United States of Wine

Oliver Winery – Cherry Moscato – Non-Vintage

Price: $15.00

Oliver Winer’s Cherry Moscato is the first wine I’m tasting from Indiana, though I’m sure there will others in my future. I’m a fan of cherries, so seeing as this was made from Montmorency cherries intrigued me a little. Would this taste as badly as the blueberry wines I’ve had in the past, or could this cherry moscato be a pleasure summer surprise?

At only 6.8% ABV, I knew this wine would have to be very tasty, since the alcohol was low, to be considered “good” in my taste. So it was nicely chilled for a few hours before tasting.

This moscato is a very light pink in color, like a delicate champagne rose color. The entire bottle design using light link, dark red and bronze colors was impressive, though I never judge a bottle of wine by it’s packaging. But I appreciate a good design, especially one that makes the wine inside stand out.

The smell was also delicate, being sweet but also light and clean. The scent of cherries does come through, but not in an overly sweet way, but more like smelling cherries at a farmer’s market.

The first feeling on my tongue was a light fizziness. So light, that it was surprising and inviting. The wine is sweet, as many moscatos are, but not so overly sweet that it was unlikeable. It was refreshing and fizzy, but syrupy, like a fountain soda.

This fruit wine definitely has a cherry taste, but not like natural cherries, but more like what an artificial cherry flavor would taste like. Well, like Maraschino cherries. Though the wine does have a noticeable natural cherry tanginess to it.

Honestly, Oliver Winery’s Cherry Moscato would be great on a warm day, or being poolside. It’s sweet (but not too sweet) and refreshing. But I’m not sure if I could have more than two small glasses at a time, despite its low alcohol volume. At some point, the syrupiness could get to be too much.

Score: 7/10