"Gritty softness." This wine is one-sip-stain-your-teeth dark purple. In the light it has a gorgeous ruby border though - nice contrast. It reminded my of cherry cola, but made with black cherries. When it hits the tongue, it's peppery and has a heavy cherry flavor that has a cough syrup after-effect that lingers in your throat. Big fruit forward with tart cherry flavor. Contrast that with a very soft finish that is less mouthy. Not a particularly well balanced wine but has some interesting points.

"Chocolate velvet". This wine was flying off the shelves of the Passalacqua Winery, so much so that they took it off the tasting menu to conserve. I brought a bottle home with me to taste anyway. It had a deep purple color and moderate tannins. While it had fruit flavors, it was not too sweet. I picked up chocolate, black cherry, and strawberry. It had espresso (or tiramisu) nose to it. It also had a moderate to heavy texture with a velvety finish.

"Tiny bubbles". Really, these were teeny tiny, like a good champagne should be! I hate spending a lot on champagne - I would rather on a bottle of cabernet - but this was a memorable champagne. Extremely smooth, very balanced, great with shellfish or on its own.

"Zin + Cab = a blissful paraduxx". If you hate having to pick between a zin and a cab, you're in luck. his wine is very smooth and spicy. It has a deep purple color, and I picked up flavors of black cherry, vanilla, and black currant.

"Warm". This Cab warms you up like a shot of brandy. It has super dark cherry flavor, almost as if they are over ripe. Hints of tobacco lurk in the wine as well.

"Good standby". Like many sav blancs, not a lot of nose, but a crisp, acidic bite you'd expect. Flavors of strawberries and plums.

"A light nectar". This wine was much sweeter than expected but not in a bad way. It had a nose of pears, peaches, and flowers. The taste of the wine backed those scents up with green apple, pears, honey, and maraschino cherries. I would call the texture soft and the flavor overall sweet. I had paired this with a creamy fish dish, which was totally wrong. It would have been better with a fruity or sweeter dish, like pineapple chicken.

"Simple". This was a totally forgettable Chianti. It had a reddish purple color that I described as "thick". On first taste, I picked up ash, dark cherry and slight licorice. It was very mellow with absolutely no bite. It quickly became boring and it wasn't as flavorful as expecting. There was light acidity, and overall an unimpressive, though not offensive, wine.