Some Good / Some Terrible

Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio

Good, quite dry for a pinot grigio, and complex.

Also too expensive.

BV Reserve Dulcet

Not shocking that I'm a fan of this wine. BV knows wine, and this blend is a great illustration of that fact. I guess it's an Aussie-style blend of syrah and cab, which gives it a fairly developed sense of depth and fruit at the same time. It's rich like a cab while fruity. Tannins are present but not too tight - totally use a decanter but don't wait too long.

Relax Cool Red

Schmitt Sohne has been incredibly successful with their Relax Riesling. Great graphic presentation, great name, decent marketing. I know for a fact that I get my mom a bottle of Relax from time to time. And the riesling in the bottle really isn't that bad, either.

Not the case with the red. It freaking sucks. It just tastes wierd. It's not nearly as sweet as you'd expect, which means it's not all that approachable by its primary targeted consumer, which is my mom.

Fünf Riesling

Oh no! Another German Reisling with the Umlaut! You people in the marketing department are fired. You all must listen to heavy metal.

Okay.

Fünf is German for five, apparently. So the back of the bottle says "fun begins at five" and there's a big number five on the front of the frosted bottle. The whole thing is just a marketing nightmare. I think they think everyone in the world should drink relatively cheap German wine every day after getting off work.

I don't get off until six, jerks.

Relax got the hook. You'll all have to try a bit harder to match them.

(Update: Funf is made by the same company that makes relax. Huh.)

Seagram's Distiller's Reserve Gin

This gin smells like paint thinner. It's something like 104 proof, which is shocking if you're looking for a balanced gin. Keep in mind that I like Beefeater. Our guys were totally able to mix up a gin & tonic that was just right with this gin - granted it took a lot of lime. I, on the other hand, was not able to choke down even the gin & juice that I poured for myself.

The secret is to know what the hell you're doing.