Antonio Diez Martin
VINO DE MESA
SPAIN
TEMPRANILLIO
2020

First Look:

Color: Deep dark red, like a good French Bordeaux
Legs: None to speak of.
Nose:A bit of must, and damp birch bark, relatively faint black raspberry hints.

First taste:

Mild flavor, not overly tannic, simple. Slight sharpness.

Not a great wine that jumps out at you, but drinkable.

Fine for a light meat dish at dinner. Easy to consume with just enough tannin to split the residual fat. Good for a lasagna.

Notes: a very decent value wine for the NakedWines.com $5-$6 range.

Franck Massard
2021 Garnacha
Spain

First Look:

Legs: They form after 5 or 6 seconds, decent width for a red (so some sugars are present).
Color: Rich, dark burgundy, like the skin of a black cherry
Nose: A nice width, some plums and raw oak, a hint of green apple slices, pineapple, and soft melted salty butter.

First Taste:
A strong attack, it hits harshly, overwhelming any distinct discernable flavors, leaving a somewhat bitter aftertaste. You need 3 to 5 sips to acclimate your tongue to the harshness before you can really distinguish the hidden flavors.

It claims on the label to have ripe cherry and raspberry flavors. If those are there they have escaped from the bottle somehow. Perhaps the label author means unripe cherries and raspberries?

This overwhelming tannic bitterness will cut through the mouth's residual fats from things like pork sausage, salami, or other charcuturie board meats. However chewing through a mouthful of creamy Brie cheese, which should neutralize the acidic tone of this wine....didn't.

Notes: In short, one wine glass of this is more than enough. Definitely pass on this one if it's on a wine menu.

Suggestion: Add to your 'AVOID' list.

Jen Pfieffer
2023 "The Rebel"
Rose of Pinot Gris

First Look:

Legs: A decent number of hoses form along the glass.
Color: Not much of a rose color, more yellow then red.
Nose: A nice pleasant rich sweet aroma of fresh lillies, with hints of white mushroom caps.

First taste:

A rather weak attack and rather lacking in flavor with a central back of the tongue roughness on depart. A bit acidic and, while not unpleasant, pretty much limited in application.

This is not a lazy afternoon sipping wine but really something to accompany a hearty fish dish. It would go well with sole or salmon as the acid would clear the mouth between mastication.

A bit too strong for more delicate plates as the acid would be too cutting and the tongue will be too overwhelmed with a lingering tartness to respond to the next delicate bite.

Note: This is an Australian wine "Vinted and bottled by NakedWines.com" It is also "Imported by NakedWines.com". Well do the logic on this. Behind its colorful label that stakes its appeal on eye value, is a bulk Australian wine product which must be coming into the USA in huge flexi-tanks that are being run through a bottling operation. Nothing special here, that's for sure.

Also, beware of headaches from the higher allowable sulfite levels in Australian wines, especially white and rose. Those are about 35% higher than allowable European levels.

Lower rung on the quality ladder.

Jose Hernandez
2021 Red Blend (50% Malbec & 50% Cabernet Sauvignon)
Uco Valley,
Mendoza, Argentina

First Look:

Color: A good, natural, medium dark cherry red, very much like a classic Burgundy or Beaujolais
Legs: Fragile legs, indicating low sugar content.
Nose: A welcoming scent mixed with traces of orange peel, cranberries, raspberries, whip cream and vanilla beans.

First Taste:

A nice attack, rich in flavor, that smoothly spreads across the tongue and cheeks. A velvety smooth blanket of blackberry jam and sliced almonds, with a dash of vanilla yogurt. It departs into the back of the mouth and down the throat without a hint of acidic burn or tannic tartness.
A great wine to take with any meat dish. We enjoyed this with a plate of roast marbled pork roast with a strong Texas spice rub that leaned on ground pepper and garlic. The Red Blend mixes without any conflict, washed the mouth of fat and spices thoroughly, smoothly went down, and left the mouth refreshed and ready for more.

Notes: This wine is good enough that if you try it you will want to buy more. At Naked Wines it can be affordable in quantity, should age well for the next 3-5 years, is ready to drink now, and is definitely a good wine. A Winner!

Mendoza is Argentina's most important wine region and this is an excellent representative of what is possible at an affordable price.

Karen Birmingham
2020 Malbec
Lodi, California

First Look:

Color: Deep ruby red.
Legs: Fair quantity, numerous and narrow.
Nose: A nice Malbec nose, hints of oak and cedar, walnut shells, cheddar cheese with wisps of cinnamon.

First taste:

A nice slight bite on the tongue with a rich complex taste.

This is a nice tasting wine. Smooth on the mouth with a nice strong ripe black cherry note. A hint of tangerine and mango, almonds and cashews. A nice drinkable wine at an affordable price, fine to bring home for an appropriate dinner. However there is an important advisory below.

BIG WARNING: Two sips and your tongue is turning black. Generally a black tongue after only a few tastes is a sign SUPER-PURPLE, the concentrated coloring agent. While 1 glass of wine, in most juristictions, will not put you over the legal driving lirmit, one glass of this will turn your tongue quite visibly black. If you are stopped while driving a police officer will spot that and you'll be given a breath test. Super-Purple is an extraction of the red color from red grape skins after the pulp is crushed to extract the juice (which is always clear). It's used as an additive to red wines that have a weak color in order to turn it dark red. Most European countries restrict it but not the USA. So you don't want to drink even one glass of Karen Birmingham Lodi Malbec if you are planning on driving a car afterwards. Also, expect a black stool to result.

Luis Vieira
2021 'Lente' Reserva
Portugal

First Look:

Color: Really dark red, overly so. An LED flashlight put right up on the glass doesn't penetrate light further than a centimeter.
Legs: Legs don't even form after a swirling of the glass.
Nose: A nice nose. A bit of foamy sea surf, some roasted chestnuts and a hint of fresh moist tobacco leaf.

First taste:

A very nice rich flavor with surprisingly light tannic attack.Very complex and pleasantly surprising.
Hints of raspberries and currents, a morsel of roast beef too.
And absolutely no hard tannic afterburners at all.
Despite an expectation of something less pleasant from the look noted above, this is a very good wine. Easy drinking on its own without a meal but suitable for beef, pork, and hearty pasta dishs.

Note: This one gives you black tongue after 1/2 of a glass. On the bright side, this darkness tends to wear off with just about anything you eat along with the wine. So not as staining as expected.

An excellent red wine but without any indication of what varietals are in the bottle. Just some mushy English about how the purported winemakers loves the Portugese terrior. That's not necessarily a bad thing though.

Final notes:
This is one of the best NakedWines.com vintages tasted. Very palateable. Good with a vegetarian meal or meats. Worked nicely with a cheese afterplate as well. Actually, a very good value for the price.

Mauricio Lorca
2020 Malbec
'Angel's Selection'
Mendoza, ARGENTINA

First Look:

Color: a Black Cherry deep red.
Legs: Absolutely absent of legs so no sugars
Nose: A foam rubber cushion

First Taste:

Extremely tart and somewhat acidic. Really lacking in any real flavor.
Not particularly desirable to drink. Weak and very common.
drinkable but not in the league of anything more than $5.

Note: Some Argentinian wines are good and some are not. This one stands in the latter. Like all the other Naked Wines, the label points out that this is 'Vinted and Bottled by NakedWines.com" so it is a bulk wine most probably shipped in by pallets of flexitanks. Given its unpleasant qualities it is, perhaps, the cast off bulk of a bad grwoing season.

On various wine sales websites, this wine is going for around $12 to $15 a bottle. Definitely not worth that!

MICHAUD
2021 COLUMBIA VALLEY (Washington state)
SAUVIGNON BLANC

First Look:

Legs: No legs, so no sugar.
Color: Pale auburn-yellow.
Nose: Weak scent of Granny Smith and Autumn Glory apples.

First Taste:

Really strong splash on the tougue, somewhat unpleasant. Strong acidic hit overwhelms everything. Hardly a taste as much as a burn. Really a nasty overpowering wine with little distinctive taste at all.

This wine is only acceptable if you are having a heavily flavored meal. After first unpleasant solo taste test, this wine was re-tested with a taco-seasoned chicken breast and par-boiled potatoes with sauted white mushrooms (in virgin olive oil) with alfredo sauce and melted cheese. Then the wine is using its acidic burn to cut clean the meat, oil, cheese and sauce rapidly. Then the wine is, surprisingly, good. You can catch the flavors of a little bit of comquat, tints of lemon, and a slice of grapefruit.

Notes: As a standalone wine, don't ask for a glass of this Sauvignon Blanc. If you are having a seasoned meal, this is a good accompaniment if you can get it at the right price with the Naked Wines incentives. Although, if you have a stomach with a weak acid tolerance, don't have any more than 2 glasses of this.

The Wine Enthusiast has a relatively glowing report in this wine, giving it 89 points. I can't agree with them less. They have a price range of $21 for this, which is inane but does make a Naked Wines incentivized price look like a bargain (whereas it is really all this wine is worth).

Rod Easthope
Pinot Gris 2023
Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

First Look:

Color: A light honey yellow
Legs: Slowly forming straight lines.
Nose: A very nice mix of radishes, celery, macadamia nuts, and sugar glazed pecans.

First Taste:

This comes across the palate as a mildly sweet, totally pleasant pinot gris. New Zealand wines can very good and this is one of them.

Considering how harsh pinot gris can be, this wine will surprise you. It is a delectable wine, one of the top 10 pinot gris tasted by this reviewer in the past year. Certainly worthy of considering buying by the case! A great accompaniment to fillet of salmon, lobster, or clams. Neutralizes the sea salt and leave a semi-sweet refreshing pulse on the tongue as it accomplishes it.

This one is Naked Wines's best of show!

Superior quality to most much more expensive Pinot Gris.

Scott Peterson
Rox of the Andes
2021 Malbec
Tunuyan Valle de Uco,
Mendoza, Argentina

First Look:

Legs: None.
Color: Deep ruby red
Nose: Nice and fresh, like a mild breeze across a springtime grassy mountain glen.

First taste:

A strong splash of a complex mix of brazil nuts and cranberries with with a slight tannic attack. This wine spreads across the center tongue and then curls the back edges. It leaves with a tart slide down through the mouth.

In light of the nice nose and complex beginning, this wine is a bit of a disappointment. It is acceptable if used to cleanse the mouth while eating a meat like pork or beef where the tart depart will cut through residual animal fat. By itself, absent something to handle the aftertaste singe, this wine is nothing special. Acceptable but nothing special.

Notes: If purchased in a Naked Wines case bundle with incentives, and used as an accomanpiament to a meal, a decent wine for the price. BUT... this bottle, initially hidden beneath the DEEP ruby red color, were DREGS! This is really surprising for a 2021 vintage.This bottle must have been drawn from the bottom of the flexitank as dregs alway settle there. The wine did not taste spoiled, however.

Stefano Di Blasi
2022 Bianco Trevenenize
Indicazione Geografica Tipica
Trevenize, ITALY

First Look:

Legs: Modest, with large bulges starting but then refining to thin strands.
Color: An elegant smooth yellow.
Nose: A nice nose. A fresh cool ocean breeze. A slight scent of fresh rosemary.

First Taste:

A dSupple, cool spread throughout the mouth. Pleasant and very flavorful.. Strains of oak, with a twist of ripe strawberry, a smooth buttery tickle.

Notes: An acceptable wine. Nice when chilled on a warm day. Very low acidity. Goes well with chicken, fish, salad.

A good value with the Naked Wines incentives.

Stefano Di Blasi
2020 Toscana
Indicazione Geografica Tipica
Tuscany, ITALY

First Look:

Legs: Thick streams descend.
Color: Dark red charries.
Nose: Steamy, neoprene foam with hints of raspberry and fresh cashews.

First Taste:

Nice broad attack, rich in flavor.

Nice splash of blackberry jam, hints of tangerine and a bit of grapefruit acidity.

Notes:

Definitely a good wine to accompany a broad range of chicken, lamb, red meat dishes. Very palatable. Quite acceptable and presentable

Sharon Weeks
CATTOO
Malbec 2021
Pasa Robles, California

First Look:
Legs: Completely lacking any leg definition.
Color: CLOUDY! Dark blackish red but not clear at all, not even with LED flashlight shining directly into glass!
Nose: Salty sea foam, a bit of dried plums (prunes). Nothing remarkable.

First taste:
First thing that gets you is the overly tart smack in the mouth. Almost acidic. Not pleasant at all.

The back label of the bottle sings praises of berries, plums, cherry ola (?), black cherries, and mocha. Huh???? Where? Buried under a blanket of lactic acid, perhaps, but not discernable by my mouth!

Maybe this was a bad bottle, given the cloudiness, but it is exceptionally bad. Less than 1/3 of a glass and you can even feel your stomach burning. Every taste leaves the back of the tongue burning.

Notes: Most Naked Wines are at least drinkable, most acceptable, but this is exceptional. Exceptionally bad! Like "pour down the drain" bad.
Nothing else to say except No, No, NO!!!

Putting animals on the wine label has been shown in studies to increase sales. And putting "Vinted and Bottled by NakedWines.com" on this label is required but not a good advertisement for them to increase sales.