Wine Review - Ocean Eight Aylward 2010

I just came home from my friend’s birthday party and I had an interesting wine so I would like to do a review on it. This wine is called Ocean Eight Aylward Pinot 2010 and was my first experience to taste such a wine like this one.

 Appearance

This wine has a cloudy red appearance that looks almost mystical, serious and murky.

Smell

From first whiff, from the first little waft to escape the glass this smells good. Very authentic, serious, and unmistakeably Pinoty. On the nose it's all black pepper, sappy deep red fruit. It's complex and moody, and what I like most is the way the aroma profile draws you in despite what are some challenging and offbeat aroma components.

Taste

The flavours balance a swell of sweet red berry fruit with a range of more savoury fruit notes and vegetal influences. It's a very textural wine. A big whack of slightly green tannins on the middle palate and a decent layer of puckery sweet fruit tannins on the finish. There's mineralogy here too, just one of the many flavour components this wine throws into the mix. Structured wine whose fruit shows an inherent complexity of flavour

Drinkability

This is definitely a continuously drinkable wine since it has a fruity smell and taste which I guess most of you guys like. This wine tastes even better when you are having a chat with you friend, it will cause a further excitement and intensity to the conversation.

Overall 

This wine would give you a fruity, deep and enjoyable taste and experience which I am pretty sure you guys would like this.

Ko 



Image sourced from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE24eyUqRdmvUCiXnwqJMS-T2PyxVAa0mUYl84h_YT3-cTAeSPwIoU9hntL6BwfXn8m94J3vPq7eYTFSbSYYT_oT2zRNY6S7BO6NogwGKm_gRg3ylAXqtsLGWwS1riNo9OxeW7g3V-Nw2X/s1600/aylwardpinot.jpg

Pilsner Urquell

Today I will once again be reviewing a beer. This time it is Pilsner Urquell, which I purchased from a local liquor store in a bottle. It is an imported beer from the Czech Republic, which is brewed as a Czech Pilsner with 4.4% alcohol.

The Appearance:
When poured the beer produces a clear dark golden colour with a one centimetre of white head that will soon reduce to a small island of foam in the middle of the glass. Sipping the beer leaves scattered leggy lacing and a ring of foam along the glass for each sip.


The Smell:
The aroma gives a pleasing mixture of biscuity or grainy malt as well as earthy and floral hops.


The Taste:
This has a malt backbone which provides a nice biscuity taste for the earthy and slightly floral hops that have a light touch of a salty taste to them. The balance is smooth and the hops are noticeably present.


Drinkability: The beer is actually quite nice and would defiantly say that I would order another. The finish is clean, crisp and has a dry lightly bittered ending which helps give it a great taste.

Overall it is a great beer, and I’m sure if it was on tap would be even better, or even if you were drinking it overseas. I give the Pilsner Urquell a 4 out of 5 “Thumbs Up”!


-Gabe


Image sourced from: http://kd59.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/pilsner_urquell2.jpg

Wine Review - McGuigan Black Label

Wine is an acquired taste, some people hate it, some people love it. My personal taste? I love it! Today I decided to review McGuigain Black Label, an Australian made wine. I took a trip to the ‘little BOTTLER’ just down my road and bought myself a bottle, which set me back around $11. I poured myself a cup, here are my thoughts…

The Appearance:

McGuigan has a nice distinctive red-black colour. It has a very concentrated colour that can easily be seen through when being poured.

The Smell:

McGuigan smells delightful; it has a nice, soft, subtle scent of cinnamon and vanilla, accompanied by a distinctive red berry and raspberry scent.

The Taste:

When first taking a sip, I immediately notice the wine holds a soft velvety texture. It is immediately followed by an overwhelming taste of berry, partnered up with a subtle trace of cinnamon and vanilla. The taste is exquisite, perfectly balanced and a pleasure to the taste-buds.

Drinkability:

The wine makes a beautiful double combo when eaten with a steak (cooked medium rare, just the way I like it!). By itself, it still makes one hell of a wine. I look forward to finishing off the rest of this bottle.

Overall:

Lovers of wine would absolutely adore this fine bottle of McGuigan Black Label. The flavours, aroma and texture of the wine make it a pleasure to the tastebuds and nose. It is a must for wine
enthusiasts, as well as normal everyday wine drinkers. I give it 4 out of 5 “Thumbs Up”!

- Steven


Image sourced from: http://www.mcguiganwines.com.au/Portals/7/McGuigan%20Images/Bottle%20Images/Black%20Label%20Merlot.png

Beer Review - James Squires Golden Ale

Today I will be reviewing James Squires Golden Ale. I had the privilege of tasting this fine micro brew beer at the James Squires Brew House located on King Street Wharf in Sydney. The beer is a microbrew which means that it is a beer that is produced by a small local brewery, or microbrewery. The beer is styled in an American Pale Ale fashion with 4.5% alcohol content. This tasting was from a tap.

The Appearance:

When poured the beer comes out a beautiful clear golden amber colour which when poured correctly will give you a half centimetre white head. Although the head does not persist long, it does leave some modest lacing.

The Smell:

The aroma of the beer contains a fine blend of light citrus, floral hops and some gentle bready malt.

The Taste:

The flavours can be a little bland, but have traces of fruity, honey style of sweetness which produces a balanced flavour without anything dominating. The hops help to give a light citrus character.

Drinkability:

While it was drinkable I found that the flavours and the aromas are a little lacklustre and mundane. It seems that to give a balanced taste, it has not given it a distinguishing character.

Overall it is a nice beer, but if it had a stronger more defined taste to it the beer could rank up highly on a list of microbrew beers. I give the Golden Ale a 3 out of 5 “Thumbs Up”!

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog, and don’t be afraid to try James Squires Golden Ale down at the James Squires Brew House.

-Gabe



Image sourced from: http://www.jamessquire.net.au/images/beer/james-squire-golden-ale.jpg