But I'm a dry wine fan as well. Like most people from what I hear, trying nothing but sweet wines got boring after a while and I wanted to try something different. Over the years, I've documented many of the dry wines I've tried and frequently try to taste the different grape varieties available.
I have to admit, i don't know my dry wines as well as my sweet wines. While I can taste the difference between a merlot as opposed to a chianti(or others), putting the differences into words is a little tough for me, so some of this will be more like "look at all that different varieties available and the pictures!!"
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...psd6225def.png
Mangria
This is the "brainchild" of the comedian Adam Carolla. I'm a huge fan of Adam Carolla, going back to the Man Show, his late night talk show on Comedy Central, and his current podcast where he dispenses his wisdom.
This late july weekend is a particularly special weekend to me, and decided that part of the celebration would be to go to Specs(the only place in town known to sale Carolla's wine) and finally get me a bottle of it. They had the White Peach and Pear Mangria there as well,but I was like....meh, I'll wait for another time to try that one.
I tried it for the first time today and can say that shit is stronger than I expected. Its 20% alcohol and while I've drinked stuff thats equivalent or stronger than that in the past, I don't drink that kind of stuff regularly. My initial reaction was like "wtf is this? rocketfuel?" I would say its off-sweet and definitely tastes like some crazy shit a friend would mix together for you and after trying it you'll end up feeling like you were pranked on. It isn't for everyone.
That being said though, I enjoyed it. I liked its off-sweet flavor and the vodka icy-hot after burn in my chest after taking down another sip. And with 20% alcohol, its the kind of stuff needed to help me with my insomnia problems.
I was bummed out that I didn't get to go to see and meet Adam Carolla when he visited San Antonio earlier this year
http://carolladrinks.com/mangria-mee...antonio-texas/
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps35125731.png
Malbec
I'm a huge Malbec fan, I love its punchy-ness and strength as a dry wine without being overpowering on my palate. I find it to be very smooth and straight forward when I'm swigging it down. I tried a rose/blush malbec once hoping that it was going to be a sweet malbec, it wasnt. I still liked it though.
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps1fdfd800.png
Beaujolais
This is just another decent dry wine thats not really on my priority list to go out and buy but I try it every once in a while to try something different. Whenever I drink this kind of wine variety and compare it to others, I find it to be kind of tangy as opposed to the others. Like the dry fruity flavor wants to make its presence known a little more, but at the same time it doesn't over power it or catch you off guard.
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...psb16ab788.png
Carmenere
Dry red french wine grape that I don't remember anything special about but just wanted to try something different.
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps45b60a89.png
Cotes Du Rhone or Grenache
I remember this wine being on sale during the holidays and I said to myself, "i've never tried that kind of wine before" so I bought it. Nothing about the wine stuck out to me until I realized I bought a spanish version of the wine recently which may or may not have similarities. Detailed below.
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...psd0e6bfea.png
Garnacha
I got this bottle while buying the Mangria earlier this week at Specs. The Spanish version of Grenache. While drinking this wine, I kept remembering Tempranillo or Rioja wines. But I found it to be more a subdued taste on the palette as opposed to the other Spanish wines I've tried. Then later after researching it, I saw that this grape variety is often combined with those other Spanish wines.
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...psbace0c91.png
Rioja
The wine bottle on the left side of the picture is a wine bottle me and a particular Spanish provider here drinked the first time I ever met her for a session. A provider with jet black hair, green eyes, fair skin, short, with curves on a petite frame.
Again, I don't know my dry wines as well as I know my sweet wines, so not very many qualities about this grape variety stand out for me other than the fact that its dry. I will say that when i drink this as opposed to the Tempranillo or even recently the Garnacha, I find this to have a stronger taste and a better (non-watered down) quality than the others.
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps3b824480.png
Tempranillo
aka, Rioja-lite, for me at least.
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps1274cae0.png
Toscana
Dry italian red wine with no notable characteristics that stuck out to me, I just really wanted to try something different.
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/a...pse898edab.png
Shiraz/Syrah
This wine is the prolly muh fav-wit dry wine, followed by Malbec. I find it to be very smooth on the palette but also kind of strong and punchy. At first this wine caught me off guard and like mangria I was like "wtf?" but then i ended up liking it strength and hardness as opposed to other wine varieties.
I've actually tried many more dry wines than this, and have also tried many more brands/labels of the different grape varieties than whats shown here. I would go over them, but I want to go to sleep right now. I'll admit I'm not some badass wine connoisseur, I really just try out these other wines cause every now and then even I get tired of sweet wines and also cause I like to drink a dry red wine when I'm snacking down on a gyro platter from my favorite middle eastern restaurant or if I'm eating tacos al pastor or something. Its usually meat that I like to eat while drinking my dry red wines.
One thing I"ll also say is that I'm not a fan of Ultra-Dry wines like Brut Champagne or even dry white wines like Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc. I've tried that stuff before and I've never been a fan. Early on after trying out a couple of bottles of those, I was like...fuck that. So thats why you don't see them showcased here. I stuck around with my preferred reds.
Alright well thats it, time to hit up some moar Mangria while I listen to a song that has nothing do with Wine but pays homage to a wine god
