Penrose Hill Firstleaf Wine Reviews

I drank these 5 wines and tasted bold tannins, bright, dark fruit, food friendly, jammy, lightly fruity, raspberry, red fruit, slightly sweet, tobacco. The wines are and came from a variety of sources, including wine clubs, wineries, and wine stores.

Wine reviews by: Jessyca Frederick

Swirl Petite Sirah

2018 Penrose Hill Firstleaf Swirl Petite Sirah

People who like a sweeter red wine, like a jammy Syrah, would enjoy this bottle. The sweetness was balanced with strong tannins in this full-bodied red wine.

Tasting notes: jammy, slightly sweet, red fruit, bold tannins

La Douleur Exquise

2020 Penrose Hill Firstleaf La Douleur Exquise

A touch sweet, more so than I’m used to, for a Grenache Blanc, but it had excellent acidity to balance the sugar, making it very approachable and food friendly.

Tasting notes: slightly sweet, bright, food friendly

Scapolo’s Charm

2019 Penrose Hill Firstleaf Scapolo’s Charm

This Sangiovese was slightly sweet and bright, had nice tannins, and savory notes. As $15 red wine goes, I gave this a thumbs up.

Tasting notes: bright, food friendly, lightly fruity, slightly sweet

Ralí

2019 Penrose Hill Firstleaf Ralí

White pepper and raspberry are common flavors in Pinot Noir, but this one brought pomegranate to the glass, too.

Tasting notes: red fruit, raspberry

Inkscape Shiraz

2018 Penrose Hill Firstleaf Inkscape Shiraz

A subtle version of what this grape can produce, but a great introduction to it if you’re not familiar and looking for an alternative bold red wine to Cabernet Sauvignon.

Tasting notes: dark fruit, tobacco, spice, subtle

Notice: I hold no formal wine credentials. I am a wine geek who has consumed 1000+ of bottles from 100+ different wine clubs and 1000s more bottles that didn’t come from those wine clubs. I do not accept payment for wine reviews, and I do not accept payments to influence my opinions. I happily accept free wine (and I buy wine).

Why read my wine reviews: Wine taste is subjective. What I like may not be what you like. I try to leave room for you to form your own opinions, so I don’t provide a score or a rating. I do point out wines that are an incredible value or truly not worth the money. I note flaws, wines that don’t have typicity (because this matters if you are buying wine without having tasted it yourself), when wines are out of balance, and when wines lack appropriate body.

I don’t like wasting money (or anything for that matter). I’m careful about where I spend my money and my mindset as a reviewer is to be careful about where you spend yours. I don’t believe a high price tag equals quality and I know for sure there are wines of very good quality that are also a great value.

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