TN '97 Martinelli "Martinelli Vnyd"

[Karena Shannon]

Guys, this is proof positive that bigger is not always better. This wine came in at 14.7% alcohol and tastes like it. You could be charitable and say that a few years of age will smooth out the chunky heavy flavors of lemon, chalk, and pippin apples, but I think that’s like hoping that a few years of prison have made Mike Tyson a model citizen. It’s just too big, too overdone, crafted to win competitions. It has as much resemblance to a beverage to be consumed with food, as those freaks on “American Muscle Magazine” have to physical fitness, and for all the same reasons. For $10 though, it was worth a try to familiarize myself with that style.