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It’s Christmas Eve and I’m at my mom’s house. Within 10 minutes of my arrival, I am handing her two cans of Underwood Pinot Noir. Yes, I said cans. I haven’t tried it yet, but on novelty alone I decided it was worth the purchase. A short while later, she reaches into the fridge and pulls out an open bottle and proclaims, “I don’t like this, it’s weird. It’s a little too sweet and it’s a little bubbly. Try it!” That’s the wine equivalent of saying to someone, “This smells awful! Here! Smell it!” Game on.
From the bottle: Northern Italy provides a spectacular backdrop for Roscato, a violet-hued red with aromatic notes of cherry, blackberry and red raspberry. A touch of sweetness and bright acidity underlies the appeal of this charming wine. The traditional winemaking style for this fruit-forward red complements regional “heart and soul” cuisine such as bruschetta, calamari, pasta in red and cream sauces, breaded cutlets and spicier fair. Enjoy chilled.
My thoughts: Definitely an aromatic violet-hued red. My initial sip just brought on confusion. There’s way too much going on here. There are a multitude of fruit flavors battling each other and then being drowned out by the bit of fizz happening. It finishes much sweeter than I anticipate. Not sickeningly sweet, but like a berry Moscato. So a little too sweet for my personal preference. I try another sip to try to figure out the fruit flavors that are coming through. I get as far as, “Cherry and…. Cherry….and….? Cherry…………and? Blackberry? Black raspberry? Black cherry? No, not black cherry. Cherry and…..something.”
While contemplating (aka – finishing the first glass) I decide to make myself dinner. Flatbread pizza with minced garlic, basil, fresh mozzarella and fresh Roma tomatoes and then sprinkled with crushed red pepper. I pour myself a second glass just before I pull this out of the oven. These two paired together actually worked. The wine was still too sweet, but I understood what they were going with here when they listed off suggested food pairings. The garlic and spice helped bring out more of the fruit flavor of the wine.
On a scale of “this tastes like piss” to “oops, I just drank the whole bottle” I would give this a “I’m drinking it because it’s here and it’s already open and I don’t completely hate it.” Would I buy it again? No, definitely no.
Final Grade: C+ It has potential, but fell short for me. If you’re into sweeter reds, go for it. I’m not sure if the fizz is supposed to be happening either.