Wolfgang Puck Master Lot Reserve Red Blend

I’ll admit it.  When I first saw this wine, I didn’t have high expectations.  After all, Wolfgang Puck isn’t known for wine, he’s a restauranteur — and a master at leveraging his personal brand to sell stuff.

And while I’m sure he’s a talented chef (after all he had to have some credibility to build his empire), to me his name conjures up the thought of mediocre airport restaurant food.  Yes, I’m sure I haven’t tasted the best he has to offer.  But what I have tasted hasn’t impressed me.

So, I had a preconceived notion that this wine would mirror the quality of the crappy food at Wolfgang Puck’s airport restaurants.  After all, the wine was originally only sold at his restaurants.

But then I discovered that the wine is made by DFV Wines, a producer I trust to create good, reasonably-priced wines.  Wolfgang Puck didn’t create these wines, the winemakers at DFV created them for him — although he did taste along with the winemakers to approve the blend.

Now I’m totally confused about what I should expect here and the only thing left to do is taste and let the wine tell its own story.

The spices are intense on the nose of this wine, showing aromas such as cinnamon, pencil shavings and nutmeg along with rich fruit like plum and blackberry.  In the mouth it’s like chocolate covered blackberry, plum and cherry.  The acidity is vibrant and the mouthfeel smooth.  It finishes with lingering blackberry, chocolate and baking spice flavors.  It’s a tasty wine.

Wine: Wolfgang Puck Master Lot Reserve Red Blend
Variety: Merlot, cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel, syrah, petite sirah
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 86
Price: $15.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

Find Wolfgang Puck Master Lot Reserve Red Blend with Snooth