Phantom — Proprietary Red Blend — 2021
Price: $18; https://phantomwine.com/proprietary-red/
Looking for a creepy American wine to share on Halloween? We tasted Phantom’s 2021 Proprietary Red to see whether it could fit the bill of a hauntingly good wine. According to the winery, this wine is “inspired by both folklore and decades of unexplained sightings at the winery.”
This frightful red blend is 45% Petite Sirah and 55% Zinfandel from California grapes, and ages for 30 months in American Oak. And it has purply red legs for days, topping out at 14.5% ABV.
This bold wine had a certain thickness. Not like syrup, but a heaviness that played into the scent. It reminded us of homemade prunes, the kind your elderly neighbors offered you as a child. The wine also had scents of brown sugar and fresh salt air. The taste added a boldness and sweetness to the palate.
So fruit forward, the wine was also soft with low tannins, and a hint of ground pepper that appeared right before you swallowed it.
After being open for more than an hour, this red blend became more sweet, like biting into a ripe plum, which got tiresome. Unfortunately, as it got sweeter and softer, the finish on the tongue shortened, leaving you wanting a deeper, fuller flavor.
But if you’re looking for a good Halloween-themed wine to share with your friends that isn’t heavy on tannins, Phantom’s Proprietary Red is a good choice. But I’d definitely finish it before an hour if you don’t like sweeter wines.
Score: 8.2/10
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