A few days ago I went to my local liquor store to pick up a bottle of wine to enjoy with dinner. I am a white wine drinker, with Pinot Grigio being my favorite. I went into the store with the intention of picking up one of my usual budget brands, Barefoot, Yellow Tail, or something similar. Sitting next to the Barefoot bottle was this Vanilla Vine brand that I had never seen before. The label said that it was vanilla flavored Pinot Grigio, so I had to give it a try!
About Vanilla Vine
Vanilla Vine has seems to be a very small operation with only one line of wine, the vanilla Pinot Grigio. Their web site is quite basic and they have a minimal web presence at the moment, so I have not been able to find much about their winery. The only thing I know for sure is that it is an Italian wine, bottled in Bardolino, and there is only a 2007 vintage available at this time. It is distributed through Magner Selections in Shrewsbury, MA. They appear to be a niche player trying to market a different kind of wine to the generation x and y crowds.
Ingredients: Pinot Grigio Wine, Grape must, Vanilla extract, water, Potassium Merabisulfite.
Alcohol 6.5% by volume. (This is much lower than most Pinot Grigios.)
Taste
When you first sniff the wine you can very clearly smell the vanilla. The initial sip is sweet and and has a clear vanilla taste followed by the traditional bite of Pinot Grigio. At first I thought this wine was quite tasty, but after a few sips I stopped enjoying it. Read More …