bottle shop

LOBSTER REEF – SAUVIGNON BLANC (2019): 6.5

white

6.5

a sour sav that’s saved by its sweatiness

SHORT DESCRIPTION

  • CLEAN
  • SOUR
  • GRASSY
  • DRY
  • LIGHT
  • SWEATY BUT NOT SWEATY ENOUGH

LONG DESCRIPTION

I was really excited to see that the Bottle Shop on E Passyunk had this back in stock. I really loved the 2018 Lobster Reef… it was heavy on the weird sweaty taste I love so much about SB. I’m currently drinking it in the 90 degree sun (out on my stoop in an XL cut off and soffee shorts as south philly tradition requires) which is the most ideal situation for SB consumption but I’m finding myself a little disappointed. My taste buds might be blunted from all the straight gin and Lysol fumes I’ve been consuming over the last two months but the 2019 Lobster Reef has a sour sweet aftertaste I don’t remember from older varieties. It’s still really good. It just doesn’t have that grape jawn I love so much about SB.

At only $15 (special marked up bottle shop price… it’s like $11 online) it’s a pretty solid quarantine SB. Feel like this is definitely an SB for white wine lovers. Not my favorite anymore, though. But I can’t say I’m upset to continue my search for the weirdest, driest, sweatiest SB that Philly has to offer.

SOLA – PINOT NOIR (2017): 7.5

Reds

7.5

A peppery Pinot Noir that somehow manages to be boring

SHORT DESCRIPTION

  • LIGHT
  • BERRIES
  • VANILLA
  • PEPPER BUT THE WAY AN OLD CHEAP CIGARETTE IS PEPPERY
  • WOOD. MAYBE IT’S BURNT WOOD AND NOT PEPPER.
  • OK I THINK THE TASTE IS ACTUALLY OLD CIGARETTE
  • WHERE: BOTTLE SHOP

LONG DESCRIPTION

Oh gosh. I was really excited for this Pinot after the so-so experience with the Camelopard but now I’m missing that stupid wine. I’m rating this wine higher than the Camelopard only because it’s somewhat more exciting to drink than the Camel and excitement is hard to come by these days. I also paid $22 for it so I guess I’m Sour Graping myself.

The wine is fine. It’s light, and there are berries in there, somewhere beneath the harsh bite of what I first thought was pepper and now I’m pretty sure is the taste of a two year old L&M. The bottle says something about “toasted cedar” which is how I would describe the taste of a cigarette if I was an asshole. It’s pretty quick in the mouth and I bet it would be good with Indian or Mexican food, as most peppery/cig wines are.

But I can’t help but feel a little swindled with this one. And I wanna make a disclaimer: I really like the Bottle Shop. They have amazing beers and a great staff and they’re working hard through this quarantine. But their wine selection & prices have been total baloney since they started selling wine over a year ago. They tend to get sort of niche $10 range wines and jack up the price 150%, 200%. This Sola wine sells at most for $14. I’ll keep buying their wine cuz it’s convenient and I feel dedicated to them, but I feel like the upcharge for this convenience & local loyalty is pretty hard to justify most of the time.

Anyway. It’s fine. It’s another overpriced red wine you could easily put back with a quarantine partner in a night, or save over a couple of days. I probably won’t ever buy it again but I’m definitely going to finish the bottle.

CAMELOPARD – CABERNET SAUVIGNON (2018): 7.0

Reds

7.0

An OK, dry cabernet sauvignon that’s easy to drink and easy to cork.

SHORT DESCRIPTION

  • DRY
  • VANILLA AND SORT OF LEATHERY/EARTHY AFTERTASTE
  • BERRIES
  • ALCOHOL
  • WHERE: BOTTLE SHOP

LONG DESCRIPTION

I’ve been getting pretty sick of straight gin on ice and now that I’m entering week 4 of quarantine (!!!), I wanted something complex, something I could sit with a while, something (ANYTHING) to bide the time.

So I ordered a cab from the Bottle Shop in East Passyunk. As far as wines go, I am big on Pinot Noir most of the time, except when I want something dry (Malbec, the gin of wines). Cabs tend to waffle between the extremes of light and juicy to full bodied and dry more often than I prefer, and I’m reminded of this when I take my first sip of Camelopard. The berries and vanilla are as pronounced as its alcohol content. Dry and too long in the mouth with a curious aftertaste I actually kind of like, but my boyfriend doesn’t. Important to note that I also love drinking raw black seed oil and would totally consume gasoline if it wouldn’t kill me.

But it’s fine for what it is. It’s a red wine in quarantine, one of the only cab savs I could get delivered to my house without spending a buck. I feel like it seems more elite than it really is, and it probably has its kindofcool label to thank for that. If I blind tasted it, I’d assume this was a $7-$10 bottle of gas station wine, but I paid a terribly marked up $14 for this guy. All in all, it gets the job done, and I’ve had it as an appetizer wine for three days in a row. Its lack of body makes it easy to pick up and easy to put down as well.