The Modern House Wines Red Blend is a greeting card you can drink. The Modern House Wines label has been around since 2010, back then it was a Napa Merlot based Red with labels that said Lucky You, Please Forgive Me and Merci among others and it sold for around $25. The new version of Modern House Red is a blend (they don’t say what grapes are used) sourced from more than one California grape growing AVA with 3 different labels, With Love, Here’s To You and Expensive, these are available at Target for $12.99. The Modern House Wines are created from the imagination of Alexis Swanson Traina the creative director of both Modern House Wines and Swanson Vineyards (known for their $75 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon). These wines make gifting wine very uncomplicated, no worrying if you paid too much or brought a wine that was too inexpensive, here the sentiment on the label and the thought behind the gift is the essential part, that the wine is juicy and fun to drink is simply an added welcome bonus. Target sells a line of expensive, beautiful and stylish greeting cards that cost $7 or $8 bucks, they are a joy to give and receive, but with Modern Homes Wines Red , you get a well designed, stylish label that also conveys a similar sentiment plus you get to drink some good wine and for only about an extra 5 bucks. The alcohol content is 13.5%.
The color is an almost opaque burgundy red. The nose is pretty, blueberry, plum, a little fudge, a whiff of smoke off the grill and vanilla. This is a smooth full-bodied Red, with decent balance. It starts with blackberry, licorice and plum. The mid palate transitions to sweet strawberry in cream and tart cranberry. The tannins are soft and sweet, the acidity is countered by the rich fruit flavors, the creamy texture on the mid-palate is cool and the finish is full and long.
Greeting card sentiments aside, the Modern House Wines Red is a delicious, easy drinking wine, maybe not the wine you would pair with anything other than pasta with red sauce or bleu cheese burgers, more of a drinking while talking with friends wine. These wines bring gifting wine to a whole new series of occasions, if a friend receives a promotion to Regional Vice President maybe a Napa Cab is in order, but a promotion to assistant manager at the local branch is calling for a bottle of Here’s To You. The good neighbor who shoveled the snow from your sidewalk when you were in bed with the flu, would be pleased to receive the With Love bottle. And a bottle of good Red wine sure beats one of those cards that plays an obnoxious song when you open it.
When you eat at a restaurant is the “house wine” always the least expensive?