Though I've enjoyed more than my fair share of vino, I'm far from a wine connoisseur. My tastes run to dry wines, whether its red, white or bubbly. I typically buy bottles priced between $5 - 10, though I sometimes splurge with a whopping $15 bottle. My choice in wine is based largely upon label appearance (sorry, it's true) and description written on the back of the bottle. I am most often drawn to Spanish temperanillos but am willing to try any dry wine. Heck, I'll try a sweet wine. It's wine!
One of my friends has tried the Red Velvet wine from the increasingly popular Cupcake Vineyards. They're a California based winery producing a wide variety of wines from grapes grown on the premises as well as grapes imported from around the world. They produce multiple reds and whites as well as some bubbly. Recently, they entered the realm of spirits with the release of Cupcake vodkas. I've eyed the bottles in the store. I've even been enticed by the label's descriptions. But I'd held off trying any of Cupcake Vineyards wines until this week, when I popped open the Red Velvet.
Red Velvet is a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah; each variety lending structure, aroma, depth of flavor and a long creamy finish to this wine.
Our first blended red wine for Cupcake Vineyards has over the top aromas of chocolate, deep rich blackberries, red fruits that follow through the palate to a creamy mocha finish that is unmistakable in its intensity and length, with a hint of coconut. It’s reminiscent of a blackberry chocolate cupcake with a mocha coulis (Cupcake Vineyards)
My take: Red Velvet was very smooth and drinkable, with a dark fruit taste that dominated a hint of chocolate. It wasn't jammy and never brought to mind rich berries or dark chocolate. Instead, it was a blend of more moderate versions of both flavors. I never tasted the coconut mentioned in the description, but I preferred it without that flavor. While I didn't feel like I was drinking a piece of decadent red velvet cake (oh, how I want a red velvet milkshake!), it did bring the dessert to mind in the same way that the Republic of Tea's Red Velvet Cake tea does--all the flavors are there and working in harmony...it's only the actual cake texture and richness that is missing. I'd buy this bottle again, though it won't be my go-to red wine. I can't abandon the lush juiciness of my beloved temperanillos!
I also tested Red Velvet in two cooking applications. First, apples baked with molasses, Red Velvet wine, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. While the apples were delicious, the wine was not a prominent flavor in the dish. I definitely enjoyed slurping the wine reduction in the bottom of the cooking pan!!!
Second, I stewed prunes (don't even say Ewww! Prunes are delicious and under-used!) with two cinnamon sticks in two cups of Red Velvet. The smell of the stewing prunes was positively intoxicating! I may or may not have hovered over the pot repeatedly to inhale deeply. In this dish, the wine transformed into a sweet, decadent, slightly spicy (thanks to the cinnamon) syrup that I ate by the spoonful. Over Greek yogurt, the stewed prunes and wine sauce are incredible. Over ice cream, they'll blow your mind.
Prunes stewing away in Red Velvet wine with cinnamon sticks
Happy Friday! Hope you enjoy some well-deserved cheer!
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