flavors arrives.  A somewhat nasty spiciness not unlike an extremely weak Jagermeister shot.  That must be the "hint" of Allspice. despite the light appearance it feels a bit heavy on the tongue.  I can even feel it go beyond the roof of my mouth into my nose.  Then again it is 13.0% alcohol.  The burn.

It's taken a week to kill this bottle.  But I do admit that I am enjoying the last glass now.  Must be my ghetto decanting method.  Pour one glass and put the bottle back in the fridge for a day or two.  I almost wish I had another bottle.

Sutter Home's Advert

Would I buy it again?  Maybe.  Another brand, yes, just to compare.  Maybe another SH and do a proper decanting and chilling.  But if I was in the mood for a sweet white I'd get a Riesling or a Pinot Grigio, better yet a beloved Moscato.  However, I do believe that the flavor elements and the inherent dryness of Gewurztraminer would make and excellent wine to pour into the water basin of my smoker.  This I definitely will do for Thanksgiving.

Commission Man Red--Ardon Creek

Every now and then I peruse the bargain cart at my local grocery store's booze aisle.  Occasionally there are some winners, sometimes losers, mostly discontinued product but at $5 a throw gamble I am fond of.  The last adventure was a discontinued.  Commision Man Red by Ardon Creek.

Ardon Creek Vineyard and Winery is located in Letts, Iowa, near Muscatine.  Commission Man Red is described as a "dry red wine made from the Noiret" grape with "tastes of green and black pepper with a hint of mint."  The back label tells the story of Irish and German farmers in Iowa seeing their livestock dropped off for stockyards at the railroad and then drinking afterwards at the Stockyard Inn.  Red table wine of 11.5%.  $12.99 from the winery.

I found this wine to be in need of decanting.  A full bodied red and dry.  My first impression was not a good one.  The cork busted in the bottle but only a few small pieces found their way into my glass.  That upset me because I like to save them.  High tannin content and decanting was needed.  But I did not have time for that.  My meal was red meat and I required the antioxidants of a bold red wine to fight the cholesterol I was embarking upon.  If I remember correctly I poured myself a second glass and did not finish it.  Left on the table overnight to decant ghetto style.

Day 2 after "decanting" on the table overnight.  Notice the stain on the glass?  Yes, a thick full bodied red wine.

The next day I finished it off.  Tasted much better.  The bottle was refrigerated overnight as well.  Now chilled the harshness was mostly removed.

Would I purchase CMR again?  Knowing that it needs to be decanted and chilled and that no one in my house would touch it, maybe.  Mary does not go for my deep dark selections.  Perhaps if I was on a bicycle journey and found myself at the Ardon Creek Vineyard and Winery but then again they have a selection to choose from that I'd like to ponder.  Perhaps Ragbrai will be near there sometime.

Ardon Creek Vineyard and Winery