The Great American Wine Company, a new brand from Diageo Chateau & Estates has just been announced, and Domestic Geek Girl has been given the privilege to sample and review a bottle as they hit shelves this month!
The new wines feature vivid vintage Americana style labels in a red, white and blue patriotic theme and.. for good reason! From the The Great American Wine Company:
The Great American Wine Company, by Rosenblum Cellars, is a tribute to the pioneering spirit of America. We proudly use the finest grapes from coastal California vineyards to pay tribute to classic American varietals and winemaking techniques. In tribute to our American heroes, we donate to U.S. military charities to support our troops and veterans each year.
This trio of new wines from the winemaking team at Rosenblum Cellars brings a spirit of commitment to American heroes. The brand has committed to an annual contribution to military charities to support active troops and veterans. In 2014, the USO will be the primary recipient, and will receive $100,000 donation to support its efforts to provide thousands of programs for US troops and their families worldwide.
With the All-American theme in mind, Jonathan and I had planned to save our bottle (the “red” in the trio) as a fun toast to graduating A School in the Navy and leaving Pensacola to our final duty station. But then the reality of packing the apartment up, and doing the thousand and one things required of us for this cross country move hit us. And just the thought of all that stress made us want a glass of wine!
We decided we didn’t feel like sitting on the floor among cardboard boxes and toasting with paper cups before embarking on our travels, so we cheated and celebrated our eminent move two weeks early. (Hey, it still counts as a celebration bottle!)
Our Thoughts On The Wine
When we were told we’d be receiving a bottle to sample, I did not ask or specify which one I’d like to try. So when the bottle arrived, rather than research and dissect it, we decided to dive right in with a taste test unpolluted by what we’re told to expect on a label.
I have to admit, this was the first time Jonathan and I decided to take such a blind folded approach to our wine tasting. With the exception of tasting tours at vineyards, we tend to be thorough label readers and I am guilty of being a wine review junkie – I will often let others tell me how the wine tastes instead of making that journey and discovery on my own. It’s a habit I’ve been meaning to break out of, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity!
It was a LOVELY rainy day, and we sat out on our Florida room balcony, listening to my 1920’s “phonograph music”, and watching the semi-tropical downpour beating the trees and pavement below us. The Florida air, far too warm and humid for such a downpour, was the perfect environment (in my Industrial Era, turn of the century crazed mind) to enjoy our bottle of all-American wine!
Here are our initial taste test notes:
The color is a beautiful, medium bodied, deeply rich red. The aroma struck me as predominantly cherry, with undertones of berries (I guessed strawberry and raspberry) and a hint of vanilla. (The vanilla was so subtle to me that I crossed it out, and then rewrote it down after another sniff.)
The taste was fruity, slightly sweet and with a tiny bite of licorice. It’s extremely smooth on the tongue. While I kept trying to identify the individual flavors, my husband, ever the cut-to-the-chaser, kept saying, “It tastes like a Zinfandel. Yeah. Definitely a Zinfandel.” The wine has a wonderful finish with a delightfully lingering flavor. It would be a great wine to ease your friends into who “don’t really like red wines”.
It seems our tastes as amateur oenophiles weren’t too far off the mark! (Yay us!) Upon inspection it seems the 2014 Red Blend is made predominantly of 74% Zinfandel – which happens to be the signature grape of Rosenblum Cellars – followed by an artful blend of Petite Sirah (20%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (6%), all sourced from coastal California vineyards.
Aged in the barrel 12 months, the wine is described on the Rosenblum website as,
“Juicy and satisfying, our 2012 Red Blend offers bold flavors with friendly, laidback demeanor. The blend is dominated Zinfandel, the classic American grape, and expertise of Rosenblum Cellars history of winemaking. Red fruits lead the nose with dark cherries, black raspberries and vanilla pie crust. The palate is rich and velvety with balanced tannins and a lasting fruit imprint on the finish.”
Winemaker John Kane of The Great American Wine Company says of this blend, “There is something so American about a making a blend. There are no boundaries. We have the freedom to use whatever varietals we feel will give us the best blend. In this case, we used Zinfandel, a classic American grape and personal favorite at Rosenblum, as the majority of the blend. We then added in other bold, exciting varietals, including Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Sirah.”
Jonathan and I thoroughly enjoyed this wine. I think it’s a fun and exciting concept, using an overarching theme (in this case, America’s spirit, ingenuity, and classic colors) as a driving focal point and a developing feature for a unique blend of wine. That’s so much win! And taking that concept a step further to embrace and uphold the freedoms of this nation by giving back to those who pledge their lives to protect and serve America? Double win.
I am extremely impressed with the contribution this company is making to military charities to support our troops and veterans. As a young military wife just beginning to experience a tiny inkling of the kind of sacrifices military men and women make for their country every single day, the concept of supporting our troops has taken on new depth and scope.
If you get a chance, give this wine a try. Not only does it taste great, but it’s a purchase that gives back to our community. It makes an already sweet wine that much sweeter. The Great American Wine Campany’s 2012 Red Blend will be available in stores nationwide and at www.thewinebar.com.
That was so much fun taste testing the wine! I totally called the zinfandel! Surprised even myself there… I usually don’t have that refined of a palate.
LOL, yes. One might even say you were smug. *poke poke* But good job baby!
Oh, I LOVE what they’re doing for the military! Extra brownie points right there! I love the label too… just the label itself makes me want to try it. LOL So, whom ever designed it did a great job ;P
My personal favorite kind of wine is dessert wine… because I don’t just have a sweet tooth, I have sweet teeth. 😀
This makea me wish my wife and I could drink! Lol. With both of us being in the Navy you would think we’d be able to but I guess we have to wait a few years.
There should be a “you are military = you can drink” clause. Lol. Funny, you can die for your country, but you can’t have a glass of wine till you’re 21.. but don’t get me started THERE! 😉
Yes, I am VERY guilty of judging a wine by it’s label.. haha. I love the fonts and colors of this bottle. SOOOO pretty. Jon and I are excited to add this cork to our collection!
I can’t drink alcohol, and not because I’m a youngster…but that does sound good. I love the ‘giving back’ element, good on them! I just started supporting Wounded Warriors, since there is so much that needs to be done to meet the needs of the brave heroes who do so much. USO is another good cause, it’s there for the troops in good times and bad. Well done.
I’ve heard a lot about both Wounded Warriors and USO.. After reading Hope Rising, I have been increasingly trying to make it a point to only buy products that contribute back to the community in some way if at all possible. I’m actually planning on writing a blog post about that soon…
Does the wine marry well with oak? Boom! Pulled out a joke from about 10 years ago! I’m not too into wine, but I wanna get into it. I feel it’ll make me seem classier and and feel less like a 26 year old college student who’s go to drink is beer. I should try this one, it sounds like it’ll help me ease into wine drinking. And the fact it’s an American company that gives back to the soldiers is awesome!
Nooo, that was merlot. And it had good nose. *puts pinky in the air*
And beer? YUCK! (I still haven’t found a beer that doesn’t taste like what I imagine troll urine to taste like. Wine, on the other hand, especially a fine chardonnay, is what I imagine unicorn urine must taste like.)
You say troll urine like it’s a bad thing
I think this needs to be the new flavors for some awesome Halloween party…
I don’t drink, but have tried a few sips here and there. Frey is my FAVORITE brand of wine. It is Organic, gluten free, and they do NOT add SULFITES! They are super friendly too. I haven’t tried their specialty one that was made exclusively for Whole Foods but I have heard that it is amazing too.
Ahhh, don’t get me started on sulfites! I think we finally found something we may disagree on, haha!
I think wine is one of the unfortunate victims of the initial “natural living” craze that went to unnecessary extremes. Sulfite free wine is really a myth since sulfites are found in EVERY commercially produced bottle of wine, even when the winemakers don’t add any. Grapes naturally contain sulfites and yeast create sulfites during fermentation.. and that’s not a bad thing! Technically sulfites are antioxidants and they prevent the oxidation and spoilage of wine, and they are not unhealthy or contrary to healthy living lifestyle, from the research I’ve done.
In the United States organic wines must be made without adding sulfites, which is why I call wine one of the victims of the irrational organic craze. When it comes to natural and healthy wines I prefer to find one “made from organic grapes” rather than just “organic wine”.
Yes, as with all things handled by the FDA and USDA there are always be some sort of loophole. Like with gluten free things, it can have 20 ppm, and honestly I can’t have anything with 10 ppm so how am I supposed to find out what is “Codie Gluten-Free” and FDA Gluten Free? Sucks. Majorly. For those of us who have allergies. This is why I said added sulfites because they do, naturally, exist in foods and wine in this case. But for those of us who are very allergic to them this is something that we have to look at. I do not have the enzymes required to break them down. So when I have tried small sips of anything that has them added to it be it juice or something else, I have bad reactions. Throwing up, stomach ache, heartburn, diarrhea, you name it I do it. So anyways, that is why I brought it up. I do not believe there is anything wrong with sulfites. I just think that it is important, for someone in my situation, to know it is gluten free with no added sulfites! 🙂 Also their grapes are organic. 😀
Man that sucks.. I read that less than 1% of the population is allergic to sulfites, so talk about bad luck of the draw. Of all the things to be allergic to! Being unable to drink wine is as bad as those people who are allergic to chocolate.. or air. LOL! And I totally didn’t know that about the gluten free labeling… I am quickly learning to trust the FDA less and less, haha.
Nice to hear about this new label. You can usually count on Rosenblum’s reds.
Have you had a chance to give it a try just yet? Let me know what you think!