Is this Wine or is it Swill

December 16, 2024

This will be a place for tongue and cheek wine reviews.

What constitutes Swill? In my personal opinion it is a wine that embodies aspects that my personal pallet is turned off by. The KEY here is Personal Preference. If we start from a common understanding that, just like fingerprints, our taste-bud count and concentration is unique to each individual.

I, in part, will loosely define SWILL as a wine that make me wince. A wine that I would only offer to friends to share in the pain I “suffered”. It is a wine I would never bring to a party.

I tried a wine last week that fit this bill perfectly. It was so bad that I only made it through two thimbles full to assess it. It was a wine from a producer that I have had relatively good experiences in the past and from a region I like. It was reasonably priced at $20.00, so I thought I would give it a try. I gave it two tries over two days it see if there was any improvement. It was easily the most artificial and horrible tasting wine I sampled in 2024. I returned it to the store where I purchased it. This marked only the second time I have returned a wine, not for a wine fault (such as Brett or cork taint) but for its sheer level of SWILLness.

The reveal: Harvester Zinfandel Paso Robles by Hope Family Wines