TN: 2015 Apothic Inferno

WINE TALK
21

That novice nailed it: “deep red wine with alcohol.”

22

There was another thread on this wine awhile back. Soon afterward I found myself in possession of a bottle. It’s not nearly as bad a some might expect, but it is what it is.

Popped the bottle. One glass was enough for an evening. Funny thing, it wasn’t until about day-5 that it started going “downhill.”

23

I preferred “I can’t even begin to describe it.”

24

I like that the statement came after they described it. Take a deep red wine that already has alcohol, mix in more alcohol, rate it 5 stars!

The first review was hilarious to me since the reviewer considers him or herself as a connoisseur, and sells their credentials of being in a member of a wine society and three wineries.

To each his own, and you like what you like, but these had me cracking up! There are several other gems on the totalwine site.

25

Solving the problem by not having it with food = Connoisseur-level multidimensional chess.

26

I’m sure it’s better than that burgundy crap that people pay thousands of dollars a bottle for.
[snort.gif] neener

27

There was a bit of “deep red wine” there (maybe 20%), but it was mostly “melted lollipops” and “alcohol.”

Although John noted that no one spat out the wine, he failed to mention that most liberally used the dump bucket to pour out the wine. I have to say that reading John’s account of the wine was much more enjoyable than being there and drinking it. [wow.gif]

28

And lucky for you, that beam of pumpkin pie didn’t leap from the glass! Could get pretty messy… [wow.gif] [cheers.gif]

29

And writing it was more fun than drinking the wine.

30

A couple of years ago Jamie Goode had a very thoughtful review of the base Apothic Red that you can find here:

http://www.wineanorak.com/wineblog/california/the-apothic-alypse-the-rise-of-sweet-red-wines

He was somewhat impressed by it, in the category of industrial soda pop wines with residual sugar he felt it was quite well balanced. He tried hard to steer clear of any sniggering.

Here’s the text part of the review (at the link there is also a video where he says a lot more):

FOR:

It has a sense of deliciousness. In its style, this is a well balanced wine. The fruit is ripe (sometimes these sweeter reds can have a sickly combination of sweet and green), and there’s nice, seductive vanilla, mocha coffee and spice as well as the sweet berry fruits. It is the sort of red wine that people who have a problem with most reds may well like. There are many wine drinkers who simply don’t drink red wine at all, because they just can’t get on with the bitterness and astringency of the tannins. This could act as a bridge wine for non-red-wine drinkers. The branding and packaging is very clever: wine needs more strong brands. I remember the first wine that really grabbed me; that I found delicious. It was a Berri Estates Shiraz Cabernet back in the early 1990s. As a student I was used to grotty European reds (I was on a budget), and the sweetly fruited Australian actually tasted nice. This wine tastes nice, unless you are a wine nut who has become sensitized to sweetness in reds. Most people wouldn’t think of this as a sweet wine unless it was pointed out to them; they’d just think it was tasty.

AGAINST:

It’s not a reflection of the vineyard. It’s a ‘made’ wine. It appeals to those with a sweet tooth; generally speaking, there’s too much sugar in our diets these days, and we should wean our palates off sweetness. I wouldn’t recommend it to my readers here, but having said that, I don’t think this is a bad or evil wine. In its style it’s very well made.

Of course, this wasn’t the Apothic INFERNO experience

31

That’s pretty close to where I came out – much more balanced than I expected. Frankly, I’ve had some $100 concoctions with similar alcohol levels that I liked a lot less.

Of course, that was the basic Apothic, not the Inferno. (I see a comparative tasting coming up…)

(FYI, that’s Jamie Goode’s website.)

32

Sorry! Corrected. Spend too much time on this board I guess, getting my Jamies mixed up like that :slight_smile:

33

Jamie’s review is very intelligent and open-eyed. I know many early 20s wine drinkers whose reference point is Apothic (my equivalent from college was Beringer White Zin, which was much sweeter).

Meiomi Pinot Noir is the same thing, only more so. Many of us would turn up our noses, but I know plenty of people who find a lot of joy there - ranging from total novices to long-time customers who don’t care that they like that ripe/faintly sweet profile, or even know that it’s a debate. It’s also worth considering that many of us would tout a Vouvray with a similar relationship to RS.

Not saying it’s for me, but I’ve outgrown being mad about people who want it.

34

And let’s not forget Mateus Rose, though I guess I’m showing my age.

Those were many degrees lower in alcohol, though, and were not souped up with whisky barrels.

35

Lancer’s too. Whoever imports those tried to make a comeback with them a few years ago.

The whisky barrel thing is, IMHO, a way to intrigue younger drinkers who have been raised on craft beer that has been played with in all kind of brewmaster-y ways. It’s funny - wine people love to loathe oak, but in the spirits and beer world they love to play with barrels that have gone from hand-to-hand.