Review: Madison Vineyards Black Dog

Are my taste buds malfunctioning? For the second time in a row, what I get from a wine is way off the description on the bottle.

I again tried to taste an Indiana sweet wine, and thought I was doing so when I picked up Madison Vineyard's Black Dog ($10.99). The bottle notes the wine is "a rich, sweet red wine produced from French hybrid grapes grown in our Madison, Indiana vineyards." The description seemed a little incongruous to me, which turned out to be my first clue.

The color is dark garnet, and the bouquet reveals black currents and cherries of medium intensity. At this point, I get my second inkling that something is not quite right, since this smells like many a dry red.

Upon tasting, my suspicions were confirmed. The wine reminds me of a blend of Chianti and Cabernet Franc. There is nothing sweet about the wine, and in fact, tannins are quite present in the wine. To verify, I handed the wine to Eric, who puckered up, and said, "too many tannins!" Not a big fan of dry reds, that Eric.

However, this is not to say the wine is unpleasant. Cherries and blackberries abound in the mouth, and it lingers nicely through the finish, which wasn't too long. Unlike Eric, I did not find them unpleasant in the moderate quantities they were present.

The wine held up well through the second night with the aid of the Vinvac. Some deterioration in aroma and taste, but merely marginal.

Sucker punched again. But just like with the Butler Indiana White, the label misidentification was not unpleasant for me. Let's only hope other unsuspecting customers are as forgiving.

Let's also hope this mislabeling is not a trend.