House Wine Red 2009 Review

Wine Blogging.  I hear it is the way to drive traffic to your blog and get free wine from distributors looking for someone to shill their wine.  Some places only give good reviews, working from the perspective, If you don't have something nice to say, say nothing at all.  Phooey.  Swill is swill and it deserves to be called out, no matter if you buy it or someone else does.

Good news is, House Wine Red 2009 is a pretty good wine, especially for the 5 bones it cost me at Gordy's in Eau Claire, WI.  Gordy's clearances out a lot of wine - if it isn't selling, it gets clearanced and they move in something else.  So I manage to try a variety of inexpensive (under $20) wine.  I picked this up (regularly $12.49) for $5.00.  It doesn't have to be great to be good at that price, but this is worth it's regular price and a great buy at clearance - I intend on buying out the rest tomorrow.

So, what is House Wine Red?  Made by the Magnificent Wine company, it is part of their Washington State wines that are designed to go with food - Steak House Red, Fish House White, etc. This is the general red - a wine that goes with many items on the menu, if not all.  68% Cab, 22% Merlot, 4% Malbec, 4% Syrah and 2% Petit Verdot, all from the Columbia Valley.  Some companies would call this "Meritage" or some glossy name, but here it is just House Wine.  

Somehow both a deep red and a light red together - almost Pinot Noir like.  Through the side of the glass it is dark, but looking down, much lighter.  Odd.  The nose is fairly soft, with some fruit and alcohol.   First sip is slightly fruity (blueberry?), soft,(some might say silky) with slightly tannins, with the tannins building up and fruit staying.  While there is alcohol on the nose, there is none in the tasting..  A dry wine, but not a fruit bomb (thank you for that), this is a wine that is fine by itself, better with appetizers and great with food.  Beef, lamb, veal.  Should be fine with chicken, fish or pork - a real house wine, comfortable with everything you serve.  If you enjoy a red wine with your meal, you will find this more than acceptable.

Good at retail price, excellent on clearance.  For another review, try The Drunk Yinzer blog.