Unfussy Wine Enthusiasts | Wine Reviews & Articles

We use our Instagram mostly as a one off quick wine tasting platform so sometimes our Blog Followers don't see them.  So we thought we'd show them here for a Holiday Wine Selections Post and we'll break them down by Food Pairing.  This isn't all of them but a good chunk. Here's to you having a wonderful Holiday Season filled with family and friends, laughter and joy and lots of wine! Get ready to scroll!   :) Turkey and Seafood Wine Pairings: Our last 2011 The People's Sauvignon Blanc: all the tropical smells you can handle in a glass! #nzwine rocks! A photo posted by Chris O'Shea (@unfussywine) on Oct 10, 2014 at 3:37pm PDT Yup this on tap for turkey dinner. Can..not..wait! #calipinotnoirrocks A photo posted by Chris O'Shea (@unfussywine) on Oct 10, 2014 at 10:50am PDT There will be a Blog post, oh yes... A photo posted by Chris O'Shea (@unfussywine) on Aug 8, 2014 at 7:02pm PDT 2011 Se...

This is one of the last wines we had from the 2013 NSLC Port of Wines Festival.  It sat for more than a year in our rack waiting for its turn.  We remembered nothing of the wine because it was so long ago but we were glad to see our way out of the stock from 2013.  We have had Sileni Pinot Noir as well and found that to be a great wine was well. In the glass, the wine is light yellow in colour and show a very slight effervescence which is interesting.  The other main characteristic we noticed was that the wine looked a lot less watery than we normally see if NZ Sauv Blanc. The nose is full of pears and peaches with a hint of mint.  The one main note we get is....wait for it....stinky feet.  That's right, there is a crazy amount of stink in there and it just works.  Why?  Because it's followed by a very cleansing mist of alcohol.  It is really cool. The flavour profile is a lot more traditional with a lot of pin...

‎This was a purchase at the NSLC Port of Wines Festival this year. It was an interesting taste profile so we picked up a bottle for closer inspection.  Frank Nobilo carries on the tradition of Ernie Els, Mike Weir, and other Pro Golfers who have ventured into the wine business with his Nobilo Wines .  This version is a good one. In the glass the wine is pale yellow with a green hue.  It is a watery wine and is very clear.  It looks like a Summer wine and certainly makes one want to drink it.  We miss Summer...if you couldn't tell. The nose is tropical though and through which, if this is your first review of ours you're reading, we love.  There's mango and papaya front and centre.  Beneath all that is a lemon peel element that really rounds out the nose.  Very nice smelling wine. The flavours are interesting to say the least.  It is a typically tart and crisp Sauv Blanc.  There is a citrus component on palat...

This wine was on the roster for Mer et Soleil  at this year's Port of Wines Festival and we had a chance to try it both freshly opened and with a little time open.  Overall, it was a nice drinking wine but definitely develops more when the bottle is open for a while.  We would go as far to say it is better to decant this wine to open it up a bit. Bright crimson is the best was to categorize the look and colour of the wine.  There are slow legs in the glass on the swirl and it seems to stick to the sides as the wine comes down.  It has an oily look to it as well which make you feel like this will be a big wine. The nose hit us with cherry blossoms and violets as the dominant building blocks of the bouquet.  We also see light oak and vanilla notes underlying all of that.  It's a solid nose on this wine. The oily nature of the wine in the glass continues on the palate. It sticks to the tongue quite readily.  This com...

This was a late in the show NSLC Port of Wines Festival selection. Palates were exhausted and there wasn't enough bread to bring it back. We knew we wanted to hit the South Africa table before we left and we wanted to find a Pinotage to take home. Well, mission accomplished with the Beyerskloof Pintoage ($18.49 locally). It still stood out with tired tongues but to be honest we weren't sure if we were gonna love it when we tried it. Well good news... Pinotage tends to be a lighter coloured red wine and this one is about average though it has transparent edges which is an interesting effect. While not as thin as it's cousin Pinot Noir, there is definitely a clear structure to the wine. We have found Pinotage to be nutty to the point of dark chocolate or even coffee.  This wine however is not as nutty as we might expect. There is a touch in there but this reads more like a Grenache with distinct notes of Cherry Twizzlers and vanilla in there. ...

This infographic was brought to our attention by the folks at CompareCamp.com that produced it. Neat stats about both beer and wine across the globe. Fun fact: Barefoot is the number one wine brand in the World! Enjoy!! Brought to you by: comparecamp Author: David See our: Facebook

We just completed a great weekend of wine at the 2014 NSLC Port of Wines Festival . We were fortunate to be able to pour some wines for both the afternoon and evening sessions of the Friday show. It was our first time pouring at the show and it was a super fun time. We were volunteers for Mer et Soleil a local wine importing company and had a very interesting time pouring some very interesting French wines. Shannon poured the Terraburdigala Roc de Jean Lys (70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc) and Thienpont Bordeaux White (75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Semillion). I was lucky enough to pour the Brut and Rose from the Deutz Champagne House  as well as the Famille Bougrier Muscadet. The crowds were very enthusiastic and lively and pouring these wines for them was really great. Friday afternoon was a lot of hospitality industry staff along with some folks who are making a day of things whereas Friday evening was much busier with a more 'traditional' crowd of wine lovers an...

Another wine review and another apology. We were provided this wine by the team at National PR here in Halifax again almost two years ago.  Let's just say this wine has some time to bottle age.  So, thanks for the patience National PR team, we finally got to it.  It is $23 wine locally and very much a quality product when we have had it in the past. On the nose we get a LOT of floral notes, with a nutty vanilla undertone.  That is followed up quickly with a very nice cherries dipped in milk chocolate bouquet and finishes with a faint smokiness. Overall, it is quite complex. The look of this wine is in a word, light, and very typical of New Zealand Pinot Noir.  The transparency of the wine really shows your that it is Pinot Noir.  It has that c‎ranberry juice colour that normally comes with it.  As expected it is a thin wine on the swirl with quick legs.  Once again, typical. The wine is light bodied on the palate b...

This wine was a recommendation from Jason MacPhee at Bishop's Cellar  who mentioned how great it was at a recent tasting in the store. He really knows his stuff (especially French wines) so it was all we needed to pick this one up. He forewarned us that this wine might be a little cloudy but on purpose. The  Hegarty Les Chamans  vineyard is in the Minervois region in the Languedoc and the wine is Marsanne 50% and Roussanne 50% and both barrel fermented and barrel aged and you can surely tell.   Come to find out that slight cloudiness is caused by natural proteins in the wine and is really cool looking. It is a golden coloured wine (think apple juice) but even more than that it is slightly thick on the swirl.  Just a great looking wine and with that cloudiness, definitely unique. The nose is pure butterscotch with strong undertones of bananas and spiced apples.  The oak clearly shines on this wine but a super surprising...

So let's the get the apologies out of the way right off the top. We were provided this wine nearly two years ago. The small matter of our Shannon being pregnant and subsequent birth of our son caused a 'slight' delay in us tasting a couple of offerings from Robert Mondavi that we were given on the 100th Birthday Celebration in 2013. That's right 2013. So, Olivier thanks so much for the wines, our apologies for the delay, and here are our thoughts on the Fumé Blanc. To take all the surprise out of this review we frickin' loved this wine. There is a lot going on with in the glass and for a wine that retails in the $20's it is totally worth it. It is 94% Sauvignon Blanc and 6% Semillon that was hand harvested and barrel fermented as well as aged in oak for five months. In the glass the wine is straw coloured and clear. The legs are very fast on the swirl and it is almost a watery look. Bottom line, it looks very nice and does look as though ...

Barbera D'Alba is pretty good even when it's mediocre.  Most times we think of it as Pizza Wine, so how bad can it be?!  You can get cheaper versions of this wine (it's $19.49 locally) but really the quality of this wine really makes it stand out. The wine is a very dark purple with almost tiny bubbles in the bottom of the glass.  Very interesting.  On the swirl it looks like a medium bodied wine and the legs are extremely quick to come down the sides of the glass. There is a very mild nose on this wine which combines a smokey, toasted oak notes with a black current and berries.  It is a nice subtle bouquet that makes you want to taste the wine and that to us is the job of the smells that a wine produces.  If the nose encourages you to drink that is a super, duper win. We felt as though this wine was on the thin side of medium bodied.  It has a very structured mouth feel which is tart but balanced.  Layer over that so...

We are definitely Rum lovers when it comes to our preferred spirits and so we were very excited to be invited to a Rum Tasting a few weeks ago by Celinda from Mer et Soleil at the Noble (Halifax's Secret Speakeasy below the Middle Spoon ).  We had never attended a formal spirits tasting before but we thrilled to check it out.  Upon arrival the owner led us downstairs (without asking for the secret password mind you) and through the kitchen, to an industrial door that opened into an amazing space of intimate lighting and shelves of old books.  Just beautiful.  We had heard of the place but never been, so it was great to finally check it out. Upon arrival we were introduced to Nicolas Villalon the Brugal Rum Brand Ambassador who offered up one of of three handmade cocktail choices; a Rum & Fever-Tree Tonic, a Rum Manhattan, and a Traditional Rum Daiquiri. Shannon had the Rum & Tonic and I tried the Manhattan.  Both handmade and both delicious.  I...

This wine was another of the wines provided to us recently.  We have tried a couple of Verdicchios in the last couple of months and this one is Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi.  According to Wikipedia, Castelli di Jesi, located around the commune of Jesi in the Ancona province, is the larger of the two areas for Verdicchio and tends to produce a higher volume of wine. When you know more about where a wine comes from it gives context to the tasting and we like context. This wine has a straw colour to it and has relatively slow legs in the glass.  That said, it is a very clear wine and looks like it should be a crisp wine when you hold it up to the light.  Does that hold up on that palate? We shall see. The nose is strong with apples and quince with a subtle citrus peel undercurrent.  We really like that.  The nose certainly stands out on this wine.  The apple and quince notes are fantastic which give it a New World smell. ...

McManis Vineyards Petit Sirah We were upsold this wine at our local Liquor Store by a staffer who seems to really know his stuff as being "the best $20 wine in the store". When you use that kind of language with us, it's like waving a red flag in front of a bull. We'll just see about that. Challenge accepted! Little did he know we have a soft spot for good California wine and we waited a little while before opening this one.  When we did, let's just say our skeptic minds were in full effect. Long story short....okay, he was right. The look of this wine like a Malbec when you pour it.  Very deep purple colour with a Welch's look to it and though it is that dark, it doesn't look thick.  The legs are speedy and it has a much more medium bodied look to it.  The colour makes it look interesting and we like that. Where this comes alive is the awesome nose as it smells like California.  That rural and floral nose transports us ...

Luckett Vineyards Phone Box Red   We were able to pick this wine up at Pete's Frootique in Wolfville last summer when they received permission from the NSLC to sell some of the Luckett Vineyards stock in store. We have had the wine before but it was interesting to see the value of hanging on it for an extra year.  The wine has a mixture of the following grapes Lucie Kuhlmann, Marechal Foch, Leon Millot, and Triomphe. The label speaks of having some dried grapes in the mix of this blend wine which is a fantastic idea for wines here in Nova Scotia.  We do not to a lot of vinifera grapes (i.e. Cab Sauv, Merlot, and the like) so our cool climate hybrid red grapes tend to suffer from thinness and astringency at times.  Some are really great but when you treat them to a bit of the appassimento treatment (think Amarone) you get a bit more richness and bodied from concentrating the juice and the flavours.  In proper balance and economic value it real...

We recently threw a family party and a friend of Shannon's parents brought a bottle of homemade wine that she said her friend Betty and her father made and they wanted an opinion from "A Professional". After that kind of introduction how could we say no.  While we may debate Betty's take on us being professionals, we figured we'd give it a taste and give an honest opinion on the wine. So, Betty and Betty's Dad, here it is our honest opinion: This wine is a Grenache - Syrah - Mourvedre Rhone blend produced by WineExpert  during their annual Selection release which is a limited edition release for their kits.  We made a Douro Tinto a couple of years ago that we have a few bottles kicking around and it was excellent.  So, the quality of the juice is there. The wine looks like a Rhone blend, which skews slightly to the lighter side of things, call it medium bodied.  Rhone wines are known for their elegant nature and that includes not being as heavy as yo...

We were kindly provided this wine by local wine agent Mer et Soleil .  Celinda from Mer et Soleil gave us a few selections from Italy to try and this was our first selection from the group.  At $14 locally we figured it was a nice price point. As a point of reference we use the term Chianti and Sangiovese interchangeably as Sangiovese is the main grape in the Italian blend known as Chianti. We sometimes find Chianti to be light and really tart instead of more medium bodied and the tartness can go to the point of bitterness.  That means we take a cautious approach to these wines when we buy them.  Cheap Chianti can equal bad Chianti pretty easily.  This wine is 100% Sangiovese and the good news is that is not the case here. Sangiovese can be light in colour and almost transparent in the the glass.  This wine from the Adriatic coastal Marche region of Italy (which is a very French name for an Italian wine region) is much darker than th...