This was the first Hahn Wine I ever tried. Like I mentioned a few Wine Wednesdays back (see post) I was first introduced to Hahn Wines on one of my early trips to Dee Lincoln’s Restaurant in Uptwown Dallas, and now that I

Photo borrowed from www.skinnygirlcocktails.com

Up until this past weekend I had yet to try out any of the SkinnyGirl Cocktails.  In fact I thought there were only two options: margarita or sangria.  But while I was at CVS I saw that there are now SkinnyGirl Wines.  Way to go on the product placement CVS!

Naturally while I was waiting for a prescription to be filled I was perusing the wine aisle…how else was I going to kill time?  On the end cap of the wine aisle was the SkinnyGirl wines, like I said I had no idea those existed.  I’ve heard good things about the Sangria, but have yet to actually try it.  I believe my CVS only had the California Red or the California White but according to the SkinnyGirl website there is also a Rose.

Now, if you’ve ever looked into the calorie count of a glass of red wine there is a little wiggle room.  Depends on the size of the glass and the type of wine that you have selected.  But generally the calorie range is 105 calories to 125 calories in a 5 oz serving. The SkinnyGirl wines claim to have only a 100 calories per glass.  So as you can see, it doesn’t really beat your favorite glass of red wine by a whole lot.

I am really impressed with this little empire Bethenny Frankel has built and really wanted to like this wine…but to be honest it wasn’t a wine I enjoyed or really want to have again and I was really bummed about that!  This wine tasted watery to me…almost like to keep the calorie count down they watered down the wine.  But, this hasn’t deterred me, I will still try some of the Ready to Serve Cocktails and even possibly the vodkas.  I might even give the White blend a try just to see how it compares to other whites.

The price point on this wine really wasn’t all that bad.  I picked it up for $10.99.   Have you tried any of the SkinnyGirl Cocktails?  What did you think?

I’m not going to lie, I bought this wine strictly because of the name: Troublemaker.

Troublemaker is made by wine maker Austin Hope.  The way his name is mentioned I assumed he is a big name in the wine world, but I had to google him to verify.  The Hope Family vineyards have been located in Paso Robles for over 30 years.  So they may not be the oldest wine making family but they’ve had a lot of experience!

Troublemaker is a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Petite Sirah.  I have never heard of Mourvèdre before nor have I sampled it before.  Apparently it is a grape often used in Grenache.  Austin Hope’s goal as a winemaker is to make spectacular estate grown Syrah and Grenache.

This wine was interesting…it was full of flavor.  I was at a friend’s house so we didn’t really give it any time to breath and I think this wine needed some time to open up.

If I were to have it again, I think I would give it a few hours in a decanter to see how the flavor changes and opens up.

The price point on Troublemaker was under $20 and I had never seen it before the night I bought it.  Though that could partially be because it was on the bottle shelf of an end cap.

This was my first Hope Family wine that I’ve tried. I’ll have to see which other wines I can track down.

I know I’ve said it before, but sometimes I buy/try wine based on the label and this week’s wine find is no exception to that.

I was walking down the wine aisle in my neighborhood grocery store when I spied a bottle that said Hey Mambo and described itself as a sultry red wine.

This wine is produce by The Other Guys, Inc. who make this Sauvignon Blanc we found at Costco for about $8 that was delicious that is bottled under the Lesse-Fitch label, just as an FYI.

Remember the B-Side wine I posted about 2 weeks back?  Well this wine is made by a family member, though I have no idea how they are related.  But needless to say they have a history in making wine and know what they are doing!

I thought this wine was good…but not one particular thing stood out.  This wine is a blend of Syrah, Zinfandel, Barbera, Petite Sirah and Alicante Bouchet grapes.  Those are some powerful grapes!  Though I’ve never heard of Alicante Bouchet, have you?

Tonight’s wine is the red House Wine from the Magnificent Wine Company.  This is truly a red blend, comprised of 6 different types of grapes.  I have had this wine several times because my friend Kandice introduced me to it years ago.

I like this wine but I don’t think it is one of my all time favorites, I think I am a bigger fan of the label on the bottle than the wine.

5% of this blend is Sangiovese grapes and I think that it over powers all the other grapes.  For me Sangiovese is either hit or miss and I think in this case it is a miss.  Don’t get me wrong, this wine definitely gets less tart the longer it is open and each glass is better than the one before.  This was definitely a bit of a switch from last week’s Merlot.

Next week’s wine is going to be “Bitch.”  I saw it when I picked up my bottle of House Wine and just couldn’t resist.  It is a Grenache that is around $10 and can be found at Central Market.  Go pick yourself up a bottle and drink along.