When did drinks evolve into his drinks and her drinks or more sexually inappropriately manly drinks and girlie drinks? Actually, and thanks, I believe, to Arnold Schwarzenegger we now even have girlie man drinks.

When the wine guys sent me this bottle of Sangria to try, they said that since it wasn’t just wine it fell under my pervue. I just think they’re all girlie men and are afraid to wander into unknown territory. Since I’m a Cro-Magnon type of man, I am not afraid to try anything, even drinks with umbrellas in them or more to the point, in this case, a wine with fruit infused.

I refer to this Sangria as a girlie drink not because it has fruit in it but because it is part of that trend of lower alcohol, lower calorie drinks targeted specifically at the female demographic.

This Eppa Sangria is a mix of Mendocino Cabernet and Syrah with the fruit flavors coming from real, organic fruit juices, drawn from antioxidant-rich superfruits, including pomegranate, blueberry, Mediterranean blood orange and acai.

I kept this bottle in the fridge for a few days since it is recommended to be consumed cold. The nose is sweet and fruity as advertised. It is grape forward and fortified by hints of strawberries, oranges and blueberry. It’s a bit thick on the tongue because of the sweetness but pleasant enough. The mixture of fruit and wine is muddled yet pleasant with no one taste really coming forward and dominating individually. It is clean and smooth without tannins and finishes nicely.

At 120 calories per serving and 8.5% alcohol by Volume, it is a pleasant afternoon sipper on ice that won’t put on many pounds and won’t get you falling down drunk either. It’s a bit too sweet for my taste but it is definitely an adult drink that’s not sweet enough to turn teenager’s heads.

$11.99 – 12.99 per 750 ml bottle.

 

By George Brozowski

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