Muscanti Brut, Spain, $7.95: The variety is Muscanti from the Girona region in Spain. The descriptors from the wine tasting at the cellar described it as lemon blossoms, green apple, toast and honeydew melon. It was also described as a crisp and refreshing sparkling wine. From my experience with sparkling wines, I have come to realize that I am not the biggest fan. While this definitely was good and fresh on the nose, I could smell the green apple and honeydew, I did not love it. I think if it perhaps was not a sparkling wine I would have enjoyed it more. I am a big fan of fruity white wines, but the sparkling aspect made me not like it as much. The Vintage Cellar also said that it had a tingle of acidic acid, and I did feel like the wine was very acidic, another reason I did not love this wine.

Spanish Vines Sauvignon Blanc, 2009,$4.95: This Spanish wine received 85 points from Wine Enthusiast and was said tohave apple notes and then almost a buttery palate with baked apple and citrus flavors. Thus, I was very excited to try this wine! However, while normally I love Sauvignon Blanc, I was not very impressed with this wine. It was definitely ok, but I would not buy a bottle. Citrus was really the only flavor that stood out to me on the nose and in the tasting. I could not really distinguish the butter or baked apples. I also felt as though it did not really taste like most other Sauvignon Blanc’s I have had previously. I was alittle disappointed with this one.

Torrent Bay Chardonnay, 2009, $6.95: Considering New Zealand is one of my favorite places on earth, I love trying wine from there and I am always determined to like it! However, I am not a big chardonnay fan, so I was a bit hesitant to try this wine. The critique in the store said that it was had fleshy, melony aromas cuddle some fresh oak. And the palate has decent acidity so there’s freshness along with weight, resiny oak flavors, lemon and green apple. While I liked the description, I was still not very excited about the Torrent Bay. Yet, after I tried it I was pleasantly surprised! It had an amazing softness that I had not experienced in any of the previous Chardonnay’s I have tried before! I could smell the oak and lemon on the nose and a little bit of grass. And I could definitely taste some of the oak and I thought it was delicious. I know Sauvignon Blanc is what New Zealand is known for, but I definitely thought this Chardonnay was delicious and I know have a bottle at home!

Lost Vineyards, Vinho de Mesa Tinto, $3.95: This wine from Portugal is descried as pouring a light garnet color with a nice crisp zest, with aromas of cranberries and orange peel on the nose. Drinks smooth with a briary of mild cherries, wild strawberries and raspberries along with a note of rhubarb. Pairs particularly well with wild game and heavy fish such as salmon. I was nervous about trying this wine, just because I have trouble liking red wine, and distinguishing the flavors. Every time I smell red wine it smells like very strong plain flavored greek yogurt, and this time was not any different. However, I found that I liked it more than red wines I have tried before, so I hope my palate is expanding on red wines! I tasted a bit of cranberries, but that was it, however I am excited to keep trying red wines to see if I like them more as time goes on.

Ebano Riber a del Duero, Tempranillo, 2007, $7.95: This Spainsh wine scored 87 Points from Robert Parker and the Ebano 6 is 100% Tempranillo aged 4 months in French oak. The color is dark ruby red and it displays a pleasant bouquet of cedar, spice box, violets, black cherry, and blackberry. It is a medium- to full- bodied wine on the palate with savory flavors and plenty of spice, this racy, vibrant Tempranillo has enough structure to drink well over the next 5-6 years and is a very good value. Once again, the bouquet just smelled like Greek yogurt to me the first time. The second time I could smell a little spiciness, but not really any fruit. It tasted ok, but very strong, and I did not like it that much. Once again, I could not taste any of the fruit, but just a little spice, and it was very dry.