Hazlett Vineyard's Red Cat

Ed and I ventured over to Total Wine and More the other day(see post below for his review of the Raspberry Weiss concoctions). My purpose for visiting was to pick up some more bottles of Pindar's Sweet Scarlett (also posted below), as well as to get him some more of those delicious Leines.

I love the place. They ensure their employees are well versed in the product by giving each one a case of wine each month. What better way to learn what you like and what you don't, and to understand what the customers are asking for. (yes, I *have* contemplated working there, folks!). What is amusing is that when I visit, I end up passing on a morsel or two of information that I've learned in our explorations.

Most are not aware of Pindar, so when I speak glowingly of them, it allows their staff to provide another offering to their customers (or try it themselves). When we visited this time, there weren't any bottles of either Pindar varietal (Pythagoras or Sweet Scarlett). This time, the employee helping us had the distinct "Lawn Guyland" accent. She had tasted both and offered an alternative selection that she felt we'd like for it's similarities.

She suggested Hazlett's Red Cat, explaining that it is Total Wine's most popular wine. Her reasoning is that if we like it, it doesn't suffer the distribution and inventory issues that a small LI winery does. It's a semi sweet red, so we figured 8 bucks (cheap!! lol) was reasonable to try it out.

The bottle copy cracked me up. "Red Cat is a semi-sweet, fruity blend. It is best served chilled. Try it with hamburgers, pizza or chicken wings. It is a great hot tub wine, too!" Once I read this bottle copy, I was reminded that I visited the winery in 1992 when visiting a Prodigy buddy in Elmira. He was kind enough to take me and the ex on a winery tour of Seneca lakes. I have vague memories of the names after the second one, but it was a great day, let me tell you! :)

Getting back to the wine. we cracked it open today, because frankly, it's been a day. The only negative I can say about this bottle is that the label is a decal. This definitely impedes my label plans of soaking, mounting and framing with tasting notes.

The inital nose of this wine is sweet, but with an acidic back, almost chemical smelling. However, the taste is completely different. It starts very sweet, stays sweet and then has a tart end. I would love to know what grapes they are using. I'd say there are concord grapes used extensively in it. Now, most people think Concords are very sweet because of all the sugar that accompanies concords in jellies and juice. If you've ever had straight concord grapes, they've got a very tart flavor, almost like kiwi fruit.

This one is almost too sweet for me now. Two years ago, it'd been deemed awesome by either one of us. It's a great wine to counter some extra sharp cheddar and a salty brie, maybe a spinach dip. It's really smooth throughout, though. It goes on my list to definitely pick up again, thanks to that smoothness. Just note that it is definitely sweeter than most, with just a hint of pucker at the end. Good stuff.

Want a good semi sweet under 10 bucks? Check this one out.

Now that we've got Ed's member status fixed and he's posting, perhaps he'll insert his comments here...