Red blends are where it’s at when you want a tasty red wine at a bargain price. And they seem to be all the rage too. I’ve hear people raving over red blends all the time, and some of my favorite wines are red blends. Although not all red blends are the same, so it’s good to learn what styles you prefer.
When it comes to Californian red blends, I find a lot of “new world” style wines. This means they tend to be fruit forward with nothing subtle about the flavors. I’ve noticed a growing popularity of zinfandel blends coming out of California, a wine that’s known for its bold fruit characteristics.
The 1 Red Blend from Noble Vines is a new world style wine, which is very generous on the fruit. It’s not a zinfandel blend per se, but it does have some zin in it. Merlot is the lead grape in this blend, followed by cabernet sauvignon and zinfandel.
The nose of this wine is loaded with spice, and it’s well-balanced with the fruit characteristics too. It features cinnamon, cedar, blackberry, black cherry and plum. The palate offers concentrated plum, black cherry and blackberry flavors — just like the fruit on the nose. It’s a bit on the jammy side. It has good acidity. This is a good BBQ wine.
Wine: Noble Vines 1 Red Blend
Variety: Red blend
Vintage: 2011
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 85
Price: $15.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
Find Noble Vines 1 Red Blend with Snooth
