BWW House Red

Maker: Blue Water Winery, Carsonville, Michigan, USA

Grapes: Chambourcin, Catawba, Concord.

Place of origin: Michigan, USA

Vintage: 2009

ABV: 13%

Appearance: Very dark purple. Nearly black.

Nose: Concord grape jelly, lighter fluid, moldy blackberries.

On the palate: Light -bodied and tangy. Grape juice, brown sugar, lemon peel with the pith attached.

Finsih: Charcoal, iodine, grape pips.

Parting words: When I first saw the name of this wine, I thought it was BBW House Red, not BWW House Red. That made me a little excited, but this wine has none of the voluptuous delights of a BBW. While most wine labels exaggerate, this one goes over the top in declaring this to be a “very drinkable wine”. “Barely drinkable” would be more apt. The label also recommends serving the wine chilled, which is excellent advice. I would recommend drinking it at around 33° F or 1° C or better yet, not at all.

The winery is located less than ten miles away from Lexington, Michigan, a popular vacation destination on Lake Huron, so I suppose the bulk of their business comes from well-meaning tourists looking for something local. I received a half bottle of this wine as a gift from a very sweet lady who also happens to be the mother-in-law of a good friend of mine. I didn’t take it personally. I’m just glad I didn’t spend any money on this.

I have no beef with native grape varieties or hybrids. Long time readers will know that I have given positive reviews to wines made with hybrids and native grape species. I am not a speciesist. I have had 100% Chambourcin , Catawba, and even Concord wines that were much, much better than this. This is just a bad wine.

What makes it worse is the price, $14 a bottle on the website. That is absurd. One can get a very tasty wine from practically anywhere in the world for that much, including all four Michigan AVAs. Why bother with something like this? In case you haven’t already guessed, BWW House Red is not recommended.