June 2nd, 2016
The Wine
Almost positively a black market 2016 California Sauvignon Blanc style originally from a kit at the chemist, which I found in my mother's fridge.
The Flavour
Out of the bottle, this wine has a crisp, salad dressing flavour. Perhaps it's hampered by the fact that I'm drinking it out of an Atlantic Superstore orchid vase, perhaps not. The first sips explode with a taste not unlike salad bar raspberry vinaigrette, but with none of the cloying corn syrup sweetness, and a strong first note of white vinegar of the kind we keep in the cleaning closet. The fragrance is a bit sweeter and has an overbearing fruitiness.
The wine improved with air, sitting in the orchid vase while I worked on dinner, and after being allowed to breathe is developed a charming bouquet of summer fruit and bleach. The flavour became somewhat sweeter, with notes of raspberries, peaches, chili, lemon, and gasoline, and there was a distinctive bitter aftertaste, herbal and earthy.
The Food
I paired this with a red tofu curry with corn, orange pepper, and onions, and brown rice. It did not help much of anything, but it did really bring out the spicy bleach flavour in the wine.
The Solution
Sangria blanca with simple syrup, peaches, blackberries, and gin.
In the sangria, the wine mercifully sulked off to the back, reinforcing the drink but leaving the flavours of the gin and the peaches unsullied.
Three Days Later
The wine has been in the fridge for three days, giving me a dirty look when I open the fridge. I give it a dirty look back. It's bouquet has matured to bonfire smoke, dead fish, and jasmine. It still tastes awful. Just awful. It tastes like vinegar and Fisherman's Friend. Buy wine from an actual liquor store.
