LOOK WHAT'S ON TAP! MARVAL Red (Original tasting date: 09/06/18)
This MARVAL red wine comes to us from the South of France. While technically a “box” wine, this wine is without its cardboard packaging. (Just FYI, if you missed our first wine tasting blog, I encourage you to check it out here. In it, we reviewed a lovely Pinot Gris from Provisions, and I gave you all the background on our wine tastings.) As a mini refresher from last week, all we know about a wine prior to tasting is the brand of wine and type of wine. Today we tried a red blend!
The Set-Up
No food with the wine today. But can we talk about this packaging? Even though it’s now September (which means a deluge of rain and falling leaves where we live), this wine is just begging to be tossed in a beach bag with our SPF and sunglasses. I mean, just look at those bright colors! And the 1.5 liter size is definitely meant for poolside parties. Made even better in your Wine Nook if we do say so ;). Can we have just a few more weeks of summer please? BRB moving to Australia just to chase summer...
The Tasting
We started with the “nose,” or the wine’s aroma. Cindy remarked upon taking in the bouquet: “Reminds me of toasted marshmallows for some reason.” After a few more sniffs, she couldn’t tell if the scent of toasted marshmallows was the wine, or a memory association the wine was giving her. Either way, this wine had some fun, nostalgic qualities already! Kim noted the bouquet was jammy and reminded her of cranberries. Then retracted that and said, “No! Like blackcurrants.”
Onto the taste. It’s oh so smooth, almost velvety. The wine was warm with just the right amount of fruity and acidic flavors.
How Do We Compare?
This MARVAL Red is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. It’s described as “fruity with a hint of sweetness.” I think that description is pretty close to what we tasted! It’s definitely a fruity wine, with a great balance of sweetness and acidity.
Final Thoughts
- The wine was smooth, and delicious!
- Lots of great dark fruit flavors
- Kim: “I would love to marinate beef in this wine! I was also thinking what a great substitute this would be for balsamic vinegar in onion jam. I also thought it would be great paired with a brick-oven mozzarella pizza covered with basil!”
- Cindy: “I would serve it with Coq-Au-Vin or use it to sauté mushrooms. Maybe even use to make a bacon jam!”
- We see this wine being served on the beach, by the pool, or campfireside!
- Overall, we would give this 5 out of 5 Taps. And while we would definitely serve this to guests, we kind of want to keep this one for ourselves... shhh!
— lindyn snider
