By
George Brozowski
I
do
believe the label says it all, Spiced Wine, with
the word Spiced in gigantic letters running vertically up
and down the length of the entire bottle.
That's
a fairly straight forward and in your face approach. Then
I turned the bottle over and discovered that this stuff is
made in Hopland, California. That got me excited. Hopland
just happens to be one of my favorite little places in California.
And
by little, I do mean tiny; it's just under 4 square miles
and has a population of around a thousand wine country folks.
Yes, Mendocino County is wine country just like its neighbors
Sonoma and Napa, and I can personally vouch for that. You
see, I used to be on the management team of a casino in Hopland
for several years and made that 45 minute drive, north from
Santa Rosa, where I lived, to Hopland every day and it was
the most beautiful commute I ever had or anyone could ever
wish for. Immediately north of Santa Rosa the vineyards start
and they continue endlessly all the way through Hopland and
carry on for many miles more. In the summer, they were shimmering
seas of green and in the fall they were a blanket of blazing
and breathtaking autumn colors. Interspersed every few miles
there would be a vineyard tasting room, and I do believe,
over those years, I visited each and every one of them at
least once. So if these folks are resourcing their grapes
from this area, this spiced wine has the potential to be pretty
tasty. Let's see.
Well,
they certainly don't mess around with their wine mix using
Zinfandel, Syrah, Petite Syrah and Grenache and even a touch
of Sauvignon Blanc brandy. All of those taken individually
from this region are very good in their own right with the
Zinfandel and Petite Syrah my personal favorites. I am going
to try this wine two ways, first at room temperature and then
chilled.
At
room temperature, the nose presents a pleasant wine aroma
up front and then is imbued with a slight backing of cinnamon,
pomegranate and raspberries. The palate is actually quite
nice and smooth with the blended wines harmonizing well. Thankfully
there are minimal tannins. I am actually surprised by the
overall restraint and subtlety of these combinations. From
the bottle lettering, I was expecting some kind of overwhelming,
tongue exploding experience, but this is very even handed.
The finish is smooth and short and understated.
Chilled,
this spice wine seems to do a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde turnabout,
at least in the nose. The nose now is fruit and cinnamon forward
although very muted with the wine aromas lurking in the background.
And yet on the palate, it seems to remain the same with the
wine flavor forward and the spice notes getting pushed even
further back. Really, for a spice wine this product is very
subtle. The finish is now very short and understated and remains
smooth. Overall, it really wasn't what I was expecting but
it did turn out to be a pleasant surprise.
Even
with the addition of the brandy, this Spiced Wine is a modest
13.2% alcohol by volume which puts it squarely in the realm
of most wines. Speaking of most wines, a relatively good bottle
of wine can be had today for $10.00 to $15.00, while this
Spiced Wine comes in at around $23.00 per 750 ml. I can only
blindly assume that the quality components of this wine raise
it to that price point, and if money were no object, $23.00
might not be too bad to pay for this experience, but I have
to wonder how much their sales would increase if the price
point were moved down, possibly even into the high teens?
Obviously they are attempting to break into an upper demographic
niche market with a product that is normally thought of as
a lower demographic less expensive, take it home and mix it
up yourself kind of product. They certainly have the quality
to pull it off; now let's see if they have the luck.
Holiday
Cocktails from Spicy Vines,
click
here.
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