Day 162-Blackberry Wine by Lynfred Winery of Roselle, Il for $10.00

In September, Lynfred started a fruit wine club which we joined in addition to the white wine club. Now all the fruit wines cost us $10 per bottle. This is a deal, because the full bottles, the 750 ml, are all generally over $10. This wine is 100% blackberries, and that is the flavor some tart balanced with some sweet, but totally blackberry. I found the wine to go much better with chocolate than on its own, however it is good on its own, it is superb with chocolate. This wine needs to be chilled and probably one glass is enough. I have found that with fruit wines you need to drink them in a short period of time from the time they are bottled. This wine was just bottled, as when the fruit wines by the case were on sale, it was not available. And once you open the bottle, you need to finish it in 1 to 2 days or the vinegar takes over since there is so much sugar in the wine.

Day 161-Beaches by Lavender Crest Winery in Colona, Il for under $15

This is a sweet white wine made from the Niagara grape or the grape that ,makes white grape juice. My in-laws use to love the Concord or the Niagara grape, but since their introduction to the Moscato grape, they have not really gone back to any other type of wine. I think this wine is a nice change of pace for a sweet white wine. This is a great summer white wine for a barbeque. a lot of people will find this wine too sweet. This wine is not complex, just a simple white wine that is sweet and reminds you of white grape juice. I great introduction wine.

Day 160- 2008 Saintsbury Carneros Vin Gris of Pinot Noir for $7.99 at Binnys

This wine was another recommendation of the wine manager for the rose wines that were on sale. He says that the wine was fruit forward and not that dry. This wine has beautiful art on the bottle and is 13.5 % alcohol. The manager was mistaken, this wine is dry to the bone with only some fruit on the nose. I would never take the managers recommendation again, I would buy what I have tried previously.

Day 159- Beringer Moscato under $10 at any Binnys, CVS, local liquor store

My in-laws love Moscato and Moscato di' Asti. Hence, why they have this wine chilled when we drove up there to drop off our little one for a week. This wine is a very reasonably priced crowd pleaser. This wine has a slight sweetness that is not overpowering and still has enough fruit flavors to make it taste like a Moscato. This is the wine you buy by the case for a party, this wine is good for the non-wine drinkers, or new wine drinkers. This wine is perfect for the summer time and any type of barbeque that you are invited to that people really know nothing about wine.

Day 158-2008 Viognier by Lynfred Winery for under $20 for White Wine Club members

This is the September White Wine Club of the Month. It is fruit forward with peach and other orange flavors, with a dry finish. This wine requires food for me, a little dry to casually sip at home. I think this wine with chicken or fish, and various cheeses would be a good pairing. I drank this over a long period of time and do not think I gave this wine the food it needed to bring out its many layers. I like Viognier, but it needs to have a clean aftertaste versus a dry finish.

Day 157 -2008 Chateay Marqui Corteaux Varois en Provence for $3.99 at Binnys

Binny's is having a huge sale this month on rose' wines. This wine was almost 50% off so I picked it up. Generally, I do not like french wines because they tend to be drier and have earthier smells and tastes and are not generally described as fruity. The vintner describes this wine as a "delicate mix of white flowers, woodland berries and classic garrique scents." This wine has some scent of fruit, strawberries and peaches, and is a pale peach/pink color. However, this wine was very dry. It was very acidic also, which means my better half would not drink this wine. Therefore I am blogging with a headache because I finished off the wine myself, versus keep it around for another day. Generally speaking, I really like Rose', generally they are very light, crisp, and fruity. This wine is too acidic and too dry for me. Similar to a Sauvignon Blanc this wine has that type of acidity and that type of mineral flavor with only a hint of some berries. I should have known better then to buy a french wine, there is a reason it was so cheap. I would definitely not buy this wine again, and I would not reccomend it to a friend either.

Day 156-Cracklin Apple for $10.50 by Galena Wine Cellars of Geneva, Il

I have tasted at this winery before, and they have numerous good wines, however they give such small tasters and they only allow 6. This wine tastes like sparkling apple cider. I loved this wine and drank probably 75% of the bottle. My better half does not like apple cider and therefore just thought this wine was ok. This wine is described as biting into a crisp apple and I would describe it as a light, crisp, carbonation infused apple cider/juice. This is a great summer wine, so light and refreshing, just a tad tart which is why someone would think the wine tasted more like cider than juice. Apples signal Fall, and Lynfred also makes a great Apple wine which I like a lot also. However, this is wine is more a late summer wine and for a fall barbecue when it is still warm outside. If I had nothing but money, I would keep this wine on stock year around, because I really like apples and can't think of an occasion I would not want to drink this wine.