Sparkling Seyval Blanc Brut by Galena Cellars for under $15

My better half tried this wine at the winery and thought it was good so we bought it. However, this wine appears to be made in Champagne style and is rather dry. It says Brut on the bottle and I normally would have assumed that meant a dry wine, which it was and would have avoided buying it, but none the less it mixed well with cranberry juice and orange juice so add a bit of sweetness and fruit to the yeasty, dry sparkler.

Z 52's 2006 Lodi Zinfandel for under $15 at Vintages in Arlington Heights

I tried too many wines when I decided I needed to have this wine. This wine needs to be paired with food. The wine is definitely on the drier side, and has some fruit flavors of cherry and oak, but the tannins were a bit overwhelming for my palate.

Apple Wine-Prairie State Winery in Illinois for around $10

I love Apple wines. I love the sparkling Apple Wine at Galena Cellars, I like apple cider, apple juice, and this is a great example of why I love Apple wine. The Apple wine has been sold out at Lynfred for months, and this is the second apple wine that I have tried in the last few days. This wine tastes like liquid apple pie, we drank this entire bottle while playing Trivia Pursuit. This wine is golden yellow, sweeter than the apple wines by Lynfred and Vetro winery but not cloyingly sweet by any means. If we did not have so much wine around the house, I would buy a lot more bottles of this wine, but I am not buying wine for the month of May due to the enormous amount of wine bought in April. This wine goes great on a beautiful summer picnic or barbeque, very versatile, ideal with cheese or on its own.

Whoo's Blush by Owl Creek Winery in Illinois for $14.99

Whoo's Blush is described a semi-sweet wine and is little more like a semi-dry wine. My better half blended this wine with a late harvest Riesling to blend the wine to a sweet level he liked. I thought this wine was better with food, cheddar cheese was excellent as well as chips and salsa matched prefectly with this wine. I am not a huge fan of Rose'/Blush because generally they are too dry, however pairing this wine with summer foods, barbeques, and chips seemed to be a nice match.

Lucky Star 2008 Chardonnay for under $15 from Vintages in Arlington Heights

This Chardonnay is only oaked for 3months and thank god because my only type of Chardonnay I like is an unoaked Chardonnay. I bought this wine at the Grand Re-opening tasting of Vintages at their new location, and was worried since we tasted many wines before that I would not like the wine after we brought it home. I really liked this wine, it went great with Lobster Ravioli and good on its own. Again, I found this wine not be the buttery type of Chardonnay that I can't drink, but a very floral and fruity white wine that shows a lot of character. I think this Chardonnay is cheaper than my Unoaked Chardonnay from Coopershawk so I think I will be switching out from the Unoaked Chardonnay after I finish the 3 bottles I have in the fridge.

Late Harvest Riesling by Galena Cellars for under $20

This wine is very, very sweet. This wine tastes like liquid peaches and apricot. I could not handle more than 1 glass and my better half is mixing it with a off-dry blush wine. This wine smells and tastes of liquid peaches-almost like the Gerber baby food peaches to me. I like Peach Wine, but this wine is just to sweet for me. I think this wine may make a great mixed drink, a Bellini maybe, but on its own, I just find it a little too sweet for me.

Strawberry Rhubarb Wine by Lynfred Winery for $13.00

This wine came out this month from Lynfred Winery and it has immediately became one of our favorite fruit wines. This wine is less sweet then the Strawberry wine since it is combined with Rhubarb wine, but is really mellow and sweet without being overly so. I would drink this wine chilled on its own, it could be added to some seltzer or some sparkling wine for a Strawberry-Rhubarb bubbly, or with some vodka for a Strawberry Rhubarb Martini. I really like this fruit wine and will give a bottle to my better half's parents since they like sweet wines, and are big fans of Strawberry Rhubarb pie. I will be buying this wine in the future, and happy to know of the last 3 new fruit wines, this one really stood out to me.

Bald Knob from Owl Creek Winery in Illinois for $14.99 from Vintages

Vintages had their grand re-opening sale this last Saturday and a representative from Owl Creek Winery was on hand. I bought this wine, the Whoo's Blush, and the Framboise. This wine is off-dry and was served with italian sausage, barbecue chips, and beans and weenies-can you tell I have a child? This wine was definitely better with food than on its own, it is made from the Chambourcin grape which is generally very dry which accounts for why this paired much better with food. I thought the wine was ok on its own, just a lot better with the food. I don't think I would buy it again, but would definitely hit this winery if I ever get down to the Southern Illinois Wine Trail.

Natural Peach Wine by Galena Cellars for $10

I really like peach wine, I like the peach sparkling wine and the peach wine from Lynfred Winery, I like the peach wine from Coopershawk Winery, and I think if the Village Vintner made a peach wine, I liked that one also. I liked this peach wine, too. I ate this wine with fruit and it was good, and I drank this wine on its own, and it was good. You could use this wine to mix with liquor for a fruity drink, make some sort of bellini out of it, any way you slice it, keep this wine with you over the summer, it is totally versatile. I would definitely buy it again and at this price it is a steal.

Lux Meritage by Coopershawk for $40 at the winery, but was free for joining the wine club

This wine is not sweet and does not fall in the price range. This wine is definitely a food wine, with lots of complexity, but with some tannins that need to be balanced against food. I really like this wine, but my better half does not, so this will be the last and only time we have a bottle of this wine in my house.

Bubbling Blanc by Galena Wine Cellars for under $15 at the winery

I just lost this blog. I really liked this sparkling wine. This wine appears to be very versatile, very crisp without any dry aftertaste. This wine would go great with mimosas and would do well blended with other fruit juices to make a great summer drink. I love Blanc to Blanc and will keeping a bottle in my house regularly as a staple.

American Riesling by Galena Cellars around $12

This wine tastes and smells like your typical semi-sweet Riesling. This wine is very easy drinking and pairs well with chicken, but is very good on its own. I like Riesling in general, and would definitely buy this one again. Nothing really stood out about this wine, but it was a good Riesling, good fruit flavors.

Late Harvest American Gewurtztraminer by Galena Cellars 375ml under $20

We tasted this wine at the winery, my better half loved it and we bought two bottles. This wine is described as having spiciness and sweetness. The wine definitely has sweetness, but smells and tastes like lilacs and roses. The nose on this wine is totally floral and the taste is totally floral, I could only have a small glass of it. This wine may be one of the weirdest wines I have ever tried, I have never had a wine that so predominately floral. My better half really likes this wine, but I will have to take a pass on it.

Gruet Demi-Sec for $12.00 at Gibbys Wine Den

This sparkling wine was dry. This sparkling wine was made in Champagne-style, and I am not a big fan of Champagne due to the dryness and this wine despite saying Demi-Sec was really dry. If I had orange juice, I would have used it for mimosas, but I would never buy this wine again. This wine was no Demi-Sec more Brut than anything.

2006 Banguls M. Chapotatier $19.99 at Gibbys Wine Den in Geneva

This wine has braille on the label which I have never seen before on a wine bottle. This red dessert wine is made in France. This wine tastes like port, and a very good Port. I would almost compare it to the Amore by the Village Vintner. The wine was 15% alcohol, but very mellow with good fruit. I would definitely buy this again if the price was a touch less, but at this price this is a special occasion wine, and not the daily drinking wine by better half would like to make it.

2007 Rancho Zabaco Reserve Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel around $18 at Vintages

We used this wine to make a crock-pot roast beef and then drank the rest with spaghetti and meatballs. I really liked this Zinfandel as did my better half who did not think this wine was dry ass. I thought this wine had a lot of fruit flavors-cherry and blackberry. I would definitely consider this wine one of my favorite Zinfandels and if would consider making it a house red with food dishes. I don't think this is much of a good wine on its own, but with food it was very good.

Rhubarb Wine by Galena Wine Cellars for around $10

Among the wineries in Illinois that make Rhubarb wine that I have tried this one is my least favorite. The wine, a beautiful pink color, is a little too tart for my tastes with a touch of sweetness. The Rhubarbs by Lynfred, Coopershawk, and the Village Vintner are a lot sweeter which is preferable for me and my better half. If you like Rhubarb wine, I would definitely encourage trying a bottle, but myself I like too many other wines here to buy this one again.