HandCraft Inspiration Red 2011

Handcraft Red bottle 002The 2011 HandCraft Inspiration Red Wine is a blend of Syrah, Zinfandel, Merlot, Malbec and Sangiovese (basically the greatest hits of value priced Red wine) sourced from vineyards located in more than one California grape growing AVA (a good portion was from Lodi). HandCraft is one of Delicato Family Vineyards labels (Gnarly Head, Twisted, etc), a family owned winery and vineyard founded in 1924. Cheryl Indelicato, the granddaughter of the founder, started the label as a way to support breast cancer charities (HandCraft donated $100,000 in 2012) and to honor the old school, Italian style wines of her grandparents. This Red blend was aged in French and American oak for 3 to 6 months. The alcohol content is 13.5%.

The color is a dark, cherry red with black highlights. The nose is blackberry, plums, olives, spice, vanilla and chocolate powder. The Inspiration Red has a satiny mouthfeel, with rich, rounded fruit flavors. It starts off with a mix of black and blueberries, black cherry, POM Wonderful and silky vanilla. The mid palate brings along a combination of raisin spice and cinnamon spice, fudge brownie and  sweet strawberry. The tannins are felt, but do not bite and the acidity does a good job of holding its own against all the rich fruit flavors. The finish is dominated by dark berries and a little spice and it holds on for a good length of time.

The 2011 HandCraft Inspiration Red Wine is a rich, chewy and flavorful Red blend, with a bit more complexity and length than you usually see at this price range ($12.99 list). This blend drinks very well and would pair well with pot roast, prime rib, St Louis style BBQ ribs and, well, all sorts of comfort foods. This is one of those wines where I type one sentence, then grab the glass and take a sip, then type another line. If I can’t wait until I finish the paragraph to take a sip, then I must like this wine.

See also  Mazzoni Toscana Rosso 2009

 

this wine was received as a sample

 

 

About the Author
Don’t tell anyone, but there is absolutely no correlation between the cost of wine and the quality of wine.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *